It seems that Arsenal are already making back what they invested in their CRM system and Marketing Week reports that it was a key factor in the decision by Emirates to sponsor Arsenal.

he Premier League club announced plans to put a new CRM system at the heart of its marketing activity this year. Emirates, which will receive a number of additional marketing rights from Arsenal as part of its new deal, says the system will lead to more “effective” marketing campaigns through the club’s customer shop, Facebook page and stadium on match-days

It shows the increasing use of CRM by major football clubs in England and this will grow for the increasing amount of revenue that could be generated by fans who don’t attend games.

“If we stop associating members with ticket access that will change the game; it’s about fan experiences. We are investing in a CRM system to register interests and passions so we can then send those people on appropriate journeys of affinity and provide access at an appropriate level.”

The club is looking to pull together customer data from its customer shop, its 10.5 million Facebook fans and official Twitter account’s 1.5 million followers and target them with different offers and membership options as it changes its definition of club “membership”. It will also introduce social sign-ins across its digital platforms to help drive additional value through Facebook.

It would be interesting to know which CRM application they used. Probably not Siebel with all of the links to social networking that the system needs to work.