Soccer Club Lands Nice Touch

French soccer club OGC Nice has sold the naming rights to its new stadium to Allianz, the Munich-based financial services company that already has the rights to Bayern Munich’s soccer stadium.

IGC Nice’s website says the deal is worth $2.2 million per year for the next nine years, as well as “start-up costs.”

Nice currently plays its home matches at the 18,000-capacity Stade du Ray but is expected to switch to the new 35,000-capacity stadium, currently known as the Grand Stade Nice, in time for the 2013-2014 season. The new stadium will be called the Allianz Riviera.

Construction of the new multi-purpose venue was originally scheduled for completion in 2007, but a year earlier the build was put on ice because of rising fears about the eventual costs.

The $300 million project was revived last year when the new stadium became part of the French soccer authority’s ultimately successful bid to host the UEFA European soccer tournament for 2016.

The finance company also has the naming rights for Sydney’s 45,000-capacity Allianz Stadium, which it secured on a 10-year deal inked in February.