Leganes takes flight with Royal Jordanian Airlines

Spanish LaLiga football club Leganes has secured a shirt sponsorship deal with Royal Jordanian Airlines.

The agreement will run until the end of the 2016-17 campaign.

Royal Jordanian branding will appear on the front of players’ jerseys. The company’s logo featured on Leganes shirts for the first time during the 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid yesterday (Sunday).

The firm will also receive branding exposure on LED advertising boards inside the team’s Estadio Municipal de Butarque, as well as serve as the official airline sponsor of Leganes.

The agreement is the first brokered by Saudi Arabia-based technology, media and telecommunications company MBuzz, which in September acquired the sponsorship rights for Leganes. The firm said it would act as a facilitator and sell the rights to other small and medium-sized companies.

Zena Melki, general manager of the firm’s MBuzz Sport division, told Sport360: “The conversation with Royal Jordanian started as just taking a smaller package but as it developed they wanted the whole season. They weren’t in the market for a shirt deal but they’ve found this is affordable and offers good exposure.”

Melki added that MBuzz Sport could roll out its sponsorship model across other clubs in LaLiga: “This model is something that has sparked a lot of interest and we need more inventory as we have so many companies interested. All the companies we’re dealing with are Middle East companies. Our model is to bring more middle-sized MENA companies into La Liga.

“So I’m now meeting five other clubs with a view to making a deal with their rights as well. We want to replicate this approach. There are numerous clubs in the Spanish league that don’t have sponsors – we will be looking to help them commercialise.”