England centre Jonathan Joseph celebrates with teammates after scoring a try against Italy in Rome last year. Riccardo De Luca / Getty Images
England centre Jonathan Joseph celebrates with teammates after scoring a try against Italy in Rome last year. Riccardo De Luca / Getty Images

Middle East brands keep their eyes on the rugby ball



Sponsorship opportunities are coming up for grabs on the Six Nations and could offer an opportunity for Middle Eastern brands.

The tournament, which kicks off on Saturday, is one of sport’s biggest brands and sponsorship deals for the Six Nations, including a title sponsorship with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), all come to an end after this year’s event.

RBS has been the Six Nations title sponsor for 14 years but this deal has become increasingly controversial, as the British government owns 72 per cent of the bank as a result of a major bailout during the financial crisis.

With RBS stepping out, advertisers from the Gulf have a chance to use the Six Nations to connect with a growing sport in the region and with the expat community.

Jon Long, managing director of Nielsen Sports’ Mena division covering the Middle East, says: “The Six Nations, and rugby to a greater extent are very much a staple part of the sports calendar here in the Middle East. The competition itself falls in the heart of the local club rugby season which means engagement in the sport is high.

“The local scene [in the UAE] is still dominated by participants from leading rugby nations such as the UK, France, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa,. but this is an attractive audience for brands.”

The tournament will be screened in the Gulf with English-language commentary by beIN Sports, while TV5 Monde will broadcast games in French.

“These expats are also an audience prepared to pay for a local TV subscription which ensures a healthy portfolio of rugby is televised in the region,” says Mr Long. “The evening timing of many of the matches in the UAE will draw northern hemisphere rugby fans together to watch games socially as well as at home.”

The Six Nations is attracting increasing interest. The final weekend of last year’s tournament generated a 10 per cent share of the “global online sports buzz”, according to consultants Nielsen, which offers significant profile for advertisers, particularly those interested in title sponsorship.

Simon Rines, an analyst at sponsorship intelligence and rights brokerage, IMR Sports Marketing, says: “Rugby has an affluent audience demographic which makes it ideal for financial services companies, luxury car makers, airlines. The Six Nations is one of the biggest properties in the sport and significantly, unlike the Rugby World Cup (RWC), it offers title sponsorship.”

The chief executive of the Six Nations, John Feehan, has said that he wants a deal to replace RBS tied up by this summer and newspaper speculation in the UK suggests that title sponsorship deal could reach as much as £100 million (Dh463.6m) over six years.

Reports of a £17m a year deal would be a significant rise on the £11m a year currently being paid by RBS but Mr Rines is sceptical over whether such a figure could be achieved.

“I doubt that it would go much higher but it really depends on how many sponsors are interested and as with anything else, what they are willing to pay,” says Mr Rines.

“We’ve also seen significant inflation in sponsorship costs for prime properties, which this certainly is, whereas smaller properties have seen little fee growth. For the right sponsor, it could be very attractive and the price could exceed £11m.

“The flip side is that there are a lot of rights holders chasing sponsors at the moment, so if there is only one sponsor seriously in the market then they are in a strong position to dictate the fee.”

A Six Nations spokeswoman describes the figures being floated in the British media as “incorrect and speculative”, adding: “We will not be commenting on any commercial activities relating to sponsorship.”

However, Mr Feehan says that more than 150 companies have been in touch about sponsorship of the Six Nations and that he is looking for a title sponsor “who is actively engaged not just in Britain, but around the world”.

That could easily apply to a number of Gulf airlines, including Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.

Mr Rines adds: “The key is whether the audience for the Six Nations matches the target audience for a potential sponsor and whether that sponsor can see an efficient way to meet business objectives through the sponsorship. The big Middle Eastern businesses tend to be banks, shipping, energy and property. There are not many selling directly to European consumers. More relevant is airlines and tourism.

“Emirates and Etihad have significant portfolios and both have taken rights in rugby in the past. The countries involved do represent target markets and there is no telling whether they might consider that this fits well into their plans.

“Middle Eastern airlines, including Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines, are some of the biggest spenders in the sponsorship industry, so I certainly wouldn’t rule them out.”

Etihad is a lead sponsor for the Abu Dhabi Harlequins rugby club and in 2007 struck an agreement to sponsor a top English side, London-based Harlequins. At the time, the deal was Etihad’s first major sports sponsorship in Britain but this agreement lapsed after seven years as the group introduced a new sports marketing strategy.

So far, this has mostly eschewed rugby but Emirates’s involvement with rugby union, which also stretches back many years, has gone from alliances with domestic clubs to global mega-events.

The airline has sponsored the Dubai Rugby Sevens for more than two decades and moved this sponsorship up a gear at the 2007 RWC in France, where the airline became a tournament sponsor.

At the next edition in New Zealand in 2011 Emirates struck a deal to be a Worldwide Partner of the RWC and this deal was extended in January 2014 to sponsor the 2015 tournament in England, where the group was one of 10 headline sponsors, along with Adidas, Canon, Coca-Cola, DHL, Fujitsu, Heineken, Land Rover, MasterCard, Société Générale and Toshiba.

Emirates will sponsor the 2019 RWC in Japan in two years’ time and will have a profile at the Six Nations through a sponsorship deal with World Rugby, which will see the airline’s logo on the sleeves of match officials.

Despite this, Emirates insists it will fly past the current Six Nations deal. “Emirates has no plans to sponsor the Six Nations Championship,” an Emirates spokesperson confirmed to The National.

Another company with strong Gulf links that could be keen is HSBC, whose interest at the last Six Nations renewal in 2014 reportedly pushed RBS into paying £11m a year. HSBC continues to support the sport and took title sponsorship of the Dubai Rugby Festival, which was staged in the Sevens Stadium on January 27-28.

Mr Long adds: “Rugby in the region does not command the same levels of interest we see in say, football, however it benefits from one of the best run and most organised amateur club structures in the Middle East. There are strong links between senior teams and junior programmes and a vibrant volunteer network.

“Here in Dubai there are a growing number of clubs where children are encouraged to join the set ups from as young as four years old.

“This approach encourages parents to get involved too where good facilities, first aid provision and a consistency in league matches means children’s development and support is central to rugby’s development strategy.”

This may not be sufficient to prompt a Gulf company into a potentially costly bid to replace RBS but the title sponsorship is not the only Six Nations deal coming on the market.

How relevant the tournament is for Middle Eastern companies and brands should become clear over the coming months as bidding hots up for one of sport’s prize deals.

business@thenational.ae

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