Disney’s reported move for Champions League rights in Sweden from autumn 2027 makes the next Premier League auction a defining commercial test for Viaplay. It does not, however, establish that Viaplay will lose the rights or cease operating.
Dagens Nyheter reports that Disney will show the Champions League in Sweden for three seasons from autumn 2027, paying more than SEK 500 million per season. Once Viaplay’s current Champions League deal ends, the paper says Premier League football will be its only remaining right among four Swedish sports “crown jewels”. Viaplay’s present Premier League agreement has one season left.
That narrows the company’s room for error. Premier League football supplies regular matches across much of the year and has been central to Viaplay’s sports strategy. Losing Champions League rights to Disney means that retaining Premier League becomes more important, because replacing both properties would be far harder than replacing one.
But the available reporting does not justify predictions of a collapse. The date of the next Premier League bidding process, the bidders and their offers have not been publicly disclosed. Jan Scherman, a former TV4 chief executive, told DN that Viaplay’s existence would be at stake if it also lost Premier League rights. That is a prominent industry assessment, rather than a result from a completed auction or a company forecast.
Viaplay also rejects the idea that its sports proposition rests on one competition. In an email to DN, sports chief Erik Westberg pointed to Formula 1, NHL, Bundesliga, golf, handball and winter sports among its year-round programming. That is an important qualification. Yet it does not remove the strategic significance of Premier League rights after the reported Champions League change.
The Disney deal therefore sharpens a business dilemma rather than settling Viaplay’s future. The company may need to defend a vital property while avoiding the kind of overpayment that has previously exposed its finances to severe pressure.
Sources
- Dagens Nyheter · Source date: 2026-11-09
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-09