Heineken extends Champions League sponsorship

UEFA today announced the extension of its sponsorship agreement with Heineken for the UEFA Champions League between 2012 and 2015 and for the UEFA Super Cup in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Heineken N.V. has been a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, the world's most prestigious club football tournament, since 1994 and with this renewal continues its long-term association with the competition.

Heineken has used UEFA Champions League sponsorship as a cornerstone of its marketing communication, promoting the brand through various activities on a truly global scale. With the extension of the agreement, the very popular UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by Heineken will also carry on providing fans outside Europe with the opportunity to get close to the competition's iconic trophy.

Commenting on the renewal David Taylor, CEO of UEFA Events SA, said: "We are very pleased that our long-term partner Heineken has chosen to extend its involvement with UEFA's flagship club competition for a further three years. Its continued commitment confirms what a strong partnership we share. The support for the promotion of the UEFA Champions League on a global level by such a prestigious international brand, particularly with a view to this week's exciting final to be played at Wembley Stadium, is highly valued."

Alexis Nasard, chief commercial officer at Heineken, said: "The UEFA Champions League is one of the world's premier sporting competitions with unrivalled international reach and professional standards. This makes it a perfect match for Heineken, the world's most international premium beer brand.

"The sponsorship plays an important role in fuelling the continued growth of the Heineken brand around the globe. It reinforces brand strengths in those European markets where Heineken is well established and builds brand equity in key markets for the company, particularly in the developing world. This agreement is in line with our strategy of concentrating on a few large, high-quality properties to get the maximum benefit from our investments."

Heineken is the first of six official sponsors to have concluded an agreement with UEFA for the 2012-15 period of the UEFA Champions League.

UEFA Events is a wholly owned subsidiary of UEFA, created to manage and handle the European governing body's commercial and event operations. It is, among other things, responsible for generating media rights, sponsorship, licensing and hospitality revenue from all professional national team and club competitions, and for managing relationships with all associated commercial partners.

TEAM Marketing is UEFA's exclusive marketing partner for the UEFA Champions League.