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- CBS secures Uefa club competition rights two seasons early
- US broadcaster was set to show English-language Champions League coverage from 2021/22
- Turner called premature end to Uefa broadcast deal in June
US commercial broadcaster CBS will show the Uefa Champions League and Europa League for the rest of the 2019/20 season and the entire 2020/21 campaign.
CBS was due to take on the US English-language rights to Uefa’s club competitions from the 2021/22 season, but will now broadcast coverage earlier than planned after current rights holder Turner Sports opted out of its deal with European soccer’s governing body at the end of last month.
The agreement, which also includes the Uefa Super Cup and the new third-tier Europa Conference League from 2021, will see CBS cover the elite Champions League and the second-tier Europa League when they resume in August.
According to CNBC, all matches will be available on CBS All Access, ViacomCBS’s flagship streaming subscription service, with some games also made available on linear television.
“This is a landmark acquisition for CBS as we add the world’s most popular sport to our extensive portfolio of marquee properties,” said Sean McManus, CBS Sports chairman, in a statement to CNBC.
CBS and Univision, which is Uefa’s Spanish-language US broadcast partner for the Champions League and Europa League, are reportedly set to pay a combined US$150 million per year under the incoming deal running from 2021/22 through 2023/24.
It is not clear how much CBS will pay to fulfil the remainder of Turner’s contract, which was worth a reported US$60 million a year, with Univision making up the rest of the US$100 million combined annual rights fee.
CBS’s Champions League coverage will begin with the four remaining last-16 second-leg matches, which will take place on 7th and 8th August. Those ties will be followed by an eight-team knockout tournament in Lisbon, which is due to be held between 12th and 23rd August.
US commercial broadcaster CBS will show the Uefa Champions League and Europa League for the rest of the 2019/20 season and the entire 2020/21 campaign.
CBS was due to take on the US English-language rights to Uefa’s club competitions from the 2021/22 season, but will now broadcast coverage earlier than planned after current rights holder Turner Sports opted out of its deal with European soccer’s governing body at the end of last month.
The agreement, which also includes the Uefa Super Cup and the new third-tier Europa Conference League from 2021, will see CBS cover the elite Champions League and the second-tier Europa League when they resume in August.
According to CNBC, all matches will be available on CBS All Access, ViacomCBS’s flagship streaming subscription service, with some games also made available on linear television.
“This is a landmark acquisition for CBS as we add the world’s most popular sport to our extensive portfolio of marquee properties,” said Sean McManus, CBS Sports chairman, in a statement to CNBC.
CBS and Univision, which is Uefa’s Spanish-language US broadcast partner for the Champions League and Europa League, are reportedly set to pay a combined US$150 million per year under the incoming deal running from 2021/22 through 2023/24.
It is not clear how much CBS will pay to fulfil the remainder of Turner’s contract, which was worth a reported US$60 million a year, with Univision making up the rest of the US$100 million combined annual rights fee.
CBS’s Champions League coverage will begin with the four remaining last-16 second-leg matches, which will take place on 7th and 8th August. Those ties will be followed by an eight-team knockout tournament in Lisbon, which is due to be held between 12th and 23rd August.
