UEFA and Pepsi® are excited to announce that for the first time ever, the UEFA Champions League Final will feature a global live music headline performance as part of the opening ceremony pageantry.
Taking place on May 28th 2016 at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, Italy, the “UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony presented by Pepsi” will feature Alicia Keys as the inaugural artist to usher in a new live entertainment era for the UEFA Champions League Final. Airing in more than 220 countries, the UEFA Champions League Final is the most watched annual sporting event in the world.
“I’m extremely excited to share my new music at the UEFA Champions League Final, an event that is celebrated in every corner of the world,” said Alicia Keys. “This is going to be a powerful moment in history and one that represents the spirit of all the similarities we share no matter where we live and who we are. I’m honored to be a special part of such a beloved experience.”
This year’s “UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony presented by Pepsi” will merge the worlds of world-class music, entertainment and sports, as well as celebrate design and fashion as a nod to the host city, Milan.
“Music, entertainment and sports have always been a vital part of the Pepsi DNA. We are the brand that invented entertainment marketing and continue to push creative boundaries,” said Carla Hassan, SVP, Global Brand Management, Global Beverage Group, PepsiCo. “By creating a global stage as part of the UEFA Champions League Final for the first time, Pepsi will produce an epic, memorable moment that will draw an even broader global fan base to the pitch, elevate the excitement of the 2016 final, and establish a new tradition for one of the world’s most beloved sport spectacles.”
The revived opening ceremony marks an expansion of PepsiCo’s existing partnership with the UEFA Champions League, bringing one of the world’s most passionate musicians to a massive global audience and further heightens the excitement and grandeur of the world’s most watched annual sporting event. PepsiCo initially joined forces with the UEFA Champions League in 2015, announcing a partnership with the prestigious European club football tournament where Lay’s, Gatorade and Pepsi MAX / Pepsi serve as lead brands for the competition.
Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA Marketing Director, commented, “With an iconic and storied history in music, Pepsi was the ideal partner to bring an epic music performance to the world’s most watched annual sporting event for the first time, and UEFA is delighted that Alicia Keys will be performing in Milan. The UEFA Champions League Final is the ultimate stage in European football, bringing together the two best teams on the continent. With such a highly respected and truly global artist performing ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final, it heightens even further the appeal of the match and consequently will reach a broader audience demographic, which ultimately further strengthens the global status of UCL.”
In addition to the “UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony presented by Pepsi” performance, Keys – who recently joined Season 11 of NBC’s hit show The Voice in the United States and will release her 8th album this year – will be featured in a variety of integrated campaign elements leading up to the performance.
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