• 8-year deal for Nations Championship
• Qatar to host competition in 2028
• Biggest title sponsorship in rugby

Qatar Airways has agreed a $97 million deal to sponsor the new World Rugby Nations Championship.

The eight-year deal will cover the qualifying matches and finals for the first four editions of the rugby union tournament from 2026 to 2034.

The agreement is the biggest title sponsorship in international rugby, according to The Guardian. The value for each Nations Championship edition is more than $24 million, compared with about $14.5 million for Guinness’s deal to sponsor the Six Nations tournament, the newspaper said.

Qatar will host the second Nations Championship in 2028. The country will have the option of staging the event again in 2030 or 2032 if revenue targets are met.

The championship will pit the Six Nations teams (France, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and Italy) against the leading southern hemisphere sides – Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – and others.

Qatar had wanted to stage the first four Nations Championship finals, but the Irish and French unions rejected that proposal.

Gulf money has been pouring into sport in recent years. Qatar Sports Investment, a subsidiary of the country’s sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority, owns the French football team Paris Saint-Germain. Qatar Airways is the club’s shirt sponsor. 

Other regional airlines, such as Emirates, Etihad and Riyadh also sponsor football teams and stadiums across Europe.

Saudi Arabia’s spending spree has included establishing the breakaway LIV Golf tour, hosting world title fights in boxing, buying Premier League club Newcastle United and winning the right to host the 2034 World Cup.