Group Advertising, the sports activities advertising company and industrial rights holder of European soccer’s UEFA membership competitions, has signed up Baller League, the brand new digital-focused six-a-side soccer competitors, as its first post-UEFA shopper, because it seems to safe its future.
The company mentioned it is going to initially help Baller League’s gross sales efforts because it assesses a possible longer-term partnership with the competitors.
Group chief govt Simon Crouch mentioned: “Group is able to apply our executional firepower, strategic acumen, and operational experience to a property that represents the following technology of followers.
“Secured by our new vertical, Group Ventures, Baller League is an thrilling new sport that aligns with our ambition to assist speed up innovation-driven properties.”
It added that the corporate would see out its partnership with UEFA’s males’s membership soccer competitions, which is because of run via the 2026-27 season.
The addition of Baller League to its portfolio marks a brand new period for Group, because it strikes from a single-client mannequin to “a broader platform technique,” six months after shedding its UEFA contract for the following 2027-33 cycle to the US-based Relevent Sports activities company.
That contract, introduced in February, offers Relevent rights to promote sponsorship, broadcast, and licensing rights for the top-tier UEFA Champions League, in addition to the secondary Europa League and third-tier Convention League competitions.
Group has been the worldwide rights holder for the reason that Champions League was created in 1992, a milestone that marked the beginning of the fashionable period of UEFA’s pan-European competitions.
The company held onto these rights completely till 2022, when UEFA cut up out its industrial rights within the US and employed Related Sports activities to promote them domestically. The transfer broke Group’s hegemony over the properties for the primary time, though it did nonetheless retain rights in all different nations.
When Related Sports activities was introduced as UEFA’s new accomplice, Group mentioned: “Naturally, we’re upset, however we stay extremely pleased with the work we now have performed alongside UEFA over the previous 35 years.
“Whereas this marks the tip of an period, it’s not the tip of our ambition. Our deep data of European membership soccer, our observe document of success, and our unwavering dedication to excellence stay. We’re excited in regards to the future and assured in Group’s experience.”
UEFA was Group’s sole shopper till the company launched its T/Squared arm in 2023. Final yr, that arm acted as an advisor to the Swiss Soccer League throughout its home rights tender, in addition to for the worldwide media rights gross sales to tennis’ Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup nationwide groups competitions.
In February, T/Squared agreed a brand new industrial partnership with esports group and online game developer Riot Video games.
Baller League, in the meantime, secured a serious home rights partnership with pay-TV heavyweight Sky earlier this yr forward of the competitors’s UK launch.
Underneath that deal, each match in the course of the 2025 season was proven stay on Sky Sports activities’ linear channels and its subscription OTT service Now from March 24 to June 12.
Baller League beforehand carried out two seasons in Germany with the backing of a number of fashionable social media and streaming personalities like KSI and soccer legends comparable to Luis Figo and Ronaldinho.
The UK season, which performed weekly on the Copper Field Enviornment in London, noticed a brand new host of soccer legends, social media stars, and cultural icons handle the 12 competing groups, together with Deportrio (Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Gary Lineker), 26ers (John Terry), and N5 FC (Jens Lehmann, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg).
The competitors additionally acquired cellular community operator O2 because the headline sponsor of the league’s UK launch.
