Viaplay Group to show UEFA club competitions in five Nordic countries
- Viaplay Group secures exclusive UEFA Champions League rights in Sweden and Denmark, exclusive UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League rights in Norway and Finland, and shared rights to all three competitions in Iceland until 2027
- Number of UEFA club competition matches, match days and kick-off slots to increase from 2024/2025 season
- Viaplay Group remains world’s only broadcaster to have shown all matches from every UEFA Champions League season
Viaplay Group has secured the exclusive rights to football from the men’s UEFA Champions League in Sweden and Denmark, exclusive rights to the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League in Norway and Finland, and shared rights to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League in Iceland up to and including the 2026/2027 season. The new agreement starts this autumn and means fans will be able to follow the best teams and players on the planet live on Viaplay Group’s platforms, with an updated format for all three UEFA club competitions set to raise the pinnacle of European football to new heights over the coming years.
Through weekly matches featuring leading sides such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Internazionale and Paris Saint-Germain, the UEFA Champions League ranks as one of the world’s most-viewed sports competitions. The most recent final, in Istanbul last June, aired in over 200 countries with an estimated global unique reach of 450 million individuals.
From the 2024/2025 season, more teams will participate and the format and match calendar will both evolve. Every club will play at least eight league phase games against eight different opponents, with four home games and four away, rather than six matches against three opponents as at present. The changes are designed to increase the number of marquee matches and add jeopardy to as many games as possible. The UEFA Champions League will now deliver 203 live matches a season spread across 19 match weeks, compared with 137 games over 17 match weeks as at present. In season 2024/25, the UEFA Super Cup will again be played at the start of the season, prior to the play-off rounds. Matches will continue to be split between two kick-off slots, and in the 2024-2027 cycle these split kick-offs will be used up to the quarter-final stage.
The UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League offer high-quality, exciting European club football with a broad range of teams, including from the Nordic region. In the past 10 seasons, seven teams have won the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Conference League has had a new winner every year since its introduction in the 2021/2022 season. From next season, these two competitions will also adopt the new format and will include a total of 342 live matches, up from 282 as at present.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, Viaplay Group President and CEO: “UEFA’s club competitions showcase European club football at its very highest level. This new agreement shows our laser focus on securing content that is relevant and attractive for many viewers, and that offers proven commercial possibilities. We are especially proud to renew the UEFA Champions League in Denmark, meaning we remain the only broadcaster in the world to have shown all matches from every UEFA Champions League season since its inception in 1992, and to become the competition’s home once more in Sweden, where our live sports line-up is the best and broadest in the business.”
Peter Nørrelund, Viaplay Group EVP and Chief Sports & Business Development Officer: “Football fans across the Nordic region know that European nights on Viaplay are something special. As always, we will deliver world-class studios and the sharpest experts, alongside local language commentary, exclusive behind-the-scenes documentaries and much more. And with the new UEFA club competitions format, we will have even more top-quality football to offer our viewers in the years to come.”
In Iceland, Viaplay Group will share the rights with Icelandic broadcaster Sýn.
Viaplay Group’s premium Nordic sports portfolio also includes Premier League, Bundesliga and Danish Superliga football, Formula 1, NHL ice hockey, FIS winter sports, IHF and EHF handball, and golf majors.
In all Nordic countries, the Viaplay streaming service is available on both a direct-to-consumer basis and through distribution partnerships with major telecom and TV operators. Viaplay Group’s pay-TV channels in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland are broadly available through distributors.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Viaplay Group AB (publ) is the Nordic region’s leading entertainment provider. Our Viaplay streaming service is available in every Nordic country, as well as in the Netherlands and Poland, and our Viaplay Select branded content concept has been added to partner platforms around the world. We also operate TV channels across most of our markets, as well as radio stations in Norway and Sweden. Our talented people come to work every day with a shared passion and clear mission to entertain millions of people with our unique offering of locally relevant storytelling, which spans premium live sports, films, series and music. Our purpose is to grow our business profitably and responsibly, and deliver sustainable value for all our stakeholders. Viaplay Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘VPLAY B’).
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