Sky loses Champions League rights in Germany to DAZN, Amazon

Broadcaster Sky has lost the rights to the Champions League in Germany, a competition it has screened for the last 20 years, to rivals DAZN and Amazon, it was confirmed Thursday. Sky was unable to match their rivals' bids for the three years from the 2021-22 season. "After around 20 years of partnership with UEFA, we were unable to agree on a continuation of the cooperation in the tender procedure that has just been concluded," Sky CEO Carsten Schmidt told German daily Bild.

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Schimdt said they have a "clear and responsible economic vision of sports broadcasting rights" and were "not prepared to go beyond the already high value at which we evaluate these rights". According to Bild, streaming platform DAZN has won the rights to air live Champions League matches from 2021-22, including the final, which it will share with state broadcaster ZDF. Amazon will have the right to broadcast one match on a Tuesday in each round. The US e-commerce giant entered the sports streaming market in 2017 and has since broadcast major events in both football and tennis. 

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