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The US company Amazon transfers from the season 2021/22 games of the Football Champions League. The streaming service Amazon Prime Video was awarded the contract for the rights package A1, which includes the broadcast of the top games on Tuesday evening. A corresponding report of the media magazine "DWDL.de" confirmed the company. "We look forward to the Uefa Champions League, one of the most prestigious club competitions in the world," said Alex Green, CEO of Prime Video Sport Europe.
Currently and since the 2018/19 season, the Champions League in Germany can only be seen on Sky and the DAZN streaming service, and users have to pay for both providers. The deadline for the call for tenders by Uefa for the coming legal period from 2021/22 to 2023/24 had expired at the beginning of December. Who receives the other rights to the Champions League in Germany, is not yet known.
Most recently, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported on the various rights packages. They look like this:
- Package D contains only the final
- two Class C packages include summertime Champions League matches shortly after the final whistle
- Package B offers, according to "SZ" "almost all live rights of a game day"
- For package A , a top game may be shown exclusively on Tuesday or Wednesday
By purchasing rights Amazon expands its commitment in the field of sports broadcasts. Since 2017, the Americans in Germany already had the rights for audio livestreams of matches of the Bundesliga. In the United Kingdom, the group had recently shown, among other things, individual games of the Premier League and the US Open. To this end, the company acquired further rights to broadcast tennis tournaments.
Currently, the Champions League is only behind the payment barrier
A free-TV exception in the current football contracts would be an endgame with German participation, which must be seen in the broadcasting state treaty compulsory in free-to-air television. The ZDF had shown for six years until 2018 Champions League games, then the television rights were awarded to the payment offers Sky and DAZN. Most recently, the ZDF had failed to show the Champions League final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in free-TV. The purchase of a sub-license prevented DAZN with a veto.
In contrast to the Champions League, there are currently moving pictures from the Europa League in free-to-air television. The RTL group transmits a game every game day - mostly at Nitro. The DAZN streaming service shows all games for its subscribers. From 2021, the first played Europa Conference League is added, for which also the TV rights were tendered.
