Update: Minister of Tourism Abraham Hirchson and Keith Edelman, managing director of English premier league football club Arsenal , have signed a sponsorship agreement worth ₤350,000 for the 2006-2007 football season with an option for renewal in 2007-2008.
Arsenal’s other sponsors include the Gulf States airline Emirate Airlines, Nike, UK tourism company Thomas Cook, Samsung and others.
Arsenal will, in return, list Israel as its official tourism destination. Ministry of Tourism advertisements will be featured in all the group’s pre-match programs and on billboards inside the stadium on the dates of the games themselves.
The Ministry of Tourism will be allocated permanent signage at one of the entrances to the stadium, and will also be given intellectual proprietary rights to the Arsenal brand as well as the use of the Arsenal logo and photographs of players for public relations purposes.
The agreement will also cover use of the club’s website and publication of editorial articles on Israel. The site will also feature a Ministry of Tourism banner. The Arsenal club magazine will feature adverts and profile articles on Israel, six times in the course of the season.
The sponsorship also provides for the use twice a year of the Emirates Stadium and the staging of friendly matches at the close of the season.
Arsenal has won the Premier championship three times since 1998. The club has a supporters club numbering 1.1 million members and its games are broadcast to millions of viewers worldwide.
Hirchson said the sponsorship would introduce Israel to a wider audience and added that the ministry was looking at additional sponsorship agreements with other leading sports clubs around the world.
The ministry previously attempted to reach a similar deal with the Italian Serie A club AC Milan, which postponed implementation shortly before the agreement was become effective.
The deal has aroused speculation about the response of Emirate Airlines, the official sponsors of Arsenal, which contributed ₤100 million to the club. Arsenal renamed its new 60,000-seater ground at Ashburton Grove the Emirates Stadium as part of the deal.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 26, 2006