Football TV rights in the UK are huge business and the demand to show as much live football as possible has never been higher than it currently is right now.
The question is, which specific TV channel or media outlet do you need to have access to, in order to be able to watch the vast array of football competitions from around the globe that are shown live in the UK.
Fear not, whether it's the English Premier League or the South Korean J League you're after, we can provide you with all the viewing information you need so you know where to watch the live action.
As for what UK football rights deals there are, well it's not just about television deals any more. With individual deals for both online streaming services and/or mobile devices available too now.
And no longer is one specific channel having all the rights to one competition. It's now being spread amongst the various TV companies and all the different media platforms that are available.
This then is where it impacts you and your fellow football supporters as whenever fans want to watch their team play, they need to know which channel is it going to be on.
Plus, and most importantly will they need to pay for it or not?
Billions of pounds are spent on Football TV rights with new deals come up for bidding on or re-negotiating on every few years such is the demand for live televised football. This allows for particular TV packages or deals to be shared amongst the successful bidders and the different broadcasters.
Take the Premier League for example, they recently agreed to roll over its existing TV rights deal with its three main broadcasters, Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon Prime Video for a further three years.
These deals confirm the current rights they have to show certain football competitions. As well as how many football matches that channel can show every season before their TV football deal expires.
In some cases though, exclusive rights can go to one broadcaster alone so they can show all the live games themselves. As well as any highlights.
Sky Sports - 128 live matches from the Premier League until 2024/25.
BT Sport - 52 live matches from the Premier League until 2024/25.
Prime Video - 20 live matches from the Premier League until 2024/25.
BT Sport - exclusive live coverage of every UEFA Champions League game until 2023/24.
BT Sport - exclusive live coverage of every UEFA Europa League game until 2023/24.
BT Sport - exclusive live coverage of every UEFA Europa League game until 2023/24.
BT Sport - exclusively live coverage of the UEFA Super Cup Final until 2023/24.
UEFA.tv - live match streaming of UEFA’s Youth League competition.
UEFA.tv is currently available on the following platforms and via the respective app stores for download: Web: UEFA.tv / Apple: iPhone, iPad & Apple TV apps / Android: Mobile, tablet and Android TV apps / Amazon: Amazon Fire TV / Hisense: Hisense VIDAA Smart TVs / PlayStation: PS4.
The FA Cup is now the only UK domestic competition to have all its TV games free to air.
BBC - minimum 14 live matches (potentially 18) until 2024/2025.
ITV - minimum 24 live matches (potentially 28) until 2024/2025.
FA player - various live games across the season from all the qualifying rounds through to the first and second round proper.
Traditionally known as the League Cup, but currently for sponsorship reasons The Carabao Cup. Is the second major domestic cup competition in England and is open to all 92 league members.
Sky Sports - 15 live matches including both semi-finals and the final until 2023/24.
ITV - shown live each year on the weekend before the start of the Premier League season until 2024/25.
BT Sport – full and exclusive live rights to the FA Trophy and FA Vase finals from Wembley for 2021/22.
ITV4 – 4 live matches, plus both the semi-final and final live.
Exclusive rights to show live coverage across a range of Sky platforms, including both online or mobile.
Sky Sports - exclusive live coverage of up to 183 Sky Bet Championship fixtures.
Sky Bet League One or Sky Bet League Two live weekly fixtures shown until 2023/24.
Plus 80 midweek Sky Bet Championship games across their interactive and digital Sky platforms.
BT Sport - has exclusive rights to the Vanarama National League and will show 30 live National League TV matches during the 2021/22 season. With at least one game each weekend. This also includes the end of season National League Play-Offs and National League Promotion Final.
Sky Sports - Up to three live matches a season plus full live coverage of the EFL Trophy Final on TV.
Sky Sports - rights to show 48 live Scottish Premiership matches as well as the playoff finals.
OneFootball - all 228 matches will be available on a live stream to Scottish Premier League team season ticket holders until the end of the 2021/22 season.
BBC Scotland - 27 live SPFL Championship and 38 delayed SPFL Premiership matches, plus six live Scottish Championship or Scottish League One matches on BBC ALBA until 2024–25.
Premier Sports - 8 selected live matches and the Cup Final until 2024.
