Turkish Airlines (THY) will pay €150 million ($163.4 million) for UEFA Champions League sponsorship. Last week the THY announced that it would sponsor the UEFA Champions League for the next three years. According to the Turkish flag carrier's statement published on the Public Disclosure Platform, the THY board decided to sponsor the UEFA Champions League to increase brand recognition, but the company did not announce the total price of the sponsorship and just said that the deal has not yet been signed. The Inside World Football website calculated the approximate amount of the sponsorship for the next three years and announced it, pointing out that the THY has not given any numbers. Referring to previous sponsorship agreements in the UEFA Champions League, around €55 to €65 million per season, the website said that THY will pay 150 million euros for the three-year deal. The THY will be the "Official Airline Sponsor of the UEFA Champions League" for a period of three years. The current sponsors of the UEFA Champions League include the Dutch brewer Heineken, Japanese automobile manufacturer Nissan, Italian bank UniCredit, U.S. finance company MasterCard and Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom.
The THY currently sponsors Europe's top basketball event, the Euroleague, and top European clubs F.C. Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. The airline had earlier sponsored British giant Manchester United F.C., and it was reported in late 2014 and early 2015 that it has been conducting negotiations with Chelsea F.C.
