BANGKOK 7 October 2024: Emirates has recently announced its continued commitment to grow the sport of rugby and expand its reach into new, untapped markets by serving as the Title Sponsor of Asia Rugby.
The new multi-year partnership allows the airline to enable Asia Rugby to invest in stage 7s and 15s series tournaments and Asia Rugby Championships, with participation from 36 countries in Asia.
As part of the agreement, the airline will be the title sponsor across Asia Rugby competitions and tournaments, including the Asia Rugby Men’s and Women’s Championships, the Asia Rugby Sevens Series and age-grade competitions cutting across several age groups. These tournaments offer a pathway to premier regional and global competitions such as the Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Olympic Games, Asian Games as well as the HSBC SVNS Series and the World Rugby Sevens Challenger.
The airline’s iconic ‘Fly Better’ branding will appear on match official jerseys, match balls, support staff bibs, post pads, and stadium branding, among other benefits, for 21 different tournaments over the span of three years.
Asia Rugby, the regional association of World Rugby, is based in Dubai and represents 36 member unions across the continent, including China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, to name a few. The association organises a mix of Sevens and Fifteens competitions for both men and women across different age groups, including U18s and U20s.
With Asia home to 60% of the world’s population and 80% of its youth, the potential to cultivate a new generation of players and enrich the pipeline of talent and love for the game through a strong fanbase in local communities is in line with Emirates’ shared objective with Asia Rugby to empower athletes from the ground up.
Emirates can be found at the centre of the action at almost every international rugby match. Globally, Emirates has been sponsoring the Rugby World Cup (RWC) since 2007 and, in 2011, became RWC’s worldwide partner, further cementing the airline as one of the world’s biggest rugby supporters. The airline also sponsors the jerseys of World Rugby’s Match Officials, who take them to the field in their Emirates ‘Fly Better’ kits. Emirates’ strong rugby partnerships also extend to the South African Emirates Lions and their home venue, Emirates Airline Park.
Last October, Emirates also renewed its support for the UAE Rugby Federation (UAERF) as title and jersey sponsor of the UAE national 15s and 7s teams (men’s and women’s), including the all-Emirati Shaheen and Al Maha teams, and as the federation’s official airline until the end of 2026.
For more on Emirates sponsorships, visit https://www.emirates.com/english/about-us/our-communities/sponsorship/
For more information on flights and to make a booking, visit www.emirates.com.
