Channel 4 has secured broadcast rights for England’s matches in the UEFA Nations League, European Qualifiers to UEFA EURO 2024 as well as international friendlies.
The deal means that six England games will be shown live on the free to air channel this year starting with the match against Hungary on 4 June, followed by the away match against Germany.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz, commented: “After bringing some of the biggest sporting moments of last year to the nation, I’m delighted that Channel 4 will be airing so many mouth-watering England matches on free to air television.
“This deal shows Channel 4 can compete for some of the biggest properties in sport and will bring substantial new audiences to our award-winning slate of original programming.”
Gareth Southgate’s side look to avenge its UEFA EURO final defeat against Italy when they take on the reigning UEFA EURO champions at Molineux on 11 June. This will be the first time that live coverage of the men’s national team will be featured on Channel 4.
Channel 4 CEO, Alex Mahon, added: “As a life-long committed football fan I am personally so delighted that we have these matches on the channel which further reinforce our reputation as a top quality sport broadcaster having been named Sports Network of the Year at this year’s British Sports Journalism Awards.”
Other major live sports coverage on Channel 4 have also included: the British & Irish Lions; England’s Test tour of India; Ireland rugby union internationals; and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which reports showed gained around 20 million viewers.
Recently, the broadcaster aired over 80 hours of coverage from the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games and formed deals to show live Betfred Super League rugby and Formula E.
Channel 4’s Head of Sport, Pete Andrews, concluded: “England matches against Germany are always an exciting prospect and I’m sure the team will be keen to set the record straight against Italy after the defeat in the final of the UEFA EURO.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have secured this deal with UEFA and I’m sure England fans will be looking forward to the summer with great anticipation.”
The matches in the UEFA European Qualifiers in 2023 are yet to be determined, with the Draw scheduled in October.
