Amazon Prime Video, the streaming platform of the global retail giant, and global sports subscription service DAZN, have extended their coverage rights in Germany to European soccer’s top-tier UEFA Champions League (UCL) club competition for the three seasons from 2024-25 onwards.
The extensions mean Amazon and DAZN will continue to provide live coverage each Tuesday and Wednesday when the UCL is running until the conclusion of the 2026-27 campaign.
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Amazon’s initial deal to provide coverage of the top-tier UEFA competition in Germany was struck in 2019 and came into effect for the 2021-22 to 2023-24 cycle, while DAZN first provided live coverage of the competition in 2018 through a deal struck the previous year.
Amazon has said the new deal will include 17 live and exclusive games per season and that matches featuring German sides will remain the priority, both in the initial group stage and then during the knockout rounds. DAZN, meanwhile, will continue to cover the vast remainder of UCL action in each campaign.
Prime Video will also continue to show highlights of all Tuesday UCL fixtures through the renewal of the rights.
The news will once again mean that pay-TV heavyweight Sky Deutschland walks away with nothing in terms of live UCL coverage. It was outbid by Amazon during the last rights sale process,
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By GlobalDataThe tender for German media rights to the UCL during the 2024-25 to 2026-27 cycle was issued in October, with a deadline of November 14. The process is being been handled by Team Marketing, UEFA’s exclusive media rights agency for club competitions in all markets except the US.
Alex Green, managing director of Prime Video Sport Europe, said: “The UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in world soccer, and our coverage of the headline Tuesday match and highlights of other fixtures of the day is enjoyed by millions of Prime members across Germany. We look forward to working with our brilliant teams on and off screen to keep innovating for our customers over the coming years.”
During the previous cycle (2018 to 2021), DAZN shared live rights with Sky Deutschland.
This deal expands Amazon’s European reach in terms of UCL rights, with the broadcaster having earlier this year struck a deal for the same three-year cycle in the UK, sharing games with current rightsholder BT Sport. That equated to a new agreement, through which Amazon Prime Video will also show the top pick of Tuesday games to that audience.
In addition to these agreements, Amazon also currently covers UCL action in Italy.
DAZN, meanwhile, also holds present UCL live rights in Austria and Canada.
The 2024-25 season will see a change in the format of the Champions League. The number of teams will increase from 32 currently to 36, and each side competing in the initial group stages will play eight games, up from six at present.
The extension news follows yesterday’s (December 6) news that Blue, the pay-TV operator in Switzerland, has retained rights to all UEFA club competitions during the next cycle.
Elsewhere in Europe, existing partner Canal Plus has renewed in France, while in the Netherlands telecoms operator Ziggo has snapped up rights.
In terms of other key territories, Paramount Global, the major US broadcast network, has retained English-language rights to the UCL through a six-year deal starting in 2024.
