Football News
Arsenal eye £100 million windfall
Marketingmagazine.com reports this morning that Arsenal are on the lookout for a new lucrative sponsor to match the £100 million windfall which the north London club received when they signed a 15 year partnership with Emirates airline in 2004.
Angus Kinnear, who was recently promoted to the position of marketing director at Arsenal, confirmed that the north London club are on the lookout for further investment as the Gunners look to consolidate their current firm financial footing.
The Gunners have staunchly defended their self-sufficient status in recent years, fending off interest from individuals keen on buying out the club in a similar manner to Roman Abramovich’s takeover at Chelsea.
Compared with the huge losses sustained by their Premier League rivals, Arsenal made a profit of £35.2 million and with debts of £297 million now fully under control, their financial position, while not ideal, looks promising.
Speaking about his confidence in Arsenal’s standing in the game, despite the costly move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium, club chief executive officer Ivan Gazidis told The Times last month:
“There were a lot of questions when I came in 12 months ago about Highbury Square [the property development on the site of Arsenal’s former stadium], but we have made tremendous progress with that and it’s fairly clear that we’re going to make a profit from it.
“The other debt is associated with the stadium and that is tied in at very good rates long term.
“Not all debt is bad. Our debt has allowed us to build a new home which will take us into the future in a very healthy way and is extremely affordable. Financially the club is extremely well set. As we continue to grow as a business and as a club, we’re going to be able to be successful as far as the eye can see.
“I don’t want to talk about other clubs, but the great thing about this club is that we can say with confidence that providing we don’t live beyond our resources, providing we don’t depend on outside funding for our success, we will compete at the very highest levels for the foreseeable future. That is a very strong position to be in.”