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BT’s appointment as the official telecommunications partner for Uefa Euro 2028 has both historic and contemporary significance.
The company’s origins date back to the formation of the Electric Telegraph Company in 1846 – seven years before the Football Association (FA) was founded in 1853. As such, the partnership can claim to unite the world’s oldest public telecommunications company with the return of a major men’s international soccer tournament to the country that invented the game.
But more relevantly, the deal is a milestone moment for the commercial ambitions of Euro 2028 organisers and demonstrates the growing importance of digital infrastructure.
For BT, it’s an opportunity to reestablish dominance in its home market on the eve of its 180th anniversary by showcasing its abilities to a domestic and global audience and leveraging the strength and legacy of its brand at a time when it is facing unprecedented competition.
The deal carries significance for both BT and Uefa’s ambitions (Image credit: Getty Images)
5G, network slicing and eSIMs: How BT will keep Euro 2028 connected
BT’s fibre and 5G networks, both the UK’s largest in terms of reach, will provide the digital backbone for all nine venues across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as to all 24 team camps and key infrastructure such as the International Broadcast Centre (IBC). Although BT does not have a consumer presence in Ireland, it does offer business networking services to major organisations in the country.
Mobile network performance will be boosted by 20 per cent across host cities, while the company’s network will support everything from public Wi-Fi networks to broadcast and media activities. Unsurprisingly, both BT and Uefa are declaring the event to be “the most connected tournament yet.”
The aim is to support key stakeholders, power mission critical applications, and ensure fans stay connected before, during, and after the game to aid the matchday experience. Indeed, BT expects “record breaking” network peaks during the tournament.
The additional capacity will ensure fans can share photos and videos on messaging apps and social media, access tickets and logistical information via official apps, and use the same services they would normally use at home. BT will also launch a new eSIM service to ensure visitors to the UK can easily access its mobile network during their stay, avoiding potential roaming costs.
All training grounds and venues will be served by dedicated 5G network slices, which guarantee a pre-defined standard of coverage and connectivity, ensuring critical performance, media and operational applications are supported. This means teams won’t be crowded out by local demand near their training ground, while key stakeholders won’t have to compete with thousands of fans for coverage in major stadiums.
Network slicing is already used at Wembley Stadium, host of the Euro 2028 final and partner of BT and EE since 2014, where this latest deal was announced.
BT will also provide cybersecurity services to organisers, partners and broadcasters as part of its remit.
In terms of activations, the company will also present Uefa’s national team flag carrier programme and will have a range of commercial rights, including the ability to use the Euro 2028 brand across its marketing and commercial materials, and stage fan engagement initiatives.
“You want a partner that, operationally, can deliver, is reliable and you can trust,” Chris Bryant, managing director for Uefa Euro 2028, explained at the launch event. “These are the foundations for any successful event. But equally as important … is about getting into the homes of the community to which we want this tournament to resonate with.”
The national significance of telecoms sponsorship in soccer
The role of telecommunications at major soccer tournaments has increased significantly over the past 30 years. At Euro 96 in England, the last tournament to be held solely in the British Isles, there was no official telco partner with such responsibilities largely limited to installing phone lines at competition and non-competition venues.
However, since then, mobile phone ownership and broadband adoption have become almost universal. Sport now reflects society in its digitisation, with players, coaches, officials, fans, the media, broadcasters and organisers all relying on advanced connectivity.
“The expectation of fans is that you’ll be able to share a memorable moment with your friends within seconds and we have to answer to that,” said Guy-Laurent Epstein, Uefa executive director of marketing. “You must make sure you don’t lose anyone during the fan journey and connectivity is key to that.
“But this is not just about local engagement, it’s global. We need to be able to [distribute] an extremely diverse [array of] content that that we are creating, which is [increasingly] immersive. The technology has [both] enabled us and has created more expectations from fans to deliver live content on a worldwide basis.”
Meanwhile, most countries have shifted from state monopolies to competitive markets. Both the Euros and the Fifa World Cup are high profile marketing platforms to drive both brand awareness and develop case studies that can be used to attract both consumer and business customers.
Because the telco market is so fragmented, such partnerships tend to be on a national level rather than global, albeit one of the most high-profile categories, and have typically been an opportunity for incumbent telcos to assert their position.
