Emirates – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

THE EMIRATES has rarely seemed so noisy and passionate. Not since the glory days of Arséne Wenger, which preceded the short journey from English football’s most stylish pre-war construction, have Arsenal fans had as much to smile about. Since 2004, they have rarely been close to a title bid and a series of false dawns have petered out, leaving the club to seek solace in the FA Cup. People complained about the soulless Emirates, but the fact is, any stadium can lack atmosphere if the punters are unhappy.

Arsenal’s current team is full of promise, good to watch, and has character. They beat Liverpool 3-2, one of the best sides of the past decade, and although there have to be questions about the penalty, they signalled a changing of the guard at the top of the Premier League.

Nine games have gone now and Arsenal’s record is undoubtedly impressive, in fact, compared to the 13 league title wins in their history, they have started the season very well indeed. They’ve got more points after nine games than in any of the club’s three double-winning campaigns (1971, 1998, 2002). Their bid is now credible, but the real tests are still ahead of them. Arsenal have yet to play Manchester City, the reigning champions and red hot favourites to retain their title.

Arsenal’s victory against Liverpool not only underlined the progress made over the past year at the club, it also emphasised their opponents’ move into a transitional period. While some are talking of crisis, nothing could be further from the truth, Liverpool are at a point in the cycle where they need to rebuild and move one or two players on. All of a sudden, the team that has taken the club to the heights seems weary and a little aged. The average age of the side that started against Arsenal was over 28, some four years older than their hosts. Furthermore, six players were 30 or over. After the battle on four fronts in 2021-22, Liverpool may have burned themselves out, perhaps temporarily.

Again, in response to those ringing alarm bells, this was Liverpool’s second defeat in the league this season. It may be that the intensive Jürgen Klopp style has been sussed, that opponents now know how to expose Trent Alexander-Arnold and that Mo Salah has become less effective with age and a change in his role. But they do have striking power in the form of Darwin Ńuñez (23), Luis Díaz (25) and Diogo Jota (25) that can provide the energy of youth.

Klopp has been with Liverpool seven years – with all managers, their method has a time span, a period when it is at its most effective. It could be Klopp’s way has simply been usurped. The stats don’t always speak of obvious decline, although in the past few seasons, their shots on target as a percentage of overall shots has been reducing.

It is easy to blame money as the root of the problem, but Liverpool have proved extremely inventive when it comes to transfer market activity. Their fans have an unhealthy obsession with Manchester City and Pep, but the big difference is not squad sizes for City have a relatively small pool of players. They are packed with quality though because of their financial strength and this has enabled them to buy who they want but also benefit from selling players surplus to requirements for big fees. While City might be able to avoid the cycle that ends with transition because they can successfully repair the aircraft in mid-flight, Liverpool probably cannot do that quite as easily.

The modern game doesn’t necessarily encourage transition, a drop in performance is usually punished by club owners. Klopp is unlikely to be sacked but he may, at some stage, decide he has taken things as far as he can with the resources at his disposal. From 2017-18 to 2022-23, Liverpool’s net spend in the transfer market has been some £ 200 million less than Arsenal, Chelsea and City and £ 450 million lower than Manchester United’s net outlay (source: Transfermarkt).

Arsenal’s board did allow Mikel Arteta to get the club through the post-Wenger era, taking over from the unfortunate Unai Emery. But can his team beat Manchester City to the Premier League trophy? Basically, Liverpool’s side under Klopp has run City to the wire and won the title themselves. But they have basically been number two in a league of 20 over the past five years. Even if Arsenal become better than peak-Klopp Liverpool, are they merely moving into that second place slot?

Certainly, with Erling Haaland installed now at City and already on 20 goals, Pep Guardiola’s latest line-up could be their most formidable yet. That’s why it will take something special and maybe a little unexpected for City to get pushed into second place by an emerging Arsenal.

Despite the daunting task of overtaking a force of nature, Arsenal are definitely in the race, but after being exiled from the Champions League, success may have to be measured by qualification for the top European competition. As for Liverpool, are they really in a crisis? No, but a period of measured expectation may be necessary. And Manchester City? It looks like the unexpected just got that bit rarer in English football.

FRANCE’s top division will have a new name for the 2020-21 season, the Uber Eats Ligue 1, after the US online food ordering and delivery service agreed to sponsor the league until 2021-22.

This naming rights deal, making Ligue 1 sound a little like an English non-league competition, will yield € 32 million for the French league, a significant increase on the previous deal with Conforma. The announcement has, predictably, sparked a wave of mockery from fans, notably around the plan to have the matchball for every Ligue 1 game delivered by an Uber Eats driver.

