Turner Scores UEFA Deal, Plans OTT Sports Platform

Turner has landed a three-year multiplatform rights agreement for the exclusive presentation of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League beginning with the 2018-19 season and is planning to launch a stand-alone premium sports streaming video service with the football collection.

Turner will be the exclusive media partner in the U.S. for English-language coverage of the popular sporting events. Turner will present more than 340 UEFA matches per season across the company’s TV and digital platforms. Matches will be offered direct to consumers through Turner’s newly created premium OTT sports platform, which is expected to debut in 2018. Additionally, Bleacher Report will serve as a portal to the OTT service and the live UEFA matches offered through the new platform. Live matches will also be regularly aired across TBS, TNT and/or truTV throughout the length of the deal.

“The launch of Turner’s new OTT sports platform and partnership with UEFA aligns with the company’s continued strategy to further expand the distribution ecosystem and our ongoing commitment to engage fans with premium content they crave across all platforms,” said David Levy, the president of Turner. “These highly anticipated matches and supplemental original programming will be a key foundation for our latest direct to consumer business sports offering, as well as coveted content for Bleacher Report and our leading television networks. In addition to the new audiences we’ll attract through the streaming service, the partnership will leverage the tremendous reach we have with our television networks and Bleacher Report’s position as the leading digital destination for millennial fans.”

“Through this new agreement, Turner Sports is further expanding our portfolio with championship-caliber content featuring two of the most popular sporting events in the world,” said Lenny Daniels, the president of Turner Sports. “We believe world football is one of the most impactful growth properties in the U.S. Our shared vision with UEFA has led to the perfect opportunity to leverage the reach of Turner as we establish deeper connections with fans, while simultaneously creating new business ventures for our company.”