UEFA National Teams Media Rights Report

Revenue Analysis of the Major European National Teams’ Competitions

The Covid-19 pandemic had effects across the global sports rights market, including national team deals. The mass cancellation of events resulted in the revenue for national teams in 2019-20 dropping and consolidating at less than half of the equivalent figure for 2018-19.

However, the European Qualifiers, Nations League and European Championship (commonly known as the Euros) continue to attract more and more attention, with the introduction of new formats that have increased competition, revenue and interest. European broadcasters have, in many cases, agreed to pay significant increases for the new cycles.

CAA Eleven, Uefa’s exclusive sales agent for national team competitions, generated media revenues of €1.76bn in 2020-21 from the sale of Uefa Euro 2020, European Qualifiers, Nation League and friendlies. The value represented a 44 per cent increase on the €1.22bn which Uefa generated in 2015-16 from the media rights sales of Uefa Euro 2016 and European Qualifiers.

The value increase can be attributed to the deals secured in major European territories, with most key markets experiencing an uplift in the rights. These changes are also evident across countries which have had historically less successful national teams. For instance, rights across the Nordic countries increased by over 100 per cent for European Qualifiers and Nations League rights when comparing the 2014- 2018 cycle with the 2018-2022 cycle.

The uplift is also a consequence of the gradual centralisation of the rights, which has continued to have an inflationary impact since the process began in 2016 under the recommendation of Uefa’s former general secretary Gianni Infantino.

The introduction of the Nations League, which began in 2018 and replaced friendly matches previously sold by the national football associations, has increased the number of competitive games played by national teams. This has been a contributory factor for the increased revenue generated by Uefa during the 2018-2022 cycle. Other factors include general interest in European soccer increasing worldwide and greater flexibility around the cycle lengths offered for national team properties, as certain deals which have already been agreed for the next cycle, have been signed for a six season period, from 2022 to 2028.

The three competitions have also secured keen interest from outside Europe, with the United States leading the way. The value of the properties in the US increased over 200 per cent in the 2018-2022 cycle. Other non-European territories across Asia and Oceania also experienced similar growth for their European qualifiers and Nations League deals during the 2018-2022 cycle, such as the value in Australia increasing 71 per cent.

More details about the market context around the Uefa national teams rights packages, along with detailed insights on key selected territories, are included in this report.