BT Sport secure CL, EL & ECL, Amazon Prime CL UK live broadcast rights from 2024/25-2026/27, BBC secure CL highlights package

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Amazon has bought the rights to broadcast some Champions League games in the United Kingdom from 2024, The Athletic understands.

The tech giant will be able to show a number of games from UEFA club competitions — including the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League — during the 2024-27 cycle.

BT Sport will retain the majority of the rights and will be able to show more games than previously, as the number of matches to be played in those competitions will increase when the formats change.

It is understood that the overall value of the rights has increased by approximately 20 per cent, with most of the new money coming from Amazon. The total package is now worth €1.7 billion over three years.

BT has owned the rights in the UK since 2015, when it spent big to take them from ITV and Sky.

Amazon shows 20 Premier League games a season in the UK on Prime Video and also broadcasts tennis and some rugby union fixtures. Earlier this year, it paid $1 billion for the exclusive US rights to the NFL’s Thursday night game until 2033.

BT and US media giant Warner Brothers Discovery announced a BT Sport/Eurosport joint venture last month, in a deal that could be worth as much as £633 million to the British communications firm.

Canal+, meanwhile, has bought the exclusive rights to the Champions League in France for the 2024-27 period for €480 million.

Amazon and BT declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.
So BT/Amazon pay €1.7bn for the CL rights for the 2024-27 period, yet Canal+ only had to pay €480m for the exclusive rights to show the matches in France for the same timeframe.

How does that work? Doesn't seem fair that broadacasters in the UK had to pay over three times as much which will surely have a negative effect on UK consumer prices.
 
You need 3 to watch the EPL.
You also need 3 to watch Rangers. Utterly fùcking ridiculous.
Not to mention the TV tax to pay the BBC, who don't show Rangers matches.
Unless they introduce a day/match pass, no one will get a penny from me ever.
 
So BT/Amazon pay €1.7bn for the CL rights for the 2024-27 period, yet Canal+ only had to pay €480m for the exclusive rights to show the matches in France for the same timeframe.

How does that work? Doesn't seem fair that broadacasters in the UK had to pay over three times as much which will surely have a negative effect on UK consumer prices.
€480m per season

 
I think I read a price increase was already happening , but this is Amazon not a normal company , they can take hit for years , drive rivals out the market place , and then put prices up . Will be restrictions on percentage of games they can show , but once they are involved , doesn’t end well for rivals .
I read that Sky can’t compete with BT Sport with money as BT are cash rich due to Openreach, and we all know how much money Amazon have.
 
So BT/Amazon pay €1.7bn for the CL rights for the 2024-27 period, yet Canal+ only had to pay €480m for the exclusive rights to show the matches in France for the same timeframe.

How does that work? Doesn't seem fair that broadacasters in the UK had to pay over three times as much which will surely have a negative effect on UK consumer prices.
There’s active competition for the rights in the U.K. which drives the price up.
 
So far to watch Rangers now you need a sky sub Bt Sport sub Amazon sub premier sports sub. Add my season tickets and cccs scheme.

That is getting utterly ridiculous and I’ve got them all I expect price to rise soon again.
 
That would suit me, but I feel bad for the older generation. My grandad passed last year, but he just would never have been able to watch a game by himself on Prime, or any other streaming service.

Sounds simple to most of us, but anything other than changing channels he just couldn't get his head around. Honestly, sky was a five year long nightmare and that's just a remote.
And I'll wager you wish you still had that nightmare. No slight intended.
 
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Amazon has bought the rights to broadcast some Champions League games in the United Kingdom from 2024, The Athletic understands.

The tech giant will be able to show a number of games from UEFA club competitions — including the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League — during the 2024-27 cycle.

BT Sport will retain the majority of the rights and will be able to show more games than previously, as the number of matches to be played in those competitions will increase when the formats change.

It is understood that the overall value of the rights has increased by approximately 20 per cent, with most of the new money coming from Amazon. The total package is now worth €1.7 billion over three years.

BT has owned the rights in the UK since 2015, when it spent big to take them from ITV and Sky.

