Sponsorship of sport is part of Emirates' programme of "soft outreach." Photo / Getty Images
Sponsorship of sport is part of Emirates' programme of "soft outreach." Photo / Getty Images
Emirates president Sir Tim Clark is keen to keep his airline’s presence on Team New Zealand’s mainsail – but he’d like to see it more often.
The airline has backed the syndicate since 2003, when it started flying here and has endured heartbreak and enjoyed the glory the team syndicatehas delivered since then.
While Emirates doesn’t disclose what it spends on the deal, one international analyst estimates Emirates’ support would run close to $21 million a year.
Speaking in Dubai exclusively to the Business Herald, Clark said sponsoring the team had been good for the airline and he was looking forward to the next regatta, in Barcelona next year.
Asked if the airline would continue its sponsorship, he said: “I think so - every four years we have this discussion with Grant (Dalton) and the team and we always renew it,” he said.
“We’ve stayed with it. And I think it’s been good for us.”
Global Data says Emirates has 19 main sponsorships, and estimates it spends US$267m ($423m) a year on them. The London-based firm says the deal with Team NZ could run between US$12.5 and $13.5m annually.
Clark said the Team NZ support was among its top sports sponsorships but he’d like to see the event run more often with more teams in order to get more “soft outreach” benefits from it.
“Personally I would appreciate it being fleshed out a bit more.”
The Cup’s arcane rules made it difficult for sponsors.
“It doesn’t happen as much as we would like. You never know how this is coagulating into the great final. So I reckon from a marketing point of view it could do more.”
Sir Tim Clark president of Emirates Airline at the Emirates headquarters in Duba. Photo / Supplied
That’s where SailGP, with its regular schedule and less complicated format appeals to Clark. Emirates early this year signed a three-year deal with Great Britain SailGP Team.
The airline’s “Fly Better” logo is on Sir Ben Ainslie’s Great Britain F50 race boat, with prominent branding on the centre of the wing and hull.
‘’Ben obviously thought he could pick this up so when he came to us about sponsoring I thought that kind of ticks the box for me personally.’’
Clark said the cost of running America’s Cup syndicates was similar in scale to running Formula 1.
“We’re talking €100-120 million a year to run the boats – it’s a bit like an F1 car and you’ve got to have big money.”
That was why the Cup had become something of a hobby for the ultra-rich, which was making it too exclusive and he would like to see more teams compete.
“It’s controlled by a group that is small. You’re always going to be up against it with activating it as an event.”
But in spite of that Clark said the sponsorship of Emirates Team New Zealand was one of the airline’s main sponsorships.
‘’That’s a deliberate policy about brand extension, of soft outreach. The America’s Cup is iconic, it has real history. It’s the kind of thing that we would like to be associated with.’’
On venues, the controversial call by Team NZ to defend the Auld Mug in Spain was a “hard-nosed” commercial decision. ‘’The TV rights are very important and it’s important that you get global viewing.
“Sorry, this is us being fairly hard-nosed commercially,” he said
“That gives 350 million people in the European theatre, so to speak, access to something [that’s] very close. It’ll be very popular.”
Dubai would be a good venue too, if it could be raced there during the northern winter. ‘’The visuals of that, the speed at which it all happens is really good. We can easily do it here but probably the winter months.’’
Among other sponsorships was elite cricket umpires who have at times featured prominently during the current Ashes series between England and Australia where umpires were on-screen during the controversial stumping of Jonny Bairstow.
“I said ‘just keep it going Jonny make a big fuss’ That generally works for us,” Clark said.
“One of my brothers said to me whenever I turn the TV on there’s Emirates - ‘I can’t get away from you.’ That’s what I like to hear.”
Support for the America’s Cup was part of the philosophy “that we have of getting out there and standing slightly outside what we do as a main product, which is fly people from A to B.”
Grant Bradley has worked at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
- The Herald travelled to Dubai courtesy of Emirates
