The Champions League TV right are worth something in the region of £2.5bn to UEFA every single year as broadcasters around the world shell out to be allowed to show the games on their channels.
In the UK, at least, that has meant a move towards games mostly being shown on subscription-only channels, rather than the free-to-air broadcasts we enjoyed in previous decades.
But there are still ways to watch Champions League football for free around the world – even on UK shores.
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Amazon have first choice on Tuesday night Champions League games in the UK (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ireland is one major beneficiary of free Champions League action, with two free-to-air broadcasters holding the rights. RTÉ has at least one game live each week, which goes out on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player (also available as a browser player).
Meanwhile, the Irish arm of Virgin Media TV has the rights to eight matches each week, half of which are available for free on Virgin Media Two and the Virgin Media Play streaming service. They can be used in-browser without needing to register.
TNT Sports required a subscription, but they do show the final for free (Image credit: Getty Images)
Meanwhile, in Belgium, the RTL and VTM networks regularly show Champions League games for free, which are live streamed vis the RTL Play and VTM Go services. You can also watch occasional games for free in Turkey through TRT Spor and its web player.
If you’re from one of those countries but just so happen to be out of the country, you may still be able to watch those streams by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
Assuming it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, you can use a VPN to unblock your usual streaming services and enjoy the football wherever you are in the world.
There are plenty of good-value options out there, but FourFourTwo’s techy sister site TechRadar are big fans of NordVPN.
In the UK and US it’s a bit different. For UK viewers, the rights are split between TNT Sports, who show 187 of the 204 games, and Amazon Prime Video, who have the other 17 – including the first pick of the Tuesday night games.
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If you wanted to try your hand without completely committing, you could always try signing up for an Amazon Prime Video free trial.
Meanwhile, in the US, CBS hold the exclusive Champions League TV rights. As well as broadcasting games on the CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo, every game is streamed live on Paramount+ and is available to watch again afterwards.
Paramount+ also offer free seven-day trials, if you wanted to give it a go.
The Champions League final is free to watch (Image credit: Getty Images)
UEFA insist on the finals of all their competition being made available to watch for free. TNT used to stream the Champions League final for free on YouTube, but over the past couple of years you have had to register for a free Discovery+ account and watch via their streaming platform instead
Highlights are also available free of charge on the BBC website, BBC iPlayer, and a weekly Wednesday-night highlights show on BBC One or BBC Two.
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