MTG Expands Commitment to UEFA Champions League

MTG has extended its rights for the UEFA Champions League to 2021.

Through the agreement, MTG reinforced its position as the pan-Nordic home of live football coverage by securing the Scandinavian media rights to the UEFA Champions League from 2018 to 2021. The coverage will be available on MTG’s free-TV and Viasat channels, as well as the Viaplay streaming service. The media rights package for the tournament will be expanded from 2018 to include 35 percent more coverage, with 46 time slots covering 138 matches over 17 weeks. MTG has secured the rights on an exclusive basis in Sweden and Denmark, and has acquired the rights to 108 of the games on an exclusive basis in Norway, where it will also show the rest of the games. MTG has held the media rights for the competition since its launch 25 years ago.

MTG’s football coverage in Scandinavia now includes the English FA Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, England’s FA Cup, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, Denmark’s Superliga and the English League Cup and Championship. The coverage is shown on a combination of MTG’s free-TV channels, Viasat pay-TV channels and the Viaplay streaming service. Rights differ among the various countries.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG’s president and CEO, said: “This is great news for football fans as virtually all leading international club football games can now be found through a single TV subscription for years to come. The combined Viasat and Viaplay offering will bring fans more coverage of their favorite teams and players than ever before. We have enjoyed a long and successful partnership with UEFA and the TEAM agency, and are delighted to have extended these key rights. This year marks the 25th or silver anniversary of the launch of the phenomenally successful Champions League, so it is even more special to extend our partnership this year.”

Peter Nørrelund, MTG’s executive VP and CEO of MTG Sport, added: “Football is more popular than ever globally and Nordic fans’ enthusiasm is growing every year. We have higher ratings, more viewing and more followers, and we are able to reach bigger audiences in more ways than ever before. We have invested over the years to make sure we can deliver the best possible coverage of the Champions League games and all news around the tournament. Our offering is now stronger and more complete than ever before—the best players, the best teams, the best broadcast quality, the best local commentary and the best studio discussion. The rights packages for the coming seasons now include more games than ever before, so we will be working hard to further enhance our coverage and bring this exciting action to as many fans as possible.”