Univision renew Champions League rights for 3 years for $225m

Univision has won the Spanish-language broadcasting rights to UEFA’s Champions League here in the United States yet again. This includes the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League. The Mexican-American media company currently owns the Univision television network. According to sources at Sportico, the deal was worth $225 million over three years.

The announcement has come a year after Paramount/CBS Sports landed the English-language European club competitions. This partnership cost the media conglomerate a reported $1.5 billion in a six-year deal. Combining the two contracts, UEFA will rake in about $325 million each year in U.S. broadcasting rights between 2024-2027.

Univision Champions League rights deal brokered by Relevent Sports Group

According to the aforementioned news outlet, Relevent Sports Group brokered the deal between the two sides. Boris Gartner, a partner at Relevent and CEO of LaLiga North America, spoke on the reason for the relatively short contract with Univision. “We believe that doing a three-year deal with the current holder of the Spanish-language rights was the right way to maximize the value,” stated Gartner.

“And as we look at what the future of media companies and streaming services will be, there’s definitely an opportunity for the non-core Hispanic players to start investing in Spanish language rights.”

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Champions League is top club competition in soccer

UEFA’s Champions League is particularly one of the most-watched club competitions in the world. In fact, CBS has claimed that the final between Liverpool and Real Madrid last season attracted 2.76 million viewers. This was the largest viewership in the history of the tournament here in the States.

The deal between UEFA and Univision extends their U.S. partnership to broadcast the three competitions. FOX Sports previously held the Spanish-language rights for the Champions League between 2009 and 2018. However, Univision won the bid for the rights beginning in the 2018/19 season. The network reportedly outbid ESPN in the negotiations five years ago.

Photo: IMAGO / NurPhoto