Broadcaster fended off bids from ITV and Sky

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BT Sport has retained the rights to broadcast Champions League games for another three seasons in a deal worth £1.2 billion.

The new deal is worth £400m a year, slightly up on the 2018-2021 rights cycle which is worth £394m a year.

As such, UEFA has protected the value of its Champions League rights in Britain. That contrasts with the Premier League, which has seen domestic broadcast revenue drop 8% from this season.

The deal was first reported last night by Associated Press, and confirmed this morning by BT.

BT reportedly fended off offers from ITV and Sky to secure the rights.

BT Sport will continue to show every game live and air highlights in the 2021-2024 rights cycle as the competition’s only British broadcaster.

Under the deal, BT have secured the rights to all 420 games of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the new UEFA Europa Conference League for three seasons. This represents an increase of 77 games from the previous deal, and includes highlights and in-match clips, and commences in 2021.

BT Sport said that last season it saw a 26 per cent increase in UEFA Champions League viewer hours, with the UEFA Champions League final between Liverpool and Spurs available for all to watch in the UK on social media, and a record breaking 11.3m people tuning in across all platforms.

Marc Allera, CEO of BT’s Consumer Division, said, “We’re delighted to remain the home of UEFA Champions League in the UK. BT Sport leads the way when it comes to UEFA Champions League coverage, and we’re very excited to continue to bring our world class coverage to one of the most exciting football competitions in the world - whether that’s broadcasting 12 games simultaneously or delivering industry leading images in 4K UHD.”

UEFA marketing director Guy Laurent Epstein said: “UEFA is delighted to continue its strong partnership with BT until 2024. All matches will be available across the BT Sport channels and digital services and in addition UK football fans will be able to enjoy club competition highlights for free on social media each match week, as well as the finals to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the newly formed UEFA Europa Conference League.

“Its high quality production and programming standards set the bar for the industry and audiences will continue to enjoy the competitions in new ways via BT’s innovative approach as it showcases new technologies.”