McDonald’s Europe Extends
Partnership with UEFA for
EURO 2012 and 2016
May 26th, 2010
McDonald’s Europe will once again be the official restaurant partner for UEFA EURO 2012™ and UEFA EURO 2016™ after renewing as a UEFA EUROTOP Partner with UEFA. Under the agreement, McDonald’s will operate restaurants in the Fan Zones and at stadia, providing great quality food to customers and football fans, while the company’s branding will feature on perimeter boards across all matches, consumer ticket promotions, internet and broadcast platforms.
The commitment extends a partnership that began at the UEFA European Championships in 1992 and has covered five tournaments - Sweden 1992, England 1996, Belgium/Netherlands 2000, Portugal 2004 and Austria/Switzerland 2008. McDonald’s has also been a FIFA World Cup partner since 1994 and will continue this commitment this summer in South Africa as well as in 2014.
As a EUROTOP Partner for UEFA EURO 2012™ in Poland/Ukraine and UEFA EURO 2016™, McDonald’s will continue to recruit and provide all the Player Escorts for these tournaments, providing a once in a lifetime opportunity for children to walk out onto the pitch hand in hand with their football heroes. McDonald’s Player Escort Programme supports our commitment to children’s well-being and delivering fun experiences, and is one of our many other great programmes across the world – dedicated to inspiring kids and providing opportunities to play sport in a safe, organised and importantly, fun way.
Denis Hennequin, President of McDonald’s Europe, said “We have been supporting football, from grassroots level to the international tournaments, for more than 25 years. Our Player Escort Programme is a great way of inspiring more young people to participate in the game.”
Nearly 1,400 Player Escorts were recruited for the 2004 and 2008 UEFA European Championships and the latest commitment means a further 1,800 children will get the chance to walk out with their heroes. In total, including the FIFA World Cup tournaments, more than 5,500 Player Escorts will have been recruited by this summer. McDonald’s Player Escorts are provided by many countries and selected through various activities, including promotions encouraging them to be active in local grassroots initiatives, and those that inspire children creatively such as essays, reporting and video contests.
As part of McDonald’s ongoing commitment to local communities, the company continues to encourage children’s well-being by supporting local grassroots sports projects in many countries across Europe.
McDonald’s customers also have a chance to get close to the action through the UEFA EUROTOP partnership. The company will distribute between 90-95% of its tickets to customers as a way to further enhance their enjoyment of the tournament. Restaurants will be running themed marketing campaigns with ticket offers, while customers will be able get involved online, through the McDonald’s Fantasy Football Game.
As an official partner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, McDonald’s is offering unforgettable moments to football fans through different forms of sponsorship activation, including Player Escorts. Over the championship, McDonald’s will run a Pan-European brand campaign “Feed the Passion” - linking the brand and its core products with the biggest football event in the world.
McDonald's Europe is the region’s leading foodservice retailer with more than 6,800 restaurants in 39 countries serving over 12 million customers a day. More than 70% of McDonald's restaurants in Europe are owned and operated by independent local business men and women. For more information, please visit our website at www.mcdpressoffice.eu .
UEFA Events SA is a wholly owned subsidiary of UEFA, created to manage and handle the European governing body's commercial and event operations. It is, among other things, responsible for generating sponsorship, licensing and hospitality revenue from all professional national team competitions, and for managing relationships with all associated commercial partners.
For more information:
Agnes Vadnai
tel: +44 207 800 4884
mob: +44 7590 965 539