Aeroflot To Sponsor Russia's CSKA Football Club

Russian air carrier Aeroflot is to become a main sponsor for Russian Premier League CSKA Moscow, according to RT.com. Aeroflot will pay $9M a year for sponsorship rights. Aeroflot declined to comment, though CSKA players, who had a friendly with the Süper Lig Bursaspor on Monday, were wearing T-shirts reading “Aeroflot.” Oil company Bashneft financed the club for "about two years" until last season. Aeroflot is "the only airline to sponsor a football club in Russia." Other Russian Premier League teams receiving comparable sponsorships include Spartak FC, which gets $5M from oil company LUKOIL, Zenith FC, which receives about $19M from Gazprom Neft and Locomotiv of Moscow FC, which receives "a whopping" $30M from Russian Railways (RT.com, 7/11).