Rahul SahaFollowing are the organisations serving as the Official Global Sponsors of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) — the premium club-football offering of European football’s governing body UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) — and enjoying a strong branding presence across its physical and digital assets for the 2023–24 season.
Global Sponsors
Heineken
The Amsterdam-headquartered Dutch brewery giant has been an official sponsor of the UCL since 1994.
In August 2023, Heineken agreed a three-year extension deal of its global sponsorship deal with the Champions League, with the agreement covering the competition from 2024–25 until 2026–27.
Apart from branding rights, the deal also entails exclusive UCL content creation and events for Heineken.
PlayStation
The Sony Interactive Entertainment-owned video game console family has been an official sponsor of the UCL since 1997.
In March 2023, UEFA announced that it had renewed its partnership with PlayStation after agreeing a multi-year deal with the gaming company. The exact length and financial details of this deal were not disclosed.
Apart from branding rights that see the latest iteration of the console family (currently, the PlayStation 5) promoted across UCL assets, the partnership entails PlayStation serving as the official presenter for the Player of the Match and Player of the Week awards for UCL matches. PlayStation also supports “the UEFA Champions League Gaming Hub with the enhanced UCL Fantasy and Predictor games”.
Lay’s
Owned by Harrison, New York-headquartered American multinational food giant PepsiCo, potato chips brand Lay’s serves as an Official UCL Global Sponsor via PepsiCo’s partnership with UEFA, which has existed since 2015. The PepsiCo-UEFA partnership has seen PepsiCo’s big-name brands Pepsi, Lay’s and Gatorade feature frequently across UCL assets.
In June 2023, PepsiCo signed a three-year extension deal with UEFA. The new deal gives greater emphasis on the main objectives of the previous deal focused specifically on women’s football, which sees the former support women’s football by serving as a main partner to the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) and UEFA Women’s EURO in a deal running until 2025.
Via Lay’s, PepsiCo has worked with UEFA over multiple community initiatives: from star-studded ad campaigns promoting equality and inclusivity in football to building football pitches at refugee camps in Jordan in association with the UEFA Foundation for Children, a UEFA charity arm.
Mastercard
The Harrison, New York-headquartered American multinational financial services provider has been a UCL sponsor since 1994, providing unique fan experience opportunities — the most prominent of which is the Player Mascot programme — as well as working with the UEFA Foundation for Children over social initiatives.
UEFA last announced the renewal of Mastercard’s UCL sponsorship in October 2020 in a deal covering the 2021–24 cycle and also including sponsorship rights for the UEFA Super Cup in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
FedEx
In April 2023, the Tennessee-based American shipping giant announced signing a multi-year contract renewal deal with UEFA. The deal also included sponsorship rights for the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Youth League finals, the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals, and the UEFA eChampions League.
Since 2016, FedEx has also been working with the UEFA Foundation for Children over community projects, most prominent of which have been delivering safe community football fields in Spain, Poland, Brazil and South Africa, a “Football for Employability” programme benefitting young adults in Romania, Hungary, England and Ireland, and a player mascot programme for local children to feature at the Europa League finals in collaboration with non-profit organisations in Stockholm, Lyon and Baku.
As a UCL sponsor, FedEx also provides the “FedEx Performance Zone”: a dedicated portal that serves as an exhaustive trove of detailed stats for all teams and players featuring in the Champions League.
Just Eat Takeaway.com
The London-headquartered food delivery service originally partnered with UEFA as the Official Food Delivery Platform Partner of UEFA EURO 2020 in November 2019.
In March 2021, Just Eat Takeaway.com had its partnership expanded with UEFA in a new multi-year deal covering 11 of the European governing body’s competitions:
- the UEFA Champions League,
- the UEFA Europa League,
- the UEFA Europa Conference League,
- the UEFA Super Cup,
- the UEFA Futsal Champions League,
- the UEFA Youth League,
- the UEFA Women’s Champions League,
- UEFA Women’s EURO,
- UEFA Women’s Futsal EURO,
- the European Women’s U19 Championships, and
- the European Women’s U17 Championships.
The March 2021 agreement sees Just Eat Takeaway.com sponsor UEFA men’s competitions between 2021 and 2024, while as far as its women’s competitions are concerned, Just Eat Takeaway.com sponsors them as a UEFA Women’s Football partner in a deal set to run until 2025. It also partners with UEFA’s Together #WePlayStrong initiative, which focuses on encouraging young girls and women to play football.
Expedia Group
Seattle-based Expedia Group first signed a sponsorship deal with UEFA in August 2018, which saw its travel brand Expedia and accommodations brand Hotels.com become official sponsors of the Champions League, with Expedia Group earning the title of the league’s Official Travel Partner.
After their initial three-year deal ran out in 2021, Expedia and UEFA signed a one-year deal for the 2022–23 season.
In February 2023, Expedia Group extended its association with the European football governing body after signing two new deals with UEFA. As part of the overall renewed tie-up, the company provides its Expedia Live travel hub solutions in Europe while also serving as a regional partner of the UCL in the United States.
Oppo
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo became the first Chinese firm to strike a financial deal with the UEFA Champions League when it announced the signing of a two-year deal in June 2022 to become its global partner.
As per the terms of the deal, Oppo branding is displayed on broadcast backdrops and in stadiums. It also features on the official UCL website and social media handles. Community initiatives, like allowing fans to go pitchside during games and capture amazing moments with their Oppo smartphones, are also part of the agreement.
Also read: Kaká joins OPPO for UEFA Champions League (UCL)
Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkey and also the largest mainline carrier in the world by number of passenger destinations, became the first airline to sponsor the UEFA Champions League after it signed a two-year sponsorship deal in September 2022, with a particular emphasis on the 2023 UCL final at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium.
As per the deal, Turkish Airlines gains a wide range of branding exposure before, during and after UCL matches, including LED screens surrounding the field. Turkish Airlines also sponsors the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals, and the UEFA Youth League finals as an official sponsor.
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