Viaplay Group, the Nordic media giant, has extended its deal to show English soccer’s second-tier EFL Championship in the region until 2028.
Under the new rights deal, Viaplay’s streaming platform will continue to be the home of the league in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The service will show all matches for the next two seasons, including the play-off semi-finals and the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.
Matches on Viaplay will feature English commentary, with selected fixtures to have a local-language offering.
Viaplay has held exclusive streaming rights to the Championship since the 2022-2023 season. As part of its current contract, the media giant shows more than 180 live matches from the competition.
Through the new agreement, the streamer will show all 552 matches per season from the league until 2027-28.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataBen Wright, EFL chief commercial officer, said: “With the support of our partners, we have been able to significantly grow the League’s global footprint and fanbase over recent years, and look forward to working more closely with the team at Viaplay Group in the Nordics.”
The Championship features more than 30 Nordic players, including Denmark's Victor Torp, Jannik Vestergaard, Mathias Kvistgaarden, Luca Kjerrumgaard, and Emile Riis, Sweden's Jens Cajuste, Viktor Johansson, and Zeidane Inoussa, and Norway's Sindre Walle Egeli, Aune Heggebo, and Sondre Langas.
The renewed agreement strengthens Viaplay’s English soccer offering in the Nordics, which includes coverage of the top-flight Premier League, the EFL Cup and FA Cup knockout competitions, selected third-tier League One and fourth-tier League Two games, and the season-ending play-offs each May.
Meanwhile, Viaplay Group has reported a large operating loss in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2025 after taking full control of Nordic TV distributor Allente Group.
The broadcaster posted a loss of SEK637 million ($70.3 million) impacted by previous content provisions, and transaction costs tied to the buy-out of its former Allente partner Telenor.
Despite this, the company said it is in a stronger competitive position than a year ago and reiterated expectations for stable organic sales in 2026.
Viaplay struck a deal to acquire the 50% of Allente that it did not previously own in July 2025. The agreement involved a cash consideration of SEK1.1 billion.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, Viaplay CEO, said: “The completion of the acquisition of the remaining 50% of Allente Group has strengthened our product offering and ability to monetise our content portfolio.
“Overall, Q4 was another important quarter for us. We are in a more competitive position than a year ago, but we still have much to do to deliver on our transformation agenda and goals.
“Together, we are building a more focused, more relevant and more resilient group, which will create long-term value for our owners, customers, teams and partners.”
The SEK637 million loss is significantly wider than the SEK92 million loss Viaplay posted in Q4 last year. In 2024, the company achieved a major reduction in losses from SEK2.7 billion in 2023 when it was plugging huge financial gaps and moving to a new strategy based around unscripted programs and sports.
Net sales for the company rose to SEK4.98 billion in Q4, while full-year net sales fell to SEK17.7 billion, down from SEK18.5 billion in 2024.
For the year, Viaplay posted a loss of SEK486 million, compared with SEK558 million in 2024. The firm’s subscription sales were up 2%.
Viaplay said the integration of Allente is expected to generate full annual synergies of between SEK300 million and 400 million from 2027, with some synergies realised in 2026 once integration is finalised.
Looking ahead, the group expects sales to be stable on an organic basis in 2026, with streaming subscription and digital advertising growth offset by declines in linear channels, traditional advertising, and Allente’s DTH subscriber base.
The Nordic media heavyweight expects annual EBITDA of between SEK1 billion and SEK1.4 billion as it continues its transformation programme and benefits from the Allente integration.
In terms of rights agreements over the past year, Viaplay most notably entered a new soccer content-sharing partnership in Norway with commercial broadcaster TV2.
In total, the deal covers over 3,000 soccer matches each year and includes top-tier European leagues such as Spain's LaLiga, the German Bundesliga, and France's Ligue 1, as well as encompassing the pan-European UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League competitions.
Viaplay also snapped up rights to the European Handball Federation’s continental competitions through 2030, exclusive skiing rights in a deal with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, and French soccer's top-tier Ligue 1 through to 2029.