Amazon shows 20 Premier League games a season in the UK on Prime Video and also broadcasts tennis and some rugby union fixtures. Earlier this year, it paid $1 billion for the exclusive US rights to the NFL’s Thursday night game until 2033.

BT and US media giant Warner Brothers Discovery announced a BT Sport/Eurosport joint venture last month, in a deal that could be worth as much as £633 million to the British communications firm.

Canal+, meanwhile, has bought the exclusive rights to the Champions League in France for the 2024-27 period for €480 million.

Amazon and BT declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.
Canal + have only been able to buy the rights in France as a result of losing domestic rights to for ligue 1 to Amazon
 
I read that Sky can’t compete with BT Sport with money as BT are cash rich due to Openreach, and we all know how much money Amazon have.
Sky are owned by Comcast , second largest broadcasting & cable company in the world and US largest home internet provider , BT are less than quarter the size , so they could easily compete with BT , but Sky deal hasn’t been seen as a good for Comcast as worth less than what they paid , as bought them at their peak in 2018 , subscription numbers have declined for various reasons , and they may not want invest anymore than they need to .
 
I read that Sky can’t compete with BT Sport with money as BT are cash rich due to Openreach, and we all know how much money Amazon have.
it's not women's netball or other sports that nobody watches either

if Sky ended up losing the PL, they are in serious danger of being left behind by other streaming/TV companies because they have practically no football
 
I wish they would just make it simple so that we can watch the games.

Remember the simply days when they would show the champions league games on channel 3? And I’m sure the uefa cup was on bbc, wish we could go back to them days.
 
I’ve often wondered why BT have launched a sports news channel.

Sky has just been left to dominate this area of the market since Setanta left UK

They have ESPN rights here so even a UK version of Sportcenter would be such a welcomed change to the rotten SSN. Show us highlights of American sports as well as the usual suspects that we get here
 
Sky need to get amazon into their channels. Bugs me having to route through the apps section
 
Sky are finished IMO.
Sky are just as strong now as ever. They’ve adjusted to focus on owning the platform and less about the channels. Purely for convenience, people have sky q because it has everything in the one place. Just because they’re not making money from direct subs, doesn’t mean they still aren’t making a fortune from i player, Spotify, BT sports, Netflix, Disney and YouTube apps.
 
It is indeed. Proper UHD.

However given the cash involved I fully expect this to become a separate subscription, outwith normal Prime.

I would bet on this.
Stan (similar to Netflix) here in Australia won the contract for the Champions League / Europa / Conference last year.

Stan was $15 a month.
When they won that, they brough out Stan Sport which was $10 a month. Can't get sport without the Stan account, so for those of us (like me) who didn't have Stan already it was $25/month for the Europa games.
 
One of the greatest losses of Champions' League football from ITV was the highlights show.

An hour or so of all of that night's games, usually starting the back of 10.

It also usually meant that you could watch the highlights without knowing any scores. I know BT stick their highlights up on YouTube after the game, but there's usually a bit of a wait and they tell you the result in the title of the video.
 
Sky are just as strong now as ever. They’ve adjusted to focus on owning the platform and less about the channels. Purely for convenience, people have sky q because it has everything in the one place. Just because they’re not making money from direct subs, doesn’t mean they still aren’t making a fortune from i player, Spotify, BT sports, Netflix, Disney and YouTube apps.
Personally, I left sky in March last year after spending approx £10k over 10 years (vip don’t make me laugh).

Haven’t spent 1 minute regretting that decision other than sky plus which I loved.

Alternative arrangements obviously in place but other than that we have all the other subs which you mentioned and they total less than half that of sky and even then we could probably save money with streamlining.

I stand by the view they are done.

Edit: not BT Sports, mrs has that free on her phone and I have the alternative arrangements.
 
One of the greatest losses of Champions' League football from ITV was the highlights show.

An hour or so of all of that night's games, usually starting the back of 10.

It also usually meant that you could watch the highlights without knowing any scores. I know BT stick their highlights up on YouTube after the game, but there's usually a bit of a wait and they tell you the result in the title of the video.
One thing the various streaming services who've got the rights to leagues / competitions over here have right is the highlight package.

