Paramount bid creates uncertainty over Champions League TV coverage in UK

. UK edition

The Champions League trophy on display at the draw on 27 February
The Champions League will be streamed on HBO Max when the platform is launched this month. Photograph: Martial Trezzini/AP

TNT Sports’ Champions League contract expires at the end of next season and Uefa wants the biggest possible audience for games

Uefa will have an influence on Paramount’s plans for broadcasting the Champions League in the UK if the US entertainment giant’s deal to buy Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), the parent company of TNT Sports, is approved.

Last week’s $110bn (£82.1bn) planned takeover is subject to regulatory approval in the US because of concerns the deal would give the merged studios a 40% share of the American film industry. A decision is expected before TNT Sports’ contract to show the Champions League in the UK expires at the end of next season.

Last November, Paramount secured Champions League rights in the UK – and Germany – in a four-year deal from the 2027-28 season, but its planned purchase of WBD has created uncertainty over where the matches will be made available.

The entertainment network Paramount+ is available in the UK and WBD is launching a UK streaming platform this month, HBO Max, which will become the streaming home of the Champions League, albeit under the TNT Sports banner. TNT Sports’ live Champions League games were previously streamed on Discovery+.

Paramount will therefore have multiple options for broadcasting the Champions League, including keeping the games on TNT Sports, transferring to its entertainment network or launching its own sports channel.

TNT Sports also has 52 Premier League matches each season until 2029, Prem Rugby until 2031, the Australian and French Open tennis tournaments and most of the England men’s cricket team’s winter tours.

Uefa, under the terms of its contracts, must be consulted over the Champions League and it will make a priority of ensuring games reach as big an audience as possible.

Uefa’s UK Champions League contract with Paramount and Amazon Prime, who have retained one live game from each match round, was among the first deals agreed for the 2027-31 rights cycle at the end of last year, along with those in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Uefa’s commercial operations are run by UC3, a joint venture with European Football Clubs, which will this week take Champions League rights to market in 19 countries.