Arsenal’s shot at Champions League glory opens door for £250m Emirates deal bonus

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Money was the last thing on fans’ minds last night as fireworks heralded Arsenal’s passage to the Champions League final for the first time in a generation. But once the gunpowder smoke cleared at the Emirates Stadium, it was the commercial department’s job to cash in.

With a 1-0 win, Arsenal secured a 2-1 aggregate victory over Atletico Madrid to deliver surely the best, loudest night at the Emirates since the ribbon-cutting in 2006, a few months after Arsene Wenger’s Gunners were vanquished in Paris by Barcelona in their first and only Champions League final appearance.

It was the kind of night that airline Emirates dreamed of when they planted a flag in North London with a naming rights and shirt sponsorship deal which, two decades after its inception, is worth £50m annually. As it happens, that partnership is soon up for renewal, and Arsenal could barely be in a better position to capitalise.

As well as booking a spot in Budapest at the end of the month, Bukayo Saka’s winner was worth about £16m in prize money. If Arsenal lift Old Big Ears at the Puskas Arena – where either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain await – they will bank another £6m or so, taking their season’s total close to £150m. And that’s before one factors in the extra matchdays at the Emirates, one of Europe’s highest-yield stadiums.

Total revenue in 2024-25, when Arsenal fell at the semi-final stage and finished 3rd in the Premier League for a third consecutive term, was a club-record £690m, the seventh-highest in world football. If Mikel Arteta wins both competitions this season, expect the Gunners to announce Premier League-record turnover of £750m, if not flirt with £800m. Commercial income, £263m at the last count, will push £300m.

The lion’s share of the club’s upturn in fortunes must go to Arteta and his team, but what they have delivered on the pitch has been expertly leveraged by a commercial team now routinely hailed as one of the best in the business. And under the self-financing model that Stan Kroenke wants to oversee in N7, that’s the kind of expertise that underwrites transfer and wage budgets, which deliver more glory on the pitch.

So, as well as the money the Gunners are set to trouser from UEFA, is it possible to quantify what a first Champions League title would do for the club?

Champions League triumph could unlock bigger and better Emirates deal for Arsenal

“It has been too long since Arsenal last won anything major,” says University of Liverpool football finance academic and Price of Football podcast host Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Arsenal Insider.

“They could win the two biggest trophies this season, which would certainly broaden the appeal of Arsenal to sponsors and other commercial partners.”

The latest five-year iteration of the Emirates deal will have been worth £250m to the club after its expiry in mid-2028. Policy at the club is typically to have either a succession or renewal plan in place for its biggest partners at least 18 months in advance, so Arsenal and Emirates are approaching a crucial juncture.

The relationship between the two parties is superb. Both want the deal to continue, Arsenal Insider understands. But Arsenal have more leverage now than they did back in 2022, when it was last renegotiated. With a Champions League and Premier League double in their crosshairs, their hand is strong.

Crucially, Arsenal are also exploring options to expand the stadium. If that plan goes ahead, shovels will be in the ground during the next Arsenal-Emirates contract.

“Success can only help the club with the renegotiation of senior deals, such as front-of-shirt and naming rights,” says Maguire. “Ultimately, it’s a football issue which has huge non-footballing consequences.

“Sponsors want to be associated with success. If they want to shake off the tag of being the Jimmy White of football, Arsenal have the opportunity over the next few weeks to do.”

“Remember, you also have the Club World Cup, which earned Chelsea around £85m last summer. So the Champions League opens more doors for you than just the income direct from UEFA.”