Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to the 34th weekly edition of Broken Marketing by Anvara, where we discuss marketing that breaks.

For those of you who are new here, we’re Nick and Andrei, the co-founders of Anvara. We’ve included you here because one way or another, we’re connected. We’re happy to have you as a part of the Anvara family.

After eight seasons, Arsenal is bringing its Visit Rwanda sleeve deal to a close - and the decision is a rare moment where fans actually shaped the commercial outcome for one of the world’s biggest clubs.

The partnership began in 2018 and generated $13.4 million for Arsenal last season alone. Rwanda renewed it in 2021 and even held talks about extending it again this fall. But protests kept building. Supporter groups - especially Gunners For Peace - publicly pushed the club to cut the deal due to concerns over Rwanda’s political controversies and rising violence in eastern DRC.

Maybe that’s why Rwanda is so insistent on sponsorship - a jersey patch is a good way to save face.

The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust found that 90% of its members opposed extending the partnership. Bayern Munich already terminated its own deal earlier this year after similar pressure. Even the DRC foreign minister directly urged Arsenal to cut the deal.

This time, supporters didn’t just voice their concerns - they changed the club’s direction. Fan groups called it a “Big Club decision,” a sign that the team still has values beyond commercial revenue. And while Rwanda will remain connected to Kroenke Sports through partnerships with the LA Rams and SoFi Stadium, the sleeve deal is gone after this season.

This moment matters. For years, clubs assumed fans would complain but ultimately accept whatever sponsorship appeared on the shirt. Not anymore. Politics, ethics, and public sentiment are now inseparable from brand partnerships.

And in an era where national tourism deals have taken over global football, this is a step back. Fan influence isn’t theoretical anymore - it’s actionable.

Liverpool’s newest partner isn’t a crypto company or a tourism board. It’s PayPal - and this deal shows how fast sports sponsorship is changing.

The partnership makes PayPal the club’s official digital payments provider. That sounds simple, but it actually means PayPal is becoming part of the way Liverpool fans buy tickets, shop, and interact with the team.

The company is rolling out PayPal+, a new rewards program that gives Liverpool supporters points they can use for matchday perks. PayPal was already an accepted payment option, but now it has become the preferred one - the one Liverpool wants fans to use first (they’re getting paid nicely in return).

This is PayPal’s first partnership with a Premier League club, but it fits a much bigger pattern. The company is quietly building a strong presence across sports. The Big Ten and Big 12 already use PayPal to send revenue-share payments to athletes. PayPal has naming rights with the San Jose Earthquakes and a long-running relationship with the Phoenix Suns.

The message is clear. PayPal isn’t just buying exposure. It’s plugging itself into the fan experience - leveraging the true power of sports marketing.

This is where sports sponsorship is heading. Brands don’t just want their logo on a jersey or a sideline board - they want to become part of a fan’s daily habits. With Liverpool’s massive global audience, PayPal now has a direct line into millions of loyal consumers.

It’s not flashy. It’s not loud. But it’s one of the smartest plays in the sponsorship game right now.

One of the biggest pension funds in America just made one of the biggest investments the sports world has ever seen.

CalPERS - the massive California public retirement fund - has committed $775 million to Sixth Street’s new sports and live entertainment strategy. And this isn’t a small side bet. It’s a sign that sports have officially become a mature financial asset class.

Sixth Street has already been busy this year, buying stakes in the Celtics, the S.F. Giants, and the Patriots. But this new fund goes way beyond team ownership. It’s built to invest in everything around sports: leagues, stadiums, media rights, real estate, ticketing, merchandising, sponsorship rights, and the entire system that powers live entertainment.

The scale is enormous. And the structure behind it is even more important.

Sixth Street will run this fund alongside its huge $30B TAO vehicle, which means they can raise focused capital for specific strategies while still writing billion-dollar checks when a big opportunity appears. It gives them both flexibility and firepower.

CalPERS’ decision confirms what private investors have been hinting at for years: sports are steady, global, and incredibly resilient. They keep growing even when other markets slow down. They bring in massive audiences that brands will always pay to reach. And there’s only so much supply, which makes the value even stronger.

This is the moment sports fully turn into a long-term institutional investment, not a trend.

Sports are now part of the financial mainstream. And with moves like this, the line between Wall Street and game day is quickly disappearing.

🤺 USA Fencing x Rosetta Stone + IXL — USA Fencing adds two major education-tech partners through 2028, offering members discounted access to both platforms. The deal continues the federation’s commercial momentum, now topping $10M in new sponsorships since 2022.

🏈 Virginia x Upstack — Univ. of Virginia Athletics signs a new deal with Upstack, featuring the first corporate logo ever placed on the field at Scott Stadium. The one-time placement debuts during the rivalry game against Virginia Tech.

🤼 DoorDash x UFC and WWE — DoorDash becomes the official on-demand delivery partner for both UFC and WWE, with presenting roles at premium events and new broadcast integrations. The company is also aligning with FIFA ahead of the 2026 World Cup as it expands deeper into global sports.

Quote of the Week

“I've never lost a game, I just ran out of time.” - Michael Jordan