Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas runs during a training session, on the eve of the women’s Champions League final soccer match between Arsenal and FC Barcelona, at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, center, attends during the Europa League final soccer match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Champions League in women’s European soccer moves to pay-TV in 5-year deal with Disney+
NYON, Switzerland (AP) 鈥 The Women鈥檚 Champions League in European soccer will go mostly behind a paywall for the next five seasons on Disney+ in a deal announced by UEFA鈥檚 joint venture with top clubs on Friday.
Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas runs during a training session, on the eve of the women’s Champions League final soccer match between Arsenal and FC Barcelona, at the Jose Alvalade Stadium, in Lisbon, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
NYON, Switzerland (AP) 鈥 The Women鈥檚 Champions League in European soccer will go mostly behind a paywall for the next five seasons on Disney+ in a deal announced by UEFA鈥檚 joint venture with top clubs on Friday.
The final on Saturday between defending champion in Lisbon completes a four-year broadcast deal where fans could watch games for free on streaming service DAZN and YouTube.
The Women鈥檚 Champions League is expanding next season to 18 teams from 16, in a single league standings instead of groups before the knockout stage. A second tier Women鈥檚 Europa Cup also will launch.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
鈥淭he five-year deal will ensure that each of the 75 matches in the newly expanded (Champions League) is available to Disney+ customers in Europe at no additional cost,鈥 said UC3, the commercial partnership between UEFA and the European Club Association.
Broadcasts will be produced by Disney-owned ESPN with 鈥渕ultilingual commentary and comprehensive pre- and post-match programming,鈥 the UC3 statement said.
The broadcast strategy through 2030 will allow one game per match week to be shown on some free-to-air networks and members of the European Broadcasting Union.
Selected games will be shown in countries including France, Germany and Spain, UC3 said.
The value of the Disney+ and EBU deals were not revealed.
total 鈥渃ompetition revenues鈥 of 33.8 million euros ($38.4 million) next season.
A 25 million euros ($28.4 million) subsidy also comes from men鈥檚 competitions, including the Champions League, and UEFA is contributing more than 11 million euros ($12.5 million).
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
That should provide a total prize money fund, once running costs are deducted, of 18.2 million euros ($20.6 million) to share among the 18 Women鈥檚 Champions League teams in each of the next two seasons, UEFA has said.
Teams in the Women’s Europa Cup are set to share a 5.6 million euros ($6.4 million) total prize money fund.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation