Fuse Sport +Entertainment Secures Pepsico UEFA Partnership & Global Activation

Fuse Sport + Entertainment was appointed by PepsiCo, the multinational food and beverage corporation, at the end of last year, to activate the brand’s new sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League worldwide. The agency, part of Omnicom Media Group, played a key role in developing and negotiating the global partnership.

PepsiCo’s partnership with UEFA officially began on July 1, prior to the start of the 2015/16 season. PepsiCo is one of eight UEFA partners who gain exclusive rights to the event, including branding and broadcast sponsorship amongst other key assets.  The Fuse Sport + Entertainment team will support PepsiCo’s activation across its brand portfolio that has rights to the competition.     

Fuse Sport + Entertainment led the negotiations on PepsiCo’s behalf and secured exclusive landmark assets for PepsiCo.  These include all-new activation rights to the opening ceremony of the Champions League Final and exclusive content in the build up to Champions League matches to support the ‘game ready’ activation programme.  

The PepsiCo win adds another global brand to Fuse Sport + Entertainment’s football portfolio which also includes Nissan’s sponsorships of the UEFA Champions League and City Football Group,  Carlsberg’s sponsorship of the Premier League, UEFA EURO 2016™ and Liverpool FC, Unicredit’s sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League and Enterprise’s sponsorship of the UEFA Europa League.  Fuse Sport + Entertainment also supports two FIFA partners at a strategic level.

Commenting on the PepsiCo appointment, Fuse Sport + Entertainment Managing Director, EMEA, Mark Bullingham said: “We are immensely proud to have helped PepsiCo, a key Omnicom Media Group client, agree such a major and prestigious football partnership.  Now we are looking forward to helping key brands in their portfolio to engage millions of football fans around the world.” 

Cesc Bordas, General Manager - Snacks, West Europe & South Africa Region, PepsiCo said: “Fuse Sport + Entertainment have been our trusted partners throughout the negotiation process and were integral to securing this landmark deal.  Already they are showing fantastic capabilities to help us activate it throughout the World, in all our key markets. Working with Fuse and UEFA we look forward to adding even more entertainment to this fantastic competition.”

The UEFA Champions League Final is the world’s most watched annual sporting event. This year’s Final (June 6, 2015) was aired in more than 200 countries, reaching an estimated 400 million viewers, with an anticipated average live match viewership of 180 million. The season from the Play-Offs to Final runs over 17 match weeks with a total of 145 games. The league provides more than 110,000 hours of TV content over a season and audiences are significant regionally and globally, with 1.1 billion unique viewers of live match coverage worldwide.