Team Marketing, the sports marketing agency and commercial rights holder of European soccer’s UEFA club competitions, has signed up Baller League, the new digital-focused six-a-side soccer competition, as its first post-UEFA client, as it looks to secure its future.
The agency said it will initially support Baller League’s sales efforts as it assesses a potential longer-term partnership with the competition.
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Team chief executive Simon Crouch said: “Team is ready to apply our executional firepower, strategic acumen, and operational expertise to a property that represents the next generation of fans.
“Secured by our new vertical, Team Ventures, Baller League is an exciting new sport that aligns with our ambition to help accelerate innovation-driven properties.”
It added that the company would see out its partnership with UEFA’s men’s club soccer competitions, which is due to run through the 2026-27 season.
The addition of Baller League to its portfolio marks a new era for Team, as it moves from a single-client model to “a broader platform strategy,” six months after losing its UEFA contract for the next 2027-33 cycle to the US-based Relevent Sports agency.
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By GlobalDataThat contract, announced in February, gives Relevent rights to sell sponsorship, broadcast, and licensing rights for the top-tier UEFA Champions League, as well as the secondary Europa League and third-tier Conference League competitions.
Team has been the global rights holder since the Champions League was created in 1992, a milestone that marked the start of the modern era of UEFA’s pan-European competitions.
The agency held onto those rights exclusively until 2022, when UEFA split out its commercial rights in the US and hired Relevant Sports to sell them domestically. The move broke Team's hegemony over the properties for the first time, although it did still retain rights in all other countries.
When Relevant Sports was announced as UEFA’s new partner, Team said: “Naturally, we are disappointed, but we remain incredibly proud of the work we have done alongside UEFA over the past 35 years.
“While this marks the end of an era, it is not the end of our ambition. Our deep knowledge of European club football, our track record of success, and our unwavering commitment to excellence remain. We are excited about the future and confident in Team’s expertise.”
UEFA was Team's sole client until the agency launched its T/Squared arm in 2023. Last year, that arm acted as an advisor to the Swiss Football League during its domestic rights tender, as well as for the global media rights sales to tennis' Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup national teams competitions.
In February, T/Squared agreed a new commercial partnership with esports organization and video game developer Riot Games.
Baller League, meanwhile, secured a major domestic rights partnership with pay-TV heavyweight Sky earlier this year ahead of the competition’s UK launch.
Under that deal, every match during the 2025 season was shown live on Sky Sports’ linear channels and its subscription OTT service Now from March 24 to June 12.
Baller League previously conducted two seasons in Germany with the backing of several popular social media and streaming personalities like KSI and soccer legends such as Luis Figo and Ronaldinho.
The UK season, which played weekly at the Copper Box Arena in London, saw a new host of soccer legends, social media stars, and cultural icons manage the 12 competing teams, including Deportrio (Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Gary Lineker), 26ers (John Terry), and N5 FC (Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg).
The competition also acquired mobile network operator O2 as the headline sponsor of the league’s UK launch.
