New Arsenal deal set to trigger within days as £60m off-pitch boost guaranteed

A new Arsenal commercial deal set to generate £60m for the club will take off in just a few days time.

The Gunners earned £173m from sponsorship and merchandise sales in 2022-23, the last season for which financial data is available.

While that is an impressive figure in isolation, it is some way behind the rest of their peers in the so-called ‘Big Six’.

In fact, it’s less than half what Man City earned in commercial revenue over the same period.

And while this disparity can be partly attributed to performance on the pitch, Arsenal are some way behind where they should be given the size of their brand.

However, the club are expected to increase that £173m figure next season and, in doing so, break their own commercial record for a third year running.

And one particular commercial deal will be the main catalyst for this growth.

Arsenal training ground deal set to be worth £60m

Arsenal announced in February that they had struck a deal with Sobha Reality for the naming rights to their London Colney training centre.

The deal with the Dubai-based real estate firm also encompasses sleeve sponsorship forArsenal‘s training wear.

It has since emerged that the deal is worth £15m per season over four years, or £60m over the total contract length.

While the club have been wearing Sobha-branded training wear since the announcement, the signage showcasing the partnership at the training centre was not put up at the time.

That will have changed over the summer, without disrupting the first team at London Colney.

With those Arsenal players not away at either the Euros or Copa America set to return to training very soon, expect lots of official shots of the rebranded training centre.

The Gunners have typically begun their pre-season preparations at the start of July, which is now just days away. It is at this juncture that the deal will begin to trigger real value for Sobha Reality.

How do Arsenal’s commercial deals compare to their rivals?

Arsenal are already punching above their weight in terms of the value of their front-of-shirt deal with Emirates, according to a recent report.

Similarly, their kit deal with Adidas is worth £60m per campaign. That figure, when taking into account other context-specific figures, is second only to Man United’s kit deal in the Premier League.

However, their sleeve sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda arguably could be worth more, although it is up for renegotiation at the end of 2024-25.

United bank £20m per year from their sleeve deal, a figure which has been matched by Chelsea in recent years.

Arsenal are currently earning half of that at £10, which, for context,is considerably less than Spurs want for their sleeve rights in current negotiations.