Emirates says FIFA sponsorship worth it

June 30, 2010

Emirates Airline believes the US$100 million price tag to become an official partner of football’s governing body FIFA is worth it because of the amount of exposure gained from this summer’s World Cup in South Africa.

The airline signed up one of six official partners ahead of the 2006 World Cup and has since renewed that deal to run until the 2014 tournament in Brazil.

The agreement allows FIFA to be associated not only with the World Cup, but with all the FIFA events held over a four-year period.

Emirates has also spent a further $100 million on advertising and marketing to leverage its association with the World Cup.

Director of Corporate Communications at Emirates, Boutros Boutros, said: “Our aim with the sponsorship was to raise our visibility and position the airline as a global brand. This was the most cost-effective way to do that, allowing us to reach up to two billion people over the tournament.

“To get the same kind of exposure online that we get from the World Cup sponsorship, for example, would cost about  $3 billion. When viewed in that light we believe that we have done well with the sponsorship.”