Ryanair’s profit warning may have hit the aviation headlines but it is an industry that grows ever stronger, and ever closer to sport through the realms of sponsorship and sports tourism.
Etihad Airways broke new ground on Sunday when showing live coverage of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (pictured) to passengers in flight on 21 of its aircraft.
That number is expected to nearly double by the end of the year, reaching up to 50% of the fleet. Etihad launched broadband internet on its flights in December 2012 and the F1 race heralds a roll out of Live TV across news and sport that will continue throughout the next 12 months.
BBC News and Sport 24 as well as Sky and CNN will be in the first wave, while Premier League soccer featuring the airline sponsored Manchester City will also be on the menu.
Throughout the next 12 months, the ATP Tennis World Tour Finals from London, the Winter Olympics from Russia, the Masters at Augusta and the Ryder Cup will all be shown live.
It will be interesting to see whether Hurling features as part of the channel mix for the 2014 Championship season. Etihad flies daily to Dublin and has been a main sponsor of the All Ireland Hurling Championship here since 2008.
The airline was a supporter of the International Hurling Festival in Galway this September, along with partner Aer Lingus. This will feature as one of the events under discussion at Thursday’s Sport for Business Seminar on Sports Tourism at Croke Park.
The GAA’s broadcasting rights are currently being negotiated and the overseas and online elements of this will feature prominently having been little more than a sidebar as short a time ago as three years.
A small number of tickets are still available for the Sport for Business Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park on Thursday morning. To secure your place click here.
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