CBS Is Said to Land the U.S. Rights to Champions League Soccer
CBS Lands Champions League Rights in the U.S., Report Says
(Bloomberg) -- CBS Corp. has acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to the UEFA Champions League, European soccer’s biggest annual event, a person familiar with the situation said.
CBS will have the event for three seasons starting in 2021, taking over when the current agreement with AT&T Inc.’s Turner Broadcasting ends, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the deal hasn’t been announced. Univision Communications Inc. is maintaining the Spanish-language rights, which it has held since last year.
The two networks are paying a combined $150 million a year for the package, according to Sports Business Journal, which reported on the pact earlier Friday. That’s up from the roughly $100 million that Turner and Univision were paying under the current deal.
Held annually, the Champions League crowns European soccer’s top team, with clubs competing from across the continent, including England, Italy, Germany and Spain. This year’s final, won by Liverpool over Tottenham Hotspur, averaged 1.5 million viewers on TNT. That was a dip from previous over-the-air broadcasts on Fox, but was still the Champions League’s most-watched game on cable TV.
Live sports are a key part of CBS’s lineup, which also includes NFL games and college basketball, but it isn’t been big in soccer. The company is poised to become part of a larger media operation next month, when its $11.7 billion reunion merger with Viacom Inc. closes.
Once the new deal kicks in, games will air on the main CBS broadcast channel, plus its sports cable network. They will also likely be available on the company’s digital offering, CBS All Access.
Turner bid to keep the English-language rights, but CBS’s offer was higher, according to SBJ. Other bidders included Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, Comcast Corp.’s NBC and Fox Corp.
To contact the reporters on this story: Eben Novy-Williams in New York at enovywilliam@bloomberg.net;Lucas Shaw in Los Angeles at lshaw31@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum
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