BT pays £1.2bn to renew UEFA Champions League deal

BT Sport is to remain the exclusive UK home of all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football, after forking out £1.2bn to secure the deal.

The broadcaster fended off Sky to secure the rights until the end of the 2020/21 season that for the first time brings together exclusivity across all live games, highlights and in-match clips of both competitions.

The new deal means ITV will no longer broadcast any highlights, forcing the competitions off of terrestrial TV entirely. To compensate, BT said it will enhance its social media coverage to reach new audiences by making clips, weekly highlights, UEFA’s magazine show and both finals available for free on social media.

Last year, BT streamed both finals on YouTube for the first time in an effort to boost its audience.

“The UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League are two of the best competitions in the world and we would like to thank UEFA for choosing us as their exclusive broadcast partner in the UK,” said
John Petter, consumer CEO at BT.

“We are delighted to have renewed these rights. The UEFA Champions League is due to get even stronger and we are delighted that fans will be able to enjoy two live matches a night for the first time.”

Guy Laurent Epstein, UEFA marketing director, added: “BT have delivered strong audiences in the UK and we are excited about their future plans for the use of social media which will engage a growing fanbase that consumes sport in different ways.”