It’s CBS vs. Amazon for the Champions League broadcast crown

The Champions League rights in the United States will be decided in two weeks, and it is clear that the tournament could fetch twice its current $150 million rights fee, and potentially a price that approaches $400 million.

While there are a lot of bidders, sources indicate this could end up being a battle between the incumbent CBS/Paramount+ and Amazon Prime Video.

Let’s take a look at what is going on.

1. The Champions League is the most prestigious club tournament in soccer, featuring the top teams in Europe, such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City. While the World Cup is in a category all its own, the yearly Champions League final is comparable to the Super Bowl.

While CBS drew nearly three million viewers in the United States in 2022, worldwide, the match was estimated to have drawn nearly three times the 100 million of the Super Bowl.

Currently, the rights are held by CBS/Paramount+ and Univision, both of which are entering the second-to-last seasons of three-year deals. CBS/Paramount+ pays $100 million, while Univision puts in $50 million per year.

2. The next deal likely will look different than any Champions League has agreed to before. The tournament is taking bids for six years of rights, as opposed to its traditional three-year contracts.

This has made it more attractive to streamers, because this is a must-watch competition. With the three-year deals, by the time a company had its mojo with Champions, it had to re-up. Consequently, it has bounced around to different platforms.

Now, streaming services will be able to grow together with the tournament and, importantly in the subscription game, help make their service feel vital into the late 2020s.

3. CBS’s $100 million per-year total has given the network a sports anchor to combine with the NFL for Paramount+. It has done a nice job with the production and given the tournament its due with a willingness to pre-empt daytime programming and broadcast knockout round games on network TV. CBS is expected to try very hard to retain the rights.

4. UEFA appears as if it will strongly consider handing the tournament exclusively to a streamer, like Amazon Prime Video, which has said it has 80 million households viewing its content in the United States, which puts it in the range of most cable channels, such as ESPN.

Amazon already has the Champions League in Italy, Germany and just did a deal for half the package in England, beginning in 2024.

Considering the worldwide viewership, it makes sense for Amazon to try to be as global as possible with this event; especially because it has no soccer imprint in the United States for its Amazon Prime Video service.

Beginning with its first NFL preseason game later this month, Amazon will broadcast Thursday Night Football games exclusively this season. The service also has 21 local regular season Yankees games in the tri-state New York area. And it is in the bidding for the Big Ten. Adding Champions League makes a lot of sense.

5. UEFA, the governing body of Champions League, has enlisted Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross’ company, Relevent Sports, to run the negotiations. Relevent won the rights to do so by guaranteeing UEFA it would sell tournament coverage for $250 million a year or more. It is expected to easily beat that number.

6. CBS and Amazon are not the only ones interested. ESPN, NBC, Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery have all been involved. Fox Sports, without a subscription streaming service and already owning a robust, big-time soccer offering, appears as if it could be a partner for a streamer if, let’s say, Amazon or Apple needs to add a partner, or if ESPN wants to add more over-the-air broadcast windows with Fox complementing ABC. DAZN is also in the talks, but it could be trying for Spanish language rights.

7. CBS/Paramount+ and Amazon appear as if they could be the most aggressive for the rights as both need a major soccer property in the United States, which some of the potential competitors for this deal already have.

ESPN/ESPN+ has the rights to La Liga, Bundesliga and the FA Cup, while NBC/Peacock spent $450 million per season to retain the Premier League for six years. Fox, as we mentioned, has the World Cup, European Championships and other tournaments.

For its part, Apple appears as if they want to sell new subscriptions to customers for packages of games, which is probably not how this Champions League deal is going to work. And Discovery Warner Bros. might eventually become big spenders, but first they are cutting billions after their recent merger.

8. This will all go down the week of Aug. 15, when bids are due. After the initial round, there will be a second round for companies to raise their offers.

Despite the broad field of contenders, at the moment it looks like the Champions League TV final may pit CBS vs. Amazon.

Quick Clicks

Brendan Burke has emerged as the leading candidate to eventually succeed John Sterling as the Yankees’ lead play-by-play radio voice. Since WFAN and the Yankees are just starting to figure out the post-Sterling transition, Burke’s role in it isn’t yet certain. He already is the TV voice of the Islanders and is the No. 2 NHL play-by-player for TNT. Those are big jobs in TV and there is overlap in those schedules, especially during the playoffs. Howie Rose called Mets’ games and Islanders’ games, but he is on record as not recommending double-dipping. How the transition will unfold won’t be fully determined until the offseason. To be clear, Sterling isn’t retiring. He’s expected to still be calling games next year. Could he be on all the home games and a smattering of the road ones? That seems possible. Even at 84, Sterling wants to be at the ballpark as often as he can. The issue is he hates traveling. Ryan Ruocco is someone that the Yankees like a lot, but his many TV responsibilities with ESPN and YES will probably make him a non-starter. Justin Shackil has also impressed decision-makers. … On my podcast with John Ourand, ex-Fox Sports president and current LIV and F1 consultant, David Hill, said top sportscasters, like Joe Buck, Charles Barkley and John Madden are worth every cent. Hill also mentioned that of all the big offseason moves, the Tom Brady signing could have the greatest impact. … On Apple’s earning call, Tim Cook said his company is involved in more than 800 million subscriptions, including ones in the app store. That ubiquity is a point that was driven home in the Apple-TV-MLS deal and is likely a selling point in the potential NFL Sunday Ticket agreement. With MLS, Apple spent way more than any of the major players were willing to go. We imagine if Apple secures the Sunday Ticket rights, the NFL will be taking the highest bidder, as well.

How I got here: A Bristol story

Name: Kelly Carey
Age: 36
Hometown: Bristol, Conn.
College: Central Connecticut State University
Jobs: Radio Disney Promotions Assistant/DJ, Live Nation VIP Sales Intern, ESPN Radio — Coordinator Events & Marketing, ESPN — Production Coordinator/Production Manager

I always knew I wanted to work in the entertainment industry, but I was sure it would be in music, not sports. I majored in business management, partially to keep my options open. I quickly began to realize that the New York City life was not for me and that I wanted to be closer to home, friends and family.

Where do you work in entertainment when you live in Bristol, Conn.? The answer was pretty clear.

I have no exciting story about how I got my foot in the door. I went to an ESPN career fair. I talked to every recruiter that was there, even if it was for an area I didn’t think I had the interest in or qualifications for. Shook all the hands. Asked all the questions.

Tried my best to tie my limited experience to each sector of the company during those conversations. A few days later, I got a call about an opening at ESPN Radio. Five minutes later, I was scheduled for an interview the next day. A couple days later, I was called back for another interview. And a couple days after that, I was offered the job.

Keith Goralski and Justine DeLuco took a chance on a 21-year-old in her last semester of college. I stayed in the ESPN Radio area for seven years until I transitioned to the television side and have been there for almost eight years now, working my way up. Today, I’m the production manager for Major League Baseball on ESPN.

Don’t be discouraged by your experience, especially for an entry level position. Research the position and find the connections to what you do know. You’ll be surprised how much cross-over there is. Once you are in, care about what you are doing and work hard. It will be recognized. It’s that simple.