A quick visit to the official Arsenal website will show just how many official partners the club have around the world. Success on the pitch is what all Gunners fans strive for, but in order to get that, the club needs to be performing well off the field too.
Leicester City may be the exception, but it’s widely accepted that clubs need to bring in revenue to compete at the highest levels of English and European football.
Arsenal’s £150million deal that they signed in 2012 with Emirates, which allows the company to have their name associated with Arsenal’s stadium and their shirts for a further five years, was one of the biggest and most lucrative commercial partnerships signed in recent years. This kit deal was a factor in allowing the Gunners to sign top players, such as Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
Of course, the Gunners have other deals in place too, bringing in extra revenue that fans want to see spent on even more top players. It’s been too long since Arsenal won the Premier League title (2003/04), and the lack of success in the Champions League will remain a blemish on the club’s resume until they can win Europe’s biggest club competition.
However, Arsenal aren’t the only Premier League side who are looking to create partnerships to help promote their brand.
For example, Bournemouth AFC and Crystal Palace have both become partners with Mansion Group, who provide access to unique gambling sites, such as SlotsHeaven.
Palace and Bournemouth are just two of the sides looking to make waves in the Premier League and by looking to expand their profiles, they’ll be hoping that they can be the next side to ‘do a Leicester.’
With revenue from TV deals also on the up, the teams in the middle and lower tiers of the Premier League have the ability to sign top quality players. Stoke City signing Xherdan Shaqiri is just one example, and that may be the reason why the points totals at the top of the table fell.
The league has now become more competitive, and that makes Arsenal’s pursuit of a title even more difficult.
