🚀 Read this must-read post from BBC Sport 📖
📂 Category:
💡 Key idea:
Every time a new broadcaster enters the TV rights market, it usually means one thing: fans pay more to watch live football matches.
This new deal fragments the landscape once again, taking Champions League football away from the broadcaster that carries a range of competitions.
At one point, fans only needed a Sky subscription to watch Premier League football, with ITV owning the Champions League.
But the days of free live television coverage of Europe’s leading competition are now just a dim and distant memory.
Only ITV held the rights from the competition’s launch in 1992 until 2003, then in association with Sky Sports until 2015.
Setanta and ESPN had Premier League shows for six years from 2007 to 2013 – but the real game changer came when BT Sport (now TNT Sports) entered the rights market.
It broadcast Premier League football matches in 2013, and two years later began showing Champions League football exclusively – ending live terrestrial coverage.
From 2027, TNT Sports will lose the Champions League, but fans will still need it for the Premier League and FA Cup package on Saturday lunchtime.
A TV license costing £14.54 per month is required to watch live TV. A Sky subscription with Sports costs £50. Add on TNT Sports for European Football, Premier League and FA Cup, and you get another £30.99.
Want to watch the Champions League on Tuesday night on Amazon Prime? That’s another £8.99, but you get all the other services that come with it.
That’s £89.98, and we haven’t even taken into account the cost of Premier Sports or Disney+ who have La Liga and the Women’s Champions League.
From 2027, they are set to become more expensive. At least a Sky subscription would be better value with exclusive rights to the Europa League and Conference League.
But with Netflix and DAZN linked to future bids for the rights, the picture could unravel further.
🔥 Tell us your thoughts in comments!
#️⃣ #Champions #League #Paramount #wins #rights #show #matches
