February 6 – Emirates airline has agreed a five-season main sponsorship deal with Ligue 1 club Olympique Lyonnais’ men’s team, starting with the 2020/21 season.
Emirates’ ‘Fly Better’ logo will appear on the front of Olympique Lyonnais’ shirts for all Ligue 1 and European matches, as well as on training kits. Emirates highly will also have branding around the Groupama Stadium on top of hospitality, ticketing and other marketing rights.
The agreement, brokered by Infront, sees Emirates take over the shirt sponsorship position from Hyundai. The OL women’s team – Olympique Lyonnais Féminin – that has dominated French and European competition for the past five seasons, has information technology and software firm Sword as their shirt sponsor in a deal that expores at the end of this season.
Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Olympique Lyonnais, said: “The arrival of Emirates represents an incredible opportunity for our club and our city. We are delighted to be accompanied by a true world-class leader. Emirates embodies elegance and quality of service and is a premium brand with a proven track record in football and sports sponsorship.”
Emirates first began flying from Lyons to Dubai, UAE, in 2012, the first airline to connect the French city directly to the middle east.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, group chairman and chief executive of Emirates said: “With Olympique Lyonnais, we’ve found a partner that mirrors our ‘Fly Better’ brand promise of striving to achieve the highest levels of success, and there is already a connection between Lyon and Dubai with Emirates’ daily flights between both cities. This partnership is more than just a commercial deal, but also reinforces Emirates’ investment and economic contribution to both the Lyon region, and France as a whole, a country where we have been present for nearly three decades.”
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1714110116labto1714110116ofdlr1714110116owedi1714110116sni@n1714110116osloh1714110116cin.l1714110116uap1714110116