The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has officially launched a tender for the media rights to its men's club competitions in New Zealand for the 2024-27 cycle. The deadline for bid submissions is set for July 9.
UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, initiated this tender process on May 28. The rights up for grabs include those to the top-tier Champions League (UCL), second-tier Europa League, and third-tier Conference League matches. The successful bidder will secure coverage rights for the seasons spanning from 2024-25 through to 2026-27.
This tender has been launched by UEFA in partnership with Team Marketing, which is UEFA's agency partner responsible for club competitions.
Two-way battle between BeIN Sports and Spark
For the recently concluded season of 2023-24, which ended with a spectacular UEFA Champions League final over the weekend, these three competitions were broadcasted in New Zealand by BeIN Sports via a one-year tie-up. Originally allocated to Spark network for the cycle running from 2021 through to 2024, these rights were sub-licensed last August to BeIN Sports after Spark shut down its sports streaming service midway through last year.
Prior to this arrangement, pay-TV broadcaster Sky NZ held coverage rights during the cycle from 2018 until 2021.
In terms of recent deals concerning UEFA club competition rights covering seasons between 2024 and '27; Nova - a pay-TV broadcaster - secured broadcasting privileges within Czech Republic just last week. Similarly at end of May Viaplay acquired similar broadcasting privileges within Sweden, Denmark and Iceland respectively.
Changes in structure from next year add a new dimension
From next year onwards there will be significant changes made regarding structure of UCL. The competition will now comprise of 203 matches per season across 19 match weeks, as opposed to the current format of 17 match weeks and a total of 137 games. Both Conference League and Europa League matches are also set to increase in size next year, with the total number of matches rising from 282 to 342.
In New Zealand, coverage for the UEFA men’s national team European Championships is set to be handled by public-service broadcaster TVNZ. This development further highlights the growing interest and investment in football within New Zealand's broadcasting landscape.
