Arsenal have signed a sleeve sponsorship deal with the Rwanda Development Board, agreeing to display “Visit Rwanda” on their shirts next season.

Arsenal announced the deal on Wednesday morning. It’s a three-year agreement that sees the ‘Visit Rwanda’ become the club’s official Tourism Partner.

Although the official press release doesn’t detail how much the agreement is worth, previous reports suggest Arsenal will earn £10m-a-year from the sponsorship. It’s the first sleeve sponsor the club has ever had, and the largest in the league. Joint-largest, when Chelsea announce their own £10m-a-year deal with Hyundai.

The previous deal with Emirates didn’t allow them to have a sleeve sponsor. As a result, Arsenal probably wouldn’t have been able to add one half-way through this season, like a number of other clubs did. Now that they’ve negotiated a new Emirates deal though, the club can push ahead with announcing this new partner.

It’s good to see the club keeping up with the other top Premier League clubs in at least one commercial aspect. The club is often accused of lagging behind with kit sponsors and manufacturers, signing rather underwhelming agreements. Hopefully this is the end of that era, and the beginning of a new one under the club’s new management.