One of the world’s biggest companies wants to replace Visit Rwanda as Arsenal sleeve sponsor

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Arsenal’s revival on the pitch in recent years has been the catalyst for a period of commercial growth.

After several years in the wilderness with no Champions League football, Mikel Arteta’s side have taken a quantum leap forward in the last few seasons.

The next step is major silverware, and Arsenal are desperate to avoid becoming the first team in Premier League history to finish 2nd in four consecutive seasons.

Their results heading into international break, including late showings to rescue a point against Manchester City and take all three at Newcastle United, have now made them favourites in the title race.

As well as scratching a two-decade itch, Premier League glory would be wildly lucrative for the Gunners, who remain the only team owned by Stan Kroenke yet to win the highest honour on offer to them.

The billionaire businessman has triumphed in the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLS, reaping the commercial rewards every time.

In terms of prize money, the difference between 1st and 2nd in the Premier League is negligible: around £3m, in total.

However, the prestige it would give them would move mountains in negotiations with sponsors.

Arsenal’s annual commercial income was £218m at the last count, behind the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Spurs, though they have narrowed the gap on their rivals in this department of late.

And their renaissance on the pitch, as well as their ownership of marketable players like Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, continues to fuel further growth.

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£250bn-valued company wants Arsenal’s shirt sleeve sponsorship rights

Under Kroenke’s favoured self-sufficient model, every penny the club earns in sponsorship revenue is reinvested in the club and saves the owner from having to put his hand in his own pocket.

Arsenal’s biggest sponsorship deals are their front-of-shirt and stadium naming rights deal with Emirates, kit deal with Adidas, their shirt sleeve sponsorship partnership with Visit Rwanda, and training ground naming rights deal with Sobha Realty.

The deal with Visit Rwanda, which has been in place since 2018, expires at the end of the current campaign and, despite protests from fans and activists about Rwanda’s human rights record, the two parties are in discussions to extend it.

However, the East African nation’s tourist board is not the only would-be sponsor linked with the shirt sleeve rights, which are worth in the region of £15-20m to Arsenal.

According to football finance analyst Lukasz Baczek, the German software titan SAP is also interested.

SAP is one of the world’s largest companies by market cap and revenue, turning over nearly £30bn last year and being valued at almost £250bn, more than the likes of Coca-Cola, IBM and McDonalds.

Per Baczek, Visit Rwanda are still the favourites to get a shirt sleeve deal over the line and have offered the best financial terms to date. However, SAP are already involved in the football sponsorship sector and have designs to add Arsenal to their list of partners.

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Arsenal want to grow matchday income with Emirates Stadium expansion

Commercial income is booming at Arsenal, but so too is matchday.

The club will soon announce ticketing revenue in the region of £150m for 2024-25, which could potentially be the highest in the Premier League, surpassing Manchester United.

However, the club understand the need to run in order to stand still in this department, with so many clubs plotting stadium expansions or rebuilds.

So, they have ordered the expansion of the Emirates Stadium themselves, hoping to raise capacity to around 70,000 at great expense.

They will be targeting matchday income of at least £200m at a redeveloped stadium.

Sponsors like visit Rwanda, or potentially SAP, will be more likely to pay big bucks to be associated with a revamped stadium too.

Arsenal want £700m as a baseline annual revenue target, regardless of their success on the pitch from season to season.

Growing revenue across all three categories – media, commercial and matchday – will therefore be the order of the day for Kroenke’s staff in North London.