Germans have fallen. Sheikhs rule the shirts

German companies like Opel and Audi used to spend the most on shirt sponsorship. Now, they have been overtaken by companies from the Arab Emirates

More than a billion dollars – that’s how much German companies have paid over the past decade to place their logos on football club shirts. Year after year, the sponsorship scene was dominated by firms like Opel, Audi, and Krombacher. Until now. According to a new study by the marketing research company Repucom, they have been surpassed by companies from the United Arab Emirates. Airlines Emirates and Etihad invested $163 million last year into shirt sponsorship for seven clubs. The companies, controlled by sheikhs Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have thus become leaders in this business. “The growth of the young population in Middle Eastern countries, clubs owned by Arab investors, and the region’s economic growth – that’s why the Emirates are spending record amounts on shirt sponsorship,” sports analyst and football agent Jozef Tokos told the Economic Daily.

Ten years ago, you would have searched in vain for any company from the United Arab Emirates on the shirts of Europe’s biggest clubs. Today, the Fly Emirates logo appears on the jerseys of teams such as Real Madrid, Arsenal, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain. “For Emirates, football is the ideal form of marketing. With the almost unlimited resources of their owners, they can afford such sponsorship spending. They have been flying to Europe for a long time, and matches of elite clubs are watched all over the world,” sports marketing expert Tomáš Klečka told the Economic Daily. According to him, Emirates’ sponsorship is understandable, but Etihad’s is more questionable. Its name appears on the shirt of only one team – Manchester City – which, according to British media, earns about $60 million annually from a lucrative sponsorship deal combined with the sale of stadium naming rights. “If wealthy clubs want to spend a lot, they must also earn a lot. Ticket sales have limits once sold out, and merchandise sales can also reach a maximum. The only option left is to bring in more from sponsors. But whether that figure is realistic is questionable,” says Klečka. In the recent past, Arsenal’s then-manager Arsène Wenger, whose club is also sponsored by Emirates, challenged the justification for such a high figure. His team, on par with Manchester City in European standing, earns only $30 million annually from the same sponsor. “There is talk that under new Financial Fair Play rules, some contracts might be overvalued,” adds Klečka.

According to sports analyst Jozef Tokos, the increase in sponsorship investment is directly linked to the acquisition of stakes in European clubs by owners from the Middle East. In the past seven years, seven such owners have gained significant shares in four English clubs, as well as in clubs in Germany, Spain, and France. “Sponsorship by companies from the Arab world is directly connected to the purchase of clubs by people from the Middle East. There are simply links between them, and such cooperation is beneficial for both sides,” says Tokos. He believes that in the coming years, the inflow of capital from the Arab world into European club football will continue to grow. “Luxury, top-level football as a business is constantly on the rise, and it was not even stopped by the economic crisis of six or seven years ago,” explains Tokos.