Paramount's proposed $110bn (£82.1bn) acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), the parent company of TNT Sports, has created uncertainty over where the Champions League will be broadcast in the UK from the 2027-28 season.
Paramount secured the UK and German rights to the Champions League in a four-year deal last November, but the planned takeover, which is subject to US regulatory approval over concerns about the merged studio's 40% share of the American film industry, is expected to be decided before TNT Sports' existing contract expires at the end of next season.
Under the terms of its contracts, Uefa must be consulted over the Champions League and will prioritise ensuring matches reach as large an audience as possible. Paramount has several options for broadcasting the tournament, including keeping games on TNT Sports, transferring them to Paramount+, or launching a dedicated sports channel.
TNT Sports currently holds rights to 52 Premier League matches per season until 2029, Premiership Rugby until 2031, the Australian and French Open tennis tournaments, and most of England men's cricket winter tours. WBD is also launching its own UK streaming platform, HBO Max, this month, which will become the streaming home of the Champions League under the TNT Sports banner.
Uefa's UK rights deal with Paramount and Amazon Prime, which retained one live game per match round, was among the first agreed for the 2027-31 cycle. Uefa's commercial operations, run by joint venture UC3 with European Football Clubs, will take Champions League rights to market in 19 countries this week.
