Netflix May Stream Champions League Football in Bold Broadcasting Shift – But Fans Might Face a Hefty Price Tag

Table of Contents

• Champions League Bonanza
• New TV Rights Strategy
• Potential Bidders
• Expected Earnings
• UEFA Announcement
• Future Plans

CHAMPIONS League clubs are poised to benefit from a £4.5bn annual windfall starting in 2027.

However, fans watching from home may need to pay for ANOTHER subscription to a pay TV service.

The Champions League TV rights are set to undergo a new strategy, and the influential European Football Clubs organization, representing over 800 top-tier teams, has agreed on a six-year broadcast plan for the three competitions, which will extend until 2033.

This plan anticipates that one match per round will be broadcasted by a global streaming service that will bid for the rights to a "global first pick" match on Tuesday nights.

The rights for the Big Five leagues—England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—will be sold simultaneously, allowing the possibility for a single streaming service, such as Prime Video or others, to acquire the rights for all five countries collectively.

UEFA expects that this new strategy will increase the total value of the Champions League and the Conference League from £2.9bn to as much as £4.5bn once the broadcasting deals are finalized.

This could result in Premier League clubs anticipating earnings exceeding £150m from their participation in the Champions League.

Last season, clubs earned just over £98m from their semi-final campaigns, while the Big Six clubs, benefiting from their historical European performances, could be looking at pre-competition earnings of £70-75m.

The final details of this strategy were confirmed during a meeting ahead of the EFC’s annual General Assembly in the Italian capital.

Earlier this year, UEFA announced it would be ending its long-standing in-house marketing division, TEAM, in favor of US-owned Relevent Football Partners, who are known for promoting major events like the Premier League’s Summer Series.

Relevent is optimistic about achieving the targeted income growth, particularly with the new broadcasting model.

If a successful bidder emerges, the new setup would allow the global streaming service to showcase one game in every match round leading up to the semi-finals.

However, there will be a limit on how often any single team can be selected for the global pick.

SunSport understands that there are currently no plans to alter the 36-team league phase introduced last season.

This is despite A22, the agency supporting the Super League initiative for over three years, proposing to UEFA the option of dividing the 36 teams into two separate divisions, where the 18 elite clubs would only compete against each other in the initial phase.

A22’s project includes a requirement for all matches to be broadcast on a new streaming platform called Unify, which club officials are hesitant to adopt at this time.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin assured club leaders: “Through our joint venture, the game will grow.

“With Relevant by our side, we have the strongest team to make this happen.

“Together, we are building something unique with ambition, aiming to expand our core revenue streams, attract new fans, and engage with new audiences, especially in the ever-evolving media and streaming rights landscape.

“By maximizing digital platforms, we will bring the game closer to everyone. This is how we will strengthen our clubs and maintain European football's leading status.”