MTG extends rights to UEFA Champions League to 2021
- Most comprehensive football coverage of any entertainment offering anywhere now extended to include Scandinavian rights to Champions League from 2018 to 2021
- MTG has held rights since launch of Champions League 25 years ago
- The world’s most watched international club football championship is more popular than ever
MTG has reinforced its unrivalled position as the pan-Nordic home of live football coverage by securing the Scandinavian media rights to the UEFA Champions League until 2021. MTG’s free-TV and Viasat channels, and Viaplay streaming service, will now show even more live football than any other service for years to come.
MTG is the only entertainment company in the world to have held the media rights to the world’s most prestigious club football competition since it was launched 25 years ago in 1992. The UEFA Champions League final is the single most watched annual sporting event worldwide and the media rights package for the tournament will be enlarged from 2018 to include 35% more media coverage – 46 time slots around 138 matches over 17 weeks. MTG has secured the rights on an exclusive basis in Sweden and Denmark, and has secured the rights to 108 of the games on an exclusive basis in Norway and will also show the rest of the games.
MTG’s football coverage in Scandinavia now includes the English FA Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, England’s FA Cup, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, Denmark’s Superliga, and the English League Cup and Championship. The coverage is shown on a combination of MTG’s free-TV channels, Viasat pay-TV channels and Viaplay streaming service, and rights differ between countries.
Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG President & CEO: “This is great news for football fans as virtually all leading international club football games can now be found through a single TV subscription for years to come. The combined Viasat and Viaplay offering will bring fans more coverage of their favourite teams and players than ever before. We have enjoyed a long and successful partnership with UEFA and the TEAM agency, and are delighted to have extended these key rights. This year marks the 25th or silver anniversary of the launch of the phenomenally successful Champions League, so it is even more special to extend our partnership this year.”
Peter Nørrelund, MTG EVP and CEO of MTG Sport: “Football is more popular than ever globally and Nordic fans’ enthusiasm is growing every year. We have higher ratings, more viewing and more followers, and we are able to reach bigger audiences in more ways than ever before. We have invested over the years to make sure we can deliver the best possible coverage of the Champions League games and all news around the tournament. Our offering is now stronger and more complete than ever before – the best players, the best teams, the best broadcast quality, the best local commentary and the best studio discussion. The rights packages for the coming seasons now include more games than ever before, so we will be working hard to further enhance our coverage and bring this exciting action to as many fans as possible.”
Not only does MTG offer unrivalled coverage of international football but also the most complete total sports offering with over 50,000 hours of live sport in the last year.
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MTG (Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.)) is a leading international digital entertainment group and we are shaping the future of entertainment by connecting consumers with the content that they love in as many ways as possible. Our brands span TV, radio and next generation entertainment experiences in esports, digital video networks and online gaming. Born in Sweden, our shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’).
