The Political Economy of Football V2

Manchester United's defeat of Arsenal at the Emirates yesterday was something of a surprise (and a great game of football for the neutral).  However, it should not be assumed that United's problems are over after two wins or that Arsenal have now lost the title as some of their nervous fans fear.  {Dido is an Arsenal fan). Arsenal went into the game sitting at the top of both the Premier League and the Uefa Champions League tables, a rise underpinned by significant spending on players and years of settled ownership under US billionaire Stan Kroenke.  Manchester United have outspent Arsenal over the past five years, yet stability has eluded them: less than two years after taking control of club operations Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos has already sacked two managers. Both clubs have had to handle a bumpy period of transition following the departures of long-serving managers — Arsène Wenger at Arsenal and Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson. But while United’s owners have la...

While at the time of its inauguration, the Emirates was considered at the vanguard of the stadium experience, it has fallen behind in the intervening years as technology has transformed our daily lives. General modernisation would be welcomed. For example, phone connectivity is awful and the improvement that has been discussed for a while is yet to materialise. The PA system is imperfect in parts of the stadium. More recent rebuilds utilise innovative systems to get fans through food and drink concessions quicker. All these factors go hand in hand with any capacity increase. The building itself is only one part of the infrastructure which needs attention, though. Working with the local council, emergency services and Transport for London, plans for an extra 10,000 (possibly more) people to safely arrive and leave the area are a considerable obstacle. As things stand, two of the stations which are closest to the Emirates and in normal use outside of matchdays are forced out of actio...

Arsenal have started to explore how they could upgrade and expand the Emirates Stadium to try to catch up with their rivals’ match-day income. The ground’s capacity of about 60,000 was the biggest in London when they moved from Highbury in 2006, but its size, catering and corporate facilities have since been surpassed by those of Tottenham Hotspur, who earn close to £6million from every match at their 62,850-capacity venue. Without a renovation, Arsenal cannot significantly increase their match-day income. They earned £102.6million from games in 2022-23, which is estimated by the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust to increase to more than £120million in the next accounts because of the team reaching the knockout stage of the Champions League last season. Arsenal’s matches regularly sell out and they realise that they need to keep pace with the huge demand for tickets, as well as adapt to supporters’ changing catering and corporate needs, for example by improving internet access. It ...

Probably only Red Bull do more sports sponsorship than Emirates, but the airline has a particular focus on football. It has added its branding to some of the planet’s biggest clubs: Real Madrid, Paris-Saint Germain, AC Milan, Arsenal, Benfica, Hamburg and Olympiakos. It has signed a new deal with Arsenal despite the club's faltering form. Arsenal's London location and its up market reputation (reputedly the club favoured by the Queen) outweighs any concerns about performance. Professor Simon Chadwick told Arab News: 'Look at Hamburg because Emirates are sponsoring a team who have not performed well for many, many years. But such is the importance of the city and its location internationally, it’s less about performances on the field and more about the commercial and strategic benefits of being associated with the club.' Read more about the embedded relationship between Arsenal and Emirates here: Emirates and Arsenal