New Delhi: UEFA and the top European soccer clubs have decided to drop the Swiss agency that has so far sold the Champions League rights for more than three decades, starting in 1992. It will be replaced by the USA firm Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. Relevent Sports, a New City-based sports media company has been given the exclusive negotiating rights for the worldwide commercial rights for the UEFA men’s club competition from 2027 until 2033.
UEFA on Tuesday stated as they announced their decision for a joint commercial venture along with the European Club Association. This season UEFA men’s club competitions including the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and Super Cup have earned a revenue of €4.4 billion this season. Relevent’s first Champions League deal with UEFA was struck in 2022 during their long-standing legal action against FIFA to try to persuade the football body to conduct national league games from Europe in the US as well.
The case was settled in April 2024 and FIFA soon suggested that they would be reviewing some of its policies regarding blocking the out-of-territory games. The first deal with UEFA saw Relevent market just the USA rights for three seasons of the Champions League through 2027, including the new format which has 64 games more than the previous edition.
This deal for America impacted the global marketing of the premier club competition which had been managed by TEAM Marketing in Switzerland ever since the European Cup was revamped more than 30 years ago. UEFA said that the decision favouring Relevent involved a delicate process that “attracted bids” from various global and zonal agencies. The confirmed deal between the firm and UEFA-ECA joint ventures is expected within weeks UEFA confirmed.
Relevent becoming the sole sales agent for competitions involving UEFA men’s club competitions will renew the speculations that the Champions League final might be staged in the United States. It has often been spoken about ever since UEFA Aleksander Ceferin came to power in 2016.
The final happens to be the only Champions League game that is played on weekends every season and will be a profitable proposition for UEFA to bring to the US though it might have some backlashes from the fans. The available final for UEFA to look bidders for to host is the 2027-28 season’s title game, the first commercial cycle Relevent now has an exclusive mediator to market.
New York-based sports media company Relevent Sports are set to become exclusive agent for selling Champions League rights, replacing Swiss based company TEAM. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
