Lions Super Rugby Team becomes Emirates Lions
Emirates has signed a five-year sponsorship with Lions Super Rugby team and have naming rights to the Lions home ground Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior VP, Commercial Operations for Latin America, Southern and Central Africa, and Rudolf Straeuli, CEO of the Golden Lions Rugby Union made the announcement at a media conference late last week.
First major SA sponsorship
From 1 January 2015, the Lions will be known as the Emirates Lions and the familiar 'Fly Emirates' logo will adorn the match and training jerseys of the team. 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 is a strong champion of rugby worldwide and South Africa is one of the top rugby playing nations with 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 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 Abbas.
Expanding rugby globally
"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 that is constantly looking to expand and develop. We are grateful to Emirates for its support and belief. It is wonderful to have financial stability over the next five years, as a result of the support from this international iconic brand," said Straeuli.
The Emirates Lions kicks off its 2015 Super Rugby campaign on Friday 13 February 2015, when it takes on the Hurricanes of New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park.