BBC Scotland - 11 selected live matches including the Cup Final final until 2024.
Premier Sports - Up to 16 live matches each season until 2023/24.
BBC Scotland - minimum five live matches per campaign until 2024.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has live coverage of their top flight domestic football competitions on various platforms, with up to 33 live matches every year until 2021/22.
S4C - 1 live game per match week or weekend from either the Cymru Premier league, Welsh Cup, Welsh League Cup or Scottish Challenge Cup if a Welsh team is involved until 2021/22.
Sgorio Facebook page - Streams all live televised matches, plus 10 more exclusively online across the season until 2021/22.
Matches will be shown live on S4C television and online, via the S4C homepage, s4c.cymru, and the Sgorio Facebook Live page.
FreeSports - at least 5 live matches from both the Premiership and Cup competitions until 2022.
BBC Northern Ireland - 10 live matches on TV, plus 50 live matches on BBC Sport NI website until 2022.
BBC Northern Ireland and iPlayer - 3 matches live including final until 2021/22.
Most of the big name British football teams have their own channels now and here are a select few:
MUTV - live Manchester United pre-season friendlies as well as live U23 and academy fixtures
City+ - live Manchester City pre-season friendlies, plus live women’s and academy games
Chelsea TV - select live Chelsea youth and academy games will be available.
LFCTV - watch over 50 live games on LFCTV GO each year.
Spurs TV - various live pre-season friendlies as well as live youth and academy games.
LCFC TV Live - live streams of Leicester City's pre-season and academy games during the season.
Clarets+ - live Burnley pre-season streams and and academy games throughout the season.
Rangers TV - live pre-season friendlies along with live youth and academy games.
Celtic TV - select live Celtic youth and academy games are available.
Broadcast rights for the big European football leagues are spread across numerous sports media and TV outlets. Most via a paid subscription service, but there are a number of games freely available too.
LaLigaTV remains the UK’s only confirmed channel to offer all available live matches from a major European football league. With rights currently running through until the end of the 2021/22 season.
Premier Sports (via LaLigaTV) – exclusive live coverage of all available live matches
Amazon Prime (via LaLigaTV) - exclusive live coverage of all available live matches
The LaLigaTV subscription is also available via Sky, Virgin Media and netgem.tv
Free Sports – 1 or 2 live games each weekend depending on whose playing.
Premier Sports - live and exclusive coverage of the Copa Del Rey (or King's Cup) including the Quarter-finals, Semi-finals and the Copa Del Rey Final during the 2021/22 season.
Premier Sports - live Italian football will be shown live during the 2021/2022 season.
LiveScore - stream a selection of games each week via your mobile phone or tablet device app in 2022.
BT sport - live action throughout the season of the Coppa Italia, plus the Supercoppa Italiana.
BT Sport – live and exclusive coverage of four or five games each weekend for 2022 and beyond.
Premier Sports - has secured rights to show live games each weekend for the 2021/22 season.
OneFootball - free live streaming rights of selected games with English commentary for UK users.
DFB’s German Football YouTube channel - live streams of selected games.
BT Sport – live and exclusive TV coverage with at least 1 match shown from the second tier each week.
Bet 365 - live streaming of select games with an active account.
BT Sport – More than 200 exclusively live games per season (5 each weekend) until 2023/24. Including the promotion/relegation play-off matches, contested by Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 teams each season.
BT Sport - live matches of the Coupe de France knockout competition and the Trophée des Champions.
bet365 - Wide selection of live Eredivisie matches streamed live each week.
LiveScore - stream a selection of games each week via your mobile phone or tablet device app in 2022.
BT Sport - selected live matches until 2021/22.
Freesports - random live matches each week that are not selected by BT Sport until 2022.
YouTube - all matches live from the Russian Premier Liga channel until 2021/22.
YouTube - selected cup matches shown live from the Russian Premier Liga channel until 2021/22.
BT Sport - currently has exclusive rights to the A-League for the 2021/22 season.
Freesports - Minimum 5 selected live matches every weekend during the 2021/22 campaign.
Sky Sports - certain selected lives games that are not aired by FreeSports until 2022.
Freesports - around 4 or 5 selected live J1 League matches each weekend until 2022.
