Sports Sponsorship by Airline Industry – Analysing Biggest Brands and Spenders, Venue Rights, Deals, Trends and Case Studies

Sports Sponsorship by Airline Industry Report Overview

The airlines sector accounts for an estimated annual spend of $1 billion in sport sponsorship for 2023, with much of this deal volume being driven by deals within soccer. The airlines sector is responsible for some of the biggest deals in sport sponsorship, with brands such as Emirates Palace and Qatar Airways having secured enormous deals with some of the world’s most popular soccer teams, including Real Madrid, PSG and Arsenal.

The sports sponsorship by airline industry report offers their involvements in sports sponsorship, with a closer look at some of the major deals and active brands. The report identifies the key airline brands currently operating in the sector, including the most active brands and the ones with the highest spend. This report provides an overview of the airlines sponsorship sector globally, with a focus on specific regions.

Sports Sponsorship Industry Segmentation by Sport Deals

The key sport deals in the sports sponsorship industry are Soccer, Motor Racing, Basketball, Multi-sport Games, Baseball, American Football, Gold, Tennis, Ice Hockey, and Cricket. Soccer represents the most lucrative market for airline sector spend accounting for more than 53% of the annual spending in 2023. The five most valuable active deals that the airline sector have are all associated with soccer, with four of these being team deals.

Furthermore, motor racing has the second place in terms of annual spend followed by basketball.

Sports Sponsorship Industry Analysis by Sport Deals, 2023 (%)

For more insights on the key sport deals in the sports sponsorship industry, download a free sample report

Sports Sponsorship Industry Segmentation by Product Category

The key product categories in the sports sponsorship industry are teams, federations, venues, athletes, series, and events. Teams are the major recipient of the sponsorship from airline brands accounting for more than 57% of annual spend in 2023. Venue deals are the second highest revenue generator, followed by federations.

Sports Sponsorship Industry Analysis by Product Category, 2023 (%)

For more insights on the key sport deals in the sports sponsorship industry, download a free sample report

Sports Sponsorship Industry Segmentation by Regional Markets

The key markets in the sports sponsorship industry are United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Japan, and Australia. In 2023, United States represents the most enticing sport market globally.

Sports Sponsorship Industry Analysis by Key Markets, 2023 (%)

For more insights on the key markets in the sports sponsorship industry, download a free sample report

Sports Sponsorship Industry Segmentation by Key Airlines Sector Deals

The top airlines sector deals in the sports sponsorship industry are Paris Saint Germain and Qatar Airways, Real Madrid and Emirates Airline, Manchester City and Etihad Airways, UEFA and Turkish Airlines, and Arsenal and Emirates Airline among others. In 2023, the biggest active partnership is between French soccer team Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Qatar Airways, where the brand serves as the club’s shirt sponsor, as well as a primary partner of the club in a deal worth $80 million a year.

Sports Sponsorship Industry Analysis by Key Airlines Sector Deals
For more insights on the key airlines sector deals in the sports sponsorship industry, download a free sample report

Sports Sponsorship Industry Segmentation by Key Brands

The key brands in the sports sponsorship industry are Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways, Delta Airlines, NetJets, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Japan Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Virgin Australia. In 2023, Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and NetJets share the privilege of having the most active sponsorship agreements amongst all airline brands.

Sports Sponsorship Industry Analysis by Key Brands

For more insights on the key airlines sector deals in the sports sponsorship industry, download a free sample report

Scope

• This report provides an overview of the airlines sponsorship sector globally, with a focus on specific regions.
• The report identifies the key airline brands currently operating in the sector, including the most active brands and the ones with the highest spend.
• A look at which sports are the most frequently sponsored by airline brands, and the benefits they have reaped from these deals.
• A detailed look at what kinds of partnerships are most prevalent when it comes to airline brands.

Key Highlights

As of 26th June 2023, there are a total of 295 active deals with airline brands, globally, with much of this deal volume being driven by deals within soccer. Specifically driving this are an abundance of deals with teams, with the five highest deal values in this dataset all being part of soccer deals. This includes some of the world’s biggest commercial teams including Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Arsenal, as well as deals with federations including UEFA and Ligue 1. The biggest of these deals is between French team PSG and Qatar Airways, which saw the brand become the team’s primary shirt sponsor, as well as an official airline partner of the club in a deal worth an estimated $80 million a year.

Soccer is the most popular sport for airline brands, with the sport having almost quadruple the number of active deals than that of the next most popular sport, basketball. The annual deal values also massively eclipse those of all other sports, with no other sport eclipsing an annual spend of $100 million, while soccer is comfortably clear of the $500 million mark. This is due to an abundance of major team deals, with three of these deals being worth north of $60 million annually.

The five most valuable active deals that the airline sector have are all associated with soccer, with four of these being team deals. This is a surprise given that the highest value deals are often with federations. The highest value of all these deals is between PSG and Qatar Airways, which is unsurprising given that PSG are Qatari-owned and would likely have strong business ties to Qatar itself. As part of the deal, Qatar Airways serves as the team’s primary shirt sponsor, as well as Qatar Airways Holidays offering specific travel packages to PSG fans, and Qatar Duty Free serving as the team’s official duty free provider.

Venue deals are the second highest revenue generator at 22%, despite placing third in terms of deal volume, with 40 active agreements. Contributing to this result is a deal between Allegiant Air and the Las Vegas Raiders, with the brand agreeing to become the team’s official airline partner, as well as a naming rights partner for the team’s home stadium. The 20-year deal which came into effect in 2020, is worth a reported $20 million a year, and will run until its expiry date in 2040. Other North American venue deals driving value include American Airlines and their deal with the home venue of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, where they serve as a founding partner of the stadium, as well as an official airline of both teams. The deal is reported to be worth $9 million a year, and is expected to expire in 2029 after a ten-year duration.

Reasons to Buy

• For those wanting an in depth analysis of how the biggest partnerships active in the sector.
• Discusses why some brands are more active than others, and how this is affected by the sports that are most popular in their regions.
• GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition and secure that all-important competitive advantage.