Alibaba Group Partners UEFA 

Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group has clinched a major partnership with UEFA.

Through the multi-year partnership, Alibaba becomes the global AI, cloud computing, and e-commerce partner for both the 2028 UEFA European Championships national teams competition and the various UEFA men’s club competitions for the 2027 to 2033 cycle.

The deal sees Alibaba Cloud, Qwen and AliExpress brands back the top-tier UEFA Champions League, second-tier Europa League, and third-tier Conference League, as well as the annual UEFA Super Cup.

The aim is for these brands to “deliver intelligent innovations across UEFA’s flagship competitions,” to benefit the overall fan experience around these properties.

Joe Tsai, chair of Alibaba Group, stated,  “I am excited to work with UEFA to realise the vision of this multi-year partnership, where we will commit our cloud computing, full-stack AI, and global e-commerce capabilities to support UEFA and UC3 to deliver these iconic competitions to global fans.”

Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA’s president, added, “Their [Alibaba’s] expertise in artificial intelligence, cloud computing technology, and e-commerce will support UEFA’s commitment to thoughtful innovation and to enhancing the experience of supporters around the world.”

According to ASN data, Alibaba Group has invested over US$7.3m+ in the Asian sponsorship market since Q323, with a quarterly average investment of US$642k+ during this period. However, spends have dipped to between US$328k and US$381k from Q225, and the Q226’s forecast is similar at US$395k. Some of its major deals have included BWF (US$1.1m+) and David Beckham endorsement (US$2m).