The omnipresence of Emirates in sports

Emirates, Fly Emirates, Fly Better. Everywhere: on jerseys, around the pitch, even in the official names of teams, competitions, events, and stadiums. If you watch a lot of sports on TV, streaming, live, or even just follow updates on social media and other media outlets, your eyes will have become accustomed to one constant: the omnipresence, at the highest levels at least, of some form of Emirates sponsorship. The logo of the Dubai-based airline was on your screens, for example, when you witnessed high-profile events over the past twelve months: Jannik Sinner winning his first two Grand Slam tournaments (Australian and US Open, of which Emirates has been the official sponsor since 2014 and 2012, respectively), Carlo Ancelotti and his Real Madrid lifting another Champions League trophy (with the Fly Better slogan boldly displayed on the jersey), the Los Angeles Lakers securing the first NBA Cup final (which will be renamed the Emirates Cup starting from the second edition), and the list goes on.

The scale of these events provides a clear idea of the brand's elite positioning standards in the market. However, this is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sponsorship endeavors of the Emirati company. But what strategy—clearly distinct, at least for now, from that of any other brand—underpins all this? In the case of Emirates, the answer lies deeper than a simple pursuit of visibility, which is the foundation of any marketing activity. This difference is evident in both the objectives and the approach to selecting partners. To delve into the logic of a non-sporting entity that invests nearly €300 million annually in the sector, it is helpful to take a step back and frame Dubai's extreme case within its regional context and its ever-deepening ties with the sports business.

The Persian Gulf and Sports

Over the past ten to fifteen years, we have witnessed a genuine invasion of the Arabian Peninsula into the Western sports world. The recent influx of European football stars into Saudi Arabia's league, along with the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar and the 2034 edition awarded to Riyadh, has brought significant public attention to a process that has actually been underway for some time, right before our eyes. This phenomenon has intensified since the global financial crisis of 2008 and, in European football, particularly since the introduction of UEFA's Financial Fair Play in 2011, which further boosted the search for new capital and market opportunities. The strongest push, however, comes from internal dynamics within Gulf countries, which are currently tackling the complex challenge of moving away from oil revenues. In this endeavor, sports entertainment has become a powerful ally. Recently, there has been much discussion about how these wealthy nations—especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates—use sports as a global communication tool, and, in a sense, to rehabilitate their image within the international community. This discourse is rooted in well-documented controversies over human and civil rights, forming part of a geopolitical and economic strategy often labeled—simplistically but not inaccurately—as "sportswashing."

Various actors play a role in this exercise of soft power: primarily the governments of the involved countries, starting with the Saudi monarchy led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (whose Saudi Vision 2030 program includes significant investments in sports). But it doesn't end there. While the investments to organize major events, promote local leagues, and even acquire historic European clubs often bear a governmental signature (directly or indirectly, through sovereign wealth funds and related entities), the range of solutions for leveraging sports as a megaphone is quite broad. This also includes marketing activities by private enterprises (to varying degrees, as the lines are often blurred). This is the case for airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad, and especially Emirates, which we are now accustomed to seeing almost everywhere. Their global success forms a significant part of the Gulf states' efforts to diversify their economies and open up to the outside world.

Emirates and Sports

Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (current CEO) and owned by the eponymous investment group, Emirates is the flagship airline of the Emirate of Dubai, where its main airport hub is located. With a fleet of nearly 300 aircraft and a network spanning over 150 destinations in 90 countries, it is today—after a meteoric rise around the turn of the millennium—one of the most prominent global operators. Undoubtedly, it is the brand that, since its first international collaborations in 2004, invests the most in sports (and more recently, cultural and artistic domains), despite fierce competition from local and international rivals such as Turkish Airlines, British Airways, and American Airlines.

