Overview of the 2022/2023 Champions League sponsors
With the world’s best players competing, great exposure and millions at stake, Europe’s biggest club competition will again be a spectacle to watch. Similar to previous seasons we analyse the kit and shirt sponsors of the 32 teams participating in the 2022/2023 UEFA Champions League (UCL). We also take a look at UEFA’s Champions League sponsors and partners.
NOTE: This article is subject to change when new deals are announced.
Kit sponsors: 32 teams, seven brands
Seven different clothing brands sponsor the 32 Champions League teams this season. The same amount as during the 2021/2022 and 2020/2021 campaigns. Adidas, Castore, EA7, Macron, New Balance, Nike and Puma are all represented.
Nike is the main kit supplier with 12 teams, including PSG who alternates between a Nike and a Nike Jordan kit. The American brand sponsors at least one Champions League participant of each of the Big Five leagues. Moreover, they also sponsor both Red Bull Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg.
Adidas follows Nike by sponsoring eight teams, including defending champion Real Madrid and Ajax. The Amsterdam club released their European jersey made in partnership with Amsterdam fashion brand Daily Paper. Like last season’s Bob Marley-inspired jersey, UEFA does not allow for all details to be used during matches. So the official match jerseys are slightly different.
Together Nike and Adidas partner with 63 percent of the 2022/2023 Champions League teams.
German brand Puma sponsors five teams, including Premier League champions Manchester City. Puma signed a ten-year partnership worth a reported £650 million with the City Football Group (Manchester City’s parent company) before the 2019/2020 season.
British brand Castore sponsors three teams
Castore is rapidly gaining ground across sports and in football. The British brand first gained prominence by partnering with tennis player Andy Murray back in 2019. This season the brand sponsors three Champions League teams. They sponsor Rangers since 2020 and have added Sevilla and Bayer Leverkusen before the 2022/2023 campaign.
Sevilla and Bayer Leverkusen are also the only two clubs to have switched to a new kit supplier this season. Previously, they wore Nike and Jako respectively.
Macron sponsors Club Brugge and Viktoria Plzen, while New Balance (Porto) and EA7 (Napoli) both only sponsor one team. However, the Italian brand and the Serie A club released 13 different kits last season, including a Halloween edition. Napoli’s president Aurelio De Laurentiis admitted that a similar amount of kits could be released this season.
2022/2023 Champions League Kit Sponsors
| Team (country) | Kit Sponsor | Buy from Amazon (Paid Link) |
|---|---|---|
| RB Salzburg (AUT) | Nike | |
| Club Brugge (BEL) | Macron | |
| Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) | Adidas | |
| Viktoria Plzen (CZE) | Macron | |
| Copenhagen (DEN) | Adidas | |
| Chelsea FC (ENG) | Nike | |
| Liverpool FC (ENG) | Nike | |
| Manchester City (ENG) | Puma | Home | Away | Third |
| Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) | Nike | |
| Atlético Madrid (ESP) | Nike | |
| FC Barcelona (ESP) | Nike | |
| Real Madrid (ESP) | Adidas | Home | Away |
| Sevilla FC (ESP) | Castore | |
| Olympique de Marseille (FRA) | Puma | |
| Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) | Nike & Jordan | Home |
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) | Castore | |
| Bayern München (GER) | Adidas | Home |
| Borussia Dortmund (GER) | Puma | Home | Away |
| Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | Nike | |
| RB Leipzig (GER) | Nike | |
| Maccabi Haifa (ISR) | Nike | |
| Inter (ITA) | Nike | |
| Juventus (ITA) | Adidas | Home | Away |
| AC Milan (ITA) | Puma | Home | Away |
| Napoli (ITA) | EA7 | |
| AFC Ajax (NED) | Adidas | Home | Third |
| Benfica (POR) | Adidas | |
| Porto (POR) | New Balance | Home | Away | Third |
| Sporting CP (POR) | Nike | |
| Celtic (SCO) | Adidas | Home | Away |
| Rangers (SCO) | Castore | |
| Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) | Puma | |
Shirt sponsors: 14 industries, seven gambling
26 different companies sponsor the 2022/2023 Champions League teams. Unibet (Club Brugge, Copenhagen and Rangers) and airline Emirates (Real Madrid, AC Milan and Benfica) sponsor three teams each. While gambling firm Betano (Porto and Sporting) and Red Bull (Salzburg and Leipzig) both partner with two Champions League teams.
