UEFA ‘unhappy’ as TNT Sports will not air Champions League final for free in UK

If you thought the shift from sports from traditional television to streaming is a problem only facing Americans, think again.

For the first time in its 34-year modern history, the UEFA Champions League final will not be available for free in the United Kingdom. UEFA, the European governing body for soccer, is reportedly “unhappy” with the decision, according to a report by Matt Hughes in The Guardian.

Instead, TNT Sports, which owns UK broadcast rights to the Champions League final, will show the match on its pay-TV network and make it available on HBO Max, the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned subscription streaming platform. The decision, perhaps not coincidentally, comes soon after Paramount and Sky Sports outbid TNT Sports for the next set of UEFA broadcast rights, which will begin in the 2027-28 season.

The move is controversial from UEFA’s perspective because its contract with TNT Sports states “best endeavors” should be made to broadcast the final for free. The Champions League final has been streamed live for free in the UK each year that TNT Sports has controlled the property. But when Arsenal meets Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, viewers will need to be subscribed to HBO Max or a pay-TV service that includes TNT.

Such a decision should come as a warning sign for American viewers. The Champions League final in the UK is a sporting event akin to the Super Bowl in the United States. If broadcasters in the UK are willing to place the Champions League final behind a paywall, it won’t be long until the NFL and one of its broadcast partners are willing to place a Super Bowl on a paid streaming service.

Just last month, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported Amazon executives think that at some point down the line, the company’s Prime Video streaming service should become part of the Super Bowl rotation. Similar moves are being made elsewhere around the world, and it’s only a matter of time until the same thing happens here.