* Developing partners from minor to major
* Emirates overall approach to sport
* 1 match, 150 million viewers, 4.8 million tweets
The power of building major partnerships between sport and business on the foundations of an initial working together is illustrated again with the confirmation that Emirates Airline is to step up from a sector to a full primary partner of Real Madrid.
The deal is reported to be worth €30 million a year representing a 25% lift on what the club was getting from Austrian betting company BWin, but still only half what Chevrolet are paying to be associated with Man United from next year.
They too came on board as an official supplier and when the opportunity arose to step up, grabbed it with open arms.
The scale of these deals is beyond the realms of what is realistic for Irish sport but the principles of showing a professional approach and delivering on the potential of sport in a defined business area holds true no matter is the deal is worth millions or if it is benefit in kind.
As a part of this deal, Real will head to the UAE in January to take part in the Dubai Football Challenge.
Emirates has a huge sponsorship programme in sport and especially soccer, with deals in place with Arsenal, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Hamburger SV amongst others.
The airline also has a large global sponsorship presence in tennis, rugby, motorsport, sailing, cricket, golf and horseracing to name a few. In Ireland it is a supporter of the Irish Open at Carton House in June and of the St Patrick’s Day Festival.
The Irish soccer team drew a crowd of over 70,000 to Wembley on Wednesday night and now has two home fixtures at the Aviva Stadium against Georgia and in a World Cup Qualifier on Friday June 7th against the Faroe Islands.
News is expected to break shortly of a major pre-season initiative involving major names and the power of soccer on a global level to engage with fans cannot be ignored by anyone looking to connect with a sporting audience. It is illustrated by the infographic below.
The total value of soccer sponsorship in 2012 was an incredible €4.5 Billion, representing a 60% increase on the previous 12 months.
Sport for Business is a subscription based community that develops innovative ideas to bring sport and business closer together with many mutual benefits.
Sports organisations and businesses can avail of membership of Sport for Business for a monthly subscription that costs between €25 and €90, depending on size.
In return you get unique intelligence and analysis of the commercial world of Irish sport; a monthly programme of networking events enabling them to connect with sporting and business leaders and a platform to showcase your projects in sport. Click here to find out more.
Sport for Business articles are free to view for a time limited period before being added to our comprehensive archive of over 1000 articles on the commercial world of Irish sport.
Emirates’ New €30 Million Real Deal