France 98, the first major tournament to coincide with the internet era, was served by France Telecom, while Japanese operator NTT and Korea Telecom assumed responsibilities when the web was a mainstream proposition four years later and 3G networks were in their infancy.
Since then, Portugal Telecom (Euro 2004), Deutsche Telekom (Fifa World Cup 2006), Swisscom and Telekom Austria (Euro 2008), Telkom SA (World Cup 2010), Telekomunikacja Polska (Euro 2012), Oi (World Cup 2014) and Ooredoo (World Cup 2022) have all done the honours, while France Telecom, now known as Orange, and Deutsche Telekom reprised their roles for Euro 2016 and Euro 2024 respectively. Verizon will provide telecommunications services to the 2026 Fifa World Cup in North America, hoping to promote its 5G service amid intense competition from AT&T and Sprint.
There are some exceptions. Defunct US internet service provider PSINet’s sponsorship of Uefa Euro 2000 came at the height of the dot com boom, while T-Mobile (Euro 2004) and Orange (Euro 2012) signed deals outside their homelands at a time when they had networks in multiple European nations. MegaFon, which supplied the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia, was not the market leader, while Euro 2020 took place across the continent rather than in a single nation.
But you get the picture. Telecommunications deals at major soccer events are generally nation specific and carry huge prestige for whoever gets the contract.
Orange, formerly France Telecom, connected both the France 98 Fifa World Cup and Uefa Euro 2016 (Image credit: Getty Images)
A once-in-a-generation sponsorship opportunity for BT
BT is no longer a state monopoly, but it remains the UK’s largest broadband operator in terms of customers, while it operates the country’s biggest fibre and mobile networks. However, it faces intense competition from Sky, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneThree and a range of other challengers in the consumer, business and infrastructure markets.
Signing up with Euro 2028 gives BT an important marketing tool for the next two years, allowing it to bask in the glory of helping deliver such a prestigious event and to create an influential case study to share with enterprises and SMB customers. If BT can ensure millions of fans can stay connected and the tournament benefits from secure, reliable connectivity, then logic dictates it can do the same for any other entity.
The partnership builds on existing relationships with Wembley Stadium, as well as with the England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales national teams. When combined, these deals allow BT to present itself as a national champion for the whole of Britain.
But what’s noteworthy about the Euro 2028 deal is that it’s being used as a springboard for a wider marketing campaign designed to reinforce the legacy of the BT brand, which had been phased out on the consumer side for EE by former chief executive Philip Jansen.
BT clearly sees soccer as an effective tool to drive awareness and showcase its product portfolio, with the tournament partnership presenting an opportunity to associate itself with moments of great national significance. And although this is a marketing relationship, BT can point to the technical elements of the deal as evidence that it is the best in the market.
Like the London 2012 Olympic Games, at which BT was also the official communications provider, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
“[Euro 2028] is a great example of how only BT can be behind moments like the Uefa Euros and behind the millions of other brilliant things that customers and the country do with our connectivity every day,” added BT chief executive Alison Kirkby.
BT was also an integral supplier for the 2012 London Olympic Games (Image credit: Getty Images)
How the UK’s global appeal will attract partners to Euro 2028
Although connectivity is a necessary service for the competition, and there are very few companies capable of delivering it to the extent that BT can, Uefa will be delighted at securing a major blue-chip brand at a time when it looks to fill the gaps in its partner portfolio.
Adidas, Atos, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, and Visit Qatar are already signed up as sponsors thanks to existing global relationships with European soccer’s governing body, while Lidl signed an expanded deal earlier this year and Beyond Hospitality is on board as the official hospitality partner.
Uefa believes the sporting, commercial and global appeal will be hugely attractive to sponsors as the Euros become not just a European but a worldwide spectacle. Indeed, the involvement of so many Asian companies at the last edition in Germany is testament to that growth.
“The beauty of the UK and Ireland is all at all levels,” said Epstein. “The first is football heritage. The second is fan culture which is probably the best in the world … and finally, the UK is one of the biggest economies in Europe, if not the biggest. It’s an opportunity to tap into the local economy and tap into local innovation to make [Uefa Euro 2028] an even bigger tournament.
“The UK is seen not only as Europe, but global. So, this makes it a fantastic place for us to be.
“The partners loved when we announced we’ll be in the UK for Euro 2028 because again, it is one of the biggest markers in Europe. And the ability for us to collectively benefit from the allure, the image and the power of the local economy is fantastic for us.”
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