BT SPORT have won the right to broadcast the Champions League and Europa League on British screens until 2024 for a ten-figure fee.
Uefa have been tendering the TV rights for three years from 2021.
Liverpool’s win in the all-English final with Spurs was a major tele event of the yearCredit: Reuters
BT have won the race and will pay the same as their existing £1.2billion, three-year deal, with the rights costing £400million-a-year.
It means the pay-for television channel has once again held off competition from ITV and Sky to show Europe’s premier club competition.
The deadline for proposals was set at Monday morning after free-to-air channel ITV submitted several non-exclusive rights packages to bring the tournament back to free-to-air tele.
Streaming service DAZN were also thought to be keen to show games while Sky made their own bid to Uefa.
Amazon, however, did not produce a proposal despite recently winning a selection of Premier League matches that will air in December.
The corporation are waiting to see the success of those broadcasts before deciding their next move in the game.
Fans will fear a subscription price hike with BT spending so much to secure the rights for another three years.
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.
“With increasingly more ways to watch our content, with more games on show than ever before, and alongside our excellent line up of other competitions and sports, BT Sport is going from strength to strength.”
Chief executive Philip Jansen had previously told investors that BT will be “very disciplined” in how it approaches the new tender.
That is especially with the Premier League domestic rights market experiencing a dip in value at its last broadcast auction.
But with the telecoms company planning to up its roll-out of fibre broadband while trying to keep shareholders happy, industry analysts felt this bid could prove a turning point in their battle with Sky.
Kyle Walker forced in goal for Man City as Ederson injured and Bravo sent off against Atalanta
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
