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- Final has been available on FTA TV or free streaming feed since 1992/93
- TNT hopes three English clubs in all three finals will drive HBO Max subscriptions
- Uefa said to be uneasy over decision to limit access
The Uefa Champions League final will not be broadcast free-to-air (FTA) in the UK for the first time in the competition’s history.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) TNT Sports, and its predecessor BT Sport, have owned the rights to the championship game since 2015/16 but have streamed the final for free via its mobile apps, the Discovery+ streaming service and YouTube.
However, it has opted to make this year’s contest between Arsenal and Paris St-Germain exclusive to subscribers to its eponymous pay-TV channel and the HBO Max streaming service.
The broadcaster hopes the prospect of three English teams in the finals of all three of Uefa’s men’s club competitions will drive subscriptions to HBO Max, which launched in the UK earlier this year.
Aston Villa face German Bundesliga side Freiburg in the Uefa Europa League final, while Crystal Palace will play Spain’s Rayo Vallecano in the Uefa Conference League final.
The Guardian says Uefa is uneasy about TNT Sports’ decision given its contract says “best endeavours” should be made to make the finals FTA. However, there is no legal obligation to do so.
The final was available on FTA between 1993 and 2015 on ITV, which first held the rights exclusively and then shared them with Sky Sports. Between 2016 and 2019, the final was broadcast on the short-lived BT Sport Showcase channel, after which the matches became streaming-exclusive.
Prior to 1992/93 Champions League, BBC and ITV alternated coverage of the European Cup and Cup Winners Cup finals. The Uefa Europa League was sold separately until 2015/16, while matches to the old Uefa Cup were only sold centrally from the quarter-finals onwards.
This season is the penultimate year of Uefa and TNT’s partnership, which expires at the end of the 2026/27 season. The rights to the majority of Champions League will be taken over by Paramount+, while Amazon will retain its package of first pick Tuesday night games, and Sky Sports will take over responsibilities for the Europa League and Conference League.
The loss of Uefa Champions League matches on FTA TV is a common theme across Europe, with several markets witnessing a contraction in coverage. For example, Swiss national broadcaster SRG SSR has lost the rights in Switzerland, while Ireland now only has one FTA broadcaster in RTE.
Uefa might lament the loss of exposure on FTA TV in the UK and across the continent, however this is the price it must pay if it wishes to extract larger fees from pay-TV and streaming services.
It is not known whether Paramount+ will face greater pressure to make the final available FTA as part of its contract, which expires at the end of 2030/31.
Ironically, by that point, the rights may have retuned to TNT Sports. Paramount is currently in the process of acquiring WBD for $110 billion in a deal which would unify the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services in the UK.
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