Heineken® has announced the extension of its sponsorship with the UEFA Champions League, Europe’s premier men’s club football competition, from 2024 through 2027. The extension will take the longstanding partnership to 33 years by the time the deal reaches its conclusion.
The UEFA Champions League is at the forefront of football culture which the global brewer has always been a part of; from Zidane’s volley at Hampden Park to the miracle in Istanbul, the company has been included in the most iconic imagery of the beautiful game, helping to create unforgettable moments for fans.
The longstanding alliance started in 1994 with the brand Amstel and moved to Heineken® in 2005. For this new extension, UEFA’s most iconic club tournament takes on a new and exciting single-league format. From the 2024/25 season, the competition will expand from 32 to 36 teams which will mean 189 matches instead of the current 125, giving the brand even more opportunities to deliver unforgettable experiences for fans.
A core element of the partnership has been about bringing fans together around the world to develop meaningful experiences whilst promoting a positive message of inclusion, equality, and access for all fans. To support this drive, Heineken® activated the ‘Cheers To All Fans’ campaign across both UEFA Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League competitions from 2022 to 2023. The campaign highlighted inclusivity of the female fans and players through a series of stunts and activations.
UEFA and the HEINEKEN company have spent the last 30 years growing the competition together beyond its European home, which has reached over 2.5 billion viewers around the world*. The strong relationship between the two brands is embodied by the fact that over 330 million fans who are aware of the sponsorship have consumed Heineken® beer in the 21-22 season.
Heineken® has supported the global growth of the competition for decades through cross-market activations like the ‘UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by Heineken®’ where the tour has taken the most iconic trophy in club football to over 30 countries around the world to meet fans in person. Heineken® continues to hold unique events around the world to support this growth and bring fans together - in 2023, for example, the brewer held a series of screenings showing the UEFA Champions League final in 12 cities, hosting over 20,000 supporters.
As Dolf Van Den Brink, CEO at Heineken® explains, "Football and beer have a special power to bring people together and create unforgettable social moments. That’s why we are thrilled to extend our sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League until 2027 as the competition takes on an exciting new format. This change means more matches and more opportunities to bring fans together and create incredible memories for supporters around the world."
Aleksander Čeferin, President of UEFA adds, "We are delighted to extend our partnership with Heineken, a company with such a well-established heritage in the world of sports. This new multi-year deal pinnacles an extraordinary relationship between two long-standing allies, lasting over a quarter of a century. Just like football and beer, our collaboration is a perfect match."
The sponsorship will run alongside the brand’s sponsorship of the UEFA Women’s Champions League and UEFA Women’s EURO.