I currently have:
- RTV annual pass for our games
- Foxtel (similar to Sky) for our away games, some aussie sport
- Stan + Stan Sport streaming service for our european games
- Optus (streaming service) for EPL

The two streaming services are better quality and far, far better on the highlights options than the other options.
With Stan and Optus, which I am imagining will be similar to Amazon (ie. App based) the highlight options are very, very quick after final whistle. Especially if full match is what you want, that is available instantly.
You also with both get full match, 45 mins, 25 mins, 15 mins, 9 mins and 3 mins options depending on what you want.

Only annoyance I have is, they both buy the rights from others and have a bear minimum. We get the "program" starting at 5 mins to KO. No build up or analysis, they don't pay for the half time stuff so you get 15 mins of ads, and final whistle is where stream ends!
 
I would bet on this.
Stan (similar to Netflix) here in Australia won the contract for the Champions League / Europa / Conference last year.

Stan was $15 a month.
When they won that, they brough out Stan Sport which was $10 a month. Can't get sport without the Stan account, so for those of us (like me) who didn't have Stan already it was $25/month for the Europa games.
All you have to do is share a log in with a pal and you have halved the bill.
 
It’s Amazon mate , driven by prime subscribers , I don’t think they will all about power in the marketplace , the money involved in TV rights etc is nothing for them.
It's amazing what can happen when you're an organisation that refuses to pay tax
 
Personally, I left sky in March last year after spending approx £10k over 10 years (vip don’t make me laugh).

Haven’t spent 1 minute regretting that decision other than sky plus which I loved.

Alternative arrangements obviously in place but other than that we have all the other subs which you mentioned and they total less than half that of sky and even then we could probably save money with streamlining.

I stand by the view they are done.

Edit: not BT Sports, mrs has that free on her phone and I have the alternative arrangements.
I don’t know what you’re based the view that they’re done on, other than you cancelling.

You might be happy to watch the subs on another platform, but many prefer to have them in the one place, that’s why they’re still successful.

They’re owned by one of the largest media companies in the world, they regularly post profits of 1.5-2bn, they’re well hedged in the market with broadband/mobile/tv/q and they own 90% of the rights to the biggest and most watched league in the world.
 
I don’t know what you’re based the view that they’re done on, other than you cancelling.

You might be happy to watch the subs on another platform, but many prefer to have them in the one place, that’s why they’re still successful.

They’re owned by one of the largest media companies in the world, they regularly post profits of 1.5-2bn, they’re well hedged in the market with broadband/mobile/tv/q and they own 90% of the rights to the biggest and most watched league in the world.
As I said above , they haven’t been a great buy for Comcast . Worth less than when purchased in 2018 .
 
Unless Sky take a whole new approach to how they do things they will be gone in 5-10 years. Only way I think they could save the sinking ship is to embrace the streaming service approach, make their own content and go global. It feels like they have went a wee bit in with this approach but they need to go full on. Prime, Netflix, Disney, Apple TV have almost made them redundant already
 
I’ve often wondered why BT have launched a sports news channel.

Sky has just been left to dominate this area of the market since Setanta left UK

They have ESPN rights here so even a UK version of Sportcenter would be such a welcomed change to the rotten SSN. Show us highlights of American sports as well as the usual suspects that we get here
It's a money loser. News channels lose money. Sky Sports News have an audience and even that's diminished over the years as people go elsewhere.

When Sky did their rejig a few years back, they renamed it Sky Sports HQ and stuck it at the top of the Sports section in order to get more viewers. That didn't work either.

As for Sportscenter, ESPN produce it in the States, so getting ESPN to produce a 15 minute segment is fairly low cost.
 
Personally, I left sky in March last year after spending approx £10k over 10 years (vip don’t make me laugh).

Haven’t spent 1 minute regretting that decision other than sky plus which I loved.

Alternative arrangements obviously in place but other than that we have all the other subs which you mentioned and they total less than half that of sky and even then we could probably save money with streamlining.

I stand by the view they are done.

Edit: not BT Sports, mrs has that free on her phone and I have the alternative arrangements.

