Cercle Brugge recently qualified for the 2024-25 Conference League to become the fifth Belgian team competing in Europe this season. (Isosport/MB Media/Getty Images)

Belgian public-service broadcaster VRT will provide free-to-air (FTA) coverage of European soccer’s UEFA Europa League and Conference League club competitions in the country this season through a sublicense agreement with telecoms company Telenet.

Under the deal, VRT will broadcast one match FTA from either competition on Thursday evenings throughout the 2024-25 season. VRT will air matches on its Sporza sports platform.

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In addition, the Sporza website and app will provide digital clips from the Europa League and Conference League every matchday, as well as previews and reviews.

Two Belgian teams are featuring in the Europa League this season – Anderlecht and Royale Union Saint-Gilloise – while Cercle Brugge recently came through the qualifiers to join Gent in the Conference League.

Having secured exclusive rights to the Europa League and Conference League late last year for the 2024-27 cycle, Telenet will still show every match on its Play Sports TV channel.

Play Media will also show two matches FTA on its Play 6 offering on Thursday, and VRT will then select a third match (which will be broadcast via Sporza on VRT Canvas).

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The sublicense agreement starts on September 25, the first matchday of the Europa League, and will run for one season. 

Frederik Delaplace, VRT chief executive, has said: “With this great collaboration, we are combining the strengths of both media houses and thus strengthening the local media field and the local sports sector together.

“We are pleased that Sporza can continue to put our teams and players in the spotlight on the European football stage in this way. We do this with our linear channels, but also expanded with the Sporza website and app.”

John Porter, Telenet Group CEO, added: “We are delighted to further consolidate our excellent collaboration with VRT with this initiative.

“Partnerships are an essential part of Telenet's strategy and thanks to this collaboration of three local media players Play, Play Sports, and VRT, we are increasing the impact and relevance of European club football competitions, with a focus on Belgian clubs and Belgians abroad.”

Telenet also holds co-exclusive rights to the top-tier UEFA Champions League for the next three seasons with telecoms rival Proximus.

FTA Champions League rights, meanwhile, in Belgium for the next three seasons were snapped up by incumbent partners RTL (French language) and VTM (Dutch language).

Belgium are represented in this year’s competition by Club Brugge.