We can roughly categorise the companies into 14 different industries. The gambling industry sponsors the most teams with seven teams, which is 22 percent of the teams. In the 2022/2023 Premier League it is 40 percent (eight teams). However, none of the Premier League sides that qualified for the Champions Leagues have a gambling shirt sponsor.
As gambling advertising is prohibited in some countries, several clubs could have no or a different logo on their kits in certain matches. For example, Porto played with Heróis.pt on their shirt during their away match at Atlético Madrid, instead of Betano. Since 2021, Spain prohibits gambling advertising and so Porto’s shirt sponsor was changed to Betano’s social responsibility program in Portugal.
Airline and financial services firms popular
The airline industry follows by sponsoring five clubs, while the financial services sector sponsors four teams. The main industries are comparable to previous seasons. Although the airline sector has made a resurgence after only sponsoring two teams in 2020/2021.
Choosing between shirt sponsors
In the Serie A, Napoli has two shirt sponsors: water brand Lete and transportation company MSC . However, UEFA only allows for one shirt sponsor in European competitions and Napoli has chosen Lete.
This is one of three beverage related sponsorships. The other two are between Red Bull, a conglomerate that started out as a beverage manufacturer, and Leipzig and Salzburg. The Austrian brand is ‘owner’ of both clubs and although the clubs are known as Red Bull Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg, UEFA does not allow the use of “Red Bull” in their official name.
Where do the shirt sponsors come from?
The shirt sponsors have their headquarters on three different continents. Most come from Europe (20), followed by Asian countries (9). This includes five Middle Eastern countries. Furthermore, there are two North American sponsors.
As country, the UAE (four), Germany and Malta (both three) have the most shirt sponsorship deals. For Germany these are three different companies, while that is two and one for the UAE and Malta respectively.
Only 10 teams have a shirt sponsor from their home nation, including three out of the five German teams.
2022/2023 Champions League Shirt Sponsors
| Team (country) | Shirt Sponsor | Industry | HQ |
|---|---|---|---|
| RB Salzburg (AUT) | Red Bull | Conglomerate – beverage & media | Austria |
| Club Brugge (BEL) | Unibet | Gambling | Malta |
| Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) | PSK | Gambling | Croatia |
| Viktoria Plzen (CZE) | Doosan Škoda Power | Energy | Czech Republic |
| Copenhagen (DEN) | Unibet | Gambling | Maalt |
| Chelsea FC (ENG) | Three | Telecommunications | Hong Kong |
| Liverpool FC (ENG) | Standard Chartered | Financial services & banking | UK |
| Manchester City (ENG) | Etihad Airways | Airline | UAE |
| Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) | AIA | Life insurance & financial services | Hong Kong |
| Atlético Madrid (ESP) | WhaleFin.com | Financial services | Singapore |
| FC Barcelona (ESP) | Spotify | Entertainment – audio streaming | Sweden |
| Real Madrid (ESP) | Emirates | Airline | UAE |
| Sevilla FC (ESP) | DEGIRO | Financial services – online broker | Netherlands |
| Olympique de Marseille (FRA) | Cazoo | E-commerce – car retailer | UK |
| Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) | Qatar Airways | Airline | Qatar |
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) | Barmenia | Insurance | Germany |
| Bayern München (GER) | Deutsche Telekom | Telecommunications | Germany |
| Borussia Dortmund (GER) | Evonik | Specialty chemicals | Germany |
| Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | Indeed | Online job search engine | USA |
| RB Leipzig (GER) | Red Bull | Conglomerate – beverage & media | Austria |
| Maccabi Haifa (ISR) | Volvo | Automotive | Sweden |
| Inter (ITA) | Digitalbits | Financial services – blockchain | North America |
| Juventus (ITA) | Jeep | Automotive | USA |
| AC Milan (ITA) | Emirates | Airline | UAE |
| Napoli (ITA) | Lete | Beverage – water | Italy |
| AFC Ajax (NED) | Ziggo | Telecommunications | Netherlands |
| Benfica (POR) | Emirates | Airline | UAE |
| Porto (POR) | Betano | Gambling | Greece |
| Sporting CP (POR) | Betano | Gambling | Greece |
| Celtic (SCO) | Dafabet | Gambling | Philippines |
| Rangers (SCO) | Unibet | Gambling | Malta |
| Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) | SCM (CKM) | Holding | Ukraine |
Sleeve sponsorships
From the 2021/2022 season onwards, Champions League teams are allowed to have a sleeve sponsor. Club still have to adhere to strict regulation, but UEFA allows it in a bid to make up for lost revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So far 24 out of 32 teams have a sleeve sponsor. Four partners are active in both the financial services and beverage sectors. This includes two cryptocurrency platforms and three alcoholic beverages (twice Superbock).
