Champions League TV deal extended
BSkyB and ITV will continue to screen Champions League games in the three seasons from 2006 to 2009, UEFA have announced.
The current arrangement where ITV shows the best two matches live on Tuesdays and Sky shows the other games on Tuesdays and all Wednesday games live will remain in place.
The announcement has been widely expected and was only held up by discussions over UEFA’s insistence the broadcasters simultaneously transmit all their live matches over the internet.
The agreement also falls in line with European Commission rules, avoiding the dispute with Brussels which continues to dog the Premier League over their TV rights sales.
UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said: “The UEFA Champions League in the UK almost always plays to full stadia and invariably provides dramatic entertainment.
“UEFA is delighted to be renewing its broadcasting arrangements in the UK with two such committed and high quality partners as ITV and BSkyB.”
With reference to matches involving Scottish clubs, any match played on Tuesday when two English clubs are playing, will also be shown live by ITV in its Scottish regions. Wednesday matches involving Scottish clubs will always be shown live by BSkyB.