YouTube - live coverage of two J2 matches per week and 7 prime stage League Cup matches in 2022.
Freesports - selected live matches each week until 2021/22.
Premier Sports - selected live matches each week until 2021.
Freesports - selected live matches each week until 2021.
bet365 - Wide selection of live Campeonato matches streamed live each week.
Freesports - selected live matches each week throughout the 2021/22 season.
OneFootball - individual live matches every weekend until the end of the 2021/22 season.
YouTube - one match per week via COPA90 until 2024.
Fanatiz - enjoy live and on-demand games throughout the league season of 2021/22.
Fanatiz - enjoy live and on-demand games from Argentina's domestic cup competition. Also available depending on your geographic location are the Copa Libertadores, Sudamericana on beIN SPORTS, Superliga Argentina, Copa Argentina and TyC Sports Internacional. Plus games from different leagues in France, Portugal, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay as well as RCN Nuestra Tele, Peru Magico, Real Madrid TV, Sevilla TV, and more.
BBC - Both the men's and women's football will be shown live on BBC1, BBC2 or via iPlayer.
Sky Sports - live coverage of all European qualifiers except for England games which are on ITV.
Selected non-European qualifiers available via FreeSports, PremierSports, YouTube and LiveScore.
Every single game from the World Cup will be broadcast live on either BBC or ITV with both broadcasters then showing the final live too.
BBC - live coverage of all selected matches that on not on ITV, including the final.
ITV - live coverage of all selected matches that on not on the BBC, including the final.
Sky Sports – exclusive rights to all England games until the end of the 2021/22 season.
ITV – exclusive rights to all England fixtures, including any warm up matches
S4C - live qualifiers of any games involving Wales.
Sky Sports - showed all the live action in 2021, but 2023 Championship right are still to be confirmed.
Sky Sports – exclusive rights to all matches involving Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland until the end of 2021/22.
BBC - live coverage (also via BBC iPlayer) exclusively on the BBC of all the 2022 games.
BBC - 28 live matches including group games, knock-out stages and the final in 2021.
Premier Sports - Live coverage of all 31 matches from the 2021 tournament in the USA.
Broadcast rights for women's football has never been in more demand than it is right now. With game the Football Association (FA) having recently announced a “game-changing” new domestic broadcast deal that will see matches shown on subscription TV as well as the BBC over the next few seasons.
Sky Sports – Minimum 35 live matches (possibly up to 44) until 2023/24 with some games also being shown on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Mix and Sky One.
BBC – 22 live games a season until 2023/24.
FA Player – Live streams of any games not selected by Sky Sports or the BBC.
DAZN - live streaming service access to all 61 games from the group stage onward until 2024/25.
DAZN's YouTube channel - free live streams to all 61 games from the group stage onward until 2022/23. Then in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons it will be reduced to 19 matches shown for free.
UEFA.tv - live match streaming of UEFA’s Women’s competitions.
BBC - both the Semi-Finals and Final Live.
FA player - various live games throughout the Women's 2021/22 FA Cup.
BBC - live coverage until 2025.
BBC - live coverage of all 31 games in England including the final at Wembley Stadium.
FA Player - select live matches.
FA Player - select live matches each season.
FA Player - select live matches.
ITV - live at the start of each season until 2024/2025.
BT Sport - live action from the top-division o the women's soccer league in Australia.
As the participation from kids and adults in Futsal grows, so do the viewing figures to watch it. It's not quite there demand wise, so television companies aren't currently over interested in securing deals.
However, live futsal can be found on FIFA's website, UEFA's website and many other different websites or social media platforms. Whether it's YouTube, Facebook Live or even the BT Sport website.
You Tube - This 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup will be broadcast on the FIFATV You Tube channel.
BT Sport - live broadcasting of major UEFA international Futsal competitions, including finals.
UEFA.tv - live match streaming of UEFA’s Futsal competitions.
YouTube - live matches from The FA National Futsal Series and the Home Nations Championships.
Other competitions to watch are the Futsal Champions League Final, Futsal EURO, FIFA Futsal World Cup, Futsal Champions League, UEFA Women's Futsal EURO and the Under-19 Futsal EURO.
Last Updated December 15, 2021
