UEFA takes 2024-27 club competitions rights tender to Israel

European soccer’s governing body UEFA has begun the tender process for media rights to its top-tier club competitions during the 2024-27 cycle in Israel.

In total, the governing body has kicked off four separate tenders covering rights to the top-tier UEFA Champions League (UCL), second-tier Europa League, and third-tier Europa Conference League, between 2024-25 and 2026-27.

The sales are being handled by Team Marketing, UEFA’s partner agency for media and commercial rights sales across its club competitions. All inquiries should be directed to info@team.ch, with a deadline for submissions of April 9.

Currently, UCL action in Israel is covered during the 2021-24 cycle by The Sports Channel, the Israeli cable and satellite sports broadcaster. The two second-tier competitions, meanwhile, are shown by Charlton.

Both Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Tel-Aviv are currently playing in the knockout stages of the 2023-24 Europa Conference League.

Late last month, UEFA kicked off the same tender process for club competition media rights in three Baltic markets and the Caribbean.

In terms of unveiled deals, meanwhile, Indian media conglomerate Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) recently announced it will show the next three seasons of the UCL, Europa League, and Europa Conference League.

From the 2024-25 season onwards UEFA's club competitions will all operate under a new format wherein each team will play eight matches in the opening group stage, as opposed to the current six games, meaning more fixtures than ever before in the competition.

The competition will take on a new single-league structure initially, instead of being split into multiple groups from which teams qualify for the knockout stage. In total, the competition will expand from 32 to 36 teams and incorporate 189 matches instead of 125.

Earlier this week, Indian media conglomerate Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) secured a three-year contract renewal with UEFA for the rights to its trio of club competitions.