By Kieran Maguire

7th Sep, 2023 | 6:00am

Kieran Maguire drops 'absolutely critical' Arsenal verdict as new deal agreed

Qualification for the Champions League is ‘absolutely critical’ for Arsenal as they look to continue growing their commercial revenue.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the Gunners’ work behind the scenes to grow revenue streams.

Arsenal announced on Friday that they had struck a multi-year agreement with Betway to become the club’s global betting partner.

Betway join a growing list of companies to have partnered with the Gunners this summer, with Google Pixel also signing a commercial deal while Emirates renewed their sponsorship agreement on improved terms.

The North London side are set to significantly boost their commercial revenue as a result, while their return to the Champions League is also set to provide a major financial boost.

Maguire believes Champions League qualification will be the key for Arsenal to continue signing huge sponsorship deals to grow their commercial income.

“Arsenal have always had a fairly significant global fan base, but I think their commercial income has not necessarily reflected that,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“That’s one area that senior management are trying to address.

“So the improvement last season and regular qualification for the Champions League is absolutely critical from their point of view.

“It gives them access to some big European markets in which Arsenal are very popular such as Scandinavia, Cyprus, Ireland and so on and that will help.

“It will help them achieve more significant fees when it comes to the deals that they’re striking with commercial partners.“

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