September 10: UEFA has stepped up its work with Meta to remove unauthorized content from the Champions League more quickly, expanding a rights protection campaign that is becoming central to the value of its commercial deals.
The two organizations trialled an improved system during last season’s UEFA club competition finals, when online offending typically reaches its highest levels. Meta provided UEFA with more direct reporting tools and proactive measures on its platforms, reducing the time between the identification of an infringement and its removal.
UEFA is also using the program to target unauthorized use of the competition’s trademarks, logos and other protected material on Facebook and Instagram.
This distinction stems from the importance of social media to how UEFA sells sponsorships and licensing partnerships. If unofficial accounts and content can freely use the Champions League brand around the biggest games of the season, the exclusivity that official partners buy becomes much, much harder to protect.
So UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and European football clubs that controls the commercial rights for UEFA club competitions, has been heavily involved.
There’s a pile of cash behind the effort – UC3 and sales agency Relevent Football Partners have been putting together the 2027/31 business cycle, with sponsorship and licensing income expected to approach €1bn a year. Alibaba, PepsiCo and AB InBev are among the major brands already signed up for the upcoming period.
Meta already operates Rights Manager, which can identify matching videos, audio and images on Facebook and Instagram, along with dedicated IP infringement and re-infringement systems.
Earlier this year, UEFA supported Europol’s Operation Kratos 2, which led to 29 arrests, the dismantling of nine criminal networks and the removal of around 27,000 illegal streaming URLs. It also secured a dynamic blocking order in India covering 79 domains linked to an estimated two billion annual hits.
These operations protect broadcasters. The Meta partnership addresses another part of the same problem: making sure that logos, images and other assets attached to UEFA competitions don’t become free stuff for anyone who wants to trade on their popularity.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at harry.ewing@insideworldfootball.com
