“A truly historic day” is how FIFA and Netflix described their groundbreaking broadcast partnership last year, as the streaming giant secured rights to air the 2027 and 2031 Women’s World Cups in the United States. Even FIFA President Gianni Infantino hailed it as a “landmark moment” for the sport. But just when one would expect the platform to settle with international and women’s game markets, it seems they’re eyeing another remarkable opportunity that has left the entire soccer world talking. Word around the town is that Netflix has now set its sights on getting the broadcast rights for the crown jewel of European soccer, none other than the UEFA Champions League, with a jaw-dropping £4.4billion or $6 billion proposal!

This all stems from the latest overhaul of UEFA’s broadcasting model, where the European governing body expects the new structure to generate this very figure annually. Starting from the 2027–28 season, UEFA and the European Football Clubs (EFC), previously known as the European Club Association, plan to revamp how TV rights for the Champions League and other continental tournaments are sold. This would primarily help to attract global streaming giants, and reports suggest that Netflix has already been approached to explore its interest.

Winning these global rights would mean that the streaming platform gets to select the Tuesday fixtures. They shall, however, face restrictions on how often they can feature a single team. For instance, Netflix can’t pick Real Madrid for every game they wish to broadcast on their outlet. But it’s not only the American OTT giants, with other competitors also running in this race. One prime example is Amazon, which already airs one Champions League fixture per round in the UK, Germany, and Italy.

Others include Apple TV+, which holds quite an influence on the American rights thanks to its global rights to Major League Soccer in a $2 billion deal for over 10 years, as well as DAZN, which successfully acquired the global streaming rights for the first two editions of the Club World Cup. That explains why the UC3, basically the other name of the partnership between UEFA and EFC, eyes the sale of UEFA’s rights for the other Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League matches.

This would mean that broadcasters will now be able to bid for several markets at once. For instance, Discovery/TNT Sports or Sky could compete for all remaining matches across the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and France. Furthermore, UEFA stands to significantly boost its annual income, with a rise of over 10%, further widening the gap from rivals like the Premier League, which earns £3.6 billion annually from domestic and international TV deals.

Notably, UEFA announced earlier this year that it had ditched its long-term, former in-house marketing associate, TEAM. They were replaced by US-based Relevent Football Partners, who are known for promoting many major events like the Premier League’s Summer Series. Since Relevant has all the command in selling the European tournament’s rights, they are apparently considering bids from all the streaming platforms for six years, something which UEFA never did in its history, as they rather preferred selling and renewing rights for not more than three-year cycles.

Relevent recently secured a six-year US deal with CBS from 2024 to 2030 worth $1.5 billion. So this would mean that for the next six years, fans would be tuning into Netflix or any of the streaming platforms. Either way, while there’s a lot more behind this deal, one can simply assume that UEFA and the EFC, representing more than 800 top-flight sides, are ready to accept this drastic broadcasting system just for the sake of financial gains and further expand their global market. Then again, we aren’t sure whether the soccer world accepts this idea with open arms.

UEFA Champions League x Netflix isn’t what the soccer world anticipated!

After this news hit the internet, the soccer world reacted with mixed opinions on X. It’s quite clear that many are not interested in this opportunity at all, mainly because the biggest concern is seeing fans having to pay extra just to watch these games. “They gonna raise subscription price by like £10 if they succeed 😭😂,” one wrote. Then again, this would be the least of one’s concerns when trying to catch the game on Netflix, only to be greeted by perhaps the most hilarious and frustrating message on the landing page, as this fan lamented: “Not Available in your Country.”

And sadly, this isn’t the end of it. Naturally, fans had to start making fun of this potential association between the streaming platform and the Champions League. “Netflix owning the UCL is the final stage of football’s downfall. Soon we’ll have ‘skip intro’ before kickoff 💀,”  said one netizen, with another one adding, “’Are you still watching’ while commercials on💔.”

One thing we’d like to clarify for all the fans is that Netflix won’t be showcasing matches the same way they release their series or movies. After all, hearing this fan’s take on the alleged deal had us in stitches, and it might do the same for you: “The ‘previously on…’ on Wednesday night will slap hard 😂”

Then again, jokes aside, the real question is how many times the soccer community will be forced to make adjustments just to catch up with the very sport they love. One key example is the recent Champions League format revamp, where the stakeholders ditched its traditional group stage method.

Granted, doing so helped the clubs garner an additional 25% revenue, even reaching new audiences, as UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said during an EFC annual assembly in Rome: “Together we are building something unique with ambition, to deliver the most engaging football, the most innovative and the most accessible to expand our core revenue streams.”

But at the same time, it is also promoting the idea that the Champions League money could widen the financial gap for clubs outside the elite competition. Then again, with time, UEFA has assured that payouts to Europa League and Conference League teams, as well as solidarity payments to clubs not in Europe, will continue to grow.

Even if one keeps aside the financial disparity factor, what about Netflix’s own services? Sure, they have done great by broadcasting the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight along with the women’s lightweight bout between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, making it the most-watched professional women’s sporting event in U.S. history with over 74 million viewers. Heck, they even aired an NFL game on Christmas.

But one shall remind them that during the Tyson-Paul fight, many viewers struggled to watch even a few minutes of the match due to major streaming issues. In fact, some fans had to order DVDs of the stream just to see the fight later. If similar problems occur during Champions League games, it could become a risky proposition. No wonder this fan has his own doubts: “Netflix has not once had a stable broadcast for any live sporting event. No thanks bye.”

In fact, after this incident, calls were made to simply not resort to Netflix anymore when catching up with any sporting event. Yet, here we are. Just like many raised eyebrows over FIFA selling their 2027 and 2031 rights for the Women’s World Cup, such is the case for the UCL nights. “Lol. I thought we trying to cancel Netflix? Now they want to hold all the men😂.”

But not all hope is lost when it comes to seeing Champions League matches actually being streamed on Netflix, like this fan admits: “This could completely reshape the football broadcasting landscape. Netflix entering the live sports arena for something as massive as the Champions League is a game-changer. Traditional broadcasters should be very worried—this is a direct assault on their core business. For fans, it could mean one streamlined platform, but let’s hope it doesn’t get lost behind yet another paywall. The price tag shows just how valuable global football rights have become.”

Of course, how could we forget the traditional media showcasing the UCL madness to millions? If this goes through and Netflix is forced to increase its prices for this service, then boy, won’t it take a second for ardent fans to simply boycott it and resort to other cheaper alternatives.

Regardless, these were some of the responses shared by the soccer community. Either way, share your views in the comments below.