BT Sport could lose its exclusive hold on the rights to the Champions League when they next come up for renewal, a report has suggested.
The broadcaster scooped the exclusive UK rights to the competition, plus the Europa League, in a three-year, £897m deal that became effective this season.
The deal replaced the existing arrangement that saw Sky Sports and ITV share the rights to the competition, guaranteeing that top-level football would be aired on free-to-air (FTA) television.
Since the switch to BT, however, viewing figures have dropped significantly and according to the Daily Mail, UEFA are concerned that they may have made a "mistake" in not awarding some of the rights to an FTA broadcaster.
BT has launched a free-to-air channel, 'BT Sport Showcase', to partly address the concerns, although the number of games shown on the channel is limited and the audience reach is significantly diminished as it is not available to Sky customers.
A spokesperson for UEFA said: "UEFA is very happy with its decision to award BT Sport with exclusive UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League rights in the UK. As would be the case with any pay TV broadcaster, and as expected, average audiences are below free to air channels. We have an excellent relationship with BT and are especially pleased with their high quality coverage and production."
The next cycle of rights - covering the 2019-20 season onwards - is likely to go out for bidding later this year, with UEFA reported to be reverting to the old model that would see an FTA broadcaster share the games with a pay operator such as BT or Sky.
Neil Wilkes
