Champions League games to be shown by completely new broadcaster in historic move

There will be a new broadcaster for the Champions League going forward in news set to satisfy clubs and domestic leagues, it has emerged.

The rights for the Europe's premier club competition are said to be valued at a whopping £4.3 billion and now it is being reported that Disney+ have entered uncharted territory by successfully bidding to show games live on their platform.

The broadcasting giant has splashed out on Champions League rights for the first time, relating to the next batch of packages involving a total of 19 TV markets for the cycle between 2027 and 2031.

As per the report by Matt Hughes from The Guardian, Disney are the 'preferred bidder' in a number of European countries - with Sweden said to be one.

Other nations with broadcasting rights on the agenda include Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Central America, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, South America and Switzerland.

UC3, a joint initiative which represents UEFA and European Football Clubs (EFC), are poised to announce the winning bidders, with significant increases on existing contracts.

Disney made a huge splash by purchasing rights to the women's Champions League until 2030 and they also have rights to both the Europa League and Conference League in Sweden and Denmark.

Who owns Champions League rights in the UK?

In the UK, TNT Sports, formerly BT Sport, have been the major player for a number of years now. But Amazon Prime have also been showing big Champions League games to follow its Premier League coverage and have pundits like Wayne Rooney and Clarence Seedorf on their books.

And in November, it was announced that Prime had secured broadcasting rights for four seasons until through to the 2030/31 season and they have priority on the top Tuesday fixture each week.

In addition, Paramount+ secured the rights to show most Champions League games in the UK in the same period in a deal which is reported to be worth more than £1 billion.

The basic subscription service for movies and TV costs £4.99 a month, with other enhanced packages available.

Paramount controls Champions League coverage in the United States, where CBS Sports show matches and feature entertaining punditry from Thierry Henry, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards.

The exact breakdown of how the deal would work on these shores is not yet known.