Arsenal have done some significant work in the transfer market this summer, and the platform for their spending is the business side of the club.
Stan Kroenke wants Arsenal to be self-sufficient financially – i.e., not relying on the football equivalent of the Bank of Mum and Dad. That means behind every Viktor Gyokeres, there is a sponsorship deal, a new ticket pricing strategy, or a boom in media income.
The Gunners’ commercial income in 2023-24 was £220m, their matchday receipts £132m, and their broadcasting revenue £262m.
We don’t have the 2024-25 financial statements yet, but all three will be up pretty significantly. They could perhaps even become one of just a handful of clubs in history to break the £700m turnover barrier.
The issue that the North Londoners face, however, is that they have historically underperformed on the pitch, which has had financial implications. Under Mikel Arteta, they are competing for major silverware once again, but the legacy of six seasons out of the Champions League has had a real impact.
And while Arsenal’s revenue throughout that period has risen steadily, their rivals have grown faster.
Despite a massive upswing in commercial income in the last financial year, for example, they still generated less money than the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea in this department.
Among the measures the club is taking to correct this is the expansion of their portfolio of sponsors. This summer alone, Arsenal have signed five commercial deals, with a sixth on the way. That is expected to generate £10-15m worth of annual revenue.
To really eat up the ground on the rest of the so-called ‘Big Six’, whose commercial income is in a different universe to the rest of the Premier League, Arsenal will need to extract maximum value from their three biggest sponsorship categories: kit, front-of-shirt, and shirt sleeve.
Arsenal struck their first ever sleeve sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda back in 2018, and the logo of the tourist board for the East African nation has remained in situ ever since.
However, the partnership, which has been worth over £40m to Arsenal over the course of its current contract, has been divisive. Campaigners have expressed alarm about the club aligning itself with a nation accused of arming rebel militia groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as with the previous Conservative government’s failed Rwandan deportation plan.
What’s more, Rwandan president Paul Kagame is a big Arsenal fan, regularly attending matches at the Emirates and posting about the club on social media.
It was widely reported that the sleeve deal expired at the end of 2024-25 season, but Visit Rwanda was still present when Arsenal revealed their kits for the coming campaign, suggesting the deal has either been extended or it was in fact a longer-term arrangement than previously presumed.
The going rate for a sleeve sponsorship deal with a ‘Big Six’ club can be £20m-plus. So should Arsenal be looking elsewhere for a higher-value deal? And, with several other clubs having sold sponsorship rights to tourist boards, why is the Premier League so attractive in this market?
“They need to access people with disposable income – and that is often the case with football fans who can afford to travel to matches and buy shirts.
“The positive image that football gives is an attractive prospect from a tourism perspective, so linking a club which is as high-profile as Arsenal to Rwanda is beneficial.
“It certainly helps that the Rwandan president is an Arsenal fan and he likes to have a cyclical relationship between himself and his club. He could sign off on this.
“I suspect Rwanda are interested in continuing the relationship. With Arsenal back in the Champions League, that extends the number of eyeballs on their logo. It’s not just on the sleeve; it’s on perimeter advertising as well. So it is now an issue of Arsenal’s valuation of the sleeve sponsorship rights.
“Arsenal are in a position to negotiate as high a price as possible, especially given the increased interest from the gambling industry in sleeve sponsorships as an alternative front-of-shirt.”
Outside of new sponsorship deals and merchandise sales, clubs like Arsenal are always on the prowl for new ways to make money.
The concept of a ’39th game’ outside the United Kingdom has been on the table for the Premier League for some time, for example, though fans have repeatedly rejected the idea.
Josh Kroenke, who is the more prominent member of the Kroenke family at the Emirates these days, will have noted the decision of La Liga today to stage a match between Barcelona and Villareal in Miami.
Several owners of Premier League clubs have distanced themselves from the idea of taking competitive matches abroad, though there are just as many who are in favour of it.
For their part, the Kroenkes have maintained since the European Super League fiasco that they would oppose taking Arsenal overseas in a given season.
Whether La Liga’s decision to play a match in the United States is a Pandora’s box moment that tempts some owners into changing their stance remains to be seen.
