Emirates began sponsoring sport before it became a global airline.
Its first sponsorship came in 1987, just 2 years after the airline began flying. Collingwood followed in 1999, the ICC in 2002 and Emirates Team New Zealand in 2004, before major football, rugby and tennis properties arrived as the network expanded.
Sport helped an unfamiliar airline from Dubai become familiar around the world.
39 years later, Emirates carries 53.2 million passengers, serves 152 cities across 80 countries and generates AED130.9 billion in airline revenue.
The job of sports has changed with it.
Emirates now has more than 30 major sports relationships spanning Real Madrid, Arsenal, all four tennis Grand Slams, the ATP, ICC, World Rugby, NBA, SailGP and the DP World Tour.
Together, they form a second network sitting on top of the airline’s route map.
Football provides global frequency. Cricket concentrates exposure across major passenger corridors. Tennis follows an international calendar through cities Emirates already serves heavily. Rugby reaches travelling supporters, while golf and sailing bring premium audiences and corporate hospitality.
Then there are the properties where Emirates has moved beyond sponsorship entirely.
Emirates Stadium. Emirates Old Trafford. The Emirates FA Cup. Emirates NBA Cup. Emirates GBR. Emirates Team New Zealand.
These rights put the airline inside the names of venues, competitions and teams.
The strategy is about more than reach. Emirates is trying to turn repeated exposure into passenger preference in an industry where the seat disappears when the aircraft departs and small changes in yield, premium demand or loyalty can be worth hundreds of millions.
365247 breaks down how Emirates built its sports ecosystem, what each property is designed to achieve and why one of the world’s largest airlines has spent nearly 4 decades making its name part of the language of sport.