Paramount Skydance has just pulled off one of its biggest sports plays yet, securing the bulk of UEFA Champions League rights in the UK and Ireland starting in 2027. Reported by The Guardian, the new deal runs through 2031 and will make Paramount the primary home for the world’s biggest club soccer competition.
Amazon is expected to keep the first-choice Tuesday night match, but everything else is headed to Paramount’s platforms, per the report. This marks a major changing of the guard, since TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) has the league’s rights holder for years.
According to the report, Paramount went hard in this week’s auction, putting in the highest bid and walking away with the lion’s share of Champions League fixtures. The overall value is said to be significantly higher than the roughly £1 billion TNT paid under the current deal for the premium soccer league. With the move, fans in the UK and Ireland will likely need to add Paramount+ to their streaming lineup to watch Europe’s top clubs. The streamer is also home to the Champions League in the United States.
On the women’s side of European football, UEFA recently made headlines after striking agreements with Disney. ESPN and Disney+ recently grabbed rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League and other major women’s competitions across several territories. Those deals show how streaming giants are carving up the sport differently depending on the league and audience.
A Mountain of Sports
The UEFA deal is part of a slew of major sports moves Paramount has made since its merger with Skydance. The company has been buying rights as it solidifies itself as a true sports destination, not just a movie-and-TV streamer. Over recent months, Paramount’s sports expansion includes a number of notable deals:
- UFC: Paramount locked down a massive, long-term, and exclusive domestic rights agreement with the UFC, reportedly valued at $7.7 billion.
- Expanded UFC Partnership: Beyond those core rights, Paramount has been layering even more UFC content with rights across Latin America and Australia.
- Zuffa Boxing: Paramount also signed a long-term deal to carry Dana White’s new Zuffa Boxing venture, planting flags in combat sports.
- PBR: It even added the Professional Bull Riders in a multi-year agreement, rounding out a lineup that now spans soccer, MMA, boxing, and niche-but-loyal sporting communities.
The NFL, WNBA, college football, PGA Tour, college basketball, including March Madness, Serie A, Europa League, and the NWSL are other notable sports available on Paramount+. Now, with the addition of Champions League rights in the UK and Ireland, Paramount is putting money behind its ambitions, bringing fans another way to watch soccer live.
Credit: The Guardian