Heineken returns Amstel to European football with Europa League deal

Dutch brewing company Heineken has reached an agreement for its Amstel brand to become an official partner of European club football competition the Uefa Europa League.

The deal is for three years, covering the 2015-16 to 2017-18 seasons, and completes the Europa League’s commercial roster for this cycle.

It builds on the existing partnership between Uefa and Heineken, which covers the Champions League during the same period.

Heineken has sponsored the Champions League since 1994 and until 2005 these rights were exercised under the Amstel brand. For the past 10 years, Heineken’s flagship eponymous brand has taken on the sponsorship.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director of Uefa Events, said: “Amstel is a brand with a historical heritage in European professional football, and is therefore a welcome and notable addition to the Uefa Europa League commercial platform.

“Having Amstel on board successfully completes the commercial partner family for the Uefa Europa League in the 2015-18 period, and we now look forward to beginning to work with Amstel and the rest of the sponsor partner portfolio towards a successful next three years.”

Walter Drenth, senior director of international brands at Heineken, added: “Amstel’s previous 11-year partnership with Uefa played a significant role in the brand becoming a truly international player in the global beer market. Amstel has a proud heritage in supporting football at different levels, and we are delighted that the brand is back and involved with elite European club football.”

Amstel joins the Europa League partner family, which includes main sponsor FedEx, official partners Hankook, UniCredit and Enterprise and official supplier Adidas.