The US media and entertainment giant Paramount Skydance has won the auction for the rights to broadcast most Champions League matches in the UK from 2027 to 2031 in a major shake-up of the domestic rights market.
The Guardian has learned that Paramount, whose subsidiary company Paramount+ owns the rights for Champions League games in the US, made the largest bid in this week’s auction and an announcement is due. Amazon Prime confirmed it had retained the first pick of Tuesday matches in three major European markets in the new streaming deal sold by Uefa.
Sources with knowledge of the tender process say Paramount’s bid was considerably higher than the £1bn currently paid by TNT in what will be regarded as a successful auction for UC3, the joint venture between Uefa and European Football Clubs which runs the Champions League, and its new commercial rights distributor, Relevent Football Partners.
Paramount Skydance is led by David Ellison, whose father, Larry Ellison, co-founded Oracle and is an ally of Donald Trump. It was reported by Al Jazeera this week that Paramount was preparing a $71bn bid for Warner Bros Discovery, which owns TNT Sports.
In the context of a potential takeover TNT Sports’ long-term future as a stand-alone brand is unclear, but the broadcaster bid for UK rights it has held, initially in the guise of BT Sport, since 2013 and is understood to be disappointed to miss out. As it stands UK fans will require another subscription to watch the Champions League, with Paramount joining a growing portfolio of football rights holders that includes TNT, Sky Sports, Amazon and Dazn.
Paramount’s deal would give it every Champions League game live in the UK other than the first pick of Tuesday night matches, which was auctioned separately to the five major European markets collectively for the first time. A collective arrangement was not reached but Amazon Prime will continue to have the first pick of Tuesday games in the UK, Germany and Italy from 2027.
Amazon is understood to have beaten off competition from rival streamers, including Netflix and Disney+. Although it will have the first pick of fixtures there will be limits on how many times it can show each club.
Canal+ will show all Champions League fixtures in France, with Movistar understood to have beaten off a strong rival bid from Paramount to retain its rights in Spain. Paramount is determined to break into the European market and its bids are a sign of increasing American interest in European football before next summer’s World Cup.
Given the values of the winning bids accepted, Uefa is understood to be confident of securing a significant increase on the £2.9bn-a-year value of the TV rights in the current three-year cycle.
The Champions League auction was the first tender process run for Uefa by the US-owned agency Relevent Football Partners since it replaced the governing body’s longstanding sales partner Team Marketing last year. UC3 and Relevent have introduced significant changes, including the pan-European streaming package and extending the rights cycle to four years.
The bumper deals will be regarded by Uefa as vindicating the remodelled Champions League, with its extended league stage and a single, 36-team table.
While Paramount has yet to confirm it has secured the Champions League, Sky Sports on Thursday night announced it has won the rights to all 342 Europa League and Conference League matches from 2027, in another blow to TNT.
“I’m proud that we’re able to bring European football competitions back to Sky customers,” said Sky’s chief sports officer, Jonathan Lich. “The Uefa Europa League and Conference League have delivered some of the most exciting European stories in recent years, with English clubs consistently performing strongly and lifting trophies.”
In a statement TNT Sports indicated it was unwilling to match the financial terms offered by Paramount. “Ultimately we remained committed to the approach that made financial sense for our business, and for our customers,” it said. “TNT Sports retains a strong portfolio of football with our coverage of the Premier League, newly acquired Emirates FA Cup and Adobe Women’s FA Cup rights.”
• This article was amended on 20 November 2025. An earlier version incorrectly said Amazon Prime had the rights to broadcast a Tuesday Champions League game in Spain and France. This reference has been removed.
