No free-to-air Champions League final in UK
May 20, 2026
The 2026 UEFA Champions League final on May 30th will not be available to watch for free in the UK for the first time in over 30 years.
The match, taking place in Budapest between Arsenal and holders Paris Saint-Germain, will be restricted to TNT Sports and HBO Max – which both require a subscription to access. The same paywall applies to the May 20th Europa League final between Aston Villa and Freiburg, and the May 27th UEFA Conference League final between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano
The Guardian reports that TNT Sports is said to have “irritated” UEFA with its decision to charge fans to watch all three European finals, despite English clubs being involved in all of them. The report adds that TNT Sport’s decision is understood to have been the source of considerable angst at UEFA, with sources saying it breaks the spirit of a contract that states “best endeavours” should be made to ensure the finals are available for free.
BT Sport, the previous UK rights holders to UEFA competitions, has streamed the European finals for free on YouTube in the past, whilst TNT Sports had made them available for free for customers who registered with its sister streaming service discovery+ since taking over the contract two years ago. TNT Sports is no longer available on discovery+, however, since Warner Bros Discovery launched HBO Max in the UK in March.
TNT Sports’ decision, perhaps without coincidence, comes on the heels of Paramount and Sky Sports outbidding the sports network for the next cycle of UEFA broadcast rights, which begins in the 2027-28 season.
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