Article by Romeo Ene – Published Friday, April 10, 2026, 2:16 p.m. / Updated Friday, April 10, 2026, 2:16 p.m.
The Champions League is set to lose one of its symbols. After the end of the 2026/2027 season, Adidas will no longer be the official ball supplier for Europe's top club competition.
The All-Star Ball became iconic, but the battle for the extremely valuable contract was won by Nike!
The star design has become iconic
When UEFA launched the Champions League in 1992, it carefully constructed every image related detail. It brought together Europe's best teams and created a different visual setting.
For a long time, however, an important element remained in the background, the game ball. Each team played with its own ball. Only towards the end of the 90s, Nike became the exclusive distributor of balls in the Champions League, but the partnership did not last.
The decisive moment came in 2000, with the signing of the contract with Adidas. The German company has become one of the main partners of the UEFA Champions League.
The agreement came into force from the 2001-2002 season, and the first important moment came in the final between Bayern Munich and Valencia in 2001.
That's when the first Adidas Finale model was introduced, with its unmistakable star-shaped design. The ball quickly became one of the most powerful symbols of the competition.
Over the years, the design has evolved, the colors have changed, but its presence has remained constant in all the matches of the competition since the preliminary stages.
Nike wins the duel with Adidas
This era is now drawing to a close. According to information published by the Financial Times and Reuters, from 2027 the Champions League will have a new official ball supplier.
Adidas decided not to extend the agreement with UEFA. Instead, Nike is very close to signing the contract, valued at around 40 million euros per year, until 2031.
The rivalry between the two companies has been going on for over 30 years. The success achieved by Nike in the race for the Champions League confirms the offensive of the American company in world football.
According to the Polish station Sport, Nike will equip, from 2027, the national team of Germany, associated with Adidas since the end of the Second World War.
