CBS reveals more details about UEFA Champions League plans

CBS Sports have revealed more details about their UEFA Champions League coverage, and in doing so, have officially confirmed their acquisition of the U.S. rights to the world’s most popular soccer club tournament for the 2021-2024 seasons.

After press reports last week that both CBS Sports and Univision had acquired the 2021-24 rights, CBS had their quarterly earnings call on Tuesday where they shared more details to investors.

At the same time, CBS Sports revealed that they’ve also acquired the rights to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League for 2021-24.

“We are very excited about a new development for CBS All Access,” said CBS Corporation President and Acting CEO Joe Ianniello. “We will now have exclusive live marquee sports for the very first time. The UEFA Champions League, including Europa League and the newly-created UEFA Europa Conference League, will be coming to CBS and CBS Sports’ platforms with all matches available on All Access and select games available on broadcast.”

CBS All-Access is the paid streaming service from CBS that launched in 2014, and has quickly been gaining more subscribers.

“We will now have more than 400 matches per year spanning nine months across the calendar,” added Ianniello. “Soccer fans know these rights represent some of the most prestigious and popular soccer tournaments in the world, so we couldn’t be more pleased that we’ve won this hotly contested process. We’re currently finalizing contracts for this multi-year deal.”

While exact coverage details have not been announced yet, it’s important to note that CBS is emphasizing both CBS All-Access and the over-the-air CBS network. The biggest question is how many games will air on the free-to-air CBS network. With Turner’s acquisition of the Champions League, the original prediction was that TNT would air the majority of games but the final would air on TBS. That didn’t happen, so CBS confirming that select games will air on broadcast television gives CBS an instantaneous advantage over Turner Sports.

SEE MORE: What we know so far about CBS and Univision acquiring Champions League rights

“So with over 10,000 episodes of library content, catch-up viewing from the most-watched television network, a live stream of your local news and syndicated content, big tent pole sporting events, and a growing slate of premium original series, All Access has something for everyone,” concluded Ianniello.

In addition to the UEFA Champions League, CBS is looking forward to launching the 10-episode series of The Stand, one of Stephen King’s best books. The Stand will be exclusive to CBS All-Access.

Priced at $5.99 per month ($9.99 with an option for advertising-free streaming content), CBS All-Access offers a free 7-day trial to new users.