Kieran Maguire issues ‘gigantic’ Liverpool claim as £400m-a-year talks set to begin
Liverpool will be optimistic that the new UK Champions League rights auction could be worth more than the current £400million-a-year deal.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the impending sale of the domestic broadcast privileges.
Sport Business reported last Wednesday (25 May) that Team Marketing will open the auction process for the 2024-27 cycle next Tuesday (31 May).
The current deal with BT Sport is worth £1.2billion over three seasons.
Liverpool have been one of the Champions League’s most successful sides in recent years and face Real Madrid in the 2021-22 final on Saturday (28 May).
Maguire explained the intricacies of the talks process and assessed the likelihood of an upswing in value for an already “gigantic” deal.
“Uefa will be the main beneficiaries here,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“They are using Team as an agent. They will then take a commission. BT Sport paid a gigantic £1.2bn for the rights for the Champions League last time.
“With the new format coming in, they are hoping to increase interest and generate more money.
“We are not certain who is interested. BT are now part of the deal with Discovery+. I think they would need a flagship competition or product. What we have in the Champions League is that sort of product.
“How realistic raising the value is, I’m not sure.
“Sky are quite cost-conscious these days. Could it go to terrestrial? That’s unlikely as the numbers are too high. There is, however, an opportunity for a non-single source market.”
Liverpool earned £266.1m in media income in 2020-21.
That figure is expected to rise again for 2021-22.
In other news, La Liga expert issues verdict on Mohamed Salah quitting Liverpool for Real Madrid after £244m deal is done