UAE Rugby Team Dubai Exiles Signs Three-Year Sponsorship Agreement With AIG

UAE rugby club Dubai Exiles agreed to "what is believed to be the most lucrative deal in the history of domestic rugby," according to Paul Radley of THE NATIONAL. The Exiles have announced a three-year, "seven-figure" sponsorship agreement with multi-national insurance and financial services conglomerate AIG. Given that rugby in the UAE "has historically relied on philanthropy and barter deals for clubs to survive," the funding involved in the agreement -- although an undisclosed amount -- "is likely to dwarf anything seen here before." The Exiles "will profit from more than just financing." AIG "also sponsors the New Zealand Rugby Union." As such, the club's members are set to be granted "exclusive access to a number of All Blacks players," and will also be offered training with the New Zealand sevens side, the six-time winners of the Dubai Sevens, in the lead up to the annual competition. The AIG logo "will also adorn the front of the Exiles playing shirt this season" (THE NATIONAL, 9/4).