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- Elite European club soccer’s climax has to be shown FTA per Uefa rights deal
- Europa League final will also be made free for UK viewers
- BT Sport sees 166% growth in Champions League final streaming audience since 2016
UK pay-TV broadcaster BT Sport will provide free coverage of the 2019/20 men’s Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League finals via its official YouTube channel, SportsPro can reveal.
Tomos Grace, YouTube’s head of sport in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), confirmed the move, which marks the fifth consecutive season that BT Sport will live stream the European soccer showpiece on the Google-owned platform. A condition of BT Sport's existing UK rights contract with Uefa means the Champions League final must be made free-to-air (FTA), although it is up to the network to decide on how it does that.
As it stands, the Champions League final is set to take place in Lisbon on 23rd August, while the Europa League final is scheduled to go ahead in Cologne on 21st August, with two condensed tournaments in single sites deciding the competing teams.
“I can confirm that BT Sport will live stream the Champions League final for free on their YouTube channel again this year,” Grace told SportsPro via a video call. “BT Sport have been amazing partners for YouTube and we’re very privileged to be working with them.
“They are very innovative in the way they use technology and video, and they are ambitious in what they want to experiment with. The BT Sport partnership goes back many years and the Champions League final is the single biggest sporting event on annual basis. To be a part of that is amazing.”
BT Sport has yet to confirm its entire distribution plan for the resumption of European soccer’s top two club competitions, but last year’s finals were also free to access via its linear and digital platforms, including the BT Sport app.
That arrangement saw BT Sport net 4.8 million digital viewers during the 2019 Champions League final, as Liverpool defeated Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium. That audience marked a 166 per cent increase from when BT Sport first aired the Champions League final on YouTube in 2016.
In using YouTube for its free broadcast, Grace said that BT Sport has been able to cut customer-acquisition costs by up to 60 per cent, whilst making “a significant saving” on the recruiting of new subscribers.
With BT Sport having secured an extension to its exclusive UK broadcast partnership with Uefa for the Champions League and Europa League through 2024, signing a UK£1.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) deal last November, the pay-TV network will continue to air the elite competition's final FTA for that period. That opens the door for further collaboration with YouTube.
Asked whether YouTube was considering further live broadcast partnerships with networks in other territories ahead of the Champions League restart, Grace confirmed that “there are a number of discussions underway”.
YouTube has had further success with live sports in markets further afield. Earlier this month, Brazilian top-flight outfit Fluminense opted to use YouTube to air the Taça Rio final, with their penalty-shootout victory over rivals Flamengo drawing close to 16 million views.
UK pay-TV broadcaster BT Sport will provide free coverage of the 2019/20 men’s Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League finals via its official YouTube channel, SportsPro can reveal.
Tomos Grace, YouTube’s head of sport in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), confirmed the move, which marks the fifth consecutive season that BT Sport will live stream the European soccer showpiece on the Google-owned platform. A condition of BT Sport's existing UK rights contract with Uefa means the Champions League final must be made free-to-air (FTA), although it is up to the network to decide on how it does that.
As it stands, the Champions League final is set to take place in Lisbon on 23rd August, while the Europa League final is scheduled to go ahead in Cologne on 21st August, with two condensed tournaments in single sites deciding the competing teams.
“I can confirm that BT Sport will live stream the Champions League final for free on their YouTube channel again this year,” Grace told SportsPro via a video call. “BT Sport have been amazing partners for YouTube and we’re very privileged to be working with them.
“They are very innovative in the way they use technology and video, and they are ambitious in what they want to experiment with. The BT Sport partnership goes back many years and the Champions League final is the single biggest sporting event on annual basis. To be a part of that is amazing.”
BT Sport has yet to confirm its entire distribution plan for the resumption of European soccer’s top two club competitions, but last year’s finals were also free to access via its linear and digital platforms, including the BT Sport app.
That arrangement saw BT Sport net 4.8 million digital viewers during the 2019 Champions League final, as Liverpool defeated Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium. That audience marked a 166 per cent increase from when BT Sport first aired the Champions League final on YouTube in 2016.
In using YouTube for its free broadcast, Grace said that BT Sport has been able to cut customer-acquisition costs by up to 60 per cent, whilst making “a significant saving” on the recruiting of new subscribers.
With BT Sport having secured an extension to its exclusive UK broadcast partnership with Uefa for the Champions League and Europa League through 2024, signing a UK£1.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) deal last November, the pay-TV network will continue to air the elite competition's final FTA for that period. That opens the door for further collaboration with YouTube.
Asked whether YouTube was considering further live broadcast partnerships with networks in other territories ahead of the Champions League restart, Grace confirmed that “there are a number of discussions underway”.
YouTube has had further success with live sports in markets further afield. Earlier this month, Brazilian top-flight outfit Fluminense opted to use YouTube to air the Taça Rio final, with their penalty-shootout victory over rivals Flamengo drawing close to 16 million views.
