Amazon Prime Video is stepping into the world of live-streaming European football in the UK, and every new or existing subscriber can take advantage of it. The online streaming giant will show one match per week in the Champions League, boasting the first pick of Tuesday evening games in 2024/25 as part of a new deal. All other games will be shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+. The selections have been made for the first few match weeks of the competition, with more to come as the tournament heats up. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City will all be shown on the platform before Christmas.
TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video share the live broadcasting rights for the Champions League in 2024/25. If you already have BT Broadband, you can add TNT Sports to your existing contract from just £18 per month. You can also add the 'Big Sport' package for £40 per month, which includes all TNT Sports and 11 Sky Sports channels via a NOW pass. You can also access TNT Sports via discovery+ and stream directly to your smart TV. You can watch the match on TNT Sports via discovery+ Premium monthly pass without signing up to a contract. Regular subscribers can also stream matches on a variety of devices including laptops, smartphones, and tablets via the discovery+ app.
Amazon Prime Video will broadcast one highlight match per round of Champions League fixtures this season. Amazon's football coverage is available to stream on the Amazon Prime Video website and app—all you need is an account. New customers can sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30-day free trial—which usually costs £8.99 per month—and you can watch all of the football shown on the platform. You can also catch Champions League highlights on BBC TV and BBC iPlayer.
The Champions League has a new look for 2024/25, with the league phase that UEFA is rolling out across its club competitions taking effect. Each of the 36 competing clubs—up from 32—will play eight matches rather than the six that featured in the classic round-robin format. More matches means more opportunities for broadcasters, and streaming giant Amazon Prime Video has entered the Champions League space in the UK. TNT Sport/discovery+ had previously enjoyed exclusive live rights. Here is how the new arrangement with Amazon will work.
Prime Video will shown one match per week during the league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League. The terms of its rights agreement entitles Amazon to the first match pick for all Tuesday evening games. All other games will continue to be shown on TNT Sport and discovery+. The first five matches have been chosen and are listed below, with further selections to be made as the league phase progresses. All matches kick off at 8 p.m. UK time.
Amazon's Tuesday arrangement will continue through the playoff and knockout rounds, up to and including the semifinals. Gabby Logan will front Amazon's studio coverage of Champions League matches, with former players including Clarence Seedorf, Daniel Sturridge, Frank Lampard, Gaal Clichy, Josie Henning, and Laura Georges on punditry duties. Match commentary will be provided by Jon Champion and former England striker Alan Shearer, while Gabriel Clarke and Alex Aljoe will be on-location stadium interviewers.
Amazon's Secret Weapon: The Substitute Counter Returns
Amazon Prime is bringing back a much-loved feature for their Champions League coverage this season. Their first match is a blockbuster showdown between AC Milan and Liverpool, two teams who have lifted 13 European Cups between them. Prime video is set to pull out all the stops to impress fans in their first-ever coverage of Europe's elite top competition.
It has been confirmed that the popular substitute counter feature will be on display for the match at the San Siro. The feature appears in the top left corner of the screen above the scoreline. The tracker shows five little marks above each team—with the number of dashes reducing by one every time a substitution is made. It makes it easy for fans to see how many more changes their manager has left in a game.
Teams are allowed to make five substitutions per game. Amazon Prime have used this before when covering Premier League matches last season. And it proved a hit with fans, who called for it to be adopted by other broadcasters. One fan wrote on X: "The new sub tracking system on Prime is very useful. It's surprising that it hasn't been introduced sooner." A second said: "So handy to see how many subs teams have left to use. It's the little things🤏." While another fan wrote last term: "I like that sub counter Prime Video have... It’s something Sky have to think about implementing too."
Champions League: A New Era of Broadcasting
Amazon Prime gained the rights to show one Champions League match a week for the first time ever this season. The streaming platform has been given the top pick each Tuesday, with football broadcaster veterans TNT Sports showing the remaining ties. And there will also be a free-to-air option for UK viewers for the first time in nearly a decade. That is because the BBC will show a Match of the Day-style highlights program on Wednesdays as part of a three-year deal with Uefa.
