UEFA Hands Relevent National-Team Rights Goldmine in 2028–2036 Deal That Ends CAA Eleven Era

UEFA Hands Relevent Its National-Team Crown Jewels: Inside the 2028–2036 Rights Deal

UEFA has doubled down on its American commercial partner. Following a competitive tender that attracted bids from several leading international sports marketing agencies, the governing body has appointed Relevent as its exclusive marketing and sales agency for national-team competitions from 2028 to 2036 — the second blockbuster mandate the US-based agency has won from European football's governing body in the space of 18 months.

The deal hands Relevent global responsibility for selling media, sponsorship and licensing rights across UEFA's entire national-team portfolio: the men's and women's European Championships, including Euro 2032 and Euro 2036, the UEFA Nations League, and the European Qualifiers for both the Euros and the World Cup. Relevent will also manage commercial partner accounts across the properties.

The end of the CAA Eleven era

The appointment ends a 14-year relationship with CAA Eleven, the soccer subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency, which has marketed European Championships and Nations League rights since 2012. UEFA has confirmed CAA Eleven will remain in place through the men's Euro 2028, which will be co-hosted by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, before handing over the account.

Relevent's national-team brief is due to begin with men's Nations League matches in September 2028 and the Women's Euro 2029 in Germany, with women's team sponsorship and licensing rights passing across from the 2030-31 season.

Why UEFA is consolidating with one agency

The strategic logic is consolidation. Co-founded by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, Relevent already holds global commercial rights for UEFA's men's club competitions in a separate deal running from 2027 to 2033, serviced through a dedicated subsidiary, Relevent Football Partners. That club mandate is understood to have UEFA on track to exceed €5 billion in annual commercial revenue for its men's club competitions — and the governing body will hope the same playbook can now be applied to its national-team properties.

The stakes are considerable. While club competition revenue mostly flows back to teams as prize money, UEFA needs lucrative national-team events to fund its own running costs, support its 55 member federations and maintain a reserves fund of around €500 million. Cumulative media rights and sponsorship sales for tournaments like the Nations League and European qualifiers are projected to have generated roughly €3 billion across the 2022-2028 cycle — the baseline Relevent will now be expected to beat.

New formats, new commercial platform

Relevent inherits national-team properties in the middle of a redesign. From the 2028-29 season the Nations League will transition from its current four leagues to three leagues of 18 teams, each split into three groups of six, with European Qualifiers also remodelled on the Champions League's league-phase format. UEFA's stated aim is to develop the competitions from semi-annual events into a year-round commercial platform — and it has now chosen the agency to sell that vision to broadcasters and sponsors worldwide.

We are grateful to UEFA for its continued trust, and we are focused on delivering commercial outcomes that reflect the scale, quality, and cultural significance of these competitions.— Relevent, after being appointed UEFA's exclusive national-team marketing and sales partner

For Relevent, which beat several rival bids citing what UEFA called a "proven track record representing UEFA club competitions" and a "compelling vision" for how commercial rights in football will develop, the mandate cements its position as one of the most powerful sales houses in world sport — and deepens European football's financial reliance on US-based agencies.