Arsenal teams up with Telkomsel for visit to Indonesia in July | Company data
(Insider Stories)-London-based Barclays Premier League team Arsenal F.C. has signed a deal with Indonesia’s biggest cellular operator by subscribers, PT Telkomsel, for a match in the capital city of Jakarta on July 14, marking the club’s first visit to the football-crazy nation of 240 million people in 30 years as it seeks to step up engagement with Southeast Asian fans.
English football clubs have seen meteoric rises in the number of their global fans as clubs’ coffers significantly increased following the introduction of the Premier League in the early 1990s. The Premier League is currently the most watched domestic league in Asia, including Indonesia, overtaking the Italian Serie-A that was the most popular league until the late 1990s.
The deal between Arsenal and Telkomsel, a unit of Jakarta-listed Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM), will see “Telkomsel support the club’s visit to Jakarta in July. Telkomsel’s 125 million customers will be given exclusive access to purchase tickets for the match during a month-long advance sales period starting on April 7,” according to Arsenal.com.
“Asia continues to be a major focus for Arsenal, and Indonesia is a particularly important market for the club with the huge following we have there. We have more Facebook fans in Indonesia than in any other country. By taking our first team to play a match in Indonesia, and working with one of the country’s biggest brands, we look forward to engaging with our passionate fans in the run up to, during and after this summer’s visit,” Arsenal head of global partnerships Vinai Venkatesham says.
