Ligue 1: Orange (telecom) to acquire the naming rights to the Stade Velodrome in Marseille

Orange, the French telecommunications group, will acquire the naming rights to the Stade Velodrome (67,000 capacity) in Marseille (FRA), indicated regional media on 03/06/2016. This information should be made official at a press conference in the presence of Jean-Claude Gaudin, Mayor of Marseille, Stéphane Richard, CEO of Orange, and Bruno Botella, President of Arema, the operating company for Olympique de Marseille's (Ligue 1) stadium, on 03/06/2016 at 15:00 CET.

Orange has been the official partner of the Stade Velodrome since 05/12/2014, in a deal which will last until the end of 2017. The telecomm group has also been a partner of Olympique de Marseille since 2001. Orange had previously been in negotiations for the naming rights to the Velodrome, as indicated by Bruno Botella to News Tank Football on 02/07/2014. An annual fee of €6m to €8m was discussed at the time. "Up until now we have not taken the opportunity of naming rights for the stadium, but we will carefully analyse any opportunity that presents itself to us," said Stéphane Richard to News Tank Football on 14/04/2016…