AB InBev, which brews Budweiser, is set to replace Heineken as the beer sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, ending a partnership that began in 1994.
The competition’s new global sales agent, Relevent, is in exclusive talks with AB InBev and will be looking at a six-year deal starting in 2027, according to UC3, the joint business venture between Champions League organizer, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the European Football Clubs (EFC) group.
The potential deal would be global and cover all UEFA men’s club competitions for six seasons, UC3 said in a statement. It would likely be worth close to €200 million ($232 million) each season.
“Our selection by UC3 reflects our commitment to football and our mega-platform strategy,” AB InBev said in a statement. “We look forward to becoming a great partner to UC3 for years to come.”
This will also be the first major deal lined up by Relevent since it was picked this year by the EFC group and UEFA to drive up the value of commercial deals and raise prize money for hundreds of clubs who enter the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League each season.
The target is at least 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in gross revenue each season from 2027. Current gross revenue is at least 4.4 billion euros ($5.1 billion), which pays almost 2.5 billion euros ($2.9 billion) into the prize fund shared by the 36 Champions League teams.
AB InBev sealing the Champions League deal would add another feather in its hat as it has longstanding World Cup partnership with FIFA and a three-Olympics deal with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) that started last year in Paris and runs through the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.
Heineken’s beer brands have had exclusive Champions League rights since 1994 and the Netherlands brewer’s latest renewal expires in 2027. It was closely tied to UEFA’s longtime Switzerland-based sales agency TEAM Marketing which has been dropped in favor of Relevent.
The deal also spotlights possible changes with other long-term Champions League backers, which include Sony, PepsiCo, and Mastercard.