Expert blog: How brands could win big at UEFA Women’s Euro 2025

As the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 kicks off in Switzerland, the tournament is not only a showcase of elite footballing talent – it’s also shaping up to be a prime example of modern sponsorship strategy.

With a range of major brands backing the event, from Adidas and EA Sports to Amazon and Lidl, the Women’s Euro, and women’s sport more widely, is fast becoming a proving ground for purpose-driven marketing.

From logos to legacy: The evolution of sports sponsorship

Gone are the days when sponsorship meant little more than a logo on a shirt or a banner in the stadium. Today’s successful sports sponsorships are increasingly becoming more about creating shared value for a range of different stakeholders, whether through storytelling, social impact, strategic alignment – or ideally a combination of all three.

UEFA’s approach to the Women’s Euro 2025 reflects this shift. The tournament’s sponsors are not just investing in visibility, they’re investing in values. Whether it’s sustainability, gender equality, or digital innovation, each brand is using the tournament as a platform for meaningful engagement to reinforce its identity and connect with a global audience.

Why do purpose-driven partnerships matter?

What could set the Women’s Euro 2025 apart this summer is the alignment between brand purpose and the values of the tournament. UEFA has made sustainability, inclusivity, and community engagement a central theme and their Strength Through Unity strategy, launched in 2024 and running to 2030, emphasises these aspects as key to the future of European football. This involves a commitment to human rights and environmental protection, as well as promoting social initiatives and community engagement across all levels of football.

Sponsors are also expected to follow suit. Take Lidl, for example. The innovative supermarket chain isn’t just sponsoring the event; it’s also supporting UEFA’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals by promoting resource efficiency and accessibility. This includes initiatives like supporting girls’ mental health and promoting healthy and sustainable eating habits during matches at the tournament.

Similarly, Unilever’s Dove brand is using its platform to challenge beauty stereotypes and promote self-esteem among young women - an initiative that dovetails perfectly with the ethos of women’s sport.

The commercial case for sponsoring women’s football has also never been stronger. According to UEFA, the Women’s Euro 2022 generated over £81million in economic impact for host cities and reached a global audience of 365 million.

The 2025 edition is expected to surpass those figures, with over 550,000 tickets sold and a projected TV audience of 500 million.

But beyond the numbers, brands are recognising the emotional and cultural capital of women’s sport, which offers a chance to connect with more family-oriented and diverse audiences. Fans of both men’s and women’s sport also have higher average incomes and are more likely to invest in tickets, merchandise, and subscriptions.

The big kick-off: What comes next?

As the tournament unfolds, expect to see even more creative brand activations, from TikTok challenges and AR filters to branded fan zones and sustainability campaigns. The Women’s Euros are not just a tournament, but a major sport event ecosystem, and the brands that thrive will be those that understand the importance of purpose and authenticity.

For us here at NTU, the event also presents a valuable opportunity to reflect on our teaching and learning approaches. How can we prepare the next generation of marketers to think beyond traditional marketing techniques? And how do we further embed values-based marketing into our curriculum?

Some of the clues may well be found at the Women’s Euros this summer.

Dr David Cook, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Nottingham Business School