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BT Group PLC on Friday said it has secured the rights to the majority of the UEFA Champions League games for a further three seasons, at £305 million a year, but saw its vice-like grip on club tournament come to an end.
The UK telecommunications and broadcasting company said that BT Sport will show the new format of the three European competitions from 2024, with 12 more teams and the introduction of an additional ‘knockout-play off’ round.
BT has held exclusive rights to broadcast the Champions League in the UK since 2015 when it took over from ITV PLC and Sky.
Last season, BT said that the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League were a ‘huge success’ on BT Sport. Notably, it said that there was a 37% increase in UEFA Champions League viewer hours, the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid was available for all to watch in the UK and a ‘record breaking’ 12.6 million people tuned in across all platforms.
BT added that the rights will cost around £305 million per annum and it expects to pay a deposit of £61 million in July of this year.
Following the move of BT Sport into the joint venture between BT and Warner Bros. Discovery, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2022, the JV will pay the rights costs minus the deposit. The deal will see BT Sport combine with Eurosport UK.
However, the planned JV is still subject to customary closing conditions, including UK Competition & Markets Authority approval.
BT said that its financial outlook for financial year 2023 remains unchanged. Following completion of the JV, it expects revenue to reduce by £500 million and £600 million, from financial year 2022 levels. However, the former state monopoly does not expect a substantial hit to its financial year 2023 earnings before income, tax, depreciation and amortisation outlook.
Chief Executive of BT's Consumer Division Marc Allera said: ‘BT Sport continues to be the home of the UEFA Club Competitions until 2027 and we are extremely proud to have the privilege of twelve years of broadcasting one of the most exciting competitions in the world. It is fantastic news for our viewers that from 2024 we will be able to show more games than ever before live and exclusive on BT Sport.’
Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc said Friday it has secured live rights to broadcast the Tuesday night top-pick matches of the UEFA Champions League for three seasons from 2024.
The deal between UEFA and Amazon was not disclosed but is understood to be worth around £500 million a year for the three seasons between 2024 and 2027.
Managing Director of Prime Video Sport Europe Alex Green said: ‘Since 2018, we've seen millions of Prime members in the UK enjoy live sport on Prime Video, and it's that passion and energy that has led us to this exciting next step. We can't wait to bring fans the headline fixture of European football's most prestigious competition every Tuesday and we'll have more details to share about our broadcast in the future.’
In addition, the BBC will show highlights of the Champions League on Wednesday nights from 2024, the first time the state-owned broadcaster has had access to European football's elite club competition.
BT Sport will, however, retain highlights for Tuesday night and also the Europa League and Europa Conference League, including highlights and in-match clips.
Shares in BT were down 0.7% to 185.00 pence each in London on Friday midday. Meanwhile, shares in Amazon were down 0.2% to $106.05 in pre-market trade in New York on Friday.
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