• £150m five-year contract covers kit and stadium
naming rights
• 'We can be more financially competitive' – CEO Ivan Gazidis
The Arsenal chief executive,
Ivan Gazidis, says Arsène Wenger will have more money to spend on
salaries and transfer fees after the club agreed a new £150m
sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines, described as "one of the
biggest ever struck in the world of football".
Arsenal will earn £30m a year from the Middle East airline, who
have extended their shirt sponsorship by five years until the end
of the 2018-19 season and secured the stadium naming rights, which
were due to expire in 2021, until 2028. This marks a significant
increase in revenue on the previous deal but falls short of
Chevrolet's £357m, seven-year sponsorship of Manchester United.
The bulk of the £150m is for the sponsorship of the shirt and
training kit, with the understanding that the stadium is now widely
known as the Emirates, regardless of any contract with the
airline.
"This agreement is a testimony to Arsenal's approach and to the
capabilities we have developed in recent years as well as the
strength of our partnership with Emirates," Gazidis said.
"What we can do is develop a really solid financial platform for
the club that gives us the ability to compete for top players that
we want to bring in and also top players that we want to keep. I
think we will be able to be more financially competitive.
"We can pay bigger salaries and I think we can invest more in
transfer fees. How we make those decisions will be based on a
manager whose judgment over the years has been shown to be
absolutely outstanding.
"We do have cash coming in. We want to be able to invest more in
the team now so we'll have that capability in the summer. But
[last] summer we also kept some powder dry so we've got the ability
to invest if our manager finds the right opportunities in
January."
Gazidis received a hostile reception at Arsenal's annual general
meeting in October, but he is confident that this sponsorship deal
will allow Wenger to appease those fans craving investment in the
first team.
The chief executive also said that the cash injection will leave
the club less reliant on revenue from the stadium, which has
resulted in high ticket prices.
"There's a lot of people that work passionately at this club who
care about this club just as much as the fans do. Fans don't have a
monopoly on caring about the club," he said.
"We want to win trophies every single year and we want to win a
trophy this year. Clearly the landscape is challenging for us,
we've chosen a path which is not easy. We get criticised for it a
little unjustly."
Arsenal's kit deal with Nike will expire in 2014 and reports
suggest the club will sign a new agreement with the German brand
Adidas.
On Wednesday Wenger's side advanced from the group stage of the
Champions League for the 13th year in succession but they remain
without a major trophy since 2005.
Tim Payton, spokesman for the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, said:
"Trust members now want to see this money spent on strengthening
the team. It does give us a sizeable boost but the way you make
money is by winning.
"What you want is a team that you believe can win the Champions
League, rather than in recent years where we have just been
competing in the Champions League to earn revenue.
"Ivan Gazidis has previously stated that increased sponsorship
revenue will lead to lower ticket prices and we hope he will now
review this going forward."