There are also three e-commerce related firms and three automotive companies acting as sleeve sponsor. While the gambling and tourism industries both sponsor two teams.
2022/2023 Champions League Sleeve Sponsors
| Team (country) | Sleeve Sponsor | Industry |
|---|---|---|
| RB Salzburg (AUT) | Rauch | Beverage |
| Club Brugge (BEL) | Eleven | Sports broadcasting |
| Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) | Lana.com | Gambling |
| Viktoria Plzen (CZE) | – | – |
| Copenhagen (DEN) | Carlsberg | Beverage – alcohol |
| Chelsea FC (ENG) | WhaleFin | Financial services |
| Liverpool FC (ENG) | Expedia | Tourism |
| Manchester City (ENG) | Nexen Tire | Automotive |
| Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) | Cinch | E-commerce – car retailer |
| Atlético Madrid (ESP) | Hyundai | Automotive |
| FC Barcelona (ESP) | – | – |
| Real Madrid (ESP) | – | – |
| Sevilla FC (ESP) | Valvoline | Chemical manufacturing & distribution |
| Olympique de Marseille (FRA) | – | – |
| Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) | GOAT | Fashion |
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER) | Trive | Financial services |
| Bayern München (GER) | Audi | Automotive |
| Borussia Dortmund (GER) | GLS | Logistics |
| Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | JOKA | Wood, floor coverings and home textiles |
| RB Leipzig (GER) | Veganz | Supermarket |
| Maccabi Haifa (ISR) | – | – |
| Inter (ITA) | – | – |
| Juventus (ITA) | BitGet | Financial services – cryptocurrency |
| AC Milan (ITA) | BitMEX | Financial services – cryptocurrency |
| Napoli (ITA) | Amazon | E-commerce |
| AFC Ajax (NED) | Curaçao | Tourism |
| Benfica (POR) | Betano | Gambling |
| Porto (POR) | Superbock | Beverage – alcohol |
| Sporting CP (POR) | Superbock | Beverage – alcohol |
| Celtic (SCO) | – | – |
| Rangers (SCO) | Boxt | E-commerce and fulfillment platform |
| Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) | – | – |
2022/2023 Champions League sponsors
UEFA lists seven official Champions League partners on their website. Currently, all deals run until the end of the 2023/2024 season.
In 2021, FedEx and Just Eat Takeaway.com joined UEFA’s Champions League roster, with the latter also sponsoring the UEFA Europa League and women’s football. Heineken also sponsors multiple UEFA competitions and tournaments, including the Champions League and Europa League. However, where the Dutch manufacturer promotes their alcoholic brand in the UCL, they promote their 0,0% beer in the Europa League.
Each brand has their own activation opportunities in addition to visibility in and around the stadium. For example Playstation (PS5) awards the Player of the Match and is associated with the UEFA Gaming Hub (UCL Fantasy and Predictor games). While Mastercard has been associated with the Player Mascots Programme for years.
Oppo instead of Gazprom
In February 2022, UEFA terminated their deal with Russian oil and gas company Gazprom across all competitions as a response to the Russian-Ukrainian war. A loss of revenue for the governing body, but they were able to compensate it by adding Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Oppo in July.
The Champions League’s global appeal is noticeable, with all partners being major international brands. Five out of seven sponsors have their headquarters outside Europe with three in the USA and one in both Japan and China. The two European sponsors both have their headquarters in the Netherlands.
2022/2023 UEFA Champions League Sponsors
| Partner | Industry | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Heineken | Beverages – alcohol | Netherlands |
| Playstation – PS5 | Video gaming | Japan |
| PepsiCo (incl. Lay’s) | Beverages and food processing | USA |
| Mastercard | Financial services | USA |
| FedEx | Conglomerate – transportation, e-commerce and services | USA |
| Just Eat Takeaway.com | Online food ordering | Netherlands |
| Oppo | Consumer electronics | China |
Related: Overview UCL 2020/21| 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 | 2015/16
Related: 2022/2023 sponsorships Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga
