UEFA’s next big TV and streaming rights cycle is starting to take shape across the Americas.
The main thing you need to know is this: there will not be one simple home for every match in every market.
UC3, the joint venture that handles UEFA club competition rights with UEFA and European Football Clubs, has named preferred bidders. This is for the 2027–31 cycle across 19 territories, including parts of the Americas.
The split of UEFA rights across the Americas
The rights are not being handled in one single block. Also, the United States is not part of this sale.
Here is the basic breakdown for the 2027–31 cycle rights in the region:
- Brazil: Warner Bros. Discovery gets all UEFA Champions League rights, while ESPN linear networks and Disney+ get all UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League rights.
- Canada: Paramount+ gets all UEFA men’s club competition rights. That means one home for the three main men’s competitions.
- Mexico: Paramount+ gets half of all Champions League matches across all matchdays, with the final and highlights on a co-exclusive basis. ESPN linear networks and Disney+ get the other half of Champions League matches, plus co-exclusive final and highlights rights, and all Europa League and Conference League rights.
- Central America: The split is the same as Mexico. Paramount+ gets half of Champions League coverage, while ESPN linear networks and Disney+ get the other half, plus all Europa League and Conference League rights.
- South America: Again, the split follows the same model. Paramount+ gets half of Champions League matches, while ESPN linear networks and Disney+ get the other half, plus all Europa League and Conference League rights.
Why you may need more than one service
If you are in Mexico, Central America, Brazil, or South America, the split is more frustrating if you want complete coverage. As we already mentioned, the Champions League itself is divided.
Europa League and Conference League sit fully with ESPN/Disney+. So if you want every Champions League match and also the full Thursday competitions, one service will not be enough.
Why UEFA is doing this
UEFA is no longer thinking only in terms of one broadcaster per country. It is creating different packages for different needs. Full rights in one market, split rights in another, co-exclusive finals in another, and so on.
Reuters reported last year that UEFA’s new tender strategy for 2027–31 was designed to be more flexible and more attractive to large global digital players.
There is also a money angle behind all this. Bloomberg reported that the latest sale of UEFA’s flagship rights brought a 40% increase, and that the territories in this round span Europe and the Americas, excluding the U.S.