Because the world’s largest international airline paid a giant sum for it, that’s why. Emirates, along with other Gulf region airlines, has taken over sports sponsorships around the world, and this World Cup is no exception.
Emirates isn’t shy about throwing around large piles of cash to get top billing at sporting events. And it’s the TV viewers the airline is after, and the World Cup Final is as big as it gets, hence the final ceremony.
Emirates’ current shirt sponsorships deals are with some of the hottest football clubs in the world including AC Milan, Paris St Germain, and Arsenal. It’s also been an Official FIFA Worldwide Partner since 2007 providing the airline tons of publicity during organization’s many events, including the World Cup. As a partner, it pays an estimated $25-50 million per year, along with other “partners” like Adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Sony and Visa.
And while Lufthansa, the airline of the winning country Germany gets to tweet this:
The biggest sponsor airline of the World Cup gets to tweet this:
Below is a list of Emirates’ partners separated by sport:
Football
- FIFA
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- Arsenal FC & Emirates Stadium
- AC Milan
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Hamburger SV
- Real Madrid C.F.
- Olympiacos FC
- Arsenal Soccer Schools Dubai
- The Emirates Cup
- Zain Saudi Professional League
Rugby
- Emirates Western Force (Australia)
- USA Rugby
- HSBC Sevens World Series
- IRB Referees and Match Officials
Tennis
- Emirates Airline US Open Series
- Dubai Tennis Championships
- Rogers Cup
- BNP Paribas Open
- Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Horse racing
- Dubai International Racing Carnival
- Dubai World Cup
- Emirates Melbourne Cup
- Emirates Singapore Derby
- Victoria Racing Club
- Title Sponsor of the Emirates
- Godolphin Horseracing Stable
Golf
- The Ryder Cup (EU)
- UBS Hong Kong Open
- DP World Tour Championship
- BMW International Open 2012 (Germany)
- Japan Open
- WGC-HSBC Champions
- Emirates Australian Open Championship
- Australian PGA Championship
- Austrian Golf Open
- Avantha Masters (India)
- Ballantine’s Championship
- Barclays Singapore Open
- Maybank Malaysian Open
- Thailand Open
- Alstom Open de France
- Irish Open
- Boeing Classic (US)
Cricket
- Durham County Cricket Club
- ICC Umpires
- Lord’s Taverners
- Deccan Chargers
- ICC Cricket World Cups
- ICC Champions Trophy
- ICC World Twenty20
- Pro Arch Tournament
Sailing
- Emirates Team New Zealand
Australian rules football
- Collingwood Football Club
Arts & culture
- Melbourne Australian Symphony Orchestra
- Sydney Australian Symphony Orchestra
- San Francisco Symphony
- Dubai International Film Festival
- Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
- Skywards Dubai International Jazz Festival
- KidZania
- Dubai Summer Surprises [annual shopping festival]
- Emirates Air Line [London’s first urban cable car system]