Telefónica has been awarded the exclusive audiovisual rights for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League for the next three seasons for €320 million/season in Spain.
The company has also been awarded the rights to the UEFA Youth League and the UEFA Europa Conference League. The contract with UEFA will be formalised shortly.
Assessment: The acquisition of this content strengthens the group’s content offering, including all football rights in the Spanish market. We recall that in December 2021 Telefónica and Dazn were awarded the exclusive broadcasting rights to La Liga (First Division) for the 2022/23 to 2026/27 seasons with a total outlay for Telefónica of €1.4 billion. Positive news. The agreement with UEFA enables Telefónica to continue to offer Movistar+ customers all La Liga matches and the entire football offering, including the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. The offer of this content is key to maintaining Telefónica’s leadership in Spain (49% of revenues, 56% of OIBDA and 69% of free cash flow in the sector in 2020). Maintaining the exclusivity of this content avoids the loss of customers and the reduction of the average consumption per customer (ARPU) from ~€90/month to the average of ~€60/month that would not have been compensated by the savings in the acquisition of the rights. The price paid is also €5M per season lower than the previous contract signed in 2020.
