Mike Ashley's bid to take on Yorkshire's 20 million debt in tatters
Daily Mail Yorkshires attempts to persuade Mike Ashley to take on their 20million debts are on the brink of collapse as the club are not permitted to sell naming rights for Headingley until 2028.
The former Newcastle owner wants a naming rights deal for Sports Direct and control over the clubs retail arm in return for taking on the debt owed to former chairman Colin Graves, but Mail Sport has learned that for the next four years Yorkshire are tied to a contract with neighbours Leeds Rhinos, who are understood to have vetoed doing a deal with Ashley.
Yorkshire and the Rhinos signed a joint 10-year naming rights deal for Headingley Stadium with the Emerald Group in 2017, but the Bradford-based publishing company cut ties with the cricket club in 2021 after they were accused of presiding over a culture of institutional racism following the Azeem Rafiq affair.
