Portugal: Eleven Sports, TVI extend Champions League FTA deal
July 4, 2019
Eleven Sports, and Portuguese TV operator, TVI, have announced the extension of a free-to-air (FTA) carriage agreement for the UEFA Champions League in Portugal for the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons.
The extended partnership means TVI will continue to show one game per match-week featuring a Portuguese team for the next two seasons. TVI will also show the final free-to-air in accordance with Portuguese regulations.
Eleven Sports will continue to show every game – from the qualifiers to the final – on its own platforms. Last season Eleven showed 125 UEFA Champions League matches which combined with supplementary programming constituted more than 300 broadcasting hours.
Multi-platform content including preview and highlights shows will also be shared across the two platforms in addition to the live rights. TVI will also take on the role of Media Sales House for the Eleven Sports channels.
During the 2018/19 season, TVI showed 11 UEFA Champions League matches and pre and post-match shows in partnership with Eleven Sports. This constituted 116 hours and 126 competition-related shows, including the matches. The Champions League matches broadcast on TVI had an average share of 41 per cent and an average audience above 1.9 million viewers.
Jorge P Sousa, Managing Director, Eleven Sports in Portugal, said: “TVI has been a very important strategic partner for Eleven Sports in our first year of activity in Portugal. We are very pleased with the growth we have achieved together, and this was naturally a key factor in the discussions and negotiations that we held with the various national channels that showed interest in acquiring the Free-to-Air rights of the UEFA Champions League. TVI presented the best proposal and we are delighted that we will continue to innovate together, giving excellent airtime to the Eleven brand on FTA and enabling Portuguese fans to watch some of the best football in the world on Eleven Sports and TVI/TVI24.”
Bruno Santos, TVI’s General Director of Programs and Antenna, added: “TVI is always looking for the best content and there is no bigger sports event than the UEFA Champions League. In last year’s edition, all the games broadcasted by TVI were the most watched programs of the year. We are therefore very pleased to renew this partnership with Eleven Sports for another two seasons.”