Emirates Signs On As Asia Rugby Title Competition Sponsor in Three Year Deal

Asia Rugby announced on the eve of the second Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2024 leg that leading airline Emirates has signed on to be the title sponsor for all Asia Rugby competitions in a three-year deal. 

We had heard rumours of this deal being in the works but were also intrigued as the airline is already a partner with World Rugby and with the UAERF. This is also the first and only commercial deal that the current Asia Rugby President Qais Al Dhalai has gotten across the line in his tenure over the past five years and the announcement from both Emirates and Asia Rugby did not specify how much it’s valued at.

Emirates said via its PR, “The new multi-year partnership allows the airline to enable Asia Rugby to invest in and stage 7s and 15s series tournaments, as well as Asia Rugby Championships with participation that cuts across 36 countries in Asia.”

Al Dhalai commented via the announcement from Asia Rugby that this was a “landmark multi-year title sponsorship deal”, adding “With Emirates’ support, we are poised to bring the excitement and values of rugby to a new generation of athletes and fans.”

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline commented: “Emirates has a long history of supporting rugby, dating back to our early days as an airline. Since then, we’ve deepened our presence within the sport across every level, from supporting global organisations and tournaments like World Rugby and five consecutive Rugby World Cups, and the global 7s series, to headlining the Emirates Dubai 7s and growing the footprint of the UAE Rugby Federation.

We’re particularly proud to extend our support to Asia Rugby to take the sport into new markets and boost its appeal, as well as open untapped possibilities for younger athletes to develop their skills and realise their full potential. And this is just the start. We will continue to harness the power of grassroots sporting activities that forge strong bonds with the communities we serve to meaningfully contribute to their growth and resilience.”

The Asia Rugby President added, “In the last five years, we have established Asia Rugby as a brand with more tournaments and increased the reach of our social media with all our events live-streamed, to bring rugby to Asia.”

Of that, there is no doubt but that’s also in the backdrop to significantly less rugby due to the pandemic for 2-3 years – but the coverage of the events via live streams on the AR platform and more recently RugbyPassTV have been a huge positive.

What Does Asia Rugby / Emirates Title Competition Sponsor Sponsorship Mean?

Emirates will be the title sponsor across Asia Rugby competitions and tournaments:

• Asia Rugby Men’s and Women’s Championships
• Asia Rugby Sevens Series and age-grade competitions

Asia Rugby confirmed that this starts with the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series Men’s and Women’s Round 2, in Hangzhou, China. The tournament features the top 8 men’s and women’s teams contesting ranking spots for the final round to be played in Bangkok, Thailand in November.

The airline’s ‘Fly Better’ branding will appear on match official jerseys, match balls, support staff bibs, post pads, stadium branding, and “other benefits” for 21 different tournaments over the span of 3 years.

How We Think The Emirates Competition Sponsorship Deal Coul Help Asian Riugby

The costs of hosting tournaments have been a massive burden on unions we have spoken to, and the costs of teams attending the tournaments, which quite often are hosted at venues which are not always the easiest to reach.

The upcoming Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy Series in Nepal is a prime example. It’s unclear if this sponsorship deal will help cover those costs, or even better for the teams, if flight deals are part of the package.

The in-flight entertainment services on Emirates also mean there could be an opportunity for the region and its unions to offer well-packaged content to a whole new audience which would mean increased exposure.

Emirates Rugby Deals

Emirates has been sponsoring the Rugby World Cup (RWC) since 2007 and in 2011, became RWC’s worldwide partner. The airline also sponsors the jerseys of World Rugby’s Match Officials and has partnerships with the South African Emirates Lions and their home venue, Emirates Airline Park.

In October 2023, Emirates renewed its support for the UAE Rugby Federation (UAERF) as title and jersey sponsor of the UAE national 15s and 7s teams (men’s and women’s) including the all-Emirati Shaheen and Al Maha teams, as well as the official airline of the federation until the end of 2026.

Asian Companies Supporting Rugby

There are numerous local and regional companies who sponsor local rugby, and the news from Emirates comes in the same week that Singapore Airlines announced it signed a new partnership with Harlequins in the English Premiership.

The Airlines branding will be displayed throughout The Stoop in Twickenham, alongside a range of key initiatives and travel promotions, providing supporters with access to Singapore Airlines’ global network of destinations and memorable experiences.”

Harlequins CEO Laurie Dalrymple said “We’re extremely proud to be the only club in the Premiership to have an Official Airline Partner and look forward to working with Singapore Airlines to establish a long and successful relationship that benefits customers and fans.”

This is now the second Singaporean company we know of to sponsor in the Premiership following SQREEM Technologies being appointed “Official AI Marketing Partner Ffr English Rugby Club Saracens earlier in 2024.

Cathay Pacific has also been a longstanding partner with Hong Kong China Rugby and as part of the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.

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