Media giant Disney has expanded its coverage of European soccer’s UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) club competition to Australia and New Zealand after securing another five-year rights deal.
The new deal will see the Disney+ OTT streaming service showcase all 75 UWCL fixtures per season live, beginning with the upcoming 2025-26 campaign and running through the 2029-30 season.
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These games, as well as shoulder content surrounding the fixtures, will be produced by the Disney-owned multi-platform sports media business ESPN.
Select games will also feature the ESPN and ESPN2 linear channels that are available via pay-TV operator Foxtel, its streaming service Kayo, digital TV service Fetch TV, and pay-TV broadcaster Sky New Zealand.
Coverage will begin tomorrow with the competition’s opening clash between defending champions Arsenal and former eight-time champions OL Lyonnes, which will kick off at 6am AEDT.
Several Australian national team (Matildas) players will feature this season, including Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross (Arsenal), Tegan Micah (OL Lyonnes), Sam Kerr, Ellie Carpenter (Chelsea), and Winonah Heatley (Roma).
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By GlobalDataThe deal adds to Disney’s rights to the competition in other regions, including a major deal struck earlier this year to provide coverage of all 75 games across Europe through the 2029-30 season.
The media giant also holds Spanish-language rights to the competition in the US and Latin America. In the US, all 75 matches are being aired via ESPN Deportes, with select matches in the knockout phase being streamed live on the ESPN app.
Its deal in Latin America sees the 75 matches per season streamed live on ESPN, accessible through Disney+, with select games also airing on ESPN’s linear networks.
Disney’s coverage also spans Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, along with access to live fixtures. One match per kick-off window will air on ESPN linear channels across Africa and on ESPN linear channels on Disney+ in South Africa.
The UWCL also adds to Disney’s other women’s soccer rights, which include the UEFA Women’s Euros national teams competition earlier this year, US soccer’s NWSL, England’s Women’s Super League, and Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil.
The UWCL will change formats for the 2025-26 campaign, moving to a league phase with 18 sides, followed by a playoff round, increasing the number of games on offer.
The league phase is set to begin tomorrow and will include six matchdays running through mid-December. Knockout rounds are scheduled to commence in February 2026, with the season concluding at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway, in May 2026.
Meanwhile, Dutch brewer Heineken has extended its sponsorship of the UWCL for another five years to cover UEFA’s 2025 to 2030 commercial rights cycle.
The pair first secured a partnership in 2021, and the new deal will look to capitalize on the UWCL’s new format that UEFA hopes will deliver more high-profile matches and opportunities for fans to connect with brands sponsoring the competition.
Heineken will retain extensive rights, including ticketing and hospitality, in-stadium visibility, digital campaigns, and unique fan experiences.
Heineken also has a long-standing partnership with the men’s Champions League, having most recently extended its deal to cover the 2024-27 commercial cycle.
