Telefónica has made a coup to secure its leadership in the Spanish audiovisual market in the long term. The company chaired by Marc Murtra has been awarded the exclusive broadcast rights to all UEFA club competitions in Spain until 2031 for 1,464 million euros. The agreement allows the operator to keep the flagship of sports content on its network: the Champions League, in addition to the Europa League, the Conference League, the Youth League and the European Super Cup.
The new contract covers four consecutive seasons (from 2027/2028 to 2030/2031), breaking with the previous dynamic of three-year bonuses. The annual cost for the telecom coffers will be 366 million euros, which represents an increase of 14% compared to the current contract, also in the hands of Telefónica.
With this award, Telefónica reconfirms its dominance in the management of audiovisual rights having already acquired the rights for the previous cycle, which ran from the 2024-25 season to the 2026-27 season for 960 million euros, setting the average annual cost at 320 million. This figure represents a slight downward correction in the price of content compared to the immediately previous three-year period, a period of the same duration for which the operator paid 975 million euros.
However, the figures are not entirely comparable, since on this occasion UEFA has chosen to launch a global package – without segmentation by country or regional market – which covers the broadcast rights for the entire planet of one match per matchday, selecting the one deemed most important or attractive.
UC3, the joint venture between UEFA and the Association of European Clubs (EFC), which markets these rights together with Relevent, has not yet revealed the winner of that match of the day. Predictions indicate that a large OTT platform (such as Amazon Prime, DAZN or Netflix) will win the package, so Telefónica will be forced to negotiate with the winner of the tender if it intends to continue guaranteeing the entire Champions League offer to its customers.
On the part of UEFA, the marketing of this cycle of rights will coincide with the entry into force of the new Champions League format, which will add four teams and a new organization of matches. European football’s governing body aspired to increase revenue from television rights through this new formula, designed to neutralize the ordeal of the Real Madrid-led Super League.
Premium customers
Despite the price increase, this move is strategic for Telefónica, which seeks to avoid the flight of customers to other platforms and guarantee the stability of its premium offer for almost a decade against its main rivals, especially MasOrange, to which it has sold by reselling the rights every season.
Telefónica strengthens its leading position in football broadcasting rights, both in European and national competitions. Currently, EA Sports’ LaLiga broadcast rights for the 2022-2027 cycle are shared by Movistar Plus+ and DAZN for a global sum of €4,950 million over a five-season period, at a rate of €990 million per campaign. However, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has limited the duration of Telefónica’s contracts to three years, so the operator recently had to formalize the award of the final section of the cycle, which runs from January 2025 to the 2026/27 season, for an amount of 1,290 million euros, thus complying with the regulation without altering the total price of the original contract.
Maintaining these rights is not only a question of audience, but also of profitability per user. Football has established itself as the most effective tool for attracting and retaining the highest spending customer segment in the Spanish market. Thanks to packages that include connectivity and exclusive content such as more than 140 Champions League matches per year, Movistar achieves an average revenue per user (ARPU) of over 90 euros per month.
This figure marks a significant distance compared to direct competitors such as MasOrange, whose average income is around 52 euros, demonstrating that the football user is less sensitive to price and more loyal to the brand. And it moves away from the low cost offer, led by Digi, whose ARPU does not reach 8 euros per month.
Total control of production and emissions
The agreement guarantees Movistar Plus+ absolute editorial control over broadcasts. This implies that the platform will maintain its own visual identity, a team of narrators and analysis programs, differentiating factors compared to standardized broadcasts.
Furthermore, Telefónica will adapt broadcasting to new consumer habits. Users will be able to access games from multiple devices (tabletsTOs, cell phones, Smart TVs) both inside and outside the home.
The operator relaunched Movistar Plus+ two weeks ago with a renewed offer which includes the broadcast of a channel of sporting events – including some matches of these competitions – at 11 euros per month for the company’s subscribers and, as a main innovation, also open to non-customers at 14 euros per month.
