Emirates, a global connector of people and their passions, and the Lions, one of South Africa’s top rugby teams, today announced a five-year sponsorship agreement.
The agreement will see Emirates become the title sponsor of the Lions Super Rugby team and have naming rights to the Lions home ground Ellis Park in Johannesburg. The announcement was made at a media conference today by Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations for Latin America, Southern and Central Africa, and Rudolf Straeuli, the CEO of the Golden Lions Rugby Union.
Starting from 1 January 2015, the Lions will become known as the Emirates Lions, and the familiar “Fly Emirates” logo will adorn the match and training jerseys of the team for the next five years. Ellis Park, will be named Emirates Airline Park. The agreement also includes in-stadia hospitality as well as a number of other marketing rights and activities.
Emirates Lions Media release
“Emirates is a strong champion of rugby worldwide and South Africa is one of the top rugby playing nations with very passionate supporters. We are therefore delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor one of the country’s most popular and established teams. It’s the first major sponsorship by Emirates of a South African team, and this will certainly raise the visibility of the Emirates brand not just here, but also in our key markets of New Zealand and Australia where the Super Rugby competition is played, and a number of other markets in which the games are televised,” said Mr Abbas.
“Our new association with the Lions enables us to be part of Ellis Park, which is an historical and famous venue in the country, most notably for hosting the Rugby World Cup final in 1995 which South Africa won. This was the same year in which Emirates first started operations to the country, and today we enable trade and provide connections for South Africans from Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg to Dubai and beyond to our network of more than 140 destinations around the world,” he added.
“At the Golden Lions Rugby Union we pride ourselves on growth and performance. We are thus thrilled to partner with Emirates – a world-leader in its field who is constantly looking to expand and develop. We are tremendously grateful to Emirates for their support and belief. It is wonderful to have financial stability, as a result of the support from this international, iconic brand, over the next five years,” said Straeuli.
“We are looking forward to working closely together in not only developing rugby at grassroots level in both South Africa and the United Arab Emirates, but also expanding the game of rugby across the globe. As 2015 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Springboks’ 1995 Rugby World Cup win at Ellis Park, it is exciting for us to have secured Emirates as a stadium sponsor from next year. We know that we will share many more happy memories, alongside Emirates, at this hallowed ground,” he added.
The Emirates Lions kick off their 2015 Super Rugby campaign on Friday 13 February 2015, when they take on the Hurricanes of New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park.
About Emirates:
Emirates was founded as an airline in 1985 and launched services to South African in 1995. It now flies to 141 destinations in 80 countries across six continents, providing air services that enable trade and travel to its home base in Dubai and beyond. Emirates also connects millions of people on the ground each year through its other operations including Emirates Holidays, its destination marketing arm, and tour operator Arabian Adventures. Seamless trade connections are supported through Emirates SkyCargo, its cargo division.
A multinational and multicultural employer with over 160 nationalities working together, Emirates is committed to connecting people around the globe, and helping them to discover, enjoy and share new experiences together. This commitment is reflected in its wide portfolio of international sports and cultural sponsorships.
Emirates and Rugby:
Emirates boasts a rich rugby heritage with its extensive portfolio of top-class rugby sponsorships. It first sponsored the Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2007 in France as a Tournament Sponsor, and then became a Worldwide Partner for RWC 2011 in New Zealand. Earlier this year, Emirates also announced that it will be a Worldwide Partner for RWC 2015 and 2019, to be held in England and Japan respectively.
Emirates strives to reflect the core values of the game and enrich the experiences of rugby fans across the globe, and has also been the Title Sponsor of the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens for over 20 years, with this vibrant tournament firmly establishing itself as one of the best on the HSBC Sevens World Series circuit. We are also proud to sponsor the Emirates Airline Glasgow Sevens, the penultimate event of the annual series calendar.
Our partnership with USA rugby sees Emirates displayed on the playing kit of the US Eagles men’s, women’s and Seven’s rugby teams. Emirates can also be found at the epicentre of every international rugby match through sponsorship of the IRB’s elite panel of referees – who always take to the field in their ‘Fly Emirates’ kit.
About the Golden Lions Rugby Union:
Founded in 1889, the Golden Lions Rugby Union recently celebrated 125 years of rich rugby history in South Africa.
The Union’s teams compete in a variety of tournaments including the domestic competitions of the Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup. The Union’s franchise team competes in the Super Rugby competition and, in 2014, achieved their most successful season yet. The Lions are known for their expansive brand of rugby as they produce a traditional running-style of play.
Located in Johannesburg, the 64 000-seater Ellis Park Stadium is the official home of the Golden Lions Rugby Union and is celebrated as one of the most historical rugby grounds in the world. The stadium played host to the 1995 Rugby World Cup final, where South Africa were crowned champions.
