Voltaren Topical Products and UEFA Champions League Join Forces to Keep Fans Moving

Voltaren, produced by Haleon, announces a two-year partnership with UC3¹ which will see its topical products² become Official UEFA Champions League Licensed Products for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 seasons. The partnership kicks off in Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Belgium and France for the current 2025/26 season, before expanding to include three more European markets - Poland, the UK & Ireland, and Spain - in the 2026/27 season. The Voltaren product portfolio included under the two-year agreement includes both medicated and non-medicated topical pain relief and sensorial formats – including gels, heat patches and medical plasters.

Pain is a common experience, with 91% of people reporting they have experienced pain in a year period.³ When pain strikes, it can impact movement - 71% say they exercise less and 68% report moving less overall.⁴ Backed by more than 50 years of scientific expertise, Voltaren Emulgel is the number 1 over-the-counter (OTC) topical pain reliever globally⁵, trusted by consumers worldwide engineered to target pain6 or discomfort at its source.

Football is one of the most powerful cultural forces on the planet, with the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League final reaching an estimated 145 million viewers worldwide.⁷ Recognising that pain is a common barrier to movement⁸, Voltaren is combining its science-backed topical pain relief and sensorial range⁹ with the unrivalled reach and emotional intensity of the game to champion confident, unrestricted movement at scale. Building on Voltaren’s previous licensing agreement as an Official Licensed Product in Germany during the 2024/25 season, this latest partnership will further expand the brand’s presence.

At the heart of this collaboration is Voltaren’s new campaign platform, “Football moves us. Voltaren keeps us moving”, inspired by a simple consumer insight: in a sport defined as much by the movement on and off the pitch, physical discomfort can limit how fans express their full emotion. By revealing the science behind this connection, and by working deep at the source of pain¹⁰ or discomfort, Voltaren’s mission is to help fans move freely and celebrate fully thanks to its products.

Bringing this mission to life, Voltaren is launching an innovative, data-driven campaign that captures the raw emotion and shared body language of football fandom. Using advanced motion capture technology, real-time fan reactions during live matches have been transformed into striking 3D visual assets, reflecting the collective movement that defines the game. This campaign, which first launches in Germany this April, showcases how Voltaren’s pain relief and sensorial range can help people move more freely during the moments that matter most.

Voltaren will bring the partnership to life through a variety of initiatives across different countries such as outdoor executions, social and digital content, and creator partnerships. Fans will also see certain Voltaren topical products¹¹ featuring the official UEFA Champions League licensed product logo and starball imagery, as well as advertising, packaging and fan‑focused experiences.

As one of Haleon’s portfolio of superior brands, Voltaren topical products have supported movement for over 50 years and are trusted by millions of consumers and healthcare professionals worldwide. This collaboration expands Voltaren’s presence in sport, harnessing the cultural power of football to reinforce the brand’s long-standing mission of helping people keep moving and enabling them to live well.

Kath Swallow, OTC Category Head, Haleon said: “From the last-minute goal to the celebrations that follow, football moves us emotionally and physically and pain shouldn’t hold anyone back. Through this licensing partnership with the UEFA Champions League, we’re bringing Voltaren’s topical products to even more football fans, while also deepening our approach of how we support movement and recovery for consumers. Trusted by millions of consumers and healthcare professionals alike, Voltaren topical products help people stay active and move with confidence. This two-year partnership puts Voltaren at the heart of football culture – reaching new audiences and helping fans and players to keep moving and enjoying the moments that matter.”

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Co-Managing Director at UC3, said: "The UEFA Champions League represents the very highest level of performance, where physical demands are part of the game. As we expand our partnership with Voltaren, its leadership in topical pain relief continues to make it a strong addition to our licensed portfolio, supporting everyday movement and recovery for active fans around the world."

Footnotes

<sub><sup>1. UC3 is the is the commercial entity responsible for the management, sales and delivery of all commercial rights (including media, sponsorship and licensing rights) for UEFA’s elite men’s and women’s club competitions.
2. ”products” includes both medicated and non‑medicated topical products (such as gels, heat patches, and medical plasters), as defined under the UEFA Champions League licensing agreement
3. Haleon Pain Index, 2023
4. Haleon Pain Index, 2023
5. Nicholas Hall data, 2024
6. References to pain relief relate only to Voltaren Emulgel, and/or Voltaren patches.
7. https://www.si.com/how-many-people-watch-champions-league-final-viewership-global-audience
8. Haleon Pain Index, 2023
9. “science-backed topical pain relief and sensorial range” includes both medicated and non‑medicated topical products (such as gels, heat patches, and medical plasters), as defined under the UEFA Champions League licensing agreement
10. References to pain relief relate only to Voltaren Emulgel, and/or Voltaren patches.
11. On selected non‑medicated products only.</sup></sub>

About Haleon

Haleon (LSE/NYSE: HLN) is a consumer company that is solely focused on better everyday health. Our people, our brands, our research, our investment and our innovation are aimed at improving the everyday health of consumers. Our product portfolio spans six major categories - Oral Health, Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements (VMS), Pain Relief, Respiratory Health, Digestive Health and Therapeutic Skin Health and Other. Our superior brands - such as Advil, Centrum, Otrivin, Panadol, parodontax, Polident, Sensodyne, Theraflu and Voltaren – are trusted by more than one billion consumers and are recommended by health professionals around the world.

About UC3

UC3 unites European football’s governing body UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC), representing more than 800 top European clubs, around a new vision for managing commercial rights to UEFA’s Club Competitions (the “UCCs”). It is the company exclusively responsible for managing all commercial aspects of the UCCs and creating value for our partners. UC3 oversees the management, sales and delivery of all commercial rights, including media, sponsorship and licensing rights, for UEFA’s elite men’s and women’s club competitions.