The live streaming platform will show 17 live matches per season on Tuesday nights starting in 2024
Amazon has successfully won the rights to show UEFA Champions League matches on its Prime Video platform for the first time. The deal, which applies to the UK, will enable Prime Video to show live coverage of 17 selected matches per campaign, with those scheduled to be aired on Tuesday nights. Amazon will have first choice as to which matches to air.
This news represents the end of BT Sport's dominant reign as the sole provider of Champions League football in the UK.
The BBC will also show highlights from the competition for the first time ever.
These two new agreements will begin at the start of the 2024/25 Champions League campaign.
BT Sport has kept hold of the majority of the rights and will show 187 of the 204 live matches per season, across the new three season deal, with the other 17 matches heading to Amazon, and the highlights package going to the BBC.
BT Sport has managed to reduce the price it pays for these rights by 23% down to £917m, but overall UEFA has boosted its revenue generated from selling Champions League TV rights.
This new deal will coincide with the start of the new expanded format of the competition which will now feature 36 teams, up from 32, and see them compete initially in a league table. Every team will play eight games, four at home and four away, during this new "league stage" with the teams who finish in the top eight progressing to the next round and the 16 teams finishing between 9th and 24th entering a two-legged playoff for the chance to join the top eight in the knockout stages.
BT Sport has held the exclusive rights to all men's UEFA competitons since 2015, and 2024/25 will be the first time that any match from the Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League has been aired on a different network in nine years.
Alex Green, Managing Director of Prime Video Sport Europe, said of this new deal:
"The addition of UEFA Champions League football is a truly momentous moment for Prime Video in the UK,”
2024 will also mark the beginning of a new era in Champions League highlights, as they move to the BBC. This will mean the return of elite European football highlights to free-to-air television in the UK after a long absence.
Barbara Slater, Director of Sport at the BBC said:
“Our reach and ability to bring people together is unrivalled and we couldn’t be more delighted that Uefa have recognised the value in our ability to bring the UEFA Champions League to the widest possible audience across the UK,”
Under this new agreement, there will be no change to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League as both competitions will remain exclusively under the BT Sport umbrella. Every single match from those tournaments will belong to BT until 2027 at least.
Marc Allera, Chief Executive of BT’s Consumer Division gave the BT perspective on this new deal:
“BT Sport continues to be the home of UEFA club competitions until 2027"
“From 2024 we will be able to show more games than ever before, live and exclusive.”
Despite Marc Allera's optimism, some are voicing concern about what this sharing of Champions League rights could mean for BT Sport. While Amazon will only have a very small number of UCL matches under this new deal, and BT Sport will technically be getting more matches than before, Amazon will be able to choose which matches to air on their platform. They are likely to choose the most lucrative and interesting fixtures involving English teams or Europe's elite, which will certainly take eyes away from BT Sport and attract them towards Prime Video.
Not only that but the seemingly small matter of UCL highlights could also present a challenge for the telecomms giant. As the cost of living crisis intensifies in the UK, a weekly Match of the Day program featuring all the action from a given Champions League gameweek could present a very alluring alternative for families struggling to pay hefty bills for BT Sport and similar providers.
Fans are still likely to want to watch live coverage of the biggest games during the latter stages, but some may turn to the BBC to keep them informed during the new "league stage" at the beginning of the competition. Some may cancel their subscriptions and opt for the free-to-air highlights.
There are no studies which can currently confirm or deny these concerns, but they are certainly up for discussion among industry experts at this time.
Despite BT paying less overall for their new deal, UEFA have managed to boost revenue from the sale of their club football rights, thanks in large part to the expansion of the tournament and the increase in matches available to sell.
Paolo Pescatore, an independent analyst at PP Foresight said:
"UEFA has been able to increase the value of the rights by opening up the tender and packages to more players"
“This will not go down well with fans if they’re forced to fork out more during these unprecedented times with the higher cost of living. While BT Sport loses exclusivity, it provides long-term certainty going into the joint venture with Discovery, providing fans with more games and for less money.”
This latest football TV rights deal will likely have wide ranging ramifications affecting UEFA, BT Sport, Amazon Prime Video, the BBC and UK based football fans. Only time will tell what positive or negative consequences could be felt by the various parties involved in this deal.
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