Emirates airline has agreed terms on a title sponsorship for the English FA Cup club football knockout competition, according to multiple UK media reports.
The deal is understood to be worth £30m (€41.6m/$44.75m) to the Football Association over three years from 2015-16 to 2017-18.
The FA Cup has taken place without a main sponsor this season after beer brand Budweiser opted against renewing a partnership valued in the region of £9m annually.
Previously the FA has avoided explicitly branding the FA Cup in order to avoid upsetting traditionalists. The tagline of ‘The FA Cup in association in association with Budweiser’ was used under its previous agreement.
But the tournament will reportedly be rebranded as the Emirates FA Cup in a more conventional entitlement sponsorship agreement.
Budweiser resumed its association with the FA Cup in March as a second-tier sponsor alongside Nike and bookmaker William Hill. The FA is understood to have designs on expanding its secondary sponsorship tier to six partners.
Emirates is the shirt and stadium naming rights sponsor of forthcoming FA Cup-finalist and current holder Arsenal and its presence in European club football includes deals with Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Hamburger SV, Benfica, Real Madrid and Olympiacos.
The Dubai-based airline opted against renewing its top-tier sponsorship of football’s global governing body Fifa last November.