Leinster Rugby and the RDS will take heart from news emerging from South Africa that the iconic Ellis Park in Johannesburg has secured a naming rights partner.
The deal for five years is with Super Rugby side the Golden Lions whose home ground will now be known as Emirates Airline Park, and who will themselves become the Emirates Lions.
The value of the deal is believed to be in the region of €1 million a year and the clincher for Emirates is the reach into the key markets of Australia and New Zealand through the matches played there by South Africa in the southern hemisphere’s top club and international competitions.
Emirates is already a major sponsor of Rugby and is a partner of World Rugby for at least the next two Rugby World Cups. It supports the International Sevens Series in Men’s and Women’s and is also a backer of USA Rugby.
One unfortunate element of the deal for Ireland is that South Africa and there USA are likely potential rivals for the World Cup 2023 bid launched here last week.
The RDS and Leinster are hoping to attract €15 million over ten years for naming rights to the newly developed Arena in Ballsbridge.
The naming of Ellis Park is unlikely to generate much negative feedback as it was previously known as Coca Cola Park between 2008 and 2012 as part of a deal surrounding matches at the FIFA World Cup.
It became burned in the minds of all sports fans when Nelson Mandela handed over the Rugby World Cup to Francois Piennar in 1995.
Contrary to popular belief it is not named after William Webb Ellis but after a local businessman of the same surname who gave the original land on which the 60,000 capacity venue is built.
