UEFA tenders men’s club competition rights across 19 markets for 2027-31 cycle

UEFA has launched a new round of media rights tenders across 19 markets for its men’s club competitions, covering the four-season cycle from 2027-28 to 2030-31.The process is being run via UC3 – UEFA’s joint venture with European Football Clubs (EFC) – alongside Relevent Football Partners, as UEFA continues its shift towards larger, co-ordinated sales processes across multiple territories.The tender spans a mix of European and American markets, with the current batch including Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Portugal and the Scandinavian region, as well as Central America and South America (excluding Brazil). UEFA has also indicated separate timelines are already under way in Hungary and the Netherlands.Bids for the latest batch are due by April 21, with packages understood to include the full UEFA men’s club competition portfolio: the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League, plus the UEFA Youth League and UEFA Super Cup.The new cycle follows an overhaul of UEFA’s rights sales approach that is designed to give buyers more flexibility across pay-TV, free-to-air and streaming, while also allowing UEFA to bring more markets to tender at the same time. Agreements for the ‘big five’ European markets – the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – have already been concluded for 2027-31, meaning UEFA’s focus is now on maximising value in the remaining territories.UEFA is targeting a further uplift on an already lucrative rights base, with annual media revenues for the current cycle widely regarded as approaching £3bn and has long emphasised the central role of broadcast income in the club game, with close to three-quarters of Champions League-related broadcast revenue redistributed to participating clubs via prize money and solidarity mechanisms.As part of the next cycle, UEFA is also pushing further scheduling and packaging changes designed to create more premium inventory for partners. That includes plans for the first Champions League match of each season to be played as a standalone Tuesday fixture hosted by the reigning champions, ahead of the wider round of matches.