Arsenal made their Premier League title intentions clear by kicking off the 2024/25 season with a compelling 2-0 win over Wolves.
The mood in the Gunners’ fan base remains upbeat after seeing the way Mikel Arteta’s side has progressed and strongly competed for the Premier League title in recent seasons.
Arsenal have a healthy fanbase all across the globe. This includes a large fanbase in England, Africa and also in the USA. But it now looks like the Gunners are getting their own particular fan exclusive fan group from Hollywood!
In recent weeks, a number of Hollywood A-listers or prominent stars have proudly donned the London club’s colors.
The Gunners recently launched their bright and colorful third kit for the 2024/25 campaign. This will be worn for the UEFA Champions League away games and some domestic trips. But Adidas came up with a special campaign to launch this unique kit, with the help of some Hollywood firepower.
They appointed Hollywood star Will Poulter to act in their commercial promoting this kit. Poulter can be seen frying some cold cuts and an egg that is shaped in the symbol of the ‘Adidas Originals’ symbol, which features on Arsenal’s third kit this season. This is a nod to his character on the popular FX TV show ‘The Bear’, where he’s a prominent chef.
Poulter can be heard doing the voice-over monologue that amps up the history of Arsenal. The commercial also features Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira and clips of their past matches.
Poulter is a massive Arsenal fan, so he must’ve been delighted to feature in this. He actually even has a tattoo of the club’s ‘cannon’ symbol on his hand and the ‘A’ symbol for Arsenal FC.
But Poulter is not the only prominent Hollywood celebrity to have promoted their dazzling third kit.
Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis also wore the jersey with pride as he made a surprise appearance for Arsenal Women’s pre-season friendly against the Washington Spirit team in their USA tour.
Sudeikis happily posed with the Arsenal players and even interacted with fans who wanted to catch up with him. His association with the Gunners isn’t exactly surprising considering that the Ted Lasso protagonist has often been pictured watching Mikel Arteta’s side in action in recent years.
A few seasons ago, he visited the Emirates Stadium with co-star Brendan Hunt to promote Ted Lasso and also enjoy the experience as a Gooner.
With Arsenal being a popular club among the USA football fanatics, there are more and more fan groups being created to bring supporters together.
Arsenal have over 70 official fan clubs in the USA, stretching over thousands and thousands of fans. Hollywood director Spike Lee recently met up with one of these fan groups to have a lot of fun in Brooklyn, New York.
Lee met a large group of fans and watched the Gunners’ opening game of the campaign at a popular bar called the ‘FancyFree’ in Brooklyn.
For those unknowing, the Oscar-winning director is a big Arsenal fan and has been supporting the club for decades now. The ‘BlacKkKLansman’ director was once asked why he’s a Gooner and simply replied: “Thierry Henry, Thierry Henry. You can’t blame for me that, though.”
One fan who attended this event with Lee at the FancyFree has claimed that Hollywood star Jeffrey Wright (known for his roles in The Batman and Westworld) was also an attendee in the bar for the match. Wright is a self-proclaimed Gooner, but he hasn’t exactly been pictured watching their matches in a public place in recent months.
It’s clear that Arsenal’s fan engagement model is working and their on-field success is also allowing more celebrities to openly show their love for the club. Adidas will only love how popular figures keep promoting their kits and Arsenal’s own Hollywood fan-club proves their claim of being one of the biggest clubs around the world.