EXCLUSIVE: Newcastle’s signing of the season; AstroPay

AstroPay, a global leader in online payment solutions with over 2 million users, has announced a new partnership with Premier League Football Club Newcastle United. This partnership marks AstroPay’s further involvement into the world of football, after already renewing their sponsorship deal with Burnley Football Club in the same league, as well as their tie-up with Wolves. 

With AstroPay, individuals can make payments without sharing any personal information with third parties on shopping and betting sites, making the spending process incredibly simple and private. The 16-digit card allows you to deposit by credit card and load money to the Astropay instantly. Not only is this service simple, it becomes one, like many digital payment solutions at the moment, to provide real-time data, maximising customer efficiency, accessibility and information. Furthermore, customers are protected with AstroPay, as it is a prepaid virtual card where money is deposited before it is used for spending. If anything, this acts as a completely separate wallet that ensures all of your finances are not at risk with each transaction, especially when you have a question mark about the internet.

Founded in 2009, AstroPay has been successful in the European market after launching their services in the UK, Spain and Portugal following feedback from clients who expressed interest in reaching users based in these countries. Beforehand, AstroPay built up its prominence to customers across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Mikael Lijtenstein, CEO of AstroPay, said that the movement towards Europe ‘forms the next stage of our wider global expansion plans’. It is clear that targeting the immensely popular sport of football in England is proving to be an excellent promotional strategy for the company.

Lijtenstein went on to voice that ‘As a major football team with a strong fan base, Newcastle United FC is an ambitious club which matches the global spirit of AstroPay. We are thrilled to be joining forces with them as a sponsor and are looking forward to working together.’ As part of the sponsorship deal, AstroPay will have its branding and logo visible on the pitch-side LED advertising at The Premier League matches and on the club’s press conference backdrop. This is hugely beneficial for AstroPay, as St James Park, Newcastle’s stadium, boasts a huge attendance of around 52,000. This only attracts even more eyes to the brand. Once you factor in the amount of people that will see it via television coverage, this number only extends, as Newcastle regularly feature on SkySports and BT Sports television platforms. ‘The English Premier League has always been very competitive, popular and global, which sees brands using the event as the perfect vehicle for driving brand awareness, interest and revenue.’

Whilst the ‘Northern Rock’ sponsorship deal in the Alan Shearer days reigns supreme for football nostalgics like myself, what does this venture mean for Newcastle? Well, Dale Aitchison, Head of Commercial at Newcastle United said: ‘We are really excited to welcome AstroPay as our new Official Payment Solutions Partner and look forward to launching the beginning of a new, mutually beneficial relationship.’ Ultimately, if the partnership succeeds, Newcastle will benefit from an increase in revenue and be in a much securere financial position for the future. If you’ve seen the downfall of great clubs like Barcelona who did not keep their cash flow balanced at all, and the promulgation of the supposed Super League to save the financial backbone of some of Europe’s other biggest clubs, then you’ll know that keeping the house in order is imperative in the footballing world right now. 

Will Newcastle snatch a Champions League spot though? We’ll have to see how this one plays out!