News & Insight
Posted on December 17, 2024
By Two Circles
Tender processes for media rights of the UEFA Women’s Champions League across Europe and the Americas to launch in January.
UEFA Club Competitions SA (UCCSA), the joint venture between UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) responsible for managing the commercial and business aspects of UEFA club competitions, will invite interested parties to submit offers for the UEFA Women’s Champions League media rights in Europe and the Americas for the upcoming 5-year cycle from 2025/26 to 2029/30.
The tender processes will launch on Friday 3 January, with bids due by 17:00 CET on Monday 3 February.
The tender processes will be run by Two Circles, UCCSA’s exclusive agency for the global marketing and sales of the UEFA Women’s Champions League commercial rights.
The UEFA Women’s Champions League has established itself as the leading annual women’s football competition – boasting the highest average attendance in Europe, the largest social media presence, and showcasing the world’s biggest stars and most popular clubs. To accelerate its growth over the next five years, UCCSA is looking for market-leading media partners to elevate the global coverage of the competition and reach new audiences.
The new five-year cycle signals the beginning of a new era of the competition with the introduction of the 18-team league phase format. The new format, which will replace the current 16-team group stage format, will bring more excitement, unpredictability and bigger clashes from the start. A knock-out playoff round will also be introduced after the league phase, increasing the drama on the road to the final with four additional high-stakes two-legged matches to qualify for the quarter-finals. In total, 75 matches will be played between October and May, to crown the winners of the UEFA Women’s Champions League each season.
The pan-regional European tender process will invite bidders to submit offers for one or multiple territories. Three packages will be made available in all European territories, giving an opportunity for free-to-air broadcasters, pay TV channels and streaming platforms to acquire between 15 to 375 matches across the five years.
The pan-regional Americas tender process will run simultaneously, with bids also due on Monday 3 February. Bidders will have the opportunity to bid on a single territory or for multiple territories as part of the process. One single package will be made available across all territories except for the United States, where the option to acquire Spanish language rights independently to English language rights will be available to bidders.
Parties interested to participate in the tender processes are encouraged to request more details by contacting UWCLtender@twocircles.com.