BT Sport has been the broadcaster of Europe’s two main club competitions since 2015 in the United Kingdom—using its coverage to strengthen its competition with pay-tv giant Sky Sports. Following its mega deal with UEFA, which was announced in an official release on March 6, 2017, BT Sport has affirmed that it will carry multi-platform coverage of all live games, highlights and in-match clips of both leagues.
Four more years! pic.twitter.com/oVx8gpX8PY
— BT Sport (@btsport) March 6, 2017
From the 2018/19 season, subscribers will have the chance to enjoy two batches of Champions League matches per game nights during the Group Stage—known as “double header” nights. The UK broadcaster is also expecting the excitement to rocket on its network, with a guaranteed minimum of four participating teams respectively from England, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Select Champions League and Europa League matches will continue to be aired in glorious 4K UHD, and live streams will be available on BTSport.com and the official BT Sport App for iOS, Android and Windows 10. Whereas it is not confirmed yet whether the finals from both competitions will be available as free streams on Facebook Live, the UK rights holder is promising free coverage of the finals on social media.
UEFA marketing director Guy Laurent Epstein was quoted saying by BT Sport’s website: “BT have delivered strong audiences in the UK and we are excited about their future plans for the use of social media, which will engage a growing fan base that consumes sport in different ways.”
Last season, both the Champions League and Europa League finals were streamed live by BT Sport on YouTube, in an unprecedented move that raised the network’s viewership numbers above the twelve-million bar.
