Goodbye to "Loftus Road?" - Additional Sponsorship Millions and Stadium Renaming for QPR?

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Something that's been rumoured about for quite a few months...

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Daily Mail/Matt Lawton - Beer tycoon Mallya pumps in his millions to swell the QPR coffers

Queens Park Rangers are close to agreeing a new £20million shirt sponsorship deal that would bring a third major figure from Formula One into the club - and could result in Loftus Road being renamed the Kingfisher Stadium.
Sportsmail understands that Vijay Mallya, the Indian billionaire and co-owner of F1 team Force India, wants to join forces with Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone and advertise his Kingfisher beer on the team shirts.
A deal is said to be close to completion and could be announced as early as next week. But the five-year agreement could also include the naming rights of a stadium where QPR first played in 1917.
It was only recently that Briatore is even said to have considered renaming the club - to Queens Park City - in order to emphasise its position in the capital.
Mallya's involvement would significantly boost the financial muscle of a club already boasting the considerable backing of Briatore, Ecclestone and Lakshmi Mittal and enhance their chances of making a rapid rise to the Barclays Premier League.
After Manchester City, QPR are already the second richest club in England and Mallya's cash injection will make them even wealthier.
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As well as F1, Mallya has a keen interest in a number of sports. He sponsors two football clubs in Kolkata - East Bengal and Mohun Bagan - and owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team in the Indian Premier League. He purchased the team at auction, paying more than £50million.
He also has a major interest in horseracing, and owns the United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders company that runs the Kunigal Stud Farm.
But he made huge headlines around the world when he combined forces with the Mol family and bought the Spyker F1 team for around £75million, changing the team to Force India for the current F1 season.
Mallya is ranked one of the richest men in the world. He owns the United Breweries Group, which paid £595m for Whyte and Mackay whisky in May last year. He is also the owner of Kingfisher Airlines.
On the field, QPR will have a chance to show that they can compete with the top teams in the Championship this season when they face Birmingham City this afternoon at St Andrew's.
Birmingham are second in the table, having taken 20 points from their opening nine matches. But eighth-placed QPR can move to within three points of City if they manage a surprise victory.
QPR manager Iain Dowie said: 'We enjoyed our last trip to the Midlands earlier this season (defeating Aston Villa 1-0 in the Carling Cup) and I'm really looking forward to the challenge. I've seen enough heart from my players to know we'll go there and give a good account of ourselves.
'We have gone to Norwich City and we played for over an hour with 10 men and won - and we got a great point against Bristol City with 10 men.
'We've also gone to Coventry and totally dominated the game, only to get done with a dubious penalty, so there are lots of positives to take from our recent away form.'
ONLY HERE FOR THE BEER?
So QPR have another mega-rich owner?
That's right. You can now add Vijay Mallya to the powerful Flavio, Bernie and Lakshmi triumvirate.
So who is Mallya?
The 'Branson of Bangalore' is India's most flamboyant entrepreneur and believed to be one of the world's 500 richest men.
Great hair. Any other similarities to our own Richard Branson?
He's the founder and chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, which he described last month as 'the Harrods of the sky'. The 52-year-old has also selected all 1,200 air hostesses employed by the airline.
Nice work if you can get it. Anything else?
Mallya is also chairman of United Breweries Group, co-owns F1 racing team Force India, sponsors two Indian football clubs and owns the IPL's Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise. Daily Mail

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