Delta and Chelsea Football Club Strike Sponsorship Deal

LONDON, June 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) has made its first signing of a UK soccer club by striking a multi-year deal to become Chelsea Football Club's official airline sponsor.  The deal brings together two major international brands: Delta, a leading global airline; and Chelsea FC, the champions of Europe.  The partnership will commence in July 2012. 

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090202/DELTALOGO )

Delta will be exclusively designated as the "Official Airline Partner of Chelsea FC" and the agreement will give Delta numerous benefits including: LED exposure at each home game and exposure on the Chelsea FC website.  The Delta logo will also be included on media backboards for interviews conducted at Chelsea's stadium around Premier League home matches. 

Additionally, Delta will benefit from entitlement space at Stamford Bridge's Millennium Hotel, enabling the airline to entertain guests at Chelsea's home in a Delta-branded environment.

Delta is synonymous with sport in the United States where the airline is the official airline sponsor of leading U.S. sports teams including baseball's New York Yankees, hockey's Los Angeles Kings and American football's Minnesota Vikings. This summer, Delta will welcome the Chelsea FC team as they tour the United States.  In July, they will play the French team, Paris Saint-Germain, at the new Yankee Stadium, which is also sponsored by Delta.  

"We're delighted to sponsor Chelsea FC, a top-flight London club with a fan base of millions throughout Delta's worldwide network," said Perry Cantarutti, Delta's senior vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "Partnering with a leading club in the English Premier League is an exciting way to strengthen our brand both in the UK and around the world while a tie-in with Delta will help build Chelsea's brand in the U.S."

This year's winner of the Champions League and The FA Cup, Chelsea FC is one of the best-supported clubs worldwide and allows Delta to reach an international audience of more than one billion.

"It is a fantastic opportunity for Chelsea Football Club to partner ourselves with Delta Air Lines, an industry leader in aviation," said Chelsea FC Chief Executive Ron Gourlay. "Their passion for innovation and first-class service around the world make them a perfect match for us and we look forward to working together as we continue to develop the Chelsea name across the globe."

To celebrate the Delta-Chelsea FC partnership and help kick off the team's U.S. tour, customers can visit Delta's Facebook page to vote for a U.S. city to host a fare promotion from the United States to London this summer. Visit Facebook.com/Delta to vote.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology and won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 350 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines