BT Sport retains Champions League and Europa League TV rights for UK in £1.2bn three-year deal
New agreement includes 77 more games plus rights for both highlights and in-match clips
BT Sport will continue to be the exclusive home of all top-flight European club football in the UK until 2024 after securing the rights to all 420 games of UEFA’s Champions League, Europa League and the new Europa Conference League in a three-year deal worth £1.2bn.
The contract includes 77 more games from the current deal and takes in both highlights and in-match clips. The new agreement commences from the start of the 2021-22 season.
Marc Allera, the chief executive of BT’s Consumer Division, discussing the win said, “We’re delighted to remain the home of UEFA Champions League in the UK. BT Sport leads the way when it comes to UEFA Champions League coverage, and we’re very excited to continue to bring our world-class coverage to one of the most exciting football competitions in the world – whether that’s broadcasting 12 games simultaneously or delivering industry-leading images in 4K UHD.
“With increasingly more ways to watch our content, with more games on show than ever before, and alongside our excellent line up of other competitions and sports, BT Sport is going from strength to strength.”
UEFA marketing director Guy Laurent Epstein added: “All matches will be available across the BT Sport channels and digital services and in addition UK football fans will be able to enjoy club competition highlights for free on social media each match week, as well as the finals to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the newly formed UEFA Europa Conference League.
“Its high-quality production and programming standards set the bar for the industry and audiences will continue to enjoy the competitions in new ways via BT’s innovative approach as it showcases new technologies.”
BT will pay £400m each year for the rights. In a statement, the telco said that it “remains in a strong position to monetise the investment through subscriptions, wholesale access, commercial, and advertising revenues.”
BT Sport started broadcasting coverage of the UEFA Champions League in 2015. Its current three-year deal (2018-19 to 2020-21) is worth £1.18bn.