Puma to Become Arsenal’s Official Kit Sponsor!

Big, big news coming out of London today that Arsenal have made a decision to switch from Nike to PUMA as their kit sponsors. This is set to be a long-term partnership that will take effect on July 1st of 2014. PUMA will become the official kit partner to Arsenal and will also be creating and producing playing and training kits for all additional Arsenal teams.

Being that Arsenal were sponsored by Nike and playing some of their best soccer at the moment, it shows that PUMA mean business and are willing to throw money around to increase their stake.

Having extended and deepened its relationship with the FIGC (Italian Football Federation), signed 2013 UEFA Champions LeagueTM finalists Borussia Dortmund and bolstered its player portfolio with Sergio Agüero, Cesc Fàbregas, Mario Balotelli, Radamel Falcao, Olivier Giroud, Marco Reus and Yaya Touré amongst others; PUMA is defining itself as the clear number three football brand.

Bjoern Gulden, Chief Executive Officer for PUMA said:

Arsenal have been a key strategic target for PUMA for a number of years now. Through a clear commercial vision, a well-defined sports marketing strategy and a relentless enthusiasm within the PUMA organisation, we’re proud to have signed this partnership with a truly global football club. As we enter a new era in our company history, Arsenal represents a major commercial and marketing opportunity to reinforce PUMA’s credibility as a global sports brand, and we have full confidence the plans in place to activate this partnership will have a significant global impact.

Personally, I can see the huge significance of this deal and it really does set a statement to the market. I doubt we will have to wait long before seeing the debut of an Arsenal FC x PUMA jersey – expect something special with that one!