Aston Villa have confirmed Visit Rwanda as our new partner, with their branding set to appear as our new front-of-shirt sponsor.
It comes after Villa’s previous deal with Betano came to an end as legislation now prevents clubs from having a gambling organisation as a primary sponsor, and so this was a vital decision to provide us with a financial boost off the pitch.
As per the club’s statement, it has been described as ‘the most important sponsorship deal in the history of the football club’, and so naturally, Director of Business Operations, Francesco Calvo, was delighted to get the deal done as the club will hopefully benefit from the lucrative agreement between the two parties.
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“This is a very exciting partnership for Aston Villa Football Club and a symbol of the club’s continuing expansion and growth into international markets,” Calvo said, as per the club’s statement.
“There is a great range and depth of opportunities for collaboration, learning and innovation and we are looking forward to working with Visit Rwanda to deliver meaningful activations through tourism, investment and sporting development.”
According to The Athletic, this is indeed the most lucrative partnership in Villa’s history, with the agreement said to be worth up to £20m-a-year if bonuses are met.
In turn, it’s a vital deal as we continue to push to drive up commercial income and revenues in order to avoid further financial sanctions from the Premier League or UEFA, and that in turn will also give us more flexibility on the football side of the club when it comes to constructing a squad capable of building on the success that we’ve achieved and enjoyed under Emery thus far.
Villa have yet to announce our shirt sleeve sponsor and so that will provide another revenue stream, and time will tell if the training kits will be another source along with naming rights to Bodymoor Heath and Villa Park as these are all options available to the club if they choose to go down those routes.
It’s a contentious link as far as Visit Rwanda is concerned and so not everyone will be accepting of it, but the club hierarchy have seemingly gone with the most beneficial option for us, and it’s hoped that it proves to be a successful decision from a Villa perspective.
