The iconic Champions League ball will be redesigned after Nike entered exclusive talks with UEFA to become the official match ball provider for the 2027 to 2031 cycle of the competition. The US sportswear group has beaten off competition from incumbent supplier Adidas and fellow challenger Puma after offering to double UEFA’s current fee to around $45m per year. Adidas has held the Champions League contract since 2001, when the German company introduced the iconic Finale ball, featuring a star design which mimics the Champions League logo. That design has been used in every match ball since and has become synonymous with the highest level of European football. Nike was previously UEFA’s match ball supplier between 1997 and 2001, during which period they used simpler designs featuring the company’s own trademark swoosh prominently. Adidas is understood to hold rights to the star design, meaning the last match with the star ball will be the 2027 Champions League final, set to be played on 5 June of that year at Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano. Nike and UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and the leading clubs that run the Champions League, will work together on a novel design.
