Nike is set to win the race to make and sponsor the match ball for the Uefa Champions League, ending the 25-year reign of Adidas as supplier to Europe’s elite club football competition.
The US group has entered exclusive talks to provide balls for all Uefa men’s club competitions from 2027 to 2031 including the second and third-tier Europa League and Conference League, the body responsible for generating revenues from Uefa tournaments said on Thursday.
The value of the deal across the competitions is expected to rise substantially – one person with knowledge of the process said it could roughly double to more than €40 million a year.
Nike’s deal marks a blow for Adidas, which has held the rights to provide the Champions League match ball since 2001, with its “starball” design now synonymous with the tournament.
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The German company confirmed it would not renew its role, adding that it was “proud to have created the most iconic ball range of all time” and would still supply contests including the Uefa European Championship, Women’s Champions League, Bundesliga, MLS and Fifa tournaments.
Ending Adidas’s grip on the Champions League is a sign of Nike’s ambition in football, particularly after Puma this season replaced the US company as match ball provider to the Premier League, the top tier of the English game.
Nike declined to comment. However, chief executive Elliott Hill has highlighted the sport’s potential, saying last month that this year’s Fifa World Cup was an opportunity to “catalyse the football marketplace for quarters to come”.
The four-yearly tournament is a key moment for the likes of Nike and Adidas, whose boots and kits are worn by rival players and teams as they try to win the greatest prize in men’s football.
The German team will wear Adidas kits for the last time for the foreseeable future at the tournament after losing the contract to Nike from 2027, ending a partnership that dates back to 1950.
Relevent Football Partners, the sports media, sponsorship and licensing company, ran the match ball tender process on behalf of UC3, the partnership between Uefa and the European Football Clubs association in charge of generating revenues from Uefa’s tournaments.
The agency, which is led by executive chairman Daniel Sillman and chief executive Boris Gartner, last year won the right to manage the commercial rights for the Uefa men’s club competitions between 2027 and 2033.
Relevent, which is part of US real estate and sports tycoon Stephen Ross’s portfolio of companies, has shaken up Uefa’s sponsorship approach since taking on the mandate.
Anheuser-Busch InBev last year entered exclusive talks to replace Heineken as global beer partner to the Uefa men’s football competitions, including the Champions League.
Relevent also led the process in which Paramount Skydance was selected as preferred bidder for the broadcast rights to the Champions League in the UK and Germany from 2027-31. Paramount’s arrival was a big driver as UC3 secured €2.5 billion a season for the media rights across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, up from about €2bn under the current arrangements. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