The French deal comes just a few weeks after the Football Association announced that BT will provide £ 50 million of sponsorship over a five-year period. The corporate world continues to find football attractive. Each summer, clubs announce major new deals with the business fraternity, most of whom have identified the potential of the world’s most popular sport. And as well as using major competitions like the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League, corporates are constantly gravitating towards football’s big names.

According to CSM Sports & Entertainment, Manchester United are the leading European club for sponsorship, receiving around € 269 million, just ahead of Barcelona (€ 261 million). CSM estimated that the market across the top five European leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) is worth around € 4 billion, with the Premier the top competition with € 1.2 billion.

Shirt sponsors in some leagues are now sharing their space with the recently-added area of sleeve advertising. For example, Arsenal’s shirt sponsor is Emirates, while its sleeve sponsor is Rwanda.

Football sponsorship brings multiple benefits to companies eager to break into new markets. This may result in some corporates being very generous in order to accelerate their expansion programmes. AIA, who describe themselves as a “pan-Asian insurance group”, paid a considerable sum – £ 100 million over five years – to sponsor Tottenham Hotspur, but market observers assumed this was in order to take the AIA name to the UK.

There is little doubt, however, that a blanket approach to sponsorship can quickly raise awareness of the corporate name. One very obvious example is Gazprom, the Russian energy company that has not only entered into the shirt sponsorship market, but their association with the UEFA Champions League – notably their graphic and somewhat sinister TV advertising – has made them something of a household name across Europe.

Some see Gazprom’s blanket approach to football sponsorship as an expression of Russian passive aggression, although the company itself is clearly using the game to soften its image. When Gazprom sponsored Schalke 04 it coincided with the construction of the NordStream 1 international pipeline, a deal that was supposed to signal heightened cooperation between Germany and Russia. Gazprom is now one of the leading backers of football and includes Zenit St. Petersburg, Schalke 04 and Red Star Belgrade among its shirt sponsorship contracts.

Similarly, Emirates, the world’s fourth largest airline, has entered into a number of sponsorships, including shirts and stadium rights in a bid to become closely linked with the world’s leading football clubs. Emirates have some big names in their shirt sponsorship portfolio, including Real Madrid (€ 70m per season), Arsenal (€ 31m), Paris Saint-Germain (€ 25m) and AC Milan
(€ 18.5m)

Barcelona surprised many people with their shirt sponsorship deal with Japan’s Rakuten, but the agreement, totalling €55 million per season, was one of the most lucrative in football and has the potential to raise public awareness of a relatively unknown company. Rakuten have said that their involvement in sport has proved to be beneficial for revenue generation.

Chevrolet is far from unknown, but its long-standing relationship withManchester United, with a € 71 million per year shirt sponsorship agreement, has undoubtedly made their name more visible in the UK and Europe.

Etihad, the sponsor of United’s neighbours, Manchester City, has a number of touch points that obviously assist recognition. Etihad is the shirt sponsor (€ 45.9m), but also has the stadium naming rights. In addition, the complex that includes the stadium has a dedicated tram stop, Etihad Campus, that also takes the name to the Manchester public.

The football industry’s appeal has certainly caught the imagination of gambling brands, particularly in the English Premier League where almost half of all shirt sponsors are betting entities, casinos or other forms of gambling. Gambling and football have long been related although there is a school of thought that the sport is over-saturated with link-ups with the sector. Gambling is an area that is very liquid, appeals to the football demographic and has expanded considerably due to the growth of online offerings and new technologies. However, there is something of a moral dilemma here that contradicts many of football’s social responsibility activities. Gambling is a growing problem, often classed as an addiction or a form of illness. Is this an industry that is appropriate for a pastime that attracts huge numbers of children and young people?

Financial services account for 20% of shirt sponsors in the Premier League and across the top five European leagues, have spent more than € 300 million. Airlines and Automotives contribute 10% apiece to the Premier. Interestingly, Germany’s Bundesliga has not followed the same path and has a broad range of shirt sponsors.

With match attendances high in the leading football leagues, particularly the Premier League and Bundesliga, and broadcast coverage at an all-time high, sponsors will undoubtedly continue to seek to exploit football as a market opportunity. Indeed, clubs themselves are constantly seeking new ways to monetise the broad appeal of the game. While some sceptics see football as a classic bubble waiting to burst, there is no apparent sign the appetite is waning. If there is a word of caution, it should be that the global economy is due for a downturn. With football increasingly reliant on income streams that represent discretionary spending, the effect of another financial downturn cannot be underestimated.

At the moment, though football, due to the mass appeal of the game and its ever-expanding global footprint, remains a magnet for big business. For how long, you might ask?