Dubai-based airline Emirates has signed a three-year extension to its title sponsorship of the English FA Cup knockout football tournament.
The competition will continue to be officially known as the Emirates FA Cup until the end of the 2020-21 season. Emirates’ previous three-year deal, signed in June 2015, had been due to expire at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
Emirates struck the new deal with the English Football Association, which operates the FA Cup.
Since becoming title sponsor of the FA Cup, Emirates has unveiled an exclusive themed A380 aircraft featuring the tournament’s logo. The airline last year took the FA Cup trophy to Africa for the first time, as well as Emirates’ headquarters in Dubai, and there are plans to extend the trophy tour this season.
Mark Bullingham, the FA’s commercial director, said: “Working alongside such a well-established and iconic global brand has helped us to make the competition more accessible to fans across the world.
“With the support of Emirates, last season’s competition reached over 912 million fans worldwide. The partnership will also allow us to continue our investment into the game at all levels.”
This season’s FA Cup began last weekend with preliminary rounds for non-league clubs. The 2017-18 final will take place at Wembley Stadium on May 19. Arsenal, whose main sponsor is Emirates, has won three of the last four FA Cups and defeated Chelsea 2-1 in last season’s final.