Arsenal extends Emirates sponsorship in record Premier League deal

Arsenal and Emirates have agreed a five-year extension to their sponsorship, reportedly worth up to £70 million a season, making it the most valuable current shirt sponsorship in English football and underlining how a Premier League title win and Champions League final appearance have lifted Arsenal's commercial value. The airline remains front-of-shirt, training kit and stadium naming rights partner until 2033, extending a relationship that began in 2006 and represents the Premier League's longest-running shirt sponsorship. The new annual value marks a significant uplift on the previous contract, understood to be worth up to £50 million a year.

Arsenal is an English Premier League football club based at the Emirates Stadium in north London, and reigning Premier League champions after ending a 22-year wait for the title last season. The club does not disclose sponsorship-specific financial terms.

Emirates is a Dubai-based international airline and a subsidiary of The Emirates Group, with an extensive sports sponsorship portfolio spanning football, rugby and other global properties. The airline does not publicly disclose sponsorship spend by individual partner.

The renewal shows Arsenal capitalising on a step change in on-pitch success, with the deal's structure, covering shirt, training kit and stadium naming rights together, making it more comprehensive than any comparable Premier League agreement.

Manchester City's £67.5 million deal with Etihad excludes training kit rights, while Manchester United's £60 million Qualcomm shirt deal excludes both training kit and stadium naming, and United has separately signed a standalone training kit deal with Betway worth an estimated £20 million a season.

For the sponsorhsip sector, the extension follows a pattern of continued heavy investment in top-tier football sponsorship, including a record €100 million deal agreed with Real Madrid in June, reinforcing the airline's strategy of pairing shirt exposure with naming rights at clubs with durable global followings.

The Emirates Stadium's naming has proven unusually durable compared with other English grounds; West Ham's London Stadium and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have both failed to attract naming rights sponsors despite active efforts, illustrating how a generic name can preserve future commercial value until the right partner and price emerge.

Source: SportsPro