In recent years, the stadium has hosted many important events such as 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, 2009 Confederations Cup, large concerts and, most notably, the iconic Springboks versus All Blacks Test matches, with sold out crowds.
It could have been worse
Imagine Blades opening with:
“Welcome to Emirates Airline Park where the Emirates Suicide Camels are playing the Sharks”
Cheerleaders?
Attachment:
Selling the stadium name sounds like desperation. I really hate when the unions sell their souls like this. It’s not only the lions, all the other franchises as well. I know they must make money, but there is better ways.
Victoriabok wrote:
Hahahaha
@ Stormersboy:
4 Bombs a plenty
@ Stormersboy:
4 = number of post.regards Rye.4 bombs a plenty
makes me think of the “partridge in a pear tree”
song.
72 virgins a trembling
Rye
@ leon:
@ leon:
3 Leon.How so Friend?
A stadium by any other name etc.etc.
It is the game that counts.
Regards.Rye
@ Stormersboy:
4 Hi Pal.Blades is a national icon.
Does anybody remember him falling out of a
window at Edward Hotel.?
Injured quite badly,but his body had been coddled?
by the “demon booze”
We should treasure him.I Iove the man.
Certainly better than our Bob.
Learnt his lesson for a few years and then the
CT airport incident.
Only seems to commentate at Kimberley and
Bloem these days.Perhaps not allowed business
class(Free booze) facilities.
Kind regards pal
Rye
@ Victoriabok:
@ Victoriabok:
2 Who cares what they look like beneath the Burkas?
GBS be careful.We would hate to see you have
a Salman Rushdie type fatwa issued against you.
Regards.Rye.
Ellispark, sorry 🙁 Emirates Airline Stadium Security
Attachment:
Getting a yellow card playing against the Lions
Attachment:
No dirty play allowed, you don’t want a red card
Attachment:
ryecatcher wrote:
They have it wrong Rye
It’s one 72 year old virgin 😛
ryecatcher wrote:
He is a legend for sure. His antics are the stuff of legend
I once attended the opening of the Pinacle Point Golf estate in Mossel Bay, bumped into Trevor Quirk, epsnt a few drunken hours with him at the casino.
A story for another time.
A very pleasant drunk he was though.
Eishhhhhhh!
Flok!
Yona-we!
14 @ Stormersboy:
Ah… Clever Twirp…. I remember him!
ryecatcher wrote:
Leave blades alone
I liked the guy the used to have on Supersport, Any Capestani or something
I couldn’t stand Errol Tobias
“Pietegghhhhr Ggghhrussouw dghruk weegghhhr ‘n phraggghhh dhhggrie”
10 @ Victoriabok:
Ah, very clever picture… I can clearly see the wasteland around Emirates Airline Park too!!
17 @ Victoriabok:
Flok, as daar nou EEN ou is wat hulle in ‘n baberkompetisie gevang het, is dit Andy Capp (Andy Capistagno).
Ek verstaan hy was eers ‘n posman in die UK gewees, voor hy sy clumsy hande aan kommentaar lewer ge-flokken-slaan het!
Jinne, hy is amper so erg soos Bobby Langlip en Warren Fluistervent Brosnihan!
Was nice to play golf with Blades, Andre Watson and Tappe Henning.
Took part in a Golf Day a couple of years ago for Noorderlig Hoërskool (school here in the Benoni plot area on the way to Bapsfontein), where we were partnered with them lot and some of them in the 4-ball in front of us.
Was a total hoot!
Tappe vloek soos ‘n roekelose matroos… hehehe
Dit reen nou katte en honne… en emmers… en rooinekke hier in die Panne…
Gelukkig smelt die rooinekke gou-gou… hahaha
grootblousmile wrote:
Don’t mess with Tappe
Do you remember how he bliksemed his wife and her boyfriend when he found them shagging at Aloepark, the Police Sportsground at the Pretoria West Training College?
2 @ Victoriabok:
Where do you get those pictures from?
http://www.sexymuslims.com
or
http://www.howtoreallypissamuslemfundamentalistoff.com
22 @ Victoriabok:
No, I do not remember… but it serves them right… hulle wou mos “Verbode Vrugte” eet!
Goooooooo Tappe!!
@ Victoriabok:
13Hi pal.Now that is brilliant.Thank you.Regards Rye.
grootblousmile wrote:
It will be a huge improvement of security around the stadium
I can imagine El-Security ventilating a loitering Nigerian or correcting the lead deficiency levels of a Zairian gangster with the DShk machine gun
YOU LIED TO ME TAPPE!!!!
grootblousmile wrote:
Not at work
These feminists would cut my nuts of
ryecatcher wrote:
An Israeli tour guide told it to my parents when they toured there
He was one of the young Mirage pilots in the ’73 Yom Kippur War
@ Stormersboy:
14 A ditty from an
other time.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Quirk is a jerk
And Martin Locke too
Chanted at Newlands.
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