Essendon has signed furniture retailer Amart as its new co-Major Partner in a deal that is said to give the club the most valuable jersey in Australian rules football league the AFL.
Amart has signed a five-year contract that will see its brand adorn Essendon’s jersey until at least the end of 2023. The company succeeds Kia in the role, with the Korean automotive manufacturer having partnered the Melbourne-based club for the past seven years.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Australian newspaper The Age said it is worth more than Aus$2m (€1.25m/$1.42m) per year. The club is said to believe that its jersey will be worth more than any other club in the AFL as a result of the sponsorship.
In a statement, Amart Furniture chief executive Lee Chadwick said: “Over the past four years Amart Furniture has transformed. We’ve doubled our workforce and number of stores, we’ve refined our supply chain, shifted our focus to customer service and re-branded. We’ve come a long way and are now ready to take centre stage.
“A final piece of our evolution is our partnership with Essendon Football Club, which we are proudly entering into today and will continue over the next five years. While it is one of the most successful clubs in [AFL] history with 16 premiership wins, Essendon Football Club has one of the strongest brands in the AFL competition with more than one million supporters nationally and a growing membership base of 80,000.
“The sheer size of the Essendon brand, the club’s values and commitment to the community provides a prime opportunity to position Amart Furniture on a highly-visible national scale.”