The
FA Cup, the oldest knockout football competition in the world, is set
to be rebranded as the Emirates FA Cup in a new £30million sponsorship
deal.
In a move that will upset traditionalists, the FA are understood to have secured a three-year contract with Emirates Airlines.
The
deal, due to be rubber-stamped by the FA board on Thursday, is believed
to be worth at least £10million a year — but comes at a cost for lovers
of the 144-year-old competition.
Renaming it the Emirates FA Cup
is a lot closer to title sponsorship than the previous ‘in association
with Budweiser’ agreement, which was worth £9m annually.
But the
FA, after a highly embarrassing season without any Cup backer that has
put huge pressure on their commercial department, needed to offer more
to attract a significant sponsor to the table.
The hunt proved
hugely difficult even after the FA revamped their sponsorship team to
bring in expertise honed at Manchester United. And it needed a bit of
luck to attract Emirates Airlines, who have a massive sports sponsorship
portfolio across the world that includes Arsenal’s stadium and kit.
Emirates
have big money to spend after deciding last November not to renew their
£30m-a-year FIFA sponsorship for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups with the
corruption allegations surrounding those tournaments said to be a
consideration.
And Emirates are no longer involved, either, in
the tender for a Champions League airline sponsor, allowing the FA to
offer a major football sponsorship alternative.
Dubai-based
Emirates have their arch Abu Dhabi airline rivals Etihad as Manchester
City’s kit and stadium sponsors. But City foresee no problems with an
Emirates FA Cup.
The new FA deal with Emirates will also allow
for a further six subsidiary sponsors for the competition, with
Budweiser, Nike and William Hill already signed up. And the ambition is
for the whole FA Cup sponsorship portfolio to be worth £20m by 2018.
The
Emirates deal, likely to be officially announced nearer to the FA Cup
final on May 30, is also well-timed for the FA’s commercial department
with the new chief executive Martin Glenn arriving at Wembley next
month.
Credit: Charles Sale/SportsMail
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