Amazon secure Champions League rights for the UK in $2.6bn deal

Matthew Badrov04/07/2022 5:55 am03/07/2022

Amazon has secured the UK broadcast rights for the UEFA Champions League in a deal worth UK£1.5 billion ($2.6 billion AUD).

Through a split coverage deal with Pay-TV network BT Sport – UEFA’s existing broadcast partner – Amazon will have first pick of matches on a Tuesday night through to the semi-finals. BT will retain the rest of the rights to the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League. The new pact will cover European football’s club competitions for the 2024 to 2027 rights cycle.

BT Sport has aired the Champions League since 2015, after snatching the rights from Sky Sports and ITV in a three-year deal worth UK£299 million ($529 million AUD). BT Sport renewed its contract for European club soccer’s premier competition from 2021 to 2024 for $1.7 billion AUD.

For its new deals, UEFA has opted to abandon exclusivity for rights from 2024/25 due to the increased number of matches in the Champions League when the tournament’s group stage rises from 32 to 36 teams.

UK public service broadcaster the BBC will also air highlights of European football’s top club competition for the first time, with a Wednesday night Match of the Day to round up the Champions League action.

For Amazon, securing the Champions League rights for its Prime Video streaming service is its biggest move in the UK sports market since its landmark deal in 2018 for select rounds of Premier League matches, breaking BT Sport and Sky Sports’ stranglehold on English football’s top flight.

Amazon Prime Video already broadcasts the Champions League in Germany, where it secured a deal worth around €90 million ($137 million AUD) a year back in December 2019. That deal runs from 2021 to 2024.

The total broadcast and media revenue from the 2024 to 2027 cycle is projected to reach $7.6 billion AUD per season, a big increase on the current $5.2 billion AUD UEFA currently brings in annually for its club competitions.

Discussions are ongoing between UEFA, the ECA and the European Leagues group over how that revenue will be divided up.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

Patrick Irving16/04/2026 8:55 am16/04/2026

Image credit: Melbourne Victory

The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Marie-Louise Eta makes history as new Union Berlin head coach

Patrick Irving15/04/2026 6:05 am14/04/2026

Image credit: FC Union Berlin

In an historic appointment, Eta will take over as head coach of Union Berlin until the end of the season.

History in the making

Previously the first female assistant coach in Bundesliga history with Union Berlin, Eta will now take the reigns of the men’s first team on an interim basis.

Currently, the club sit in 11th place in the Bundesliga table, but with only two wins so far in 2026, relegation appears an all-too-real prospect, and one which the club is desperate to avoid.

“Given the points gap in the lower half of the table, our place in the Bundesliga is not yet secure,” said Eta via official media release.

‘I am delighted that the club has entrusted me with this challenging task. One of Union’s strengths has always been, and remains, the ability to pull together in such situations.”

Eta will begin as Union’s new head coach with immediate effect, and will be in the dugout for the club’s matchup against Wolfsburg this weekend.

A step into an equal future

Eta’s appointment signals a major step towards a more level playing field in the football landscape.

Furthermore, Eta joins other coaches including Sabrinna Wittmann, Hannah Dingley and Corinne Diacre who, in recent years, have blazed a trail for female coaches to step into the men’s game.

Wittmann currently manages FC Ingolstadt in Germany’s third division, and was the first female head coach in Germany’s top three divisions.

In 2023, Dingley became caretaker manager of Forest Green Rovers, and thus the first woman to lead a men’s professional team in England.

Diacre, now head coach of France’s women’s national team, managed Ligue 2’s Clerment Foot between 2014 and 2017.

Final thoughts

The impact therefore, is that Eta’s appointment will show future generations of aspiring female coaches that men’s football is an equally viable and possible pathway as the women’s game.

The time is now to level the playing field.

And while it may be a short-term role, its effect on attitudes towards equality and fair opportunities in the game will hopefully resonate long after the season ends.