Viaplay Group has secured a new rights package for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League.
The new agreement starts this autumn with UEFA’s new format being available across the Viasat platforms.
Viaplay now holds the exclusive rights to football from the men’s UEFA Champions League in Sweden and Denmark, exclusive rights to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League in Norway and Finland, and shared rights to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League in Iceland up to and including the 2026/2027 season.
“UEFA’s club competitions showcase European club football at its very highest level. This new agreement shows our laser focus on securing content that is relevant and attractive for many viewers, and that offers proven commercial possibilities,” said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, Viaplay Group President and CEO. “We are especially proud to renew the UEFA Champions League in Denmark, meaning we remain the only broadcaster in the world to have shown all matches from every UEFA Champions League season since its inception in 1992, and to become the competition’s home once more in Sweden, where our live sports line-up is the best and broadest in the business.”
From the 2024/2025 season, more teams will participate with every club playing at least eight league phase games against eight different opponents, with four home games and four away, rather than six matches against three opponents as at present.
The changes are designed to increase the number of marquee matches and add jeopardy to as many games as possible.
The UEFA Champions League will now deliver 203 live matches a season spread across 19 match weeks, compared with 137 games over 17 match weeks as at present. In season 2024/25, the UEFA Super Cup will again be played at the start of the season, prior to the play-off rounds. Matches will continue to be split between two kick-off slots, and in the 2024-2027 cycle these split kick-offs will be used up to the quarter-final stage.
The UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League will also adopt the new format and will include a total of 342 live matches, up from 282 as at present.
In Iceland, Viaplay Group will share the rights with Icelandic broadcaster Sýn.
