Qatar Airways agrees £80m sponsorship deal for rugby union’s Nations Championship
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Qatar Airways has agreed a deal worth up to £80m to become title sponsors of the new Nations Championship in a move that underlines rugby union’s determination to follow other sports in securing investment from the Middle East. The Guardian revealed in October that Qatar had been chosen to stage the second finals series of the Nations Championship, in 2028, and the national airline has now come on board as headline sponsors. The eight-year deal will cover the qualifying matches and finals series for the first four editions of the new competition running from 2026 until 2034.
Qatar Airways is fully owned by the Qatari government, which as with the 2022 football World Cup is leading the project. The airline has already announced a deal as title sponsor of this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. Qatar’s move into rugby is partly an acknowledgment that their neighbours Saudi Arabia will dominate the football landscape over the next decade after winning the right to stage the 2034 World Cup and agreeing several sponsorship and broadcasting deals with Fifa. Saudi money is also increasingly prominent in boxing, Formula One, golf and tennis, but the Kingdom has not followed up on initial talks about investing in rugby.
The inaugural Nations Championship will take place next year in a joint venture run by the Six Nations and southern hemisphere Sanzaar unions, with assistance from World Rugby. The Six Nations teams will play three matches away and three at home against the Sanzaar nations and two others – expected to be Japan and Fiji – in July and November followed by a final series.
