Historic Soccer Rights Deal

Swedish TV networks TV4 and C More are now carrying out the biggest effort ever on Swedish national team soccer. In a new agreement with UEFA, TV4 and C More have acquired broadcasting rights for all men’s national team matches from autumn 2018 up to the 2022 World Cup. The rights include the European Qualifiers, World Cup qualifying matches and the important new UEFA Nations League tournament.

Through the deal, TV4 and C More have solidified their position as the No. 1 go-to destination for Swedish soccer fans. The TV4 Group had already secured the rights to broadcast the World Cup and European Championships tournaments in 2018, 2020 and 2022, alongside public service broadcaster SVT.

“For some time, we have deliberately chosen to pass on certain sports rights to instead invest in those we truly believe in,” says Casten Almqvist, CEO of TV4 and Bonnier Broadcasting. “Along with Allsvenskan and the recently extended SHL, this is the crowning glory of our strategy. Viewers will find the top Swedish teams and all national team soccer on TV4 and C More for a long time to come.”

Kicking off in autumn 2018 and continuing through the 2022 World Cup, the TV4 Group and C More will be the exclusive broadcast home for the Swedish men’s national soccer team, as all national team matches will be broadcast via linear programming on TV4 Group channels and online via C More. This includes the hot new UEFA Nations League tournament, in which national teams will rack up important ranking scores and can also play their way to an extra chance to qualify for EURO 2020. This is the first time UEFA has bundled all national team qualifying, training and preparatory matches in a single rights package.

“This is the biggest, most concentrated investment ever in Swedish national team football,” says Erik Westberg, Head of Sports for TV4 and C More. “We are stoked and fully charged to embark on a new journey with the most popular national team in Sweden. On our platforms we will build unique coverage of both Sweden’s games, the qualifiers and the new Uefa National League, and offer our viewers the best soccer in the world.”

The four-year agreement covers a total of 1,000 matches. Swedish European Championship and World Cup qualifying matches will be shown on TV4 and major countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands will play on TV12. All qualifying matches will be streamed with no interruptions on C More.

The TV4 Group had already secured the rights to EURO 2020, alongside the public broadcaster Swedish Television (SVT). TV4 and SVT have also signed an agreement with FIFA for the men’s soccer championships on all platforms for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017 and 2021 and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a championship that TV4/C More will be broadcasting exclusively.

Earlier in September, C More finalized long-term agreements with SHL, HockeyAllsvenskan and the highest leagues in handball and rink bandy. This means that all the top leagues in the biggest Swedish sports are now available on C More along with all Swedish and European national team soccer.