Emirates airline has agreed a sponsorship deal with the men’s professional tennis tour reportedly worth up to US$50 million.
Yesterday, Emirates and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said they had "elevated their partnership announcing Emirates as the premier partner of the ATP World Tour from 2016".
The five-year agreement is the biggest sponsorship deal in the history of the ATP, according to a statement from the airline.
Reports this year said that Emirates had been lined up to replace the current main sponsor, Corona, in a deal worth US$10 million annually for at least three years.
Emirates declined to release details of the deal’s value or its overall spending on sports sponsorship.
In 2013, Emirates spent about Dh1 billion on sports-related deals including a tie-up with Formula One. Emirates is already a sponsor of three of tennis’s Grand Slam events including the Australian and US Open tournaments. Its participation in global sports and sporting events also extends to horse racing, golf, football, cricket and rugby. Its name is associated with some of European football’s biggest clubs including Real Madrid, AC Milan and Arsenal.
“For Emirates, the global reach offered by sponsoring the ATP World Tour affords us the opportunity to connect and engage with millions of tennis fans around the globe,” the airline said. “Emirates offers direct flights to nearly 90 per cent of the 32 countries visited by the ATP World Tour, making this partnership particularly relevant for our customers.”
Boutros Boutros, Emirates divisional senior vice president for corporate communications, marketing and brand, said the growth and scale of tennis, which has a fan base of 4.3 million spectators attending tournaments and more than 880 million TV viewers per season “has been the catalyst behind our growing tennis sponsorship portfolio”.
Chris Kermode, ATP executive chairman and president said: “The partnership provides a long-term commitment and a true vote of confidence for the future health of our sport. We look forward to continuing and developing the successful partnership we have built over the years.”
According to Forbes magazine in 2015, world number 3 Roger Federer is the highest-earning athlete in the world in terms of endorsements with $58m. Rivals Novak Djokovic – current world number 1 - and Rafael Nadal, world number 5, are seventh and eighth on that list with $31m and $28m respectively.
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