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⚽ EURO 2020: the ambush marketing kick-off

Non-sponsor brands will try to link to the event, while UEFA tries to defend its €2,5bn revenue.

Tiago Baldaia

Jun 10, 2021

🪤 Plenty of brands will try to take advantage of football in the next weeks, with EURO 2020, including non-sponsor brands with ambush marketing.

💶 UEFA and national teams will try to protect their revenues: France 2016 (€1,2 bn) brought 37% more than Ukraine/Poland 2012 (€1,4 bn) and EURO 2020 is shooting for €2,5 bn. Four years ago, 1.05 billion euros came from television rights, 480 million euros from sponsorship and licensing, and 400 million euros from ticketing and hospitality.

🇵🇹 That’s why the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) alerted to prohibited marketing activities (ambush marketing), reminding it’s a crime, and backed up by UEFA’s brand protection rules.

🥃 A few days later, the whiskey brand The Famous Grouse announced its 500k€ investment, supporting the Portuguese national team, and changing their bottle labels, giving away glasses, and having a result prediction activity for their consumers. The plot twist came when, on the same day, FPF denied having this deal and reported it as abusive use of the national team’s name!

👀 Will this be just one of many? Take a look back at some of the best marketing ambushes at the 2018 World Cup.

⚔️ What are your thoughts on this? Creativity or legal protection: who will win the match?