For the first time in 34 years since the Champions League’s rebranding, the final match will not be accessible for free to viewers in the UK. This significant change coincides with the highly anticipated clash between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest.
The current rights holder, TNT Sports, has reportedly frustrated Uefa by choosing to charge fans for viewing all three European finals, despite the fact that English clubs are vying for a historic sweep of titles.
Aston Villa will represent the Premier League in the Europa League final against Freiburg, taking place this Wednesday. Following that, Crystal Palace will compete against Rayo Vallecano in the Conference League final the week after, leading up to Arsenal’s match against PSG the following Saturday. TNT Sports possesses the live broadcasting rights for all three tournaments; however, in a notable shift from past practices, the Warner Bros Discovery-owned channel has opted not to offer these finals for free.
Since BT Sport first secured Uefa broadcasting rights for the 2015-16 season, both the Champions League and Europa League finals have been available for free streaming. In contrast, TNT Sports has chosen to limit access exclusively to its subscribers and customers of the HBO Max streaming platform. New subscribers within the upcoming days can catch the finals, with HBO Max subscriptions starting at £4.99 and TNT Sports subscriptions priced at £31.99 monthly on most platforms.
Prior to BT Sport acquiring the rights, Champions League finals were broadcast live on ITV, which held exclusive rights since the competition’s inception in 1992 until 2003, subsequently sharing rights with Sky Sports until 2015.
TNT Sports’ decision has reportedly caused some discontent at Uefa, with insiders indicating that it violates the essence of a contract clause that emphasizes “best endeavors” to ensure the finals are available for free.
While BT Sport/TNT Sports added the new Conference League to their broadcasting rights five years ago, they will lose all three competitions starting in the 2027-28 season, having been outbid by Paramount for the Champions League and by Sky Sports for the other two in Uefa’s recent media rights auction.
Previously, BT streamed its European finals on YouTube, and TNT Sports had offered them for free to customers who registered with its sister streaming service, discovery+. However, TNT Sports is no longer available on discovery+ since HBO Max was launched in the UK in March.
