MANCHESTER, UK // It is a corner of England known as much for its persistent rain as for its two top-of-the-league football teams.
But yesterday, Manchester was brightened by news that Etihad Airways is to spend hundreds of millions of dollars stamping its name over part of this bustling city.
The Abu Dhabi airline signed a 10-year sponsorship deal with Manchester City Football Club, in what is said to be the largest such arrangement in the history of UK football. Previously nicknamed Eastlands, the City of Manchester Stadium has been rechristened the Etihad Stadium, as part of a deal valued at almost half a billion dollars. The move is the latest victory for the club, which recently won the FA Cup and has secured a place in the Uefa Champions League.
Under the agreement, the club and the airline extended an existing shirt-sponsorship deal, while the area around the stadium will be renamed the Etihad Campus. The club expects about two million people to visit the campus during the 2011/12 football season. Manchester City games will now be shown on Etihad's inflight entertainment system, and the two companies formed a series of other business and community outreach deals.
"We are delighted to announce a 10-year extension of our partnership with Etihad Airways," said Garry Cook, the chief executive of Manchester City Football Club.
"The partnership will cover not only our shirt sponsorship extension, which we have enjoyed a successful two years since May 2009 ... but also from today, the stadium that we sit in will be known as the Etihad Stadium."
Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said he hoped the partnership would give an economic boost to the area.
"We will no longer have a stadium named after us, but there are lots of positives that go with this," he said. "We welcome Etihad as a new partner within that effort to make sure that we do economically exploit this area to create new jobs for the people around here."
Etihad and Manchester City would not be drawn on the value of the deal. But Mr Cook said its size "is greater than ... what we've seen before". That means the partnership is worth more than a previous record-setting deal struck by Emirates. In 2004, the Dubai airline signed a 15-year sponsorship deal with Arsenal Football Club, which was valued at £100 million (Dh589m) over 15 years.
Etihad's deal could be worth more than three times the Emirates deal, with Bloomberg News reporting it is worth US$480 million (Dh 1.76bn) over the 10-year duration.
Bashar Abdulkarim, the managing director of sports marketing and sponsorship consultancy at Relay Mena, said the Etihad deal would trump the Emirates sponsorship of Arsenal in terms of value. "It's a massive deal. Definitely it's a higher value than the Arsenal deal. It could be $480 million - I wouldn't be surprised," he said.
"Once you have Manchester City competing in Europe, it's good for the airline in terms of naming rights," he added. "But for the hard-core fan who goes to the City stadium, it's going to take them some time to get used to the new name, if they get used to it."
The sponsorship deal strengthens Abu Dhabi's links with Manchester City, which Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed acquired in 2008. Sheikh Mansour has spent a reported $1 billion since the acquisition, buying international players such as Carlos Tevez and David Silva. Etihad signed a shirt-sponsorship deal in 2009 worth $3.7 million a year.
"That victory was a good omen for us. We have seen real fruits from our relationship with the club," said James Hogan, the chief executive of Etihad.
However, challenges lay ahead. Manchester City lost £121.3 million in its last financial year, and like other clubs is trying to increase its revenue under new financial criteria imposed by European football's governing body, Uefa.
The Etihad deal will go a long way to stemming those losses, in what Brian Greenwood, the managing partner for India and the Middle East at the sports marketing consultancy Prism, calls a "win-win" situation. "The relationship between Etihad and Man City is clearly long-term and strategic which is the best scenario for naming rights. I am sure Etihad will get great value from the deal in terms of increased global awareness," he said.
bflanagan@thenational.ae
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 2 (Mahrez 04', Ake 84')
Leicester City 5 (Vardy 37' pen, 54', 58' pen, Maddison 77', Tielemans 88' pen)
Man of the match: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
Read more from Johann Chacko
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
