Emirates, the largest middle eastern airline, signed a seven year Melbourne Cup sponsorship deal back in 2004. The last race of this deal will be in 2010 to coincide with the 150th running of the cup, but it is quite likely that we will continue to watch the Emirates Melbourne Cup for many more years to come if the sponsorship is continued.
Emirates Airline has had a long relationship with horse racing, as the home of the airline is Dubai – arguably the capital of international horse racing. Emirates thus has a great appreciation for the best in horse racing, and the Melbourne Cup is a fantastic distance race that draws more eyes than most other horse races worldwide.
While the basic format of the Emirates Melbourne Cup is no different to previous iterations, there is one huge difference that came with the Emirates sponsorship – prize money. The initial bump in prize money was to more than $5 million, with a sponsorship grand finale of over $6 million for the 2010 Melbourne Cup. While the 3200 metre handicap challenge of the Emirates Melbourne Cup is the same as prior years, the higher prize money has drawn even tougher international competitors to the race.
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