Arsenal could look to Red Bull as a new sponsor as the club ends their association with Prime, Arsenal Insider understands.
Arsenal are continuing to grow the club as a global brand and pre-season tours to the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong are important parts of that process.
Stan Kroenke has a huge sports empire and is the biggest in the world at present, however, Arsenal are seen as one of his teams that are still not quite where he wants them to be.
The Gunners are reportedly set to end their three-year partnership with ‘PRIME’ energy drinks and Arsenal Insider’s finance expert Adam Williams has explored what options the club might have moving forward.
With Mikel Arteta’s side seeking glory this season and Andrea Berta needing the financial muscle to provide adequate recruitment, now is not the time for the club to stand still in the commercial world.
Arsenal could look to Red Bull partnership after Prime sponsorship ends
With PSR restrictions now playing havoc upon the Premier League and its clubs’ ability to spend in the transfer market, sponsorships and commercial revenue is now more important than ever before.
Arsenal will want to replace ‘Prime’ with a deal that continues to move the club forward and Williams has explained that sponsorships within football are usually broken down into different categories.
Williams stated: “The done thing these days is to segment sponsorships into categories. Clubs like Arsenal have an official betting partner, an official hotel partner and so on.
“The Arsenal deal with Prime was marketed as a ‘hydration partnership’ as opposed to an energy drinks sponsorship, but I suspect the commercial department at the Emirates will have covered that base too.
“That’s interesting, because the data I’ve seen suggests that an energy drinks partner is one of the more lucrative smaller categories for elite clubs.
If there’s a vacancy in that category now, there’s maybe a bit of room to extract some more value. Then again, Prime was a huge brand when the deal was launched – and maybe they’ve paid Arsenal accordingly.”
With that vacancy, Williams has mooted the possibility of Red Bull being approached over a partnership with the Gunners, however, their involvement with Leeds United could scupper any potential deal.
Arsenal’s latest annual commercial income was set at £218m and the club would look to eclipse that with any potential new agreement.
Williams explained: “Red Bull have gone on a big sponsorship surge in the last year or so, partnering with half a dozen clubs. The thing is, however, they are the co-owners of Leeds United, who are now a Premier League side, so I wonder if they will slow down somewhat.
“Whether it’s them or another partner, I’d expect a deal in the £2-3m per year mark. I wouldn’t think this vacancy in their sponsorship portfolio will stay unfilled for long.”
Arsenal catching up to ‘big six’ in commercial growth
It is not just generating income through player sales that Arsenal have struggled with in recent years compared to the other ‘big six’ clubs in the Premier League.
Arsenal have a £45m deficit when it comes to record player sales, but Williams has also explained the club are playing catch-up in terms of their commercial growth.
Williams declared: “Commercially, Arsenal have made real progress recently. At one point, they were the ugly duckling of the Big Six when it came to the cash they generated through sponsorship, but they’re correcting that now.
“It goes to show that you can’t coast, even as a Big Six club. You need to win football matches to continue growing financially.
The Gunners have been busy in the transfer market so far this summer and commercial deals have a huge impact on the budget that Arteta and Berta have to work with.
Whilst fans see the most important thing at the club as results on the pitch, there is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes to ensure that this success can occur.
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