English Premier League soccer heavyweights Arsenal have extended their commercial partnership with global consumer products giant Unilever.
Through a contract renewal unveiled today, the 'Dirt Is Good' line-up of Unilever brands will continue to sponsor the North London club.
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The initial tie-up between the two parties – a two-year deal – dates back to mid-2023, and has been valued by GlobalData Sport at the equivalent of $1.5 million annually.
It has involved the overall 'Dirt Is Good brand' – known under the names of Persil in the UK, and OMO, Surf Excel, Breeze, Rinso, Ala, or Skip, elsewhere – sponsoring the club's men's and women's teams.
In addition, there has been collaboration across multiple community initiatives, utilizing various Arsenal first-team players, such as men's team star Bukayo Saka.
In terms of Arsenal's portfolio of commercial partners, earlier this week it was reported that the club is in advanced talks to extend its lucrative deal with Visit Rwanda, the African country's tourism board, despite repeated pleas from fans to end the controversial deal.
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By GlobalDataThe partnership, which sees Visit Rwanda branding appear on the shirt sleeves of the men’s and women’s teams, first started in 2018 and was renewed in 2021 to run through the 2024-25 season. However, the branding is still visible on Arsenal shirts two months into the current 2025-26 season.
The tie-up has proved controversial, given alleged human rights abuses perpetrated by the country’s government, with critics claiming the ruling party is using the partnerships to sportswash these alleged violations.
Arsenal’s financial accounts for 2023-24 revealed that the deal contributed £10 million ($13.4 million) to the club’s overall commercial income of £218.3 million, making it among the most lucrative in the English Premier League.
In September, meanwhile, Arsenal unveiled L’Oréal Paris, the French cosmetics brand, as an official partner.
Elsewhere, it was reported yesterday that Arsenal are assessing the possibility of expanding the Emirates Stadium to make it the biggest club soccer ground in London.
The venue, built in 2006, has a capacity of just over 60,000, but that number is lower than the capacities of the stadiums of Arsenal's Premier League rivals West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.
It has now been reported by UK media that Arsenal's owner, the Kroenke Sport and Entertainment (KSE) group, is looking at increasing the Emirates' capacity to 70,000.
This would substantially boost matchday revenue, but would likely necessitate the club having to play elsewhere while the stadium enlargement takes place.
Indeed, The Telegraph publication reported yesterday that a temporary move to Wembley Stadium – which currently hosts England national team matches and end-of-season finals – is being looked at.
Tottenham played at Wembley for the 2017-18 season, as well as a large part of 2018-19, while their new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – with a capacity of 62,850 – was built.
In July, Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke (son of ultimate owner Stan) said, on the subject of a potential Emirates Stadium expansion: "It would be premature to talk about any plans in depth, but the internal conversations are starting to occur about it. It is not an easy renovation, but we see the possibilities of what’s there.”
Across the Premier League as a whole, the Emirates has the fifth-largest capacity, ranking behind the home grounds of Manchester United and Liverpool, as well as the two London rivals listed above.
Arsenal currently sit top of the 20-team Premier League, albeit with only seven matches played.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have extended their partnership with Canon Medical Systems UK for another three years.
Through the renewal, the company will continue as the club's official medical systems partner, offering access to medical imaging equipment, including CT, MRI, and diagnostic Ultrasound, at the dedicated Medical Imaging Centre at Carrington Training Complex.
Canon has had a partnership with Manchester United since 2013.
