Sony Sports renews football tournament UEFA’s media rights in a 6-year deal

A football player on a field.

Culver Max Entertainment previously known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) has extended its media rights deal with one of the biggest football tournaments, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), for a period of six years.

The broadcaster's sports network, Sony Sports will air over 1,300 football matches across its channels. It will showcase UEFA EURO 2024 and 2028, along with its European qualifiers and friendly matches across TV and streaming platform Sony LIV. The qualifiers will be played between 53 teams across ten groups in the round-robin format. Football fans can also witness all the games of the UEFA Nations League 2024 and 2026, as well as the UEFA Nations League Finals in 2025 and 2027.

UEFA Euro 2024 will start on June 14, 2024, and will be hosted in Germany, with the final scheduled on July 14 in Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

It is reported that Culver Max Entertainment which is in the process to merge with Zee Entertainment has acquired the TV and digital rights of UEFA for Rs 400 crore.

“UEFA commands some of the most premium football properties, and this association expands our football portfolio with an additional 1,300 football matches. There is a high attraction for the marquee UEFA EURO tournament, featuring the top European footballing nations, both with advertisers and viewers in India," said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer - Distribution & International Business and Head - Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India.

He added that viewership impressions during UEFA EURO 2020 had more than tripled that of UEFA EURO 2016 and over 65 brands had associated with the network for the tournament across TV and digital platforms.

The network is also looking at other sports properties like Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) bi-lateral cricket rights along with bidding for media rights of the FIFA World Cup which will be up for acquisition, Kaul told a news publication.

The broadcaster is focusing on multiple sports properties across cricket, football, tennis, wrestling and multi-sport events like Asian Games.