Major Chinese Electric Carmaker Breaks Out Of China With Arsenal

In recent years, Arsenal has heightened its presence in the Middle Kingdom and has 4.7 million followers on its social media platform Weibo. The club also toured China in 2017 as part of its pre-season, when the BYD deal was first mooted. No detail was given for the length of the deal or the value; that said, deals of this nature tend to be 3-year affairs.

Similar to most EPL global partnerships, BYD will receive pitchside LED signage and branding on dugout seats at the Emirates stadium. The carmaker will also have access to Arsenal Legends for special promotional events in China, unique customer experiences and  social media engagement.

Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s chief commercial officer, said, “We are proud to become the first Premier League club to enter into a global electric vehicle partnership, and to do so with one of China’s largest and best-known companies. Electric vehicles are destined to form a big part of our transport future so we’re delighted to welcome the world-leader in this field into our family of official partners. This partnership represents another move towards improving our contribution to environmental sustainability, something both ourselves and BYD are passionate about.”

BYD designs, develops and manufactures cars, buses, commercial vehicles and rail stock, including London’s single and double-decker buses.

Sherry Li, BYD’s brand and public relations director. “This partnership shows that BYD, Arsenal football club and its global fanbase believe in a greener future and the deal will help us build our name here in China and around the world.”

This is a breakout deal for BYD; ASN data shows they have not been big sponsorship spenders in the  last few years, falling well outside the top 10 of Automobile brands in China (their nine deals since Q215 have all been focussed in China). They have, however, proven to have deep pockets on occasions – their  spend spiked over US$5m in Q216 (generated by one music reality show deal on Jiangsu TV) – but BYD’s average spend of US$680k/quarter versus market leader Ford’s average of US$11.1m (last 3 years to date) gives a better indication of their sponsorship appetite.

If its first-ever global sponsorship deal with Arsenal works out, it is likely the Warren Buffet-backed company would make a beeline for other international sporting properties like the NBA, in the same manner of its rivals Nissan’s Leaf and Elon Musk’s Tesla in the global electrical vehicles race.