While you can be forgiven for thinking Arsenal have had a turbulent 17/18 season, the balance sheet has continued to blossom. The club have announced a Global Electric Vehicle deal with Chinese based brand BYD.
Having extended their partnership with Emirates this week in an estimated £200m shirt sponsorship deal, Arsenal have been injected with a sizeable shot in the arm. From one mode of transport to another, the club has taken steps in an environmentally friendly direction in forming an alliance with BYD aka 'Build Your Dreams'. While it may not be a household commercial name, it's an interesting direction into an emerging market as well as an energy efficient one.
Offering the back story to BYD, the club explained, "Based in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, BYD has been the world’s biggest energy car sales business over the past three years. It provides single and double-decker buses to Transport for London and employs more than 220,000 employees across five continents."
"The deal with BYD represents a further step forward in how we work with our partners to build a greener future, following our work to power Emirates Stadium and all other Arsenal sites with 100 per cent renewable energy."
"The partnership, which came to fruition following our successful pre-season tour to Shanghai and Beijing in 2017, will help drive BYD’s global brand awareness through a broad range of marketing rights including pitchside LED signage and branding on dugout seats at Emirates Stadium. BYD also has access to Arsenal Legends for special promotional events in China."
"BYD will work closely with us to create unique experiences for its customers and engage with fans through the club’s popular social media channels. Arsenal has one of the largest followings of any club in China with 4.7 million followers on Weibo, one of the biggest social media platforms in the country."
A strong step into the future, just as adidas have embraced Parley, you can expect to see the game embrace the green side of good more and more over the seasons to come.
