Team Marketing is looking to sell its final piece of Uefa Champions League sponsorship inventory for the 2024-27 cycle after inviting brands to bid for the last slot in the new second-tier category.
Having sold the first three ‘Global Enhanced Product / Service Partner’ packages to Oppo, EA Sports FC and Topps, Team is looking for brands across all categories to express their interest ahead of a set November 26 deadline.
Uefa said that it has received one additional offer for the second-tier package, which includes the ability to use tournament IP and has been widely likened to an enhanced licensing category.
No pitchside or media backdrop advertising is afforded to the second-tier sponsors. Such inventory is reserved for the nine Global Partners to have signed up for the new cycle, which got underway with the Uefa Super Cup in August.
The bespoke category was launched for the 2024-27 cycle.
Uefa and Team hope that the fourth sponsorship, plus more traditional licensing agreements, will help breach €750m ($790m) per season in total sponsorship and licensing income from the Uefa club competitions. The figure would represent a 39-per-cent increase on the average of €538.7m per season generated in the last cycle.
New revenue targets for the Champions League were based on the expansion of the Global Sponsor tier from eight slots to nine and the introduction of the second-tier category. The inventory also swelled this season with the increased number of matches involved under the competition’s new ‘Swiss model’.
The nine top-tier Champions League sponsors for the 2024-27 cycle are: Qatar Airways, Crypto.com, Bet 365, Heineken, Mastercard, FedEx, PepsiCo/Lay’s, JustEat Takeaway and Sony’s PlayStation.
Last month, Uefa announced the completion of its global sponsorship sales for the Europa League and Conference League in a deal with bus and train travel company Flix.
ANALYSIS: Uefa targets €750m per season in club competition sponsorship, licensing income
During the 2021-24 period, Uefa and Team launched regional sponsorship packages in the US and China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.
Those packages included media, digital and association rights with brands gaining broadcast visibility on LED boards via regional virtual feeds at all Champions League knockout matches, as well as the annual Super Cup.
Engelbert Strauss, Expedia and Socios all went on to sign up to regional packages.
As recently reported by SportBusiness, Team and Relevent Sports Group were the two agencies to present their proposals late last month to sell Uefa club competition rights from 2027-28 onwards.
Parties interested in the last available Global Enhanced Product / Service Partner package have been asked to email Team (uccpartners@team.ch).