ViacomCBS set to show live round of 16 UEFA Champions League on CBS All Access from Wednesday
Are you ready for some football? No, not that football, the other football! Or if you’re from Europe, yes, that football!
In November of last year, CBS All Access announced that it scored the rights to stream the UEFA Champions League from 2021. And now, they’ve announced that in addition to the 2021 rights, they’ve also scored the rights to stream the remainder of the 2019-2020 season, and it starts this Wednesday, August 5th, on cbs.com.
In a statement, CBS All Access said, “All UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches, beginning on Wednesday, August 5, will be streamed live on CBS All Access. CBS Sports Network will air a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match each day on August 7 and August 8 as well as the UEFA Champions League Final on Sunday, August 23. [...] Beginning in October with the start of the 2020-2021 season and continuing throughout the 2023-2024 season, all matches will be available on CBS All Access, with select marquee matches also airing on the CBS Television Network.”
For those of you not familiar, the UEFA Champions League is Europe’s top soccer cup competition. Back in November, then-CBS CEO Joe Ianniello said of the deal, “Soccer fans know these rights represent some of the most prestigious and popular soccer tournaments in the world, so we couldn’t be more pleased that we’ve won this hotly contested process.” He could hardly have known at the time, but as live sports coverage in the United States (and indeed, all production in Hollywood) continues to be disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, being able to broadcast live sports from abroad will likely be a huge boost to CBS All Access’ bottom line.