Meanwhile, it's the fifth Champions League meeting between Liverpool and AC Milan. Their most famous encounter being the 2005 final in Istanbul when the Reds came back from 3-0 down to win on penalties. The two sides were also drawn in the same group during the 2021/22 Champions League, with the Merseyside team winning both encounters. Arne Slot's side goes into their European opener on the back of their first defeat of the Prem campaign. Callum Hudson-Odi's strike handed Nottingham Forest a shock win at Anfield last Saturday.
The new-look Champions League finally gets underway this week, with more ways to watch Europe's elite than ever before. UEFA's premier competition has undergone a radical revamp for 2024/25, with a 36-team league replacing the old-style group stage. Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Celtic are the five British representatives involved in the first season of the new format. All sides have to accommodate an extra two games guaranteed as the League Phase runs across eight game weeks until January 2025.
For the first time, the opening round of Champions League fixtures will be played across three nights from Tuesday-Thursday. Liverpool travel to AC Milan tonight, live on talkSPORT, while we will also have coverage of Man City v Inter Milan on Wednesday, and Arsenal's trip to Atalanta a day later. In addition to all these changes, there will also be a new broadcaster in the UK under a new TV agreement. TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) had been the exclusive rights holder for UEFA's men’s club tournaments since 2015. However, Amazon, who also broke TNT's duopoly over Premier League rights that it shared with Sky in 2018, secured 17 first-pick Champions League matches on Tuesday nights until 2027.
TNT has retained the lion’s share and will screen 187 of the 204 games—with the BBC also permitted to air a highlights show. Amazon's limited number of matches are first-pick though, which guarantees Premier League interest up until the semi-finals. Prime Video have already confirmed coverage of two games from Liverpool and Arsenal, as well as one Man City tie in their first five fixtures.
Champions League on Amazon Prime: How to Watch
Existing and new Prime members can watch the game via the Prime Video app, across mobile, Fire TV, video game consoles, Virgin’s V6 TV Box, BT TV, TalkTalk TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, and online. For fans who are not already members, you can start a FREE 30-day trial of Amazon Prime giving you access to all of this week’s games. You can sign up here.
Alternatively, new customers can join Amazon Prime for £8.99 per month or £95 for a year’s subscription. Amazon Prime members can stream up to three games on different devices at the same time. Each match will have on-screen pundits, build-up, and post-match analysis.
Prime Video Goes for Gold: A Faster, More Immersive Viewing Experience
Prime Video is using low-latency technology across “the majority of devices”, delivering live action from grass to glass in under 10 seconds, which it claims is faster than cable or satellite television. Prime Video will stream its first UEFA Champions League match tonight as it begins sharing rights to the tournament with TNT Sports. The streamer has won the rights to 17 top-pick matches per season every Tuesday night throughout the competition up to and including the semi-final stage; with TNT Sports keeping Wednesday night’s games. Prime Video’s first game is the tie between AC Milan and Liverpool.
The streamer is debuting an updated watch experience for Prime’s UEFA Champions League matches, including a new feature called Rapid Recap, which gives fans who join the coverage after kick-off the option to watch a highlights reel of the action they have missed, compiled using Amazon’s Machine Learning technology in real-time during the match. An all-new Key Moments navigation bar will also offer fans the ability to jump between the most important moments of the game, including cards, penalties, VAR decisions, and goals. Viewers can navigate below the playback bar during a live match and see a carousel of key moment tiles that will take them on-demand to the game’s biggest talking points.
Matches will also be available in HDR. Prime Video’s coverage of the UEFA Champions League is being hosted by Gabby Logan with analysis from Clarence Seedorf, Daniel Sturridge, Josie Henning, and Frank Lampard. Jon Champion and Alan Shearer are commentating with Gabriel Clarke and Alex Aljoe reporting pitch-side.
Don't Miss Out on the Action: Your Guide to Watching Champions League Football on Amazon Prime
Prime Video has added an interesting twist to their Champions League coverage. With the introduction of the substitute counter, they are looking to offer a more engaging and interactive experience for fans. This is a clear indicator of how the streaming giant is taking the Champions League seriously, offering a dedicated and focused broadcast experience for fans. The return of the feature has been met with positive responses from fans, showing that Prime Video is on the right track to becoming a major player in the world of football broadcasting.
