Kieran Maguire tells Arsenal chiefs to ‘work harder’ as £4.5m deal in jeopardy
Arsenal may soon be forced to give up their £4.5million deal with SportsBet leaving the commercial department to find new sponsors.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the Government’s imminent gambling review.
The Times reported last Friday (10 December) that the review is set to crack down on overseas gambling sponsorship.
Arsenal are two years into a three-year arrangement with SportsBet, which is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
Speaking to Daily Cannon when the deal was signed in September 2020, finance journalist Lukas Baek claimed the contract is worth £4.5m.
Maguire claims that the SportsBet deal may soon be under threat and that Arsenal directors will be forced to plough new commercial furrows.
“SportsBet is one of Arsenal’s little-and-often deals,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“That is quite common amongst clubs. I think they would rather there was no ban because it’s easy money from their point of view.
“Commercial departments are just going to have to work harder. That is just the reality of the situation.
“It is bad news for all clubs but there is no reason why these can’t be replaced with other sponsors.
“Sport managed to cope when tobacco sponsorship was brand, and nobody went bust off that.“
Arsenal raked in £142m in commercial revenue for the last recorded financial year.
That represents a 29 per cent increase on the same revenue stream in the previous accounting period.
In other news, ex-Premier League referee claims FA should punish “diver” Alexandre Lacazette as controversial footage emerges.