Airlines that have invested heavily in football can always expect a bump during the playing of the biggest events around the world but given that the aviation industry is so intertwined in the beautiful game these days, and the fact there are four billion fans globally, they will always enjoy a trajectory of growth.
Shirt sponsorship these days is big business in the world of professional football with the world’s largest multinationals lining up to secure the rights to have their name on the shirts of the world’s most successful teams. Incredibly, sponsorships over the course of the 2020 season totaled more than $3.9 billion across Europe’s top five leagues and that figure is only set to grow over the next decade as football coverage expands all around the world.
Prepare for take-off
Indeed, these companies have cottoned on to a winning formula and will happily shell out whatever sum they have to, given how long-lasting the benefits of shirt sponsorship are in the beautiful game. Football fans are a nostalgic bunch who take great delight in looking back on the kits that their favorite teams have worn in the past. It was either a horrible kit that the team played well in or a grotesque one in which the side excelled; either way, they remember all of them and the names on the front of the shirts.
There also isn’t a shortage of the biggest football sites in the world compiling regular lists of the most iconic football kits of all time. It's no secret that fans fall over themselves after they have been released to see who ranks where and subsequently, the conversation grows. In fact, when the UK's BBC ran a poll for fans to vote for their favorite kit of all time, the number of people choosing to take part ran into the millions. In reality, it’s an emotive subject that lets fans enjoy one of their favorite pastimes; a good wallow in the days gone by.
✊ Reporting for duty#UEL pic.twitter.com/nbZ9sYtAGS
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 10, 2021
You can see why there is such a clamor to get a particular brand on the front of a football shirt. The return on investment will be felt for years and perhaps even decades to come. These days, few industries work as tirelessly to affiliate themselves with the best teams in the world and are making as big a statement in football as the aviation sector. Incredibly, airlines invest a massive $237 million annually in football.
Emirates lands the biggest deals
At the forefront of aviation’s charge into the football world is Dubai-based carrier Emirates airline. They are without a shadow of any doubt one of the most prominent brands within football having associated themselves with the best teams in the world. A quick look around the European football standings at any time during the season and you’ll find the teams with the 'Fly Emirates' logo on their shirts in the running to win the biggest competitions on the continent, which perhaps is the greatest testament of the success of their sponsorship.
Hala Madrid. We are proud to reveal our new @RealMadrid A380. #FlyEmiratesFlyBetter pic.twitter.com/wYeIvROTPZ
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) December 15, 2018
The likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid are just a few of the beneficiaries of the $208 million that Emirates invests in football annually. Astonishingly, they are just behind the unmistakable global brands of Nike and Adidas for the largest sponsors of European football. Emirates knows the value of continued investment in football given that just behind them in their jet stream is their most fierce competitor ready to take over the empire that they have built in the beautiful game.
Indeed, it is arguably Etihad Airways that currently enjoy the most beneficial partnership with a football club at this moment in time. Manchester City have experienced the most successful period in their history since teaming up with the Abu Dhabi carrier. Encouragingly for City fans, the constant flow of trophies doesn't look like stopping either with the Citizens, as of 11th March, the outright favorites at 3.50 to win the Champions League. It's been such a fruitful collaboration to the extent that City, like Arsenal, have sold the naming rights of their ground to the airline that sponsors them, with City fans heading to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on match days. Ask any away fan about an impending trip to the Etihad and a chill will roll down their spine given that since Pep Guardiola’s arrived at Manchester City, he has made that ground one of the fortresses of European football.
Similar to kit sponsorships, the naming of grounds also has a tendency to stay in the minds of fans and it will be a long time if ever again that Arsenal and City’s stadium isn't referred to as the Emirates or the Etihad. With this in mind, it's worth noting that Etihad has just announced a new strategic partnership with Gulf Air so it will be worth keeping an eye on whether the Middle Eastern carrier also makes a foray into the world of football soon, perhaps in time for the World cup in Qatar.
12 days, 70 people, 200 gallons of paint for an incredible aircraft. @ManCity 787 Dreamliner comes to life, for its first flight. #ChooseBlue #ManCity #787 pic.twitter.com/M0x7CCdfz9
— Etihad Airways (@etihad) October 25, 2019
Flying high into the future
We saw a huge rise in football tourism during the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and the same is expected again when football's biggest showpiece arrives in Qatar. Although it will be AS Roma’s sponsor, Qatar Airways, that will admittedly scoop the lion share of tickets from fans wanting to fly from Europe to support their teams, especially as they have just introduced a new feature where you can control your inflight entertainment from your phone.
Of course, airlines that have invested heavily in football can always expect a bump during the playing of the biggest events around the world but given that the aviation industry is so intertwined in the beautiful game these days, and the fact there are four billion fans globally, they will always enjoy a trajectory of growth.
