{"id":2198,"date":"2026-05-19T05:27:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T05:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2198"},"modified":"2026-05-19T05:27:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T05:27:04","slug":"champions-league-final-wont-be-free-to-watch-in-the-uk-for-first-time-in-modern-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?p=2198","title":{"rendered":"Champions League final won\u2019t be free to watch in the UK for first time in modern era"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-1ihz57b-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"independent\">\n<div data-theme-wrapper=\"independent\" style=\"display:contents\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveInsideSportNews\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM cLEJmn\">Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of sport<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM iTZFOX\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM iGYpOF\">Get our free Inside Sport newsletter<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 hKcUSR sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/InsideSport1_1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Inside Sport\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/champions-league\">Champions League<\/a> final between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/arsenal\">Arsenal<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/paris-saint-germain\">Paris Saint-Germain<\/a> will not be available to watch for free in the UK for the first time in the modern era.<\/p>\n<p>Ever since the European Cup was rebranded to the Champions League 34 years ago, the final has been available to watch without a subscription to any premium TV service \u2013 shown on ITV from 1992 to 2015 and then streamed for free by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/tnt-sports\">TNT Sports<\/a> and its forerunner, BT Sport, for the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>However, UK rights holder TNT Sports (owned by Warner Bros Discovery) has confirmed that this year, viewers will only be able to watch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/arsenal-psg-champions-league-final-kick-off-time-change-b2972275.html\" title=\"Arsenal v PSG: Why is Champions League final kicking off earlier?\">the clash at the Puskas Arena<\/a> in Budapest on Saturday 30 May on either its own platform or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/hbo\">HBO<\/a> Max, both requiring a subscription.<\/p>\n<p>The same will apply to the other two European finals, also involving English clubs \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/unai-emery-europa-league-aston-villa-freiburg-nottingham-forest-b2972689.html\" title=\"Unai Emery the man with the plan as Aston Villa reach Europa League final\">Aston Villa vs Freiburg <\/a>in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/europa-league\">Europa League<\/a> final on Wednesday and Crystal Palace\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/conference-league\">Conference League<\/a> final <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/oliver-glasner-europa-league-conference-league-shakhtar-donetsk-crystal-palace-b2972670.html\" title=\"Oliver Glasner hails \u2018huge achievement\u2019 as Crystal Palace reach European final\">against Rayo Vallecano<\/a> a week later.<\/p>\n<p>TNT Sports can be accessed through HBO Max, BT, Sky, Virgin Media or Amazon PVC, with subscriptions typically costing between \u00a325 and \u00a334 a month, while a separate HBO Max plan in the UK starts from \u00a34.99.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal have reached the Champions League final for just the second time in their history, and the first since 2006, with reigning champions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/psg\">PSG<\/a> standing in the way of Mikel Arteta\u2019s men, who will try to seal a remarkable double as they<a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/sport\/football\/arsenal-man-city-next-fixtures-premier-league-remaining-games-b2978401.html\" title=\"When could Arsenal win the Premier League? Remaining title race fixtures compared to Man City\"> also aim to outduel Manchester City<\/a> for a first Premier League title for 22 years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-2 cbpRGD sc-awdjp1-3 image align-center\">\n<figure class=\"sc-1cbdeug-0 cXcwgU\">\n<div data-gallery-length=\"2\" class=\"sc-awdjp1-0 QXZqP\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2026\/05\/06\/09\/2274745766.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2026\/05\/06\/09\/2274745766.jpg?quality=75&amp;width=320&amp;auto=webp 320w, https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2026\/05\/06\/09\/2274745766.jpg?quality=75&amp;width=640&amp;auto=webp 640w\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Arsenal have reached the Champions League final for just the second time\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sc-1cbdeug-1 sc-1cbdeug-3 YlsWU hgzWpY\">Arsenal have reached the Champions League final for just the second time<span class=\"sc-1cbdeug-7 gjqsiM\"> <!-- -->(<!-- -->Getty<!-- -->)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to a report in <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/2026\/may\/18\/champions-league-final-will-not-be-free-to-watch-in-uk-arsenal-psg-europa-conference\"><em>The Guardian<\/em>,<\/a> governing body <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/uefa\">Uefa<\/a> is irritated at TNT Sports\u2019 decision to charge fans to watch all three European finals, despite having made the showpieces available to stream for free in previous seasons. <em>The Guardian\u2019s <\/em>sources at Uefa say the decision breaks the spirit of a contract that states \u201cbest endeavours\u201d should be made to ensure the finals are available for free.<\/p>\n<p>TNT Sports are set to lose TV rights to all three European competitions from the 2027-28 season, having been outbid by Paramount for the Champions League and by Sky Sports for the Europa League and Conference League in Uefa\u2019s media rights auction last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside Sport newsletter: Get an expert guide to the biggest moments shaping the world of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM.jpg",1200,800,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-1115x715.jpg",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/betreview.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-05T212009Z_832041661_UP1EM551N2S0T_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-CHAMPIONS-ARS-ATM-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/betreview.net\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a 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