Business of Sport Boost for Arab soccer as Red Bull sponsors Al Ahly By Gavin Gibbon March 10, 2025, 1:40 PM Alamy Red Bull will not put its logo on the Al Ahly team's shirts or around the team's stadium in Cairo Cairo club is Egypt’s most successful Rare sponsorship by European brand More deals could follow Egypt’s most successful football club has kicked off what could become a sponsorship rush from European companies into the country’s top league. Al Ahly of Cairo, winners of 44 Egyptian Premier League titles and 12 Confederation of African Football Champions League titles, has agreed a marketing partnership with the Austrian drinks company Red Bull. No financial details have been disclosed. The deal is a rare instance of a European sponsor engaging with a club from Egypt, where the football sponsorship scene is traditionally dominated by domestic and regional partnerships. Banque Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, and ADQ, the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund, for instance, respectively sponsor the Egyptian national football team and Pyramids football club. “Broadly, ignorance and a consequent reluctance to engage with markets such as Egypt have resulted in sponsors from the global north being unwilling to engage in deals,” said Professor Simon Chadwick, a specialist in the business of sport, and an AGBI columnist. The Al Ahly-Red Bull partnership may start to break this pattern. There will be no logos on shirts or at the stadium, but Red Bull will market the club to its global audience, while Al Ahly will be able to take advantage of the drinks manufacturer’s expertise in sports science. Neil Joyce, CEO and co-founder of CLV Group, based in London and Chicago, which advises clubs on how best to maximise their revenues through engagement with global fanbases, said: “I would expect other brands, which are either competitors to Red Bull or look at Red Bull’s go-to-market with envious eyes, being the ones to move next.” Qatar Airways signs $97m deal to sponsor new rugby tournament Saudi Arabia expands global reach with 900 sports deals Sobha Realty strikes sponsorship deal with Arsenal Red Bull, whose sports sponsorships include the Formula One team Red Bull Racing, has a strong influence in football, with investments in Red Bull Salzburg of Austria, RB Leipzig in Germany and New York Red Bulls in the US. It is also an investor in the English Championship team Leeds United, and has just signed a deal with US soccer team Inter Miami to be its official energy drink partner. “It is entirely feasible that the company may see its Al Ahly tie-up as the prelude to further involvement in football in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Simon Chadwick. In contrast to a dearth of European companies sponsoring Arab clubs, Arab companies such as Emirates airline in Dubai and Qatar Airways have been prominent in sponsoring European clubs. Emirates is the primary shirt sponsor of the English team Arsenal, while Qatar Airways sponsors Paris Saint-Germain.
