Broadcasters’ revenues for live football matches to their domestic leagues and the UEFA Champions League will reach US$10.5 billion in the 2021/22 season (the first season when fans return to stadia) in the top five European countries. These broadcasters will pay US$8.3 billion for the rights, according to Digital TV Research’s “European Football TV Revenues” report.
The UK leads the revenue charts by some distance, with US$3.6 billion expected from screening live matches from the English Premier League and Champions League in the 2021/22 season. Equivalent revenues in Spain will be some way behind the UK at US$2.3 billion. Germany, with the largest population of the five countries covered, will generate revenues similar to Spain.
Broadcasters are set to see an increase to their revenues from the 2019/20 season, when the pandemic hit hardest. During this time, broadcaster revenue from football across the five countries studied fell by US$6.1 billion as payments were deferred or reduced by rights holders.