Widespread free-to-air coverage in Europe of the Fifa Club World Cup has been ensured through a new rights agreement with Eurovision Sport, the sports arm of the European Broadcasting Union.
The deal covers 37 territories in Europe but excludes major markets such as France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the UK.
The deal with Dentsu, Fifa’s media-rights sales agency for the competition, comprises exclusive broadcast rights on all platforms to both the 2019 and 2020 editions.
This year’s tournament begins tomorrow (Wednesday) in Doha, Qatar and runs until December 21.
Pascal Fratellia, Eurovision Sport’s head of football rights, said: “We are very pleased to sign this new Fifa Club World Cup deal, building on a relationship initiated back in 2011. This agreement provides Fifa and Dentsu with a strong and reliable broadcast commitment from EBU Members and reaffirms our ambition and dedication to showcase premium football competitions free-to-air for fans.”
Austria, Belgium, the Balkan countries, Greece, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and the Ukraine are among the more lucrative territories covered by the agreement.
Eurovision Sport has also secured the rights in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Baltic territories, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Romania and Slovakia.
The BBC, another EBU member, had separately acquired the rights for the 2019 tournament and will show every match live. Rights in the UK were previously held by Perform, the digital sports media and content company, which streamed the tournaments on its goal.com portal.
DAZN, the OTT subscription streaming service, recently acquired the exclusive rights in Germany, and Saran Media, the Turkish rights agency, retained the exclusive rights in Turkey in a deal covering both the 2019 and 2020 tournaments.
Liverpool, the defending Uefa Champions League champions, will be competing in the Club World Cup alongside Al Sadd, the Qatari club, and the champions of South America (Flamengo), the Concacaf region (C.F. Monterrey), Africa (ES Tunis), Oceania (Hienghene Sport) and Asia (Al Hilal).