It appears that Netflix will be moving in a big way to live football by submitting a bid for the broadcast rights of the UEFA Champions League from the 2027–28 season onwards.
The Times reports that UEFA has implemented a new bidding procedure that is more attractive to streaming services, and Netflix is one of the companies approached.
The new scheme will allow the live telecasting of just one game per week from Tuesday’s matches, with the winning bidder having the privilege of the first choice.
However, the limitation is that they cannot choose to feature the same top clubs like Real Madrid or Liverpool over and over again.
This is the most drastic move by Netflix into the world of sports coverage, which already holds the rights in the U.S. of the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups and has recently been streaming NFL games, live boxing, plus it has agreed to an approximately $5 billion deal with WWE until 2035.
UEFA plans to increase its income from $4.4 billion to more than $5 billion in the new cycle with the possible six-year rights deal ensuring a long-term stability.
Had it been a success, Netflix would be the new kid on the block beside Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Disney+ who are driving European soccer toward the next phase of worldwide streaming with the reigns in their hands.
