The UEFA Champions League is poised for a significant shift in its broadcasting landscape, with a new broadcaster set to take the reins following a highly competitive bidding war. TNT Sports is likely to lose its hold on the television broadcast rights in the UK.

Paramount+ has emerged as a strong contender to secure the rights to UEFA's club competitions starting in 2027. This move aligns with Paramount+'s existing strategy, as it already broadcasts Champions League games in the United States and aims to expand its sports content offerings. If successful, this would mean that UK football fans would likely need an additional subscription to watch European matches, adding to the already existing costs for Premier League and FA Cup coverage.

The bidding process, overseen by Relevent Football Partners, involves offers for the five major European markets, including the UK. UEFA views reach and marketing support, not just finance, as key criteria for bids.

According to reports, Paramount+ submitted the highest bid in this week's auction, surpassing the £1 billion currently paid by TNT Sports. The deal would grant Paramount+ the rights to broadcast every Champions League game live in the UK, except for the first pick of Tuesday night matches.

Amazon Prime is expected to secure the rights for the first pick of Tuesday matches across major European markets. This includes England, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France, starting from 2027. Amazon already holds rights in the UK, Germany and Italy.

DAZN, backed by Saudi Arabian investment, is also expected to be a key player in the bidding war for the Champions League global rights in 2027. The new tender process, launched by UEFA and its commercial partner UC3, makes a 'single global rights package' available for the first time.

UEFA is revamping the broadcast tender process for the Champions League, with the hope of attracting more bids from streaming services like Netflix. Broadcasters can bid for rights in multiple markets simultaneously, with the possibility of longer-term contracts. This restructure could allow a single broadcaster to secure global rights to a single game or multiple matches. The rights from 2027 are expected to be put out to tender in the coming weeks.

The Champions League represents UEFA's largest source of annual revenue. By allowing broadcasters to bid in multiple markets and potentially on a global scale, UEFA hopes to make its rights more attractive to streamers with worldwide reach. The global popularity of soccer and major European clubs mean the Champions League would hold significant appeal.

The introduction of a global pick could mean additional subscription costs for viewers as it could potentially split UK rights across even more broadcasters. UC3 launched the first rights tender for 2027 onwards on October 13.