Uefa is set to launch a global Over The Top (OTT) streaming platform for football fans that could represent a significant shift in the broadcasting of the sport.
Aleksander Ceferin, Uefa's president for another four years after being re-elected unopposed on Thursday morning, is behind the proposals that will see a streaming service provisionally named Uefa TV launched around the world.
The Independent understands that the OTT platform will only be available outside Europe and North America after its launch, with the Champions League unlikely to be available on Uefa's platform until 2021 given the existing contracts signed with broadcasters around the world.
But this bold move does bring into question whether other governing bodies may also try and own their own streaming services in the way that many American sports leagues do - for example, the NFL with its Game Pass app.
Uefa will target some of its higher-growth territories in the early days of Uefa TV and will likely only have minor European competitions available.
With a third continental competition arriving in 2021, though, and a number of European domestic leagues having gone unsold to many broadcasters, there is scope for Uefa to provide a streaming service with a wide variety of football dependent on where users are living.
The new platform will be launched in time for the 2019/20 season.
