By Mark Baber
June 1 – Just hours before the 2015 FA Cup Final was won by Emirates sponsored Arsenal, the FA announced the Dubai-based airline as the new sponsor of the FA Cup in a deal which will see the competition named ‘The Emirates FA Cup’ from next season up until 2018.
The FA Cup, first held in 1871-72, held off commercial sponsorship until 1994-95 when a deal was struck with Littlewoods Pools whereby a suffix, ‘sponsored by Littlewoods’ was added to the title ‘The FA Cup’.
Since then it has been officially known as ‘The AXA-Sponsored FA Cup’, ‘The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON’, and ‘The FA Cup with Budweiser’ before Budweiser withdrew at the end of last season, leaving the FA looking for a new partner. The deal with the Emirates thus marks a departure from a very long tradition, which can be expected to considerably increase the visibility of the sponsor’s name and which has come with an estimated price tag of £30 million for three years.
In their statement the FA, which describes Emirates as “a global connector of people and passions,” claims two million fans have attended FA Cup matches this season and the competition has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity amongst domestic and global television audiences.
Sir Tim Clark President of Emirates Airline, commented that: “We are proud to be the first title sponsor of the tournament and we look forward to a long-term partnership.”
“Football is a truly global sport, a unifying factor in many communities and nations across the world. Never is this more evident than with The FA Cup, which has an unrivalled heritage and draws a global audience of more than 1.1 billion people.”
“The spirit of competition, fair play, and sparking the passions of a global audience, are all values we share at Emirates.
“That is why we are proud to be the first title sponsor of the tournament and we look forward to a long-term partnership to support and connect fans to their teams both here in the UK and across the world.”
Greg Dyke, Chairman of The FA said: “Emirates’ commitment to our sport is evident and securing such an iconic and forward-thinking lead partner for The FA Cup is great news for us, the fans and for the whole game.
“The partnership will help take the tournament to new audiences, inspire interest in football from across the globe and allow us to continue our investment into the game at all levels.”
Emirates football sponsorships in Europe include AC Milan, Real Madrid, Olympiacos FC, Hamburger SV, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain as well as Arsenal. The addition of the world’s oldest football competition will be a major feather in their nest, whilst for the FA under Greg Dyke, the sacrifice of years of tradition for some additional revenue, after a year with a gap in the FA’s sponsorship portfolio, is clearly welcome.
It is interesting that Emirates, having chosen to pull away from a FIFA sponsorship, have quickly opted for sponsorship of the English FA’s premium club competition. The English FA chairman Greg Dyke has been a persistent outspoken critic of Qatar saying that the 2022 World Cup should not be played the region.
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