Nike is in exclusive negotiations to become the match ball provider for the UEFA men’s Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
The American company is set to break Adidas’ 25-year stranglehold over the match ball for the men’s Champions League, with the German sports manufacturer having held the sponsorship agreement with Europe’s elite club competition since 2001.
But UEFA — the continent’s footballing governing body — recently went out to tender, as first revealed by The Athletic in March, to maximise revenue from the match ball and create a market for the opportunity.
Sources close to the process added that not only did Adidas wish to retain its existing sponsorship, but rival interest had emerged from Nike and Puma. All three brands did not respond to a request for comment at the time.
For Nike, it is a major leap back into the match-ball market. Adidas has dominated the elite competitions in recent decades, also being the match ball supplier for the European Championship and FIFA World Cups.
Puma also disrupted the market, taking Copa America from Nike in 2024, while Puma also grabbed the Premier League’s match ball away from Nike at the start of this season, which Nike had produced from the 2000-01 campaign. Puma also replaced Nike as the Serie A ball supplier from the 2022-23 season in the Italian top flight and has been La Liga’s official ball supplier since the 2019-20 campaign.
Nike previously supplied the Premier League match balls (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Relevent Football Partners and UC3 — the joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC) — launched the tender, with the winner to secure the rights from the start of the 2027-28 season.
Adidas has been the official match ball provider for the Champions League since 2001, when the German sportswear company clawed the rights away from Nike, while French sports retailer Decathlon has provided the match balls for the Europa League and Conference League, the second- and third-tier European competitions, since 2024.
Both deals are set to expire at the end of the 2026-2027 season, and sources close to the situation said there was interest from both Nike and Puma.
Nike, however, appear to have emerged triumphant.
On Thursday, UC3 issued a statement: “UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC) that controls and manages the strategic marketing, sales and delivery of commercial rights for UEFA club competitions, has agreed to enter an exclusive negotiation period with Nike to become the official match ball provider for all UEFA men’s club competitions from 2027 to 2031. This decision follows a highly competitive tender process launched in March 2026 by UC3 and its agency, Relevent Football Partners. No further comment will be made in the meantime.”
UC3 and Relevent have previously demonstrated a willingness to shift away from long-term partners in key sponsorship categories. In October, it emerged that multinational drinks company Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) was in exclusive talks with UC3 to replace Heineken as the beer sponsor of European club football’s men’s competitions.
Heineken, the world’s second-biggest brewer, had been the sponsor since 1994, first using it to promote Amstel, the beer brand it has owned since 1968, during Champions League matches until 2005, and then Heineken for the last two decades. Heineken, at that stage, still had two years to run on its most recent three-year deal, which is worth €120million (£105m, $139m) per annum. The Athletic reported that AB InBev offered €200m (£176m, $232m) per year to claim a six-year contract that would start in 2027, marking a 66 per cent annual increase on Heineken’s existing deal.
Adidas will continue to supply the match ball for the UEFA Champions League for the 2026-27 season, as will Kipsta (Decathlon) for the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League competitions.