UEFA has agreed a deal for US media rights for its club leagues with CBS owner Paramount Global, which has divested Amazon to agree on one of the most lucrative broadcasting deals in global sports.
Paramount Global has agreed to a six-year rights deal, in a total package of $1.5 billion, which breaks down to $250 million a season.
That’s a significant increase over the $100 million per season previously paid by Paramount and Univision.
The deal comes after UEFA, the European Club Association (ECA) appointed TEAM Marketing and Relevent Sports Group as sales partners for the men’s club competition.
There will be a separate sale of rights for Spanish speakers.
He said: “UEFA has been a major driver of Paramount+ since our launch, and we are delighted to extend this successful partnership to showcase more world-class football during the 2029-30 season, building on the incredible momentum we have created over the past two years.” Sean McManus, President of CBS Sports.
“UEFA is an excellent example of our distinct strategy offering marquee properties to lead and enhance both live broadcasting and traditional linear business. This multi-platform approach allows us to harness the power of Paramount Global to reach the largest possible audience and raise and grow UEFA’s reach in the United States.”
“We look forward to continuing to provide the best-in-class football coverage on CBS Sports that our viewers have come to expect.”
Amazon maintains a strong relationship with UEFA, given that they already have streaming deals in the UK, Germany and Italy. They are believed to focus their main efforts in the American market on the NFL’s Thursday Night Football Draft.
UEFA said, the athlete: “Due to ongoing contract negotiations, we are not in a position to comment.”
The contract will start from the 2024/25 season and will cover the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, as well as the lucrative UEFA Champions League – slated for drastic changes.
The tournament is set in a new format that will follow the “Swiss model” and will see the competition expand to 36 teams with more matches.
The 32-team group stage will be eliminated. Instead, 36 teams will participate, with each team playing 10 group stage matches: five at home and five away.
The top eight will automatically advance to the 16-team knockout round, and the next 16 teams will go into a playoff to determine those last eight slots.
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