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Paramount Secures Champions League Rights for UK, Launches TNT Sports
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Published in Sports and Competition on Thursday, November 20th 2025 at 14:47 GMT by Daily Express- 🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication
- 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source
Paramount’s Bold Move into the Champions League: TNT Sports is the New Home of Europe’s Premier Club Competition
In a headline‑making announcement that has rippled through the football media landscape, Paramount Global has confirmed that its newly formed sports arm, TNT Sports, will become the flagship broadcaster of the UEFA Champions League in the United Kingdom. The decision, announced on Tuesday, marks a seismic shift in the UK’s premium sports rights market and signals Paramount’s intent to challenge long‑standing rivals such as Sky Sports and BT Sport.
The Backstory: From BT Sport to Paramount
To understand the full significance of the announcement, it helps to look back at how the rights came to be in the hands of a UK‑based broadcaster in the first place. BT Sport had secured the exclusive rights to the Champions League in 2013, a deal that had kept the competition on pay‑TV channels in the UK for more than a decade. In 2022, Warner Bros Discovery announced that it would divest BT Sport, a move that set the stage for Paramount’s intervention.
On 12 May 2024, Paramount Global announced the acquisition of BT Sport, together with all of its existing rights portfolio, for a reported £1.5 billion. The deal was designed to bring the network’s sports catalogue into Paramount’s expanding global media strategy. One of the first things Paramount did after the takeover was to rebrand the network as TNT Sports, a name that has long been associated with its U.S. cable sports channel.
The Champions League Deal
Under the new arrangement, TNT Sports will take over the UK and Ireland rights to the UEFA Champions League from the 2024‑25 season onward. The contract is valued at around £2.6 billion over four seasons, a figure that puts it in the same price range as the current Sky Sports deal for the Premier League. The deal includes:
- All 124 group‑stage matches (the full slate of games from the 2024‑25 tournament)
- All knockout‑stage fixtures, including quarter‑finals, semi‑finals, and the final
- Exclusive rights to live streaming on Paramount’s streaming platform, now rebranded as Paramount+ in the UK, and on free‑to‑air channels via the “TNT Sports” TV channel.
Importantly, BT Sport will continue to broadcast a limited number of Champions League matches for the 2024‑25 season as part of a transitional package. The network will also retain the rights to some live coverage of the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League, thereby maintaining its sports portfolio.
How Viewers Will Access the Matches
Paramount’s strategy revolves around a hybrid model that leverages both linear TV and streaming. TNT Sports will be available on Sky, Virgin Media, and Freeview – the three main pay‑TV platforms in the UK – and will also be broadcast in standard definition on Freeview for a few key matches. For those who prefer to watch online, Paramount+ will carry live streams of the same matches that TNT Sports shows on TV. The platform will also host on‑demand replays, highlights, and exclusive match‑analysis content.
The streaming service has already been rolled out in the United States, where TNT Sports is a premium channel on the Paramount+ bundle. In the UK, Paramount+ will be part of a broader partnership with Amazon Prime Video, meaning that subscribers who already pay for Amazon Prime may be able to add the Paramount+ sports add‑on at a discounted rate.
What Does This Mean for the Competition?
Sky Sports, the long‑time rival of BT Sport, has already secured the next six years of the Premier League rights (valued at £3.8 billion), so the immediate impact on its business model will be limited. However, the Champions League is a global brand, and the ability to offer a new, fresh presentation may help TNT Sports attract a wider audience. Paramount’s aggressive pricing strategy will also put pressure on competitors to negotiate more favorable terms.
Sky has already signalled that it will continue to bid for the next Champions League package in the 2025‑26 season, but the entry of TNT Sports will add a new dimension to the competitive landscape. If Paramount can deliver high‑quality commentary, innovative on‑screen graphics, and accessible streaming, it may win over a segment of viewers who are increasingly comfortable watching live sports online.
The Bigger Picture: Paramount’s Sports Ambitions
The move into Champions League rights is only the tip of the iceberg. Paramount Global has already hinted at a “global sports strategy” that will see it acquire more high‑profile rights, including the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) and potentially the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the UK. The company’s long‑standing experience in broadcasting and content creation – from HBO to MTV – equips it with the creative tools necessary to reinvent how fans experience live sport.
The article also notes that Paramount is positioning itself as a “one‑stop‑shop” for sports fans, integrating its pay‑TV, streaming, and content‑distribution capabilities into a single ecosystem. In the near future, the company may even explore interactive features such as real‑time statistics overlays, multi‑camera angles, and audience‑generated commentary.
Looking Ahead
The transition from BT Sport to TNT Sports will be rolled out gradually over the next 12 months. Fans will see the first Champions League match on TNT Sports during the opening round of the 2024‑25 season, a high‑profile fixture that is likely to generate significant viewership and set the tone for the rest of the partnership. As the 2024‑25 season progresses, the company will evaluate its performance metrics and adapt its programming strategy accordingly.
In the broader context, the move demonstrates how traditional broadcasters are being forced to adapt to a new era in which streaming and digital content are increasingly central to the sports business model. Paramount’s bold bid for the Champions League rights – and its plan to integrate linear and online platforms – is a clear signal that the future of sports broadcasting will be as much about technology and distribution as it is about the competition itself.
Whether TNT Sports can live up to the hype and establish itself as a rival to Sky Sports will become evident over the next season. One thing is certain: the UK’s football fans now have an exciting new option on the line for watching the world’s most prestigious club competition.
Read the Full Daily Express Article at:
[ https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/2136676/champions-league-tnt-sports-paramount ]
