Under the three-year partnership deal, MP & Silva acquires the exclusive rights to distribute Arsenal’s club TV channel to all countries outside of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and will cover three seasons: 2010-11to 2012-13.
The deal is a major coup for MP & Silva, and the international agency will now be responsible for delivering both television formats to international markets – the full channel and the weekly programming block – both versions will include news and updates from the London-based club, exclusive interviews with players and staff, full matches, which includes all Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches in both standard and high definition, in addition to the comprehensive package of FA Cup, Carling Cup (League Cup), friendly matches, as well as access to Arsenal’s library of ‘classic’ archive games and exclusive feature programmes.
The agency has built a strong reputation for club channel distribution – apart from Arsenal TV, MP & Silva is also currently managing the international distribution of Aston Villa TV, Inter Channel, Juventus Channel, Roma Channel, as well as Milan Channel, which has been owned, managed and distributed by MP & Silva since 2004.
“We were deeply impressed by MP & Silva’s exceptional track record in distributing club channels so we are really pleased to enlist their global expertise as we try to increase the reach of Arsenal TV,” said Tom Fox, Chief Commercial Officer, Arsenal Football Club. “We have chosen MP & Silva as our international partner as they possess deep-level knowledge across all aspects of managing and distributing a club channel internationally.”
“Arsenal is unquestionably one of the world’s most successful and best-known clubs, so we are extremely delighted to be chosen as the international partner for Arsenal TV,” said Andrea Radrizzani, Group CEO, MP & Silva. “As one of the most popular clubs in the world, Arsenal FC and Arsenal TV not only appeals to millions of Arsenal and Barclays Premier League supporters, but also draws and appeals to general football fans around the world, so we will do our utmost to help Arsenal TV widen its television distribution and help the channel penetrate new territories, which will play a vital role in raising Arsenal’s overall global brand equity.”
