On May 28, 2026, the UEFA Champions Innovate program reached its prestigious Showcase Event at the Ethnographic Museum in Budapest, unveiling transformative solutions designed to leave a lasting legacy for grassroots football throughout Europe, through pilots developed and tested in Hungary. Having supported the UEFA Innovation Hub for three consecutive editions, N3XT Sports has provided advisory and operational expertise to bridge the gap between ambitious challenge statements and concrete pilot projects within the host country. With this latest chapter complete, we reflect on our contribution and the broader implications of how football can harness innovation to enhance major sporting events.
Champions Innovate is a program designed to solve modern, meaningful and relevant challenges identified by UEFA and the host city or host national association of the UEFA Champions League final. Each season, UEFA Innovation Hub invites start‑ups and other innovative organizations to propose solutions to those challenges, with the shared ambition of creating a lasting and positive impact in local communities.
The program brings together UEFA, the host country of the Champions League final, commercial partners and innovators to co‑create and test pilot projects around the climax of the European club season. It is a structured way for UEFA’s Innovation Hub to explore new ideas in real environments while keeping a strong focus on community and legacy.
“We often refer to football as a vehicle for transforming society in the best sense. Champions Innovate is one part of that and highlights the opportunities to bring together parties from across our stakeholder ecosystem who would have otherwise not have collaborated without UEFA.” — Charles Frémont, Senior Innovation Hub Manager, UEFA.
Budapest 2026: Innovating for Grassroots Football
This year, grassroots football was placed at the heart of Champions Innovate. The edition focused on how innovation can help football thrive at every level: encouraging participation, supporting coaches and volunteers, and improving local playing environments.
Start‑ups and other organizations were invited to respond to clearly defined challenges in these areas, demonstrating innovative solutions, proven minimum viable products and the potential for measurable impact. The Showcase Event in Budapest gave these organizations the opportunity to present their work, but the real goal was that successful pilots continue beyond the UEFA Champions League final and become part of the football landscape.
Our role in Champions Innovate is to complement UEFA’s Innovation Hub with specialist sports‑innovation and delivery support, always within the framework and terminology set by UEFA. Across the last three editions, this has included:
- Helping to translate high‑level ambitions into clear challenge statements that innovators can act on.
- Supporting the identification and review of potential participants against the program’s criteria.
- Assisting with planning, coordination and day‑to‑day oversight so that stakeholders can focus on collaboration and co‑creation.
We operate largely in the background, ensuring that the Champions Innovate journey, from challenge definition to pilot and Showcase Event, runs as smoothly as possible for everyone involved.
Three Editions of Learning
Champions Innovate was first launched to catalyze innovation around the UEFA Champions League final, beginning with sustainability‑driven challenges and then expanding to topics such as physical activity, healthy lifestyles and now grassroots football. Across these editions, the program has shown that targeted, challenge‑based initiatives can deliver tangible results for host cities, partners and football communities.
For N3XT Sports, being part of this journey has reinforced a few principles we apply in our broader work:
- Clear, relevant challenges are the foundation of any effective innovation program.
- Structure matters: eligibility criteria, selection processes and delivery frameworks create the conditions for meaningful pilots.
- Legacy has to be designed from the outset, not only discussed at the showcase stage.
These insights are as applicable to Champions Innovate as they are to other innovation initiatives we help design and deliver across the sports industry.
How This Connects to Our Work
N3XT Sports is a consulting firm focused on sports innovation, strategic planning, and AI readiness. Our support to Champions Innovate sits alongside projects with leagues, clubs, federations and Olympic organizations where we help structure and execute innovation efforts, from performance and analytics projects to digital fan engagement and new business models. In each case, our objective is the same: to help organizations move from ambition to implementation, using clear frameworks and actionable roadmaps. Champions Innovate is a strong example of that approach in action around one of world football’s most visible events.
“The beauty of a process-driven approach to innovation is its versatility. By embracing a process-driven approach to innovation, you’re not just solving today’s challenges; you’re building a more resilient and future-proof organization.” — Mounir Zok, CEO, N3XT Sports.
With the Budapest edition completed, attention now turns to how the solutions developed with UEFA, the Hungarian Football Federation and local partners can be carried forward in grassroots football. For our team, it is also a moment to capture learnings, refine methods and share insights with other organizations exploring similar paths. As Champions Innovate continues to evolve, we at N3XT Sports will remain committed to supporting the program where our expertise is relevant, and to applying what we learn to help the wider sports ecosystem design innovation initiatives that are clear, collaborative and focused on lasting impact.
