Canal + is back on the offensive on football: the channel announced on Wednesday evening that it had won “all” of the broadcasts of the Champions League and the two other European cups for the period 2024-2027, a tour de force when the new C1 formula will start that year.
This pack therefore also includes the Europa League (C3) and the Europa League conference (C4) which appeared last season.
The amount of the tender has not been disclosed.
“Hot transfer window info: Canal+ signs more than 900 players until 2027”. Via a message posted on Twitter on Wednesday evening, the chairman of the group’s executive board Maxime Saada said he was “very, very happy” with the acquisition of the rights to broadcast the “entirety” of the cuts. of Europe between 2024 and 2027.
Canal + and BeIn Sports had already recovered the main C1 lots for 2021 – 2024 in 2019. RMC Sport, C1 broadcaster since 2018, also remains co-broadcaster until 2024.
The encrypted channel shared the broadcast of the Europa League and the Europa League conference with W9 and RMC Sports.
Ligue 1, for its part, had been won by Amazon, a newcomer to the world of football which had granted itself in June 2021 and for 250 million euros, the broadcasting of 80% of the matches, including the 10 best posters. of the season, abandoned by the failed former broadcaster Mediapro. Canal + only broadcasts 20% of the meetings, considering itself aggrieved in the valuation of its rights, insofar as it has to pay EUR 332 million for them.
The broadcast of the European Cups should allow the encrypted channel to find a little smile: the audiences achieved last season “with more than 1.6 million viewers on average and an absolute record with a peak at 2.94 million for Paris Saint-Germain/Real Madrid” in the round of 16 first leg last February, were particularly significant, the broadcaster said in its press release.
– New formula and opening tournament-
Recognized by the public as a historical football broadcaster, Canal + was delighted to offer “for the first time to its subscribers, all the routes of the biggest French and European clubs and even more matches thanks to the new format of the competition”.
Indeed, from 2024, the new formula Champions League will begin with a mini-championship of 8 days with 36 teams, once morest 32 clubs playing the group stage over 6 days currently.
Two additional places will also be allocated to the two best European nations of the previous season, and a third club will automatically qualify for the fifth nation in the UEFA index, currently France.
This reform, the most radical for twenty years, had been validated a year following the storm of the Super League, an ephemeral private competition project launched by several rebellious clubs, including Real Madrid and Liverpool, finalists of the last edition.
The Europa League and the Europa Conference League will follow the same model as the C1 from 2024.
The encrypted channel also announced the holding and broadcast of a “new opening tournament in early August” with the winner of the previous C1.
Canal+ also already exclusively broadcasts the entire English Premier League until 2024/2025.