Agreed. Done the same earlier this year and not regretted ditching Sky satellite at all. I was a customer for 21 years but it offered very poor value for money given the alternative streaming options available. We now use FreeSat TV and subscribe to Netflix, Disney and Amazon. Also currently have Sky Entertainment and Movies via Now TV for a fraction of the price of Sky satellite. In the last few weeks Sky have sent me multiple emails offering me to come back for less than half price but there is no chance of me doing that.

On the football front, the fact that matches are now split across multiple platforms, all requiring separate subscriptions, is now beyond a joke. Yes it means more and more football is broadcast, but the cost to the consumer is just unacceptable. So much for competition benefiting the consumer, not in this case it doesn’t.
 
As I said above , they haven’t been a great buy for Comcast . Worth less than when purchased in 2018 .
They are still making huge profits every year though.

It costs a lot but is ultimately the best service for watching tv by miles, nobody else has anything anywhere near as good as Sky Q, and all it’s apps.

They are embracing streaming services now as well.

The only way I can see them starting to struggle is if they lose the EPL rights which are the jewel in their crown and always have been.
 
I wonder if UEFA will ever look at setting up their own streaming service for this in future. A monthly fee for Champions League, Europa League & Conference League plus the library of previous years and could make plenty of exclusive content.
 
They are still making huge profits every year though.

It costs a lot but is ultimately the best service for watching tv by miles, nobody else has anything anywhere near as good as Sky Q, and all it’s apps.

They are embracing streaming services now as well.

The only way I can see them starting to struggle is if they lose the EPL rights which are the jewel in their crown and always have been.
Profits have been dropping each year since takeover , still over a billion per annum , isn’t huge for company purchased for £29b 4 years ago , Sky aren’t going anywhere ,can provide everything on the one platform . It depends what Amazon want from it all really . They can have a negative effect on a rivals share price by just getting involved in that sector .
 
BT Sport
CL 533 of 550 games per season
All Europa League & Europa Conference League as now
Super Cup?

Amazon Prime
CL 17 per season - 1st pick of Tuesday games

BBC
CL Highlights = to be shown from 10pm each Wednesday night

The costs of the rights awarded to BT Sport is c. £305m per annum. BT expects to pay a deposit of c.£61m in July 2022. Following the move of BT Sport into the Joint Venture being created by BT Group plc and Warner Bros. Discovery, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2022, the JV would pay the rights costs of c. £305m per annum less the deposit. The planned JV is subject to customary closing conditions, including CMA approval.

Our financial outlook for FY23 remains unchanged. Following completion of the sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery, we expect Group revenues to reduce by £0.5bn-£0.6bn per annum relative to FY22. We do not expect a material impact on our FY23 adjusted EBITDA outlook. We will confirm the full impact on all our outlook metrics following completion.

The timing of the 6 cash payments covering the rights costs of c. £305m per annum, less the deposit, by the proposed JV will be:

· August 2024 c.£92m

· February 2025 c.£153m

· August 2025 c.£153m

· February 2026 c.£153m

· August 2026 c.£153m

· February 2027 c.£153m
 
BT Sport
CL 533 of 550 games per season
All Europa League & Europa Conference League as now
Super Cup?

Amazon Prime
CL 17 per season - 1st pick of Tuesday games

BBC
CL Highlights = to be shown from 10pm each Wednesday night
I presume when they say first pick of the Tuesday games it will be that they only show 1 game and BT show the rest?
 
BT Sport
CL 533 of 550 games per season
All Europa League & Europa Conference League as now
Super Cup?

Amazon Prime
CL 17 per season - 1st pick of Tuesday games

BBC
CL Highlights = to be shown from 10pm each Wednesday night
So the prime price really does not need to go up just to cover 17 games? if so excellent.
 
It is mental that some games will be broadcast through streaming only and not on TV.

Streaming games is annoying because of the broadcast delay. Even good streams have a delay of at least 15-20 second.

There is almost no delay with proper TV broadcasts.
 
That would be my thoughts as well as if they are literally getting one game a week then they can’t really justify the increase until they get more substantial coverage
Amazon prime isn’t going to increase in price due to the CL rights, if it does it’s going to be down to the same reasons as it did in the US recently which was due things such as inflation, increased transport costs and the overall expansion of prime to cover areas like pharmacy.
 
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