TNT Sports has reportedly lost the television broadcast rights to the Champions League with Paramount+ set to takeover the airing of the European top-flight competition from 2027.
The American-owned streaming platform is in pole position to win the bidding contest to broadcast the Champions League in the UK after submitting a big bid on various packages for Uefa’s club competitions, The Times reports.
In the United States, fans already have access to the Champions League games via Paramount+ and this is a logical step for the organisation to take. The platform has been slowly increasing its library of films, entertainment and sports having also recently purchased the rights to the UFC.
TNT Sports has shown the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League since the 2015-16 season after beating Sky Sports and ITV to the rights for the first time in 2013. They still have rights to some Premier League and FA Cup games until the end of 2029.
On Thursday 20 November, Sky Sports announced that it had won the bid to become the exclusive broadcaster of matches from the Europa and Conference Leagues with those rights moving to them in 2027 as well.
Jonathan Licht, Sky’s chief sports officer, said: “I’m proud that we’re able to bring European football competitions back to Sky customers. The Uefa Europa League and Conference League have delivered some of the most exciting European stories in recent years, with English clubs consistently performing strongly and lifting trophies.
“This partnership is made possible by the strength of our business model and brand as the home of sport in the UK. Alongside the Premier League, EFL, SPFL, WSL and more, fans will now regularly enjoy domestic or European football every day of the week during the season on Sky Sports.”
Should the bid to air the competition in the UK from Paramount be successful it will mean football fans will have to purchase another subscription to watch all the Premier League, FA Cup and European matches airing on tv. Coverage of those games is already shared by TNT Sports, Sky Sports, Amazon Prime and the free-to-air BBC.
Adding a fourth subscription would increase the monthly and yearly price to watch football on fans who have already been vocal in their displeasure at the total cost of following the biggest competitions in the UK.
The bidding process for the rights is being carried out by agency Relevent Football and is said to include bids for the five major European markets with those being: the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.
All the bids are allegedly taking place simultaneously adding to the complexity and confusion. It also makes it more likely that there will be different broadcasters for different packages in each of the various countries.
