UEFA recently announced that it will be launching
its own over the top ("OTT") streaming
platform within the next few months. When the provisionally named
'UEFA TV' goes live in time for the 2019/20 season, it will
allow fans outside of Europe and North America
to view Euro 2020 and future editions of the UEFA Nations League.
Due to UEFA's existing carriage agreements, it is unlikely that
its premier club competitions, the Champions League and the Europa
League, will be coming to UEFA TV until 2021 at the earliest.
Sports Shorts has discussed the evolving landscape of the sports broadcasting
market and the growing prevalence of OTT platforms previously, but
UEFA's latest move signifies a change of tack from one of
football's major content licensors. Away from the lucrative
European and North American broadcast markets, UEFA have presumably
concluded that a direct-to-consumer approach will provide them with
more revenue and more control over their relationship