Belgian public-service broadcaster VRT has announced that it will provide free-to-air (FTA) coverage of the UEFA Europa League and Conference League matches in Belgium. This development comes as a result of a sublicense agreement with telecoms company Telenet.
Starting this season, VRT will broadcast one match FTA from either the Europa League or Conference League on Thursday evenings throughout the 2024-25 season. The matches will be aired on its Sporza sports platform, providing an additional avenue for sports fans to enjoy these exciting competitions.
Digital content availability
In addition to live broadcasts, digital clips from the Conference League and Europa League matches will be available every matchday on the Sporza website and app. This feature allows fans not only to catch up with missed actions but also provides previews and reviews of each game.
Frederik Delaplace, VRT chief executive, said:
“With this great collaboration, we are combining the strengths of both media houses and thus strengthening the local media field and the local sports sector together. We are pleased that Sporza can continue to put our teams and players in the spotlight on the European football stage in this way. We do this with our linear channels, but also expanded with the Sporza website and app.”
John Porter, Telenet Group CEO, said:
“We are delighted to further consolidate our excellent collaboration with VRT with this initiative. Partnerships are an essential part of Telenet's strategy and thanks to this collaboration of three local media players Play, Play Sports, and VRT, we are increasing the impact and relevance of European club football competitions, with a focus on Belgian clubs and Belgians abroad.”
This season sees two Belgian teams - Anderlecht and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise - featuring in the Europa League while Cercle Brugge recently joined Gent in the Conference League after successfully navigating through qualifiers. These developments are sure to increase local interest in these competitions.
Telenet's continued involvement
Despite sublicensing some rights to VRT, Telenet retains exclusive rights to both leagues for the 2024-27 cycle which it secured last year. As such, every match will still be shown on its Play Sports TV channel. Furthermore, Play Media is set to show two matches FTA on its Play 6 offering every Thursday before VRT selects a third match for broadcast via Sporza on VRT Canvas.
The sublicense agreement takes effect from September 25th – coinciding with the first matchday of this season's Europa league – and runs until end of this footballing season.
Telenet also holds co-exclusive rights to the top-tier UEFA Champions League matches for the next three seasons, sharing these with telecoms rival Proximus. Meanwhile, FTA Champions League rights in Belgium for the same period were secured by incumbent partners RTL (French language) and VTM (Dutch language). Club Brugge represents Belgium in this year’s competition.
