The 2023 UEFA Champions League Final took place last Saturday at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, where Manchester City’s Rodri scored in the 68th minute to defeat Inter Milan 1–0, leading the team to its first Champions League title. Man City’s victory marked a deserving end to an impressive season, as the squad captured the treble after winning the Premier League title with 93 points, along with the FA Cup final against city rivals Manchester United.

Arrival At Istanbul

SponsorUnited was on the ground in Turkey’s most celebrated city to attend different stages of the Champions League Final. On our flight to Istanbul, we saw in-flight activations, including Turkish Airlines boarding passes bearing the UEFA Champions League “Road to Istanbul” graphic, and screens displaying the Champions League stadium background. We passed through the Turkish Airlines-branded archway upon arrival, which led to an exhibition full of Champions League Final memorabilia, broadcasts of past championship highlights, and other interactive experiences designed to engage fans.

Various activations by UEFA Champions League sponsors took center stage throughout the colorful city, including static billboards by MasterCard lining the streets, as well as subways and buses–where Pepsi and Ruffles unveiled huge activations in subway corridors, at bus stops, and on bus screens. In another inventive activation, Turkish Airlines conducted a Twitter poll, asking fans to predict the Champions League Final winner, with the chosen team’s colors to be displayed on three city bridges. Manchester City won handily with 59% of the vote; soon after, its signature, sky blue hues glowed against the Istanbul skyline prior to the match, where the team would again prevail.

Fan Festival

At the UEFA Champions League Fan Festival –which we visited before the game– Turkish Airlines activations included a giant foosball table, virtual penalty kicks, a flight simulator, and a Miles & Smiles quiz machine (named for the carrier’s loyalty program) that posed Turkish Airlines-related questions, with the chance to collect Miles & Smiles rewards. Fan Festival sponsor FedEx let fans take pictures with 3-D representations of “model players” like Messi, Ronaldo, Bale, and Gerrard scoring iconic goals during previous Final matchups, and also build a Champions League cardboard ball.

Heineken established its presence through dedicated Heineken Beer Gardens scattered throughout the festival grounds as well as the Heineken Star Bar where ice-cold beverages were sold. Socios.com debuted a fan booth where fans were rewarded with a free add-on Fan Token, incredible prizes, and interactive experiences like the Header Challenge and Shot Radar. The booth’s list of rewards included tickets to the UCL Final, an autographed shirt by Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martínez, signed boots by Man City striker Erling Haaland, and UEFA Champions League merchandise. Meanwhile, Expedia Live created a multi-sensory fan experience, taking visitors on a journey through past UEFA Champions League finals and their host cities to showcase why “Nothing beats being there”–Expedia’s UEFA campaign slogan. Fans also had a chance to win tickets to the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final in London.

PepsiCo unveiled a series of innovative and sustainable food & beverage practices. At the Fan Festival they handed out their product with reusable, biodegradable Pepsi-Cups –supporting the goal of making UEFA Champions League Finals “Zero Waste to Landfill” by 2026, through its brands – Pepsi, Lay’s, Doritos and Gatorade.

Mastercard created a magic mirror activation where fans aimed virtual balls at targets inside the goal for the chance to win a prize. Elsewhere, adidas’ activation featured a giant UCL ball and player jerseys from the “Legends Match,” a four-team tournament featuring UEFA Champions League legends, held on June 9th at the fan festival and broadcast by Turkish subscription streaming service, Exxen.

Soon after, guests and employees of the UEFA Champions League sponsors made their way to the Atatürk Olympic Stadium. At the exclusive Champions Village, Oppo invited select fans and brand ambassador Kaká. Those invited were given the opportunity to pose for photos under the scoreboard and play against Kaká in the Oppo kick-up challenge. Pepsico’s “Pep-City” tent also offered pre-game refreshments, as did Just Eat Takeaway and various other official sponsors of UEFA Champions League.

Pepsi Kick-Off Show & Game

Getting closer to kick-off time, the Champions League Trophy was presented by FedEx and arrived at the stadium in a FedEx truck, delivered by a FedEx courier. The Pepsi Kick-Off Show, which took place just before gametime, featured performances by Brazilian singer Anitta and Nigerian producer Burna Boy (both of whom have deals with Pepsi), as well as special guest DJ Alesso. Pepsi, as presenting sponsor of the Kick Off show was the only sponsor with video board and LED-signage while also having TV broadcast presence around the world.

As one of the world’s most watched sporting events, the final was broadcasted across more than 97 countries, with all the sponsors having broadcast presence. Lays presented the game in the US on TUDN, while Oppo had split screen commercial on Sony Liv in India. Local US sponsors Expedia and Grubhub signage was digitally overlayed for US broadcasts only. Right after the game, the PlayStation Player of the Match award was handed out by Liza Zimouche (endorsed by PlayStation), a French freestyle footballer. The event concluded with a post-game press conference where all Official Sponsors were visible as well as Gatorade and adidas through product placement.

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