Uefa expects higher UK viewership for Champions League final despite paywall

Uefa is forecasting significantly higher UK viewing figures for next week’s Champions League final compared to recent seasons, even though TNT Sports has opted not to provide free-to-air coverage for the first time since the competition’s rebrand 34 years ago, a move that has drawn criticism.

Over the past two seasons, an average audience of about 1 million watched the Champions League final for free on TNT’s streaming service, Discovery+. HBO Max, which will broadcast the Paris Saint-Germain vs Arsenal final alongside TNT Sports, is available in more than 10 million UK households.

TNT’s viewing figures for the 2024 and 2025 finals were approximately 2.5 million, and those numbers are expected to rise a week on Saturday due to the presence of an English club in the final for the first time in three years.

As revealed on Monday, TNT has chosen to stream the game on HBO, which charges £4.99 per month for its cheapest subscription, after two years of offering the final for free on Discovery+ alongside its main channel coverage.

From the 2015-16 season through 2022-23, the Champions League final was made available for free on YouTube by the UK rights holder, BT Sport. Before that, ITV had broadcast the match since the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.

Although some at Uefa have privately accused TNT of violating the spirit of a contract that requires ‘best endeavours’ to ensure club finals are available for free, the European governing body’s commercial team is understood to be satisfied with the decision, believing it will deliver a larger audience.

HBO Max has attracted millions of subscribers since its UK launch in March and is available at no extra cost for Sky Sports and Amazon Prime customers, extending its overall potential reach to more than 10 million.

Despite the limited uptake of TNT’s free offering in recent years, the decision to introduce a charge for the final has been widely criticized over the past 24 hours.

‘All major sporting finals should be free to watch on UK television,’ Labour MP Jon Trickett wrote on X. ‘I’d like to see the government take action to ensure future events like the Champions League final are accessible to as many people as possible.’