Across Europe, airline sponsorships are common throughout the world of professional sports, with football emerging as the most prominent place for these partnerships to thrive.
Those who watched last Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final were bombarded with advertisements for Turkish Airlines, the event’s main sponsor. Furthermore, one could not ignore the Etihad Airways sponsorship across the jerseys of Manchester City players or the special Boeing 787 that the carrier used to transport the squad.
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Photo: Turkish Airlines
But what purpose does this strong partnership serve for the airlines? Etihad isn’t transporting Manchester City’s fans to their matches in London or Spain, and Emirates isn’t flying Real Madrid fans to Barcelona.
Clearly, there are more complex factors behind the relationship between airlines and European football that need to be explored more deeply.
The cases of the Middle East three
When most think of airline sponsorship of European football, they picture Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad’s names and logos written across players’ jerseys. Perhaps some might remember that Manchester City’s stadium is named after Etihad or that Arsenal’s bears the Emirates name.
These three airlines have been and remain some of the strongest promoters of European football. From Spain to France and most notably in England, the big three Middle Eastern carriers’ names accompany the sport.
But one might ask why airlines would choose to spend so much time advertising to football fans. Very little football is played in the Middle East (except for the Qatar World Cup, but airline sponsorship far predated that event).
Why would these carriers not advertise more directly to those demographics that would have a higher interest in traveling to the Middle East or to the destinations served by Emirates in Asia or Africa?
One false hypothesis that many suggest comes from ownership. Many Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds (state-run investment funds mostly to manage oil revenues) maintain large, if not complete, ownership shares over European soccer teams. Thus, with the large carriers in the region also state-owned, choosing to advertise via football teams would seem natural.
Photo: Qatar Airways
This notion is incorrect. The advertising revenue from jersey sponsorships and stadium naming rights is extremely lucrative. Take Manchester City, for example, the current UEFA Champions League winners, a club owned entirely by a member of the Emirati Royal Family.
If the Emiratis did not believe that Etihad’s sponsorship would serve a purpose, the club’s lucrative jersey sponsorship and stadium naming rights would have been sold off to the highest bidder.
So this begs the question: what purpose do football sponsorships serve for the Middle Eastern big three? The answer is, in fact, not quite what you’d expect.
Photo: Emirates
Winning football championships is accompanied by a sense of prestige, power, and luxury. Take Emirates’ sponsorship of Real Madrid, a carrier quite literally with “royal” in its name.
By partnering with a club whose name alone evokes prestige, Emirates can promote its image as an airline focused on luxury travel—a carrier that an elite soccer team’s fans would want to fly on.
Notably, all the clubs sponsored by the Middle Eastern big three carriers are legacy organizations, teams with a history of championship performance and dedicated fan bases.
Photo: Emirates
This marketing tactic is vital to these carriers’ business, as European travelers choosing to connect through Doha, Abu Dhabi or Dubai are a critical demographic for these airlines’ profitability.
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For European travelers, the only reason to stop in the Middle East on the way to Asia, Africa, or Australia instead of taking a nonstop itinerary is clear: the elevated quality of service on these carriers. Thus, it is critical that these airlines be perceived throughout Europe with a sense of prestige.
The Turkish Airlines case
For the flag carrier of Turkey, sponsorship in European football goes far beyond the normal reasons for which an airline may choose to engage in sports advertising. While one may argue that such marketing promotes tourist visits to Istanbul—and it quite certainly does—Turkish Airlines gains much more from its football sponsorships.
The carrier does sponsor two major local football teams in Turkey, Başakşehir, and Galatasaray, both partnerships that are not surprising at all. Airlines will often sponsor hometown teams in order to demonstrate support for the community and connection to a local fan base.
Photo: Galatasaray S.K.
This kind of advertising is very common in the United States, with large carriers like United and American both maintaining naming right sponsorships at their hubs. For the former, this is the home of the Chicago Bulls, the United Center, and for the latter, the home of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, the American Airlines Center.
However, this kind of direct promotion isn’t as common in Europe. For example, British Airways does not sponsor a major London football club. The airline doesn’t hesitate to advertise in sports, but the carrier will always partner with individuals (such as tennis superstar Emma Raducanu) or national teams (such as the UK’s Paralympic team).
In addition to sponsorships of Turkish teams, the flag carrier also serves as the primary sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, a piece of advertising which strongly promotes the airline’s image and long-term initiatives.
Turkish Airlines stands out as an airline focused on connecting people from across the world. Serving the most destinations of any carrier globally, the airline perfectly represents its namesake nation which bridges two different continents.
Beyond a symbolic perspective, the importance of connecting traffic to the airline’s profitability cannot be understated. Without connecting passengers through a prosperous and modern Istanbul hub, the airline simply could not exist today as it does.
Thus, what better organization to sponsor than the UEFA Champions League, which connects not just teams from across Europe, but also fans from across the world?
A look towards the future
Having discussed the current landscape of partnerships between airlines and football organizations, what are we likely to see going forward? Should we expect more sponsorships from carriers in the coming years? Will legacy carriers within Europe get in on the action?
Middle Eastern carriers not yet discussed could reap strong benefits from partnering with football clubs. One key player to watch might be Riyadh Air, a startup carrier owned by the Saudi Government that will likely utilize a business model similar to that of the established airlines in the region.
Photo: Riyadh Air
It is unlikely that legacy carriers in Europe will engage in sponsorships of teams due to the loyal nature of soccer fans. For example, if Air France were to sponsor Paris Saint-Germain, supporters of the team’s rival clubs would likely have a more negative view of the carrier. The same holds true for almost all major European airlines.
Overall, European airlines would not benefit from sponsoring individual football clubs, and this is not likely to change in the near future. However, such partnerships do align with the interests of Middle Eastern carriers and thus should continue and expand in the coming years.