October 14 – UEFA has officially launched the media rights tenders for its men’s club competitions via its new partners UC3 and newly formed US agency Relevent Football Partners, a wholly owned subsidiary of Relevant, the sports marketing group behind the staging of the controversial LaLiga regular season match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami on December 20.
That overseas game was sanctioned last week reluctantly by UEFA but has still to be sanctioned by North American governing bodies and FIFA. Relevent Football Partners was “purpose-built to commercialise the UEFA Men’s Club Competitions globally”, says the UC3 press statement. The crossover with the football business of its parent potentially creates awkward conflicts of interests.
The tender marks an evolution of how UEFA’s men’s club competitions are sold with rights periods now allowing a four-year term and an exclusive first-pick package, offering rights to one game per match week in the UEFA Champions League – targeted at the digital streaming giants Netflix, Apple, and Amazon Prime Video who UC3 are keen to bring into the broadcast rights equation.
The new rights cycle and the 2027/28 season will commence with a marquee Tuesday night clash with the Champions League holders starting in a standalone fixture in front of home fans. Wednesdays and Thursdays will remain the Champions League fixture days.
Guy-Laurent Epstein, co-managing director of UC3: “The launch of this new sales tender marks a significant milestone in UC3’s commercial strategy. By introducing a more flexible and globally focused approach, we aim to attract a broader range of partners and ensure UEFA’s Club Competitions continue to lead the way in sports media innovation.”
UC3 said there will also be “new approaches to sponsorship and licensing packages that create stronger alignment between brands and media partners, opening up opportunities for new partnerships that will expand the reach of the competitions in key regions while preserving their premium nature.”
Boris Gartner, CEO of Relevent Football Partners and Relevent Sports, and formerly CEO of Relevent’s joint venture LaLiga North America, said: “Together with UC3, UEFA, and EFC, we’re taking a long-term, partnership-focused approach to the commercialisation of the UEFA Men’s Club Competitions. Our goal is to build a model that aligns incentives and creates enduring value for media partners, the competitions themselves, and the clubs they represent — not just for the next cycle, but for the next 20 years and beyond.”
UC3 is the start-up entity set up to manage commercial sales. Relevent and its new football subsidiary is a newcomer to the scale of the media rights that UEFA’s club competitions present.
Fortunately for them they take over a Champions League that is by far the biggest international club competition in world sport and now pretty much sells itself. The test will not be making sales but delivering the promised digital first platforms as significantly increased revenue streams without upsetting the media balance that has made the Champions League the powerhouse it has come.
The deadline for tenders is November 18.
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