Champions League games might be shown for FREE soon, with talks almost finished!
Fans around the world might soon be able to watch Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League football for free, thanks to an exciting idea from Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez.
On May 12, Pérez surprised everyone at a press conference by announcing that Real Madrid’s club elections will be held three years earlier than expected. This comes after the team missed out on winning a trophy for the second year in a row. Now, fans can vote on whether Pérez, who’s been president for 79 years, should stay in charge — a choice that could affect football fans everywhere.
Part of Pérez’s plan is to change how these football tournaments are shown on TV. According to Spanish news outlet Voz Populi, Pérez thinks football should be free to watch, just like the Club World Cup was last summer. Talks are even underway to show European football competitions on free TV.
The outlet also shared that Real Madrid might pause its big claim against UEFA over the Super League situation if a new free TV model is agreed on. Pérez’s top advisor, Anas Laghrari, is leading the talks and suggests creating a free streaming service with ads, instead of charging subscriptions, to show these tournaments.
However, some people in telecom say Pérez’s promises might be just to help him get re-elected.
This news comes after it was confirmed that, for the first time in 34 years, all three UEFA European finals won’t be free to watch in the UK this year. Fans of Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Crystal Palace will need a TNT Sports subscription to watch these big matches.
Since 2015, the Champions League and Europa League have been shown live for free on TV and YouTube. But this year, TNT Sports has decided to limit access to their streaming platform, HBO Max.
The Guardian reports that UEFA is unhappy with this move, saying it goes against the spirit of the agreement, which says the finals should be shown for free if possible.
Looking ahead, TNT Sports will lose the rights to these competitions after the 2027-28 season. Paramount will take over the Champions League, and Sky Sports will show the other two.
SPORTbible has asked both UEFA and TNT Sports for their thoughts on this.