Belgium top-flight STVV Daio deal

Article posted by Coliseum, February 10^th, 2023

Image: Sint-Truidense VV

The Belgian Pro League club Sint-Truidense V.V. has agreed to a deal for wasabi (Japanese horseradish) producer Daio to take on the naming rights to its home stadium, Stayen, in Sint-Truiden, Belgium.

‘SportBusiness’ stated that the venue will be officially known as the Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium as part of the deal, the length of which was not disclosed.

The Koninklijke Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging, commonly known as Sint-Truiden or STVV or by their nickname De Kanaries, is a Belgian professional football club located in the City of Sint-Truiden in Limburg (Belgium). The Sint-Truiden plays in the Belgian Pro League (the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium). Their best ranking was a second place in 1965-1966.

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The Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium is a football stadium in Sint-Truiden, Belgium. It is the home ground of STVV. The stadium holds 14,600 after its most recent rebuild.

Wasabi or Japanese horseradish is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and mustard in other genera. The plant is native to Japan and the Russian Far East including Sakhalin (island in Russia), also the Korean Peninsula. It grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan.

Daio is based in Nagano, Japan, and the agreement strengthens STVV’s ties with the country. Since 2017, the club has been owned by the Tokyo-based e-commerce company DMM.com and it currently has a number of Japanese players in its squad, including striker Shinji Okazaki.

DMM.com is a Tokyo (Japan)-based electronic commerce and Internet company with a diversified group of businesses that includes online shopping, eikaiwa and video on demand service. The company manages DMM.com, an online entertainment site that allows users to purchase goods and services like e-books, games, mainstream DVD releases, and 3D printing.

‘SportBusiness’ further stated that the former Manchester United F.C. (Premier League club, UK) and the Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund (Germany) player Shinji Kagawa also played for the club last year.

STVV’s main sponsor is Nishitan Clinic, a Japanese company that specializes in providing PCR tests for COVID-19 patients. Nishitan’s logo features on the front of the team’s shirts, above that of DMM.com.

The ‘Stayen’ name will be retained in the stadium’s new moniker. The stadium opened in 1927.

Averred Takayuki Tateishi, Chief Executive of STVV, “Because STVV is an attractive brand, we regularly succeed in entering into new partnerships. That not only improves our financial situation, it also strengthens the relationship between the Haspengouw region (a traditional cultural and geophysical region in Eastern Belgium) and Japan in the long term. Choosing Daio is in line with our DNA. Over the years we have built up a good relationship with many fruit and food companies. Just think of the iconic shirt of the 1990s, which featured the image of an apple. With this new partnership we continue this trend.”

Remarked Roland Duchâtelet, STVV’s former owner and the current owner of Stayen, “Stadium partners are an international trend. And STVV is a professional football club. But football also has tradition. That’s why we won’t let the name ‘Stayen’ get lost. The stadium name will henceforth be the Daio Wasabi Stayen Stadium. The people of Daio share the same values as us, hence we see each other as equals.”

The STVV is currently ninth in the Pro League table. The club also finished ninth last season.

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