Chelsea and Manchester City’s front of shirt sponsors, Three and Etihad Airways, are to receive exposure worth an estimated £4.2m when they meet in the all-English Champions League Final on Saturday, according to analysis by Nielsen Sports.

The analysis, which looked at data from the 2018/19 tournament, the last time two English teams reached the CL Final, showed the QI media value* to shirt sponsors for teams that made it all the way to the final was in excess of £11 million across the full duration of the competition.

Reaching the Final also creates opportunities for increased engagement on social media for the clubs and their partners. When comparing Spurs’ and Liverpool’s normal social media numbers with the week of the 2018/19 Final, Nielsen Sports data reveals that across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram engagements grew by over 400% during the week of the match alone, compared to an average week of the season.

With businesses and football clubs feeling the full financial force of a difficult year, reaching the final of Europe’s elite club competition will provide a much-needed revenue boost for all parties involved.

Tom McCormack, Head of Rights Holders at Nielsen, said, “Alongside the obvious commercial gains, reaching the Champions League Final provides a windfall of exposure for front of shirt sponsors – and other club partners – as a result of being involved in one of the most watched sports events in the world. Of course, there is no guarantee, as a sponsor, that you will feature in a Champions League Final, but it is a multi-million pound bonus for those that do.” 

*QI Media Value is Nielsen Sports’ global industry standard for sponsorship measurement that takes into account the quality and volume of exposure, audience size and advertising rates

For more information about Nielsen Sports visit www.nielsensports.com