Turner Sports is done with European soccer. The company exercised a clause in its deal with the UEFA Champions League that terminated the contract early.
According to the contract, Turner had the ability to get out of its obligation to carry the league’s 2020-21 season. Sports Business Journal reports that Turner took it a step further and will not carry the remainder of the 2019-2020 season, if it resumes.
Hardcore soccer fans were always critical of Turner’s presentation of the UEFA Champions League. The most common complaints included Turner putting all of the action on the B/R Live subscription streaming platform and the hiring of retired NBA star Steve Nash as an analyst.
Every media brand has been hit hard by the financial fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. Opting out of the contract early certainly saves Turner some money, but it also gets rid of programming that even the most devoted fans were clearly unhappy with.
CBS Sports Network is set to take over the UEFA Champions League TV contract in the United States beginning with the 2021-22 season. Although it seems likely, there is no certainty that CBS Sports Network will pick start its coverage of the league early.
