Exclusive: BBC set to show Uefa Women's Champions League games from 2025-26 season
UK free-to-air broadcaster is in line to pick up rights to games from next season
The BBC, the UK free-to-air broadcaster, is set to show games from the Uefa Women’s Champions League from next season, The Cutback can reveal.
The deal will form part of the free-to-air strategy for the competition after Disney+ announced last month that it had secured streaming rights to the UWCL across Europe for the next five years.
Disney’s deal kicks in from the 2025-26 season and runs until the end of the 2029-30 campaign. Every match will be broadcast live on Disney+ with ESPN, the Disney-owned sports broadcaster, responsible for production.
In order to secure free-to-air exposure for the Uefa Women’s Champions League, Two Circles, the sports marketing agency tasked with selling rights to the UWCL, has agreed deals with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and several free-to-air broadcasters, of which the BBC will be one.
Last season, the BBC showed coverage of the men’s Uefa Champions League for the first time as part of a three-year highlights deal. The BBC has rights to show highlights every Wednesday of a UCL matchweek on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. The broadcaster also has access to clips for online and social media.
From next season, the UWCL moves to an 18-team league phase format, mirroring the change in the men’s competition.
Disney+ has acquired European rights to all 75 UWCL matches that will take place throughout the season, replacing streaming platform DAZN as the home of the competition. TNT Sports, the pay-TV broadcaster, had also shown select matches in the UK over the last few seasons.
Excellent! 😃