Paramount Skydance go from strength to strength by picking up the Champions League broadcast rights in the UK and Ireland, while continuing its interest in acquiring TNT Sports’ parent company
Paramount Skydance has won the broadcast rights to showcase the UEFA Champions League across the UK and Ireland from 2027-2031.
The Guardian reported yesterday (November 20) the 2027/28 Champions League campaign will mark the start of the agreement, culminating at the end of the 2030/31 season. The deal is worth a reported £1bn per-year.
The majority of Champions League games broadcasted in the UK and Ireland will be shown on the streaming service Paramount+, while Amazon Prime Video retains its select Tuesday game in the UK and Ireland.
Paramount+ will broadcast a lionshare of league phase games, play-off round games, and knockout stage games, from the Quarter-Finals to the Final. The Guardian revealed Paramount will have the first pick of fixtures week-by-week, other than Amazon’s first pick on Tuesdays, but there will be limits to how many times it can showcase each club.
Paramount Skydance have yet to confirm it has obtained the UK and Ireland Champions League broadcasting rights.
Paramount reportedly beat out competition from global streaming platforms Netflix and Disney+, with the latter the global broadcaster of the Women’s Champions League.
Amazon retains Champions League rights
Amazon Prime Video will continue to have its first pick of Tuesday games from 2027 to 2031. This includes league phase games, play-off, round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals Tuesday games.
As part of the new agreement, Prime Video will also be able to have the first pick of games on Wednesdays to be broadcast in Germany and Italy. The Wednesday matches also include two games on consecutive evenings in the opening league phase round and the pick of the games in the final matchweek of the league phase.
Amazon started broadcasting Champions League games in 2024 as part of the current broadcasting rights agreement. This sees Prime Video broadcast 20 games per season and has seen growth in viewership amongst its user base.
The 2024/25 debut Champions League campaign on Prime Video in the UK reached over 13 million viewers for fixtures including Manchester City vs. Real Madrid, Liverpool vs. PSG and Arsenal vs. Real Madrid.
The current 2025/26 season has seen over 10 million viewers across Prime Video’s Champions League coverage across a single evening to watch Liverpool vs. Real Madrid in the UK and Ireland, and PSG vs. FC Bayern Munich in Germany, setting new viewership records for the league phase.
“This is an important moment for our service and fantastic news for our Prime members in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Italy, securing the biggest games in European football through to 2031,” said Alex Green, Managing Director of Prime Video Sport, International.
“The combination of must-watch matches and the wide audience of Prime is delivering record viewership of the Champions League across Europe, and we will continue to raise the bar in our coverage. The new four-year deal gives us long-term certainty and allows us to innovate even more deeply for fans, such as the introduction of Prime Vision this season.”
Where does this leave TNT Sports?
For over a decade, TNT Sports has been the home of Champions League football in the UK and Ireland.
It is understood that TNT Sports was interested in renewing its agreement for the next broadcast rights cycle with UEFA. However, Paramount lodged a bid which was “considerably higher” than the £1bn TNT Sports was currently paying, according to sources with knowledge on the matter cited by The Guardian.
TNT Sports ultimately was unwilling to match Paramount’s offer and lost one of its most valuable rights assets, as well as losing the rights to broadcast the UEFA Europa League and Conference League which Sky Sports acquired from 2027 to 2031.
“Ultimately we remained committed to the approach that made financial sense for our business, and for our customers,” said TNT Sports in a statement obtained by The Guardian.
“TNT Sports retains a strong portfolio of football with our coverage of the Premier League, newly acquired Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup rights.”
Paramount beating out TNT Sports for the UK and Ireland Champions League rights also highlights the continued talks of Paramount Skydance’s interest in acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, TNT Sports’ parent company.
Yesterday, the media conglomerate, led by David Ellison, lodged a preliminary bid, as confirmed by Warner Bros. Discovery, alongside Comcast and Netflix for acquisition.
While TNT Sports currently holds the rights for the UFC in the UK and Ireland, Paramount acquired the US rights to the UFC as part of a $7.7bn, seven-year agreement starting next year.
Paramount also has first bid rights to acquire market broadcasting rights in certain markets, which is why it recently became the UFC’s broadcaster in Australia and Brazil, two key markets for the mixed martial arts company.
Sky Sports returns to European football coverage
After more than a decade of no UEFA competitions broadcast on Sky Sports platforms, the company announced it will be the exclusive UK broadcaster of the UEFA Europa League and Conference League from 2027.
Sky Sports will broadcast all 342 matches across both competitions as part of the new four-year agreement that expires at the end of the 2030/31 season.
“I’m proud that we’re able to bring European football competitions back to Sky customers,” said Jonathan Licht, Sky Chief Sports Officer
“The UEFA Europa League and Conference League have delivered some of the most exciting European stories in recent years, with English clubs consistently performing strongly and lifting trophies.
“This partnership is made possible by the strength of our business model and brand as the home of sport in the UK.”
