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Stan Sport signs deal with UEFA

Stan Sport signs 3 year deal for UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and more.

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Stan Sport today has signed a 3 year partnership agreement with the Union of European Football Associations.

The deal will include exclusive broadcast rights to every match of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League and UEFA Youth League, and the UEFA Super Cup, for the next three seasons.

Stan Acting Chief Executive Officer Martin Kugeler said: “Today’s multi-year partnership announcement with UEFA reflects Stan’s commitment to bringing premium sports to Australian fans. Since Stan Sport launched in February, we have been delighted with the way Australians have taken up the service. The addition of the UEFA Club Competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, represents a unique strategic opportunity that will continue the momentum for Stan Sport and aligns directly with the Nine group sports strategy.

“Featuring the most outstanding players in the sport, the UEFA Club Competitions bring together the best clubs for more than 400 matches of world-class football. We can’t wait to showcase the most prestigious club football tournaments in the world and we thank UEFA for its trust in Stan to deliver their iconic football products to Australia.”

UEFA Marketing Director Guy-Laurent Epstein said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Stan in Australia. Stan has strong ambitions in the world of sport, and as a sports-loving nation, Australian football fans will benefit from Stan’s world class broadcast and production capabilities throughout the 2021-24 cycle.”

The deal comes at a time when the UEFA has come under fire for refusing to light the Allianz Arena in Munich in rainbow colours for Germany vs Hungary match. The move was planned in support of the LGBT community and to protest a law passed by the Hungarian government. Other stadiums lit up in rainbow colours while various clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus pledged support on social media.

UEFA coverage will begin with the 2021-22 UEFA Super Cup match between Chelsea and Villarreal, on Thursday, 12th August.

The pinnacle of the yearly football calendar, the UEFA Champions League, will see the world’s best players face off for the European club football crown; a who’s who of global superstars that includes Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr., Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Manuel Neuer, Kylian Mbappé, Kevin De Bruyne, Virgil van Dijk, Robert Lewandowski, and more.

Amongst those to have qualified for the Group Stage of the 2021-22 tournament are defending UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea, alongside AC Milan, Ajax Amsterdam, Atlético Madrid, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lille, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Sporting Lisbon, Villarreal, and many more of Europe’s best clubs.

In addition to the UEFA Champions League, Stan will also broadcast every match of the UEFA Europa League and the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. Clubs that have directly qualified for the Group Stage of the 2021-22 UEFA Europa League include: Bayern Leverkusen, Braga, Eintracht Frankfurt, Lazio, Leicester City, Lokomotiv Moscow, Lyon, Marseille, Napoli, Real Betis, Real Sociedad and West Ham United. Tottenham Hotspur and Roma are favoured to win qualification for the inaugural 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League, with the winner guaranteed a spot in next season’s UEFA Europa League.

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  2. While I’m sure this is great for market competitiveness, the consumer is the one suffering. For a soccer enthusiast in this country, EPL is on Optus Sports, SerieA/La Liga/Bundesliga on BEIN (Kayo/Fetch), A-league on Paramount Plus and now UCL/UEL on Stan Sports. That’s another 25$ if you don’t have Stan already, which is becoming ridiculous.

    The add-on model makes it worse. If you just want to subscribe during Wimbledon/French Open/UCL knockouts season, you’ve to unnecessarily pay for the base and isnt that why Foxtel was hated before Kayo was born just for sports?

    1. Stan getting sports subscribers to pay for the whole package is cheeky but also understandable while they have limited sports content.
      I would think that Stan’s courageous foray into Fox Sports long held PayTV territory must expand exponentially in the next few months with more sports being included, especially during the summer months.

  3. Stan look like they are intending to compete with Fox Sports, this deal with UEFA also asks the question why Stan didn’t work harder to acquire A League coverage as well.
    Optus will also watch Stan with interest now.

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