Banco Santander to become UEFA Champions League Partner

UEFA today announced that Banco Santander will become an Official Sponsor of the UEFA Champions League from the start of the 2018/19 season. The agreement, which is for three years, also includes the UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Youth League Finals and the newly formed UEFA Futsal Champions League Finals.

Banco Santander is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. With 131 million customers, it has a meaningful market share in 10 core countries in Europe and the Americas, and is among the world’s top banks by market value, which makes it an excellent partner of the most prestigious club football competition in Europe.

Commenting on the agreement, Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA Events SA Marketing Director, said:

"We’re delighted to welcome Santander into the UEFA Champions League sponsor family and are excited to partner with one of the most distinguished and forward-thinking banks globally. There is natural fit between the UEFA Champions League and Santander, with the bank being consistently recognised within the best global brands and, of course, with the UEFA Champions League Final remaining the most watched annual sporting event on the planet. Santander has a great heritage in sport and this partnership will allow the UEFA Champions League to further engage with football fans in Latin America and around the world."

Banco Santander Executive Chairman, Ana Botín, said:

“Santander's partnership with the UEFA Champions League, the world's most global and aspirational sporting competition, builds on our support of Libertadores and, more recently, Racing Santander, the local football team of the Cantabrian city where our bank was founded 160 years ago. We love sport. Our free-time exercise, which we do to challenge ourselves to be better, the weekend match we watch with family and friends, our loyalty to a club and the excitement of the spectacle. We will continue our support of sport because it is a valuable way to contribute to the prosperity of the communities where we work.”

This is the third partnership to be agreed as part of the 2018-21 sponsorship sales process for the UEFA Champions League. Heineken and Nissan have both already confirmed that they have extended their sponsorship of the competition for another three years. The worldwide sales of all UEFA club competition sponsorship rights is being carried out by TEAM Marketing AG on UEFA’s behalf.

Note to the editors:

UEFA Events SA is a wholly owned subsidiary of UEFA, created to manage and handle the European football governing body's commercial and event operations.

TEAM Marketing is currently in the market for seeking sponsors for the next cycle of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League.