Ziggo Sport, a leading Dutch broadcaster, is set to retain its broadcasting rights for UEFA's men's club soccer competitions in the Netherlands. The sports broadcaster has been granted preferred bidder status for these media rights across the next four-season cycle.
The rights cover the upcoming four seasons of top-tier UEFA Champions League (UCL), second-tier Europa League, and third-tier Conference League from 2027-28 through 2030-31. This follows an exclusive negotiation period between UC3 (a joint venture between UEFA and the European Football Clubs body) and Ziggo that was announced recently. This development comes after a Dutch tender for those UEFA rights was issued on January 26, with a deadline for submissions set at February 26.
Ziggo currently holds UCL, Europa League, and Conference League rights for the 2024-25 through to 2026-27 cycle. This deal was unveiled in late 2022 and valued at $30.3 million annually. During this period, two Dutch sides - PSV Eindhoven and Ajax - participated in the group stages of UCL but failed to progress further.
Role of Relevent Sports
European soccer's governing body UEFA is handling these right sales via its partner agency Relevent Sports which has a dedicated arm called Relevent Football Partners specifically dealing with its UEFA dealings.
Rights to these competitions have already been allocated in Europe’s 'Big Five' markets – UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, France – late last year covering four seasons from 2027-28 to 2030-31. These were managed by US agency Relevent which replaced Team Marketing as UEFA’s longstanding sales partner back in late 2024. Globally, UEFA is aiming to secure a 10% increase in the existing value of the rights. Earlier this week, a similar tender was launched across 19 markets in mainland Europe and South/Central America.
In addition to the key European markets mentioned above, UEFA and Relevent have also selected preferred bidders in Albania, Kosovo, Japan as well as for in-ship and in-flight rights. These rights have been held by Sport24 service since they were introduced. UEFA has also announced that each season's first game from UCL will be a standalone fixture hosted by the winners of the previous season's competition. This marquee event will take place on a Tuesday night with other opening games following on Wednesday and Thursday.
This move by Ziggo Sport to retain its broadcasting rights for UEFA’s men’s club soccer competitions not only solidifies its position within Dutch sports broadcasting but also ensures that fans continue to enjoy top-tier football action right at their fingertips.
