Austrian public-service broadcaster ORF will provide free-to-air highlights of European soccer’s UEFA Champions League (UCL) club competition this season after striking a deal with French pay-TV giant Canal Plus.
The highlights show - More Football - The Champions League Highlights - will debut on Thursday (September 19) and feature coverage from Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg’s UCL opener against Sparta Prague today.
The UCL has two Austrian clubs for the first time with SK Sturm Graz taking on France’s Brest tomorrow in their opening fixture.
Canal Plus, which holds a package of UCL rights for the next three years, will show the highlights programme jointly on Thursday.
The French media group secured an exclusive Champions League match on Wednesdays and highlights in a deal with UEFA for the 2024-27 cycle. It also picked up rights to show the top game of the week in the secondary Europa League or third-tier Conference League.
The UCL highlights show will be produced by Canal Plus in its Auhof studios in Vienna.
ORF will provide presenters and analysts as well as reporters for the highlights of the individual games, while the show will be hosted together by presenters from both broadcasters.
Thomas Trukesitz, Canal Plus sports director, said: “We have chosen a creative and innovative form of cooperation that ultimately represents a win-win-win situation - for both partners ORF and Canal Plus as well as for the football fans.
“This is a best practice example of how media companies should cooperate in a small country like Austria.”
Rights to the bulk of UCL matches are held by pay-TV broadcaster Sky, while Servus TV, the Red Bull-owned commercial network, shows one live match on Thursdays.
This gives UEFA’s elite club competition widespread coverage in Austria across pay-TV and FTA for this season as it enters a new era.
The new single-league format of the UCL debuted yesterday with the opening fixtures in the revamped group stage.
The competition has expanded from 32 to 36 teams, with a total of 189 matches to be played instead of the previous 125.
Last November, ORF secured exclusive rights to the 2026 FIFA World Cup national teams tournament.
