Arsenal FC is considering raising money for the £300m stadium in Islington, north London, by naming it after a company.
If it went down this road, the club would be following a pattern set by premiership teams such as Bolton Wanderers, which sold the rights to name its stadium to Reebok.

One firm that may be in the frame is mobile phone group MmO2, which bought the right to sponsor Arsenal last month in a £20m deal. However it is understood that other leading companies, such as Nike, may be interested.

The football club first considered taking on a naming-rights sponsor when it presented the business case for building a new stadium.

An insider at Arsenal said: "The £300m for the overall scheme is yet to be finalised so one option is for a separate naming-rights sponsor to be found to help bridge any funding gap."

The insider added that any sponsor would have to be a significant player prepared to pay a hefty sum. An Arsenal spokesperson noted: "The current status of the scheme is that we are still finalising details of the stadium and working to secure the funding needed."

A spokesman for MmO2 said: "If Arsenal were to seek a naming rights sponsor for their new stadium then we would consider our options."