The Hyundai automotive giant has struck a deal to become a major sponsor of European men's soccer's iconic UEFA Champions League (UCL) under a long-term deal.
Through the tie-up unveiled today, Hyundai has secured a four-year rights package to act as the premier competition's official automotive sponsor from 2027-28 to 2030-31.
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
In addition, Hyundai has taken up an opportunity to take over the final year of international online food delivery firm Just Eat's sponsorship rights for the competition, which sees the car brand start its association one year early in a separate deal.
Just Eat's three-season agreement was due to cover the 2024-27 rights cycle.
Hyundai's agreement also includes the UEFA Super Cup annual fixture, as well as the UEFA Youth League and Futsal Champions League competitions.
Commercial rights to the UCL are managed by global sports commercial agency Relevent, through its dedicated Relevent Football Partners (RFP) arm for UEFA dealings, which is the exclusive global sales and marketing partner of UC3.
UC3 is the joint venture between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) that controls the marketing, sales, and delivery of commercial rights for the club competitions.
Sportcal understands that revenue in the 2024-27 cycle is on track to break €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in average annual value on the sponsorship and licensing side, with the change in the commercial structure brought in by Relevent to UC3 proving successful so far after it replaced UEFA's long-time partner Team Marketing.
The tie-up with Hyundai sees an automotive brand return as a UCL partner, a category that hasn't been active in recent cycles.
The four-year deal puts Hyundai in a sponsorship and licensing portfolio alongside other major brands for UEFA club competitions, with AB InBev, Alibaba, Fanatics, Haier, Nike, PepsiCo, and Qatar Airways already confirmed for the upcoming commercial cycle.
AB InBev, Alibaba, and PepsiCo will serve as premium partners across all three competitions for six years. Sportcal understands a fourth and final partner has already been secured.
UEFA also recently entered exclusive negotiations with a betting brand to sponsor its club competitions in the next cycle.
The company is understood to be Bet365, UEFA's current partner in that sector during the 2024-25 to 2026-27 period under a deal valued at $75 million per season.
Bet365, in signing that agreement, became UEFA's first men's club competitions betting partner.
In terms of previous tie-ups between UEFA and Hyundai, the Japanese powerhouse sponsored the UEFA men's European Championship national team tournament in both 2012 and 2016.
Elsewhere in soccer, the company was a partner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, held in North America across June and July.
For UEFA, this news comes after several similar commercial announcements made last week – global workwear brand Strauss was brought in as the first-ever partner of the UEFA Refereeing division, while Chinese electronics brand Hisense extended its deal with the governing body to cover Euro 2028.
Another China-based electronics firm, Haier, also became a UEFA men's club competitions sponsor last week.
Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA's marketing director, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Hyundai as an official partner of the UEFA Champions League … We look forward to building a partnership that brings that shared ambition to life for fans around the world over the coming years."
Jose Munoz, Hyundai Motor Company's president and chief executive, added: "Following Hyundai's engagement at the World Cup this summer, the UEFA Champions League is an ideal platform to show our beautifully designed vehicles with features fans love … I'm personally excited about engaging with fans across Europe. It's a great time to celebrate the beautiful game with Hyundai."
Most recently, in terms of soccer sponsorships, the Hyundai Motor America division became a commercial partner of Inter Miami in the US and Canada's Major League Soccer.
Elsewhere, Polish public-service broadcaster TVP will once again be able to show UCL action this coming season, with a sub-licensing deal having now been struck with rights-holder Canal+.
TVP has agreed a deal through which it will cover 17 matches live – essentially, one match per gameweek throughout 2026-27.
It will also cover the final of the competition, set to take place on June 5 in Madrid, while a weekly highlights show, featuring goals from all games, will be produced on a weekly basis.
This follows on from a short-term deal being struck between TVP and Canal+ towards the end of the 2025-26 UCL season, along similar lines.
Polish players competing in this season's UCL include Wojciech Szczęsny at Spanish heavyweights Barcelona, Piotr Zieliński at Italy's Inter Milan, Matty Cash at Aston Villa, defenders Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior at FC Porto, and Jakub Moder at Dutch giants Feyenoord.
However, no Polish clubs will take part in the group stages – Gornik Zabrze made it as far as the UCL's second qualifying round, before being eliminated.
Canal+ holds current UCL rights in Poland through a three-season deal made public in March 2024, which last year was extended through 2030-31.
The 2026-27 edition of the 36-team UCL begins tomorrow, with six fixtures, while another six – each – follow on both Wednesday and Thursday.
