At the culmination of the Heineken Champions Cup, the opening ceremony begins by telling the story of the road to the final.

Progress Productions, working with European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), commissioned ON THE SLY to create the soundtrack for the opening ceremony video montage — a piece designed to build anticipation inside the stadium ahead of kick-off.

The brief was to drive energy and excitement by combining key commentary moments from across the competition with carefully curated commercial music. Working ahead of the final visuals, ON THE SLY selected and mixed the soundtrack to shape the pace and emotional arc of the film as it charted the journey of the two finalists.

The result was a high-impact opening ceremony sequence that brought together commentary, music and sporting drama to set the stage for the final in Dublin.

This project built on ON THE SLY’s earlier work on the 150th FA Cup Final opening ceremony, continuing our collaboration with Progress Productions on major sporting events.

ON THE SLY creates music and sound direction for sporting ceremonies and large-scale opening shows around the world.