As is always the case in marketing, the target audience defines the approach and partner selection. With a service that emphasizes the comfort-luxury duo, targeting cost-insensitive users from higher social strata, its logo presence (in its Fly Emirates and Fly Better variants) is widespread but far from indiscriminate. Rather, it carefully and almost exclusively targets prestigious, elite venues to convey the desired message: excellence. It's a way of showing the global audience that Emirates simply can. It can be on Real Madrid's jersey, on the walls of Arsenal's stadium, on NBA courts, on Wimbledon nets, and so on: partnerships that are no coincidence, highlighted on the airline's website with lofty tones and grand historical references, replete with superlatives (best, most, greatest). Beyond traditional goals like visibility, brand recognition, and customer loyalty (sometimes partnering with organizers to encourage fans to attend events via Emirates flights), the emotional image to convey is that of a brand that can go where competitors stop, with the sky as its only limit—apt for a business built on flying.

Emirates and Football

It’s no surprise that the world's most popular sport is where Emirates invests the most. According to unofficial estimates, football accounts for around 60% of Emirates’ total marketing spend, primarily through shirt sponsorships (logos on team and referee kits) but also other types of partnerships. It all began with the UAE Pro League (the local professional league) but soon reached the pinnacle of the sport: FIFA, with whom Emirates has maintained a deep commercial relationship for nearly two decades, as well as the oldest and most prestigious competition, the English national cup, renamed The Emirates FA Cup in 2015 (not to be confused with the Emirates Cup, a summer tournament featuring top European clubs).

Among teams, the standout deal is with the most global of all, Real Madrid, which leases its jersey space to Dubai for approximately €80 million a year—a figure surpassed only by the deal with Arsenal, a historic Premier League team that plays its home games at Emirates Stadium (title sponsor), earning an estimated €60 million annually. And it doesn’t stop there: Emirates also partners with AC Milan (official airline partner since 2007 and principal partner since 2011), Benfica, Olympique Lyonnais, and in the past, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Hamburg, Olympiacos, and New York Cosmos.

Emirates and Other Sports

After Real Madrid and Arsenal, the third most significant sports partnership is in motorsport, where Emirates sponsors the Formula One World Championship with a deal worth around €40 million annually. Beyond motorsport, the airline’s logo also appears in cycling events, through synergies with the UAE Tour and UAE Team Emirates, and in sailing, as a sponsor of events like the America’s Cup and Sail GP, or teams like Emirates Team New Zealand and Emirates Great Britain Sail GP Team.

One of the latest additions is basketball, where Emirates has partnered with the sport’s highest authority, at least in terms of visibility: the NBA. Basketball, a sport with a steadily growing global following, has been a focus for Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s company for decades, initially at a local level (Dubai International Basketball Championship and Beirut Basketball Club) and now on a much broader scale, targeting the U.S. market—a less receptive audience for football sponsorships. The deal signed with the NBA last February grants Emirates a range of benefits: not only as the title partner of the NBA Cup but also with dedicated patches the jerseys of referees and game officials, as well as on the uniforms in the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) and the G League (the development league for aspiring professional players). You might notice this new collaboration if you take a flight departing from or arriving in Dubai, where you'll have the opportunity to watch games, highlights, and themed content; or by visiting the Emirates Official Store, where you'll find official merchandise from the top basketball league in the United States for sale.

In golf, there are as many as fifteen PGA events on the Emirates calendar, and even more in tennis (both men’s and women’s), where the airline has an almost institutional role as a sponsor of all four Grand Slam tournaments, the year-end Finals, and another sixty events that make up the annual ATP and WTA calendar. In addition to the logo printed on the nets, the court surface, and advertising boards, the airline typically sets up lounges within the venue to welcome spectators, offering a premium experience similar to what is provided onboard their flights, and, of course, promoting their brand and services. Lastly, for the Anglo-Saxon audience—particularly fond of rugby (the first team sport where Emirates' sponsorships expanded), cricket, and horse racing—the exposure includes partners such as the Emirates Dubai Sevens, the Rugby World Cup, the Lancashire Cricket Club, the Emirates Old Trafford, and many other organizations and events. The airline has even expanded into Australian football, with the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In short, there's truly something for every taste: whatever sport you're passionate about, or nearly any sport, the Emirates logo is there waiting for you.