Overview of the 2023/2024 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 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League (UCL). We also take a look at UEFA’s Champions League sponsors and partners.

Kit sponsors: 32 teams, nine brands

Nine different clothing brands sponsor the 32 Champions League teams this season. Two more than during each of the last three seasons. Adidas, Castore, EA7, Jako, Macron, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike (including Nike Jordan) and Puma are all represented.

Adidas and Nike are the main kit suppliers with each eight teams. For Adidas that is the same number of teams as last season. While Nike supplied 12 Champions League teams last year.

Nike sponsors five league champions, including Ligue 1 champions PSG, who alternates between a Nike and Nike Jordan kit.

Adidas sponsors UCL giants Real Madrid and Bayern München. They also supply Manchester United, Arsenal, Celtic, Benfica, Copenhagen and debutant Union Berlin.

Together Nike and Adidas partner with 50 percent of the 2023/2024 Champions League teams.

Puma sponsors seven teams

German brand Puma sponsors seven 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 fourth biggest supplier with 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: Sevilla, Newcastle United and Eredivisie champions Feyenoord.

Macron sponsors Real Sociedad and Crevena zvezda. While Jako (Antwerp), Mizuno (Lazio), New Balance (Porto), and EA7 (Napoli) each sponsor one team.

2023/2024 Champions League Kit Sponsors

Shirt sponsors: 14 industries, seven airline companies

23 different companies sponsor the 2023/2024 Champions League teams. Three less than last year.

We can roughly categorise the companies into 14 different industries. The airline industry sponsors the most teams with seven, which comes down to 22 percent of the teams.

Last season, the gambling industry had the most (seven) shirt sponsorships in the Champions League. This year, the industry sponsor four teams. As many sides as companies from the entertainment industry sponsor. There are also two conglomerate (Red Bull) and oil and gas (Gazprom and Socar) sponsors.

The financial services industry is normally a frequent partner (four teams last season). This season there is just one such sponsor.

Alternative for gambling sponsorship

As gambling advertising is prohibited in some countries, several clubs could have no or a different logo on their kits in certain matches. Antwerp, for example, played with non-profit initiative Antwerp First on their shirts during their away tie with Barcelona. As gambling sponsorship is prohibited in Spain. In the league, the Belgian champions normally play with gambling logo betFIRST on their fronts.

Scottish champions Celtic normally plays with gambling logo Dafabet on their shirts. However, the company has ‘donated’ their spot to the Celtic FC Foundation during UCL away ties.

Galatasaray and Dortmund do not have a gambling shirt sponsor, but both teams feature a different sponsor during their Champions League (or Cup) matches than during their league encounters. This could be due to for example financial reasons or sponsors’ desired target group (national vs. international).

Shirt sponsor of multiple teams

Three companies sponsor multiple teams. Airline Emirates sponsors four teams: Real Madrid, AC Milan, Benfica, and Arsenal. While Paramount+ (Inter and Union Berlin) and Red Bull (Salzburg and Leipzig) both sponsor two Champions League sides.

Shirt sponsors of multiple UCL teams

The sponsorship of Red Bull is of course a unique case. Red Bull, a conglomerate that started out as a beverage manufacturer, acts as shirt sponsor for both Leipzig and Salzburg. At the same time, 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” curing UCL ties.

Where do the shirt sponsors come from?

The shirt sponsors have their headquarters on three different continents. Most come from Europe (16), followed by Asian countries (10). This includes eight Middle Eastern sponsors. Furthermore, there are two North American sponsors.

As country, the UAE (five) and Germany (three) have the most shirt sponsorship deals. For Germany these are three different companies, while that is two for the UAE .

Only nine teams have a shirt sponsor from their home nation, including two out of the four German teams.

2023/2024 Champions League Shirt Sponsors

Sleeve sponsorships

From the 2021/2022 season onwards, Champions League teams are allowed to have a sleeve sponsor. Clubs have to adhere to strict regulation, but UEFA introduced it in a bid to make up for lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, 27 out of 32 teams play with a sleeve sponsorship patch during their matches. Four partners are active in the gambling industry. While there are three sleeve sponsors from both the e-commerce and tourism industries.

There are also two automotive, airline, beverage and sports retail sleeve sponsors.

Companies appearing on the sleeves of multiple teams

Several companies (sleeve) sponsor multiple Champions League teams. Sports retail company JD acts as sleeve sponsor for both Union Berlin and Sevilla. While gambling firm Toto (Feyenoord and PSV) and e-commerce platform eBay (Inter and Napoli) are also twice visible as sleeve sponsor.

Sleeve sponsors of multiple UCL teams

Transportation company MSC cruises is active as sleeve sponsor of last season’s semi-finalists AC Milan. In addition, they are the main shirt sponsor of Napoli.

2023/2024 Champions League Sleeve Sponsors

2023/2024 Champions League sponsors

UEFA lists nine official Champions League partners on their website. Eight are listed as global partners, while Expedia is listed as local partner. A majority of the 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, which was compensated by adding Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Oppo to their partners in July of that year.

The Champions League’s global appeal is noticeable, with all partners being major international brands. Six out of nine sponsors have their headquarters outside Europe, with four in the USA and one in both Japan and China. Of the three European sponsors, two have their headquarters in the Netherlands.

2023/2024 UEFA Champions League Sponsors

Watch Champions League matches on Amazon Prime Video.

Related: Overview UCL 2022/23 2020/21| 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 | 2015/16
Related: 2023/2024 sponsorships Premier League and 2022/23 Bundesliga and La Liga