Portuguese public-service broadcaster RTP has acquired rights to domestic club football competition the Taça de Portugal, along with national team friendly matches, but has said it will end broadcasts of the Uefa Champions League following this season’s tournament.
RTP has agreed a two-season deal, covering 2018-19 and 2019-20, for Taça de Portugal rights, an agreement that also incorporates the annual Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, the match between the reigning cup and league champions.
RTP said it will also broadcast Portugal’s five friendly games ahead of this summer’s Fifa World Cup, but has stated it will end its Champions League commitments.
Gonçalo Reis, chairman of the board of directors of RTP, said the broadcaster will not bid for the Champions League rights across the 2018-19 to 2020-21 seasons. Reis said the decision has been a “thoughtful and prudent” one taking into account the financial sustainability of the company.
RTP currently holds free-to-air rights to the Champions League under a deal struck in November 2014. The fee it paid for the rights was met with criticism, with commercial broadcaster TVI accusing RTP of “disrupting the market” with its bid.