Newcastle United have brought in a head of partnership marketing and activation as the club's commercial team is 'turbo charged' in a bid to boost revenues.
Georgie Simmons, who previously worked at both World Rugby and England Rugby, has been appointed to the newly-created role at the club. Simmons already has vast experience in the field, having been responsible for World Rugby's partnerships, and the new recruit also transformed the governing body's commercial model and built an in-house team during her time as head of global partnerships.
Simmons has now switched sports in what is a significant appointment by chief commercial officer Peter Silverstone behind the scenes, with the new arrival getting to work this week.
"I am excited to join a super talented team that has been turbo charged to the next level!" Simmons confirmed on LinkedIn.
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Simmons arrives at a club fresh from finishing in the top four for the first time in 20 years. However, off the field, Newcastle have a lot of work to do to bridge the gap on their rivals. Liverpool, for instance, posted commercial revenues of £247m in their most recent set of accounts - which was more than nine times the amount Newcastle made in 2021-22.
Years of neglect in the Ashley era have had a knock-on effect on what Newcastle can spend under Financial Fair Play restrictions, but it is important to stress that the club have since qualified for the Champions League; struck a number of sponsorship deals, including a new front of shirt agreement with Sela; and started to build out what Silverstone admitted was a 'tiny' commercial team, where people have been doing multiple roles for many years now.
"The club will be in a better place in a year's time," Silverstone vowed at the True Faith live event earlier this summer. "We're going to build a team off the pitch that is capable of being resilient to whether we're fourth, eighth or first. We have to be."
