Aviva sign deal worth £4.5m per season for major stadium
Insurance giant Aviva has extended its stadium sponsorship agreement for Dublin’s Aviva Stadium through until 2030 in a deal reportedly worth around £4.5m per season.
The 51,000-capacity Lansdowne Road site has been sponsored by the London headquartered insurance firm since 2010 and the new deal – with the Irish rugby and football unions – is an uplift on the previous agreement, £4.5m per season according to the Irish Times.
It is also more than Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is currently worth – a reported 10-year, £10m deal that concludes in 2026 – but less than half of what fellow insurer Allianz pays to sponsor Twickenham in London.
The deal puts into perspective the impressive figure English rugby chiefs were able to garner given both Wales and Ireland’s national stadiums are in use for sport and concerts much more than their London counterpart.
Aviva Stadium deal
Over its 15 year lifespan as the Aviva Stadium, the Dublin arena has been visited by 11.5m people and hosted over 350 events – from Six Nations rugby and Dua Lipa to Irish football and college American football.
But in recent years the capital’s major rugby team, Leinster, has taken a number of games to the city’s 82,000-capacity Croke Park GAA ground, deeming the Aviva Stadium too small for major matches.
The arena has an iconic stand, which is predominately glass due to its close proximity to local housing.
“It builds our brand and brings visibility and awareness, people who know we sponsor it trust us more, and when it comes to buying products they tend to select us more,” Declan O’Rourke of Aviva said.
“We greatly value our association with this iconic sporting venue and our national rugby and football teams.”
The first match under the renewal will see Heimir Hallgrimsson’s Republic of Ireland face Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in a Fifa World Cup qualifier on Thursday before Ireland’s rugby team take on Australia on Saturday. Andy Farrell’s side will host world champions South Africa next weekend.