UEFA "is looking for an ad agency to promote the Champions League as BT Sport’s coverage is mauled in the press for its dismal ratings," according to James Swift of CAMPAIGN LIVE. European football’s governing body "is understood to be running the pitch process itself" and has approached a number of U.K. agencies. Reports in the national press stated that UEFA "has been unhappy with the tournament’s overall ratings since it handed BT Sport the exclusive UK TV rights" in '13 as part of a £897M, three-year deal.
The viewing figures for some games "dropped by as much as four-fifths -- to one million" (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 6/2). THE DRUM's Tony Connelly wrote while it is still unclear the role UEFA is looking for its new advertising partner to take on, "the news comes after the end of BT Sport’s first season as exclusive broadcaster for the competition." The '15-16 tournament, which saw Real Madrid crowned champions for the 11th time, marked a poor season for UEFA "with the average viewing figures for the group stages of the tournament peaking at just 200,000, a fraction of the 4.4 million average which ITV’s broadcasts generated last season." The search for a new ad agency marks UEFA’s "second advertising review this year." Last month, "it sent out a brief to agencies to find ways of encouraging more women to play and watch the sport." UEFA "is also considering a shake up of the structure of the tournament itself amid concerns that a too predictable group stage has turned off viewers" (THE DRUM, 6/2).
