posted on Oct, 5 2004 @ 03:23 PM
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has admitted the 100million deal on offer from Emirates Airlines to secure the naming rights on their new stadium and
an eight-year shirt sponsorship deal was too good to refuse.
The new 60,000-capacity ground, set to open for the start of the 2006-7 season, will now be officially titled Emirates Stadium.
And Highbury - Arsenal's home since 1913 - will be lost to football's vocabulary when they move out in 22 months' time.
Emirates, who are to terminate their current sponsorship agreement with the Gunners' rivals Chelsea at the end of this season, will instead have their
logo on red jerseys and have also insisted their brand name goes exclusively up front at the new 357million arena.
The money from the Dubai-based airline giant, spread out in payments over 15 years, will enable Premiership champions Arsenal to compete with the
megabucks of Manchester United and Chelsea in the transfer market.
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