Etihad Airways has joined rivals Emirates in securing the naming rights for a Premiership football stadium. The City of Manchester Stadium will now be known as the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal’s home in North London has been known as the Emirates since it opened in 2006, and Etihad has now signed a ten-year deal with Manchester City Football Club, including naming rights for the club’s stadium and surrounding campus, an extended shirt sponsorship agreement, and expanded media, business and community cooperation.
The carrier has also branded one of its A330-200 aircraft in MCFC colours, ahead of Etihad’s doubling of flights between Manchester and Abu Dhabi to twice-daily from August 1 (see online news March 7).
Other Premiership football clubs to have agreed stadium naming rights include Stoke City (the Britannia Stadium), Bolton Wanderers (the Reebok Stadium) and Wigan Athletic (the DW Stadium). Newly promoted Swansea City play at the Liberty Stadium, named after Liberty Properties PLC.
For more information visit etihadairways.com, mcfc.co.uk.
Report by Mark Caswell