Paramount Emerges as Major Player in UEFA’s TV Rights Market Shake-Up

UEFA, UC3, and Relevent have made big waves in Europe’s TV rights market, with Paramount stepping in as a major player. The joint venture commercial arm of UEFA, UC3, is thrilled to announce a slew of new deals and broadcasters for club competitions in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France—Europe’s top five markets.

Some exciting news for football fans—Paramount, a US media powerhouse, is gearing up to make a big splash in the UEFA Champions League in the UK and Germany starting in 2027. Over in Spain, telecoms giant Telefonica has locked in the rights to all UEFA club competitions, except for the UCL final, which will be shared with state broadcaster RTVE.

The deals being struck are breaking records left and right. Paramount’s acquisition in the UK for a four-year package is set to surpass the current £1 billion deal with TNT Sports. Telefonica will be shelling out €1.5 billion over four seasons, starting in 2027, with a 14% increase compared to the previous cycle.

In Germany, Paramount+ will take the spotlight from DAZN as the new domestic home for the Champions League. They’ll have the first pick on Tuesday nights, while Prime Video and DAZN will cover other matches and leagues. France’s Canal+ has managed to hold onto all UEFA club competitions for the 2027-2031 cycle.

For Paramount, this move marks a significant foray into the European sports scene, especially in the UK, where fans may need to add yet another subscription to catch all the games they love. In the UK, Amazon Prime will still have the first pick on Tuesday nights.

The big question now is how Paramount will handle their sports offerings in the UK and Germany. Will it be a part of the Paramount+ subscription, a separate football tier, or bundled through existing partners like Sky? It’s all up in the air for now.

But Paramount’s ventures into sports may not stop with UEFA’s club competitions. Rumors are swirling about a potential bid for Warner Bros Discovery, owner of TNT sports properties.

On the other side of the spectrum, Spain is making big moves with Telefonica securing an all-rights deal. Football is a key component of Telefonica’s business strategy in Spain, attracting and retaining high-value customers through premium sports content.

The UEFA press statement highlighted the evolving landscape of sports broadcasting, balancing global players with established broadcasters to provide fans with consistent, high-quality content.

While all of this sounds promising, the key to success will be in attracting Europe’s big market pay-tv buyers. If they don’t take the bait, the future of these deals could be in jeopardy.

Preferred bidders by market are as follows:

France:
– Canal+ (all UEFA club competition rights)
– TF1 (co-exclusive rights to the UEFA Champions League Final)

Germany:
– Paramount+ (UCL Tuesday first pick package and all remaining UCL matches and highlights including the UCL Final)
– Prime Video (UCL Wednesday first pick package)
– ZDF (UCL Wednesday highlights on a co-exclusive basis)
– DAZN (all UEFA Europa League/UEFA Conference League rights)

Italy:
– Prime Video (UCL Wednesday first pick package)
– Sky (all remaining UCL matches and highlights, UEL/UECL rights)

Spain:
– Telefonica (all UEFA club competition rights)
– RTVE (co-exclusive rights to the UCL Final)

UK:
– Paramount+ (UCL Wednesday first pick package and all remaining UCL matches and highlights including UCL Final)
– Prime Video (UCL Tuesday first pick package)
– BBC (UCL Wednesday highlights on a co-exclusive basis)
– Sky (all UEL and UECL rights)