Insight
The Champions and my two cents
The story of my involvement in the UEFA Champions League brand and its commercial development. Stepping back to 1996…
By Andrew Walsh. First published 18 June 2020. Updated 2026.
Making Champions
Making Champions, by Stephen Margarito.
“To Andrew, The Champion!”
Stephen Margarito is a living legend. We go back a long way, and in 2020 I was delighted to be reunited with him (pre-social distancing!).
We had barely sat down when he surprised me with a signed copy of his newest creation, Making Champions: The inside story of the UEFA Champions League brand. It’s a handsome tome about one of the most famous brands in world sport, how it came to be and how it has evolved ever since.
Humbled and flattered to be recognised as “part of the team”, I went back in time with him and we reminisced about the beginnings of arguably the most iconic and best branded sports event in history.
The UEFA Champions League brand
The book celebrates the first 25 years of the brand and looks ahead to the next 25.
Stephen has been involved since very early in the development of the UEFA Champions League as we now know it. He also remembered a young Andrew Walsh, early in his sport business career, full of ideas and ideals and not shy about speaking up to all the experienced executives around him.
He reminded me how exciting those times were, and how SPORT+MARKT, my former employer, a German agency specialising in sponsorship efficiency research and analysis, helped shape the commercial side of the concept, with me as Account Director! SPORT+MARKT later merged with the Australian company REPUCOM, and in 2016 the merged business was sold to Nielsen, which is how Nielsen Sport came about.
Since the initial meeting back in 1996, a lot of research, consultancy and testing was undertaken to shape and improve the commercialisation of the UEFA Champions League, and to ensure the rights of the sponsors were monitored and respected across the globe. It all began with developing a strong and unique brand.
Commercial partners
From Making Champions: the sponsor panel went from eight partners to four, an extension of the less-is-more principle.
The exclusive panel of sponsors has been a key feature of the commercial success of the UEFA Champions League. It has defined not only the sponsorship programme but has presented an instantly recognisable visual component of the entire competition.
We were commissioned to investigate the different possible scenarios and to determine the most effective combination of partners in terms of individual and collective returns on investment. “Less is more!” became the key phrase, with exclusivity and a premium setting and exposure proving that quality triumphs over quantity. The research provided great granularity to inform the concept and execution, and history has shown how well it all subsequently worked.
Market research
From Making Champions: 90% prompted awareness of the logo among fans (Sport+Markt research).
Regular market research studies were conducted for UEFA and TEAM, the sponsorship agency set up to develop the branding and commercialisation of the UEFA Champions League, and their partners, to understand the target group, assess the image and positioning of the event, track trends and developments and, of course, to evaluate the platforms.
The UEFA Champions League brand itself was also a constant theme, with the evolution of the starball logo and associated imagery constantly tracked, as UEFA and TEAM sought to remain true to the original concept while keeping it fresh and modern. Fans’ attachment to the familiar was balanced with the need to keep up with the success and growing stature of the competition.
Certainly nothing happened by accident, and each decision was made by careful consultation of the data and insight.
Commercial auditing
The UEFA Champions League Broadcaster Manual, 2003/04.
The conception of such a prestigious brand, and an opportunity for sponsor and media partners alike, is of course only half the battle. Ensuring its consistent execution globally was critical to building brand equity and establishing its position and value. We played a significant role in monitoring and ensuring instructions were followed by EVERYONE. EVERYWHERE.
Commercial auditing was born on a new scale and level of detail, featuring image, audio and video recognition to detect infringements all around the world and to protect the integrity of the UEFA Champions League brand and the rights of all stakeholders.
Policing the brand implementation, however, was not only a defensive measure. We were also in a position to provide UEFA and TEAM with still and video footage from all around the world, highlighting the positives and best practice from almost 200 territories, which in turn offered considerable food for thought for the subsequent evolution of the brand and format.
Thank you
My extensive and varied experiences with UEFA and the UEFA Champions League in particular gave me an incredible insight into the very best in class in world sport. With a client that pushed the envelope and demanded the best, our company, and I individually of course, always had to think on our feet, innovate and, at the same time, keep a close eye on the detail. It was a great challenge, a steep learning curve, very rewarding but also always a lot of fun!
Stephen’s book, of course, lives up to the lofty standards that were set back then! It provided a great prop and prompt for our catch-up and a chance to reminisce on a lot of common memories.
Thank you, Stephen, for your faith and your kind words. To the next chapter of building fantastic concepts together!
Read next: the UEFA case study, on the sponsorship valuation methodology built for UEFA Financial Fair Play, reviewed by lawyers, economists and politicians, and later tested in a court of law. Or start with what you’re actually buying when you commission a sponsorship valuation.
If this is a conversation worth having, we’d be glad to have it: info@platformation.global
Platformation Enterprise Services Limited is a specialist sponsorship valuation agency, ISO 9001:2015 certified (Certificate No. GB2006233). The only sponsorship valuation agency, to our knowledge, whose methodology has been tested in a court of law. platformation.global
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