(Bloomberg) -- Paramount Skydance Corp. has won the bid for the television rights for the Champions League in the UK and Germany, according to a person familiar with the matter, marking the first time the US media group has made a major international sporting push.
The auction for rights in other countries including the major European markets, are still ongoing.
UEFA was attempting to overhaul the broadcast tender process for its showpiece Champions League competition, hoping to boost its appeal to streaming providers.
UEFA had initially planned to sell global rights packages and held initial discussions with a number of streamers over a global offer, but bidders preferred to focus on regional deals, the person said, asking not to be named discussing ongoing negotiations.
Paramount’s win marks a major new entrance into the UK and Germany, among UEFA’s biggest territories. The rights are currently split between Amazon.com Inc. and TNT Sports, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. and BT Group.
Paramount, which merged with David Ellison’s Skydance Media in August, struck a deal in 2022 with UEFA for a six-year broadcast partnership for the US rights for the Champions League.
The deal sealed on Thursday marks a significant win for UEFA and its new media advisers. The football authority is being advised for the first time by Relevent Football Partners, a subsidiary of US-based Relevent Sports, and UC3, the commercial arm of UEFA and the European Football Clubs.
UEFA’s premier annual tournament, the Champions League, generates billions of euros in commercial revenue each season. Despite this massive income, the media rights are scattered, with roughly 100 different broadcasters acquiring various packages.
In an attempt to foster greater market competition, the governing body reformed the bidding process to specifically appeal to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon, and DAZN, Bloomberg previously reported. Despite this initial overhaul, Relevent ultimately decided to revert to offering pan-regional packages once the bidding process commenced, the person said.
UEFA is still targeting offering longer four-year contracts as streaming giants continue to expand their sports programming, the person said. UEFA changed its rules more than two decades ago, partly due to pressure from the European Commission, to shorten typical deals to three years to increase competition.
Streaming giants are increasingly adding major sporting events to their offerings, but so far have largely focused on flagship games rather than season-long packages. Netflix recently agreed to stream Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby, a one-off event, and will this year show the National Football League’s Christmas Gameday.
Broadcasting rights for UEFA’s men’s club competitions – the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League – are held by a mix of streamers and traditional broadcasters across Europe’s major markets. The Champions League recently adopted a new, expanded league format. This change, which increased the number of games per team, led to an 18% jump in broadcasting revenue within the top six markets, as reported by Enders Analysis.
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