TV2 in Norwegian UCL media rights renewal

Norwegian commercial broadcaster TV2 has announced the renewal of its rights to cover UEFA Champions League (UCL) pan-European men’s soccer action for the next three seasons.

In a statement, TV2 Group’s managing director Olav Sandnes confirmed the network had struck an extension of its existing deal with European soccer’s governing body UEFA (which covers the 2021-24 cycle).

The new deal for the lucrative and iconic UCL will run from the start of the 2024-25 campaign through 2026-27.

Sandnes said: “We secured these rights despite strong competition from other players. We cannot comment on what this costs, apart from the fact that such rights are not sold on the cheap.”

The tender process for UCL media rights in Norway (and in the other Nordic markets of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) has been a drawn-out affair. It went live on October 25, with a deadline for bids of November 28.

This means that over four months passed since bids would have been submitted, before a decision has been arrived at by UEFA and its Team Marketing partner agency for the UCL.

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From the 2024-25 season, the Champions League will take on a new single-league format, with the competition expanding from 32 to 36 teams, and incorporating 189 matches instead of the current 125.

Sandnes touched on the format changes, saying: “It was extra important to secure the Champions League now that they are introducing an extended format where the world's best club tournament gets an even more prominent position in the calendar. There will be more teams, more matches, and more weeks of the world's best soccer.”

Before TV2 moved in for Norwegian UCL action, rights were held in that market by Viaplay.

No Norwegian side made it to the group stage of this season’s UCL, with Molde having been knocked out in at the playoff stages by Turkey's Galatasaray.

However, Norway has provided several of the star players currently involved in the knockout stages of this year's UCL, such as Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Arsenal's Martin Ødegaard.

TV2’s soccer portfolio includes a selection of games from this season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, through a deal announced in November.

In terms of UCL media rights action, meanwhile, late March saw the Polish arm of multinational pay-TV broadcaster Canal Plus announce that it had secured exclusive rights in that market.