Continental on board for European Qualifiers

UEFA and Continental today announced an expansion of their partnership to include the European Qualifiers running from 2014 to 2017.

With this announcement, Continental – which is already an Official Sponsor of UEFA EURO 2016 in France – now acquires a comprehensive set of rights in connection with the European Qualifiers for the next three years. The rights relate to the qualifying matches for UEFA EURO 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and underline Continental's commitment to supporting football.

This rights package offered by UEFA was made possible by the recent centralisation of commercial rights. Through the new 'Week of Football' concept, qualifying matches will be spread over several days, allowing fans the opportunity to watch more games than ever before. This, in turn, will give Continental high visibility around the European Qualifiers matches, with a wide-reaching promotional presence including touch-line advertising.

The endorsement of such a global brand serves to confirm the potential of this initiative. Continental becomes the third global partner for the European Qualifiers, following on from the previous announcement of the Carlsberg and Socar agreements. With the European Qualifiers due to begin in September, UEFA can expect to see other commercial partners coming on board in the months ahead.

Continental will also enjoy a significant rights package across other UEFA national team competitions, including the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2015 and 2017, UEFA Women's EURO 2017 and UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 and 2016.

Commenting on the partnership, Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director of UEFA Events SA, said: "It is fantastic that Continental have chosen to endorse UEFA's newly centralised European Qualifiers platform. As a long-standing partner of the UEFA European Football Championship, this rights package provides an ideal bridge for the company to firmly establish itself across European national team football. By also coming on board as sponsor of our other national team tournaments – the Under-21, Women's and Futsal EUROs – we can now look forward to working with Continental throughout the four-year cycle and providing them with a strong platform to promote their brand and engage with their target audience."

UEFA Events is a wholly owned subsidiary of UEFA, created to handle the European governing body's commercial and event operations.