To as a connected mumsnetter to lobby the govt to make The Champions League Final free to view for all UK citizens?

[mumofoneAloneandwell]

Football is a working class sport at its heart. No child should be prevented from watching a major sporting final because they can't afford to!

Edit - ask**

I've no idea who's in the Champions League Final.

The government can choose to support public service terrestrial UK broadcasters, so this kind of sports coverage is available as free to view and not behind a paywall.

We can't watch the cycling either now apart from highlights

Much as people like to moan about the BBC, and I know it has its failings, but if it’s funded properly so they can get the rights all of the sports that people want to watch could likely be broadcast there and available for whoever wants it rather than being on some random streaming platform that’s also full of advertising even though you’ve paid a subscription too.

Only insofar as they legislated certain sporting events taking place within the UK which had always been shown on terrestrial TV should remain so. The rights holders are free to sell rights to other broadcasters as well, but things on the protected list have to also be shown on the BBC.

The CL is a UEFA tournament. The UK government has no jurisdiction over UEFA or powers to force them to sell broadcast rights at the discounted rate the BBC would be willing to pay, so there isn't any mechanism whereby the Final would suddenly land on the protected list.

The European Cup Final was usually shown on terrestrial TV, but that's back in the days before widespread subscription TV was the norm, so there was no other realistic rights partner in the UK for UEFA in the first place.

I didn't realise it was on prime, we have that too but I won't be watching.

I quite like listening to football on the radio, just listened to Villa win!

first you can’t watch MAFSUK now no free to view football?

Its not on prime😔

.I so hope PSG win

!

YANBU.

There must be millions of kids who want to watch Arsenal, the newly crowned the Premier League champions play in the Champions League final tomorrow night but can’t as their parents don’t subscribe to TNT, which is a minority pay channel.

The final should be listed by the government as one of the protected events made available on free to air TV for all to watch. There is far more public interest in the CL final, whoever is playing, than in the Epsom Derby or Rugby League cup final, which are protected.

The LIB DEMS are on it

Completely agree

I'm in my sixties, so as a kid, the only time I (or anyone else) got to see a live football match on TV was the FA Cup final - you only got brief weekly highlights of Division 1 (now Premier League) matches late at night apart from that. There is far more opportunity to see live football on free channels now.

There are but this should be one of those opportunities!

The final should be listed by the government as one of the protected events made available on free to air TV for all to watch. There is far more public interest in the CL final, whoever is playing, than in the Epsom Derby or Rugby League cup final, which are protected

How do you propose the UK government goes about "protecting" an event, the rights to which are wholly owned by an organisation headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland, and when the event is barely ever hosted in the UK itself?

The UK has no powers whatsoever to compel UEFA to sell rights to specific broadcasters, and even if they tried to go down that route they'd inevitably face legal action from UEFA, it's current broadcast partners, and also the prospect of UEFA refusing to stage any events in the UK, and ultimately, if they really tried to push it, UEFA refusing admittance to UK clubs and nations.

The final is on Saturday 30 May, not tomorrow.

Is this the sport equivalent of telling supermarkets that basic foods have to be at a price everyone can afford.

That didn't go well, did it, and neither will this.

Professional sport is big international business, not a charity and no, governments can't interfere unless they're going to morph into dictatorships.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/deals-hunter/2026/05/watch-uefa-european-football-finals-free/

Thanks for this

So I get hbo max through NowTV for free - i wonder if that means I'll be able to watch that way 🤔

Not sure but should be a great game. Though I’d want an English team to win it’s depressing it’s Arsenal.

COYS for life but we have our own problems 😢

This person makes a good point

Just a random forum

Yes it’s a good point and sports like cricket that used to be shown more regularly on TV have found the same, dropping audiences and also less young people wanting to play the sport because it’s just not as well known.

I agree with you, even though I am not a football fan and don’t watch sports generally.

I think the list of publicly broadcast events needs to be vastly expanded. They are massively important for cultural identity, morale, and a sense of community.

Quite. Football fans still have the FA Cup on free to air, all home country internationals, and the World Cup.

Cricket fans have absolutely nothing.