Canon to sponsor UEFA Champions in £18m deal
Electronics manufacturer Canon is poised to sign up as an official sponsor and supplier of the UEFA Champions League in a £18m, three-year deal.
The deal, which is being brokered by Team Marketing, will include perimeter-board advertising as well as hospitality opportunities. Canon is also expected to win the right to have its brand appear before and after advertising breaks during televised matches.
The company will join Sharp and Adidas as an official supplier/sponsor of the Champions League. Sharp signed up as an official sponsor less than six months ago (MW September 4, 2003). There is one remaining sponsorship vacancy.
A spokesman for Team Marketing confirms that the company is in the process of selling the two sponsorship properties. Both deals are expected to be concluded by the summer. Ford, MasterCard, Sony PlayStation and Amstel all signed contracts as headline sponsors for three years in 2002 (MW October 10, 2002).
The deal will considerably strengthen Canon’s presence in club football. Canon announced last year that it had chosen football as its primary sponsorship property. The company is already a major sponsor of the Euro 2004 football championships in Portugal this summer. The company is to run a TV advertising campaign across Europe based around the tournament.
