Sponsoring the Tube – Selling out?

A report this week said that Transport for London (TfL) would be able to freeze ticket prices if it allowed sponsorship around the network. It’s an idea TfL has flitted at the edges of without really embracing. But why is TfL so worried about selling out?

The evidence published this week by the Conservative Party through the London Assembly suggested that the majority of Londoners were comfortable with the idea – 74 per cent of 531 people asked thought that as long as the revenue helped keep fares down, they were ok with more advertising underground.

But how exactly would sponsorship work? The report points to a sponsorship deal that was discussed in 2011 between TfL and Oxford Landing in which the wine producer proposed having its name in place of Oxford Circus for a three-month period.

This is where the idea has its critics.

TfL has said the price of changing all the signage would outweigh the benefits of sponsorship and for lovers of the world’s first underground metro, station names are part of the network’s heritage and should be protected.

Sponsorship is used on metro systems to raise extra cash all around the world and the footfall at London’s Underground stations makes them a particularly attractive prospect.

The report highlighted that Emirates sponsorship of the Thames cable car system is worth £36 million to TfL over 10 years. Around 30,000 journeys are made on the cable car each week. Compare that to the 1.5 million passengers who use London’s busiest stations every week.

Do you think sponsorship is a good idea?




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