The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the alliance of public service broadcasters, has today (May 24) announced a sub-licensing deal with global streaming service DAZN for soccer’s upcoming UEFA Women’s Champions League final.
As part of the deal, 12 EBU members will have free-to-air rights to broadcast the clash between Spain’s Barcelona and Germany’s VfL Wolfsburg on June 3.
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The final in the Dutch city of Eindhoven will be shown by ORF (Austria), RTBF (Belgium), HRT (Croatia), YLE (Finland), ZDF (Germany), RUV (Iceland), NOS (Netherlands), RTE (Ireland), TVP (Poland), RTS (Serbia), SVT (Sweden), and SRG (Switzerland).
In Sweden, SVT will share coverage with commercial broadcaster TV4, in a deal brokered by the EBU.
The majority of the 12 EBU members will broadcast the match live on linear TV and via their digital channels, while the match will also be shown by DAZN and on YouTube.
The agreement marks a debut for the EBU’s Eurovision Sport arm in women’s club soccer.
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By GlobalDataUEFA recently announced a first-ever sell-out for the final, with over 34,100 tickets sold.
DAZN is the exclusive global host broadcaster of the UWCL as part of a four-year agreement it struck with UEFA in 2021. As part of the deal, DAZN also agreed to show all matches free-to-air on its dedicated UCL YouTube channel for the first two years of the agreement to increase the competition’s profile.
Stefan-Eric Wildemann, Eurovision Sport’s head of football, said: “We are thrilled and proud to have reached agreement with DAZN to bring the UEFA Women’s Champions League final under the EBU umbrella.
“We believe that both the competition and football fans will benefit from the expert coverage and free-to-air exposure that our members guarantee. Our members are constantly setting new standards and pushing the boundaries to bring the very best women’s sport to as many viewers as possible across Europe and beyond.”
Veronica Diquattro, DAZN’s global markets chief executive, added: “This deal with the EBU underpins DAZN’s commitment to continue to grow the interest in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, and women’s football more broadly.
“The additional linear reach and distribution this will deliver, on top of our other digital channels, will make sure that the final is enjoyed by as many fans as possible. This is good news for the competition, clubs, players, supporters, and for DAZN.”
Last year’s final, which saw France’s Lyon beat Barcelona 3-1 at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Italy, set a new viewership record as a cumulative global audience of 3.6 million watched the match across DAZN, YouTube, and 11 free-to-air channels in Europe – a 56% increase in audience from the 2020-21 season final.
As well as DAZN and its YouTube channel, the game was shown by ITV in the UK and Ireland, TF1 in France, RTVE and TV3 (Spain), RTBF (Belgium), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), Sport5 (Israel), and RUV (Iceland) after the streaming platform agreed sub-licensing deals with the 11 broadcasters.
Other top women’s soccer in the EBU’s portfolio includes this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Last month, Eurovision Sport secured a media rights deal for the debut women’s edition of road cycling's Vuelta a España.
Image: Eric Alonso/Getty Images
