Arsenal today enters into an exclusive agreement with Kroenke
Sports Enterprises (KSE) the leading live sports and
entertainment group based in Denver - with the primary aims of
building the Arsenal brand in the US; helping to improve the
quality of football at MLS team Colorado Rapids and supporting
grassroots football in the US.
The establishment of this innovative strategic relationship will
combine an exchange of best practices together with commercial and
marketing efforts which includes the inception of a Centre of
Excellence at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and the transfer of
coaching know how.
Furthermore, a key component of this relationship is the
development of the Arsenal Cup, a club tournament that will be open
to American club teams from all over the United States which will
be hosted at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Colorado.
Arsenal Football Club's Managing Director Keith Edelman enthused:
"We are delighted to be able to announce our partnership with
Kroenke Sports Enterprises and the Colorado Rapids. This is a very
important step for Arsenal Football Club as this becomes our first
venture into the United States marketplace. We are approaching this
as a long term development partnership that will benefit both clubs
significantly."
KSE Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer Paul
Andrews said: "We are trilled to have established such a
partnership with one of the leading clubs in the world that will
help continue the expansion of our sport well into the
future."
Colorado Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush said: This
groundbreaking partnership with Arsenal, a team that has been in
the first flights of the sports for more then 100 years is the one
of the stepping stones to continue pushing our sport into the next
level. In todays international business community, soccer is the
only true global sport that transcends ethnicity, culture and
language and with this type of relationships we are making sure
that our company is expanding this vision through our worldwide
sport.
The Rapids will travel to London on March 8th, where they will be
hosted by Arsenal Football Club to continue their pre-season
training camp practicing at their team facilities. The stint in
London will end on March 13, when the team departs to their final
stage of their preseason in Valencia, Spain.
With a new era beginning for the team today and the opening of
their new 18,000 seat soccer-specific stadium set for April 7,
2007, the Colorado Rapids are poised to set a new standard of
excellence in Major League Soccer and around the world of
sports.