Channel 4 has announced that they have secured the right to broadcast England football matches for the next two years.
This deal includes Channel 4 to broadcast live football matches involving the England men’s national team in the UEFA Nations League, European qualifiers for the UEFA EURO 2024, and international friendlies. The free-to-air television channel will telecast 20 live England matches between 2022 and 2024, according to a new agreement. It replaces ITV and Sky Sports as the national team’s broadcast partner.
The agreement will begin in June with the summer’s Nations League fixtures, which will include home and away games against Hungary, as well as matches against Italy and Germany. The draw for qualifying groups will take place in October, and European qualification will begin the following spring.
Sky Sports was expected to continue the Nations League matches, but Channel 4 outbid them in a remarkable contract. UEFA held a central auction of rights for the new two-year cycle, which increased Channel 4’s chances of securing all of the matches.
Channel 4 had a successful sporting year, obtaining one-time rights to show Emma Raducanu‘s US Open final triumph and the Formula 1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, and attracting 20 million viewers to its broadcast of the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
The agreement excludes England’s matches at the upcoming Qatar World Cup, which will be telecast by the BBC and ITV.
Channel 4, Head of Sports, Pete Andrews said, “England matches against Germany are always an exciting prospect and I’m sure the team will be keen to set the record straight against Italy after the defeat in the final of the UEFA EURO. We’re absolutely delighted to have secured this deal with UEFA and I’m sure England fans will be looking forward to the summer with great anticipation.”
Channel 4 CEO, Alex Mahon, commented, “As a life-long committed football fan I am personally so delighted that we have these matches on the channel which further reinforce our reputation as a top-quality sports broadcaster having been named Sports Network of the Year at this year’s British Sports Journalism Awards.”
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz, said, “After bringing some of the biggest sporting moments of last year to the nation, I’m delighted that Channel 4 will be airing so many mouth-watering England matches on free to air television. This deal shows Channel 4 can compete for some of the biggest properties in sport and will bring substantial new audiences to our award-winning slate of original programming.”