Arsenal today enters into an exclusive agreement with Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE) — the leading live sports and entertainment group based in Denver - with the primary aims of building the Arsenal brand in the US; helping to improve the quality of football at MLS team Colorado Rapids and supporting grassroots football in the US.
The establishment of this innovative strategic relationship will combine an exchange of best practices together with commercial and marketing efforts which includes the inception of a Centre of Excellence at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and the transfer of coaching ‘know how’.
Furthermore, a key component of this relationship is the development of the Arsenal Cup, a club tournament that will be open to American club teams from all over the United States which will be hosted at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Colorado.
Arsenal Football Club's Managing Director Keith Edelman enthused: "We are delighted to be able to announce our partnership with Kroenke Sports Enterprises and the Colorado Rapids. This is a very important step for Arsenal Football Club as this becomes our first venture into the United States marketplace. We are approaching this as a long term development partnership that will benefit both clubs significantly."
KSE Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer Paul Andrews said: "“We are trilled to have established such a partnership with one of the leading clubs in the world that will help continue the expansion of our sport well into the future."
Colorado Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush said: “This groundbreaking partnership with Arsenal, a team that has been in the first flights of the sports for more then 100 years is the one of the stepping stones to continue pushing our sport into the next level. In today’s international business community, soccer is the only true global sport that transcends ethnicity, culture and language and with this type of relationships we are making sure that our company is expanding this vision through our worldwide sport.”
The Rapids will travel to London on March 8th, where they will be hosted by Arsenal Football Club to continue their pre-season training camp practicing at their team facilities. The stint in London will end on March 13, when the team departs to their final stage of their preseason in Valencia, Spain.
With a new era beginning for the team today and the opening of their new 18,000 seat soccer-specific stadium set for April 7, 2007, the Colorado Rapids are poised to set a new standard of excellence in Major League Soccer and around the world of sports.