Football
ESPN staff 7y

Turner, Univision win bids to broadcast Champions League in U.S. - report

Turner Sports has won a bid for the English-language broadcast rights for the UEFA Champions League beginning in 2018, according to a report in the Sports Business Journal.

UEFA will reportedly receive more than $60 million a year from Turner -- which owns cable networks TNT, TBS, and truTV -- in a three-year plan that runs through the 2020-21 tournament.

Meanwhile, Univision will pay about $35 million per year for the Spanish-language rights.

The new deals represent a significant increase over the current $50 million-per-year deal for both languages that Fox Sports signed in 2009.

Sports Business Journal reported that Turner's bid was significantly more than bids from Fox as well as BAMTech, a third of which is owned by ESPN parent company Disney. Premier League rights-holders NBC Sports reportedly offered "token" bids for both languages.

Turner's networks are not solely focused on sports, though they do show the NBA, the Major League Baseball playoffs, and the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

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