TNT Drops Free Access as Where To Watch Europa League Final Shifts to HBO Max
TNT has moved the Champions League final behind HBO Max, ending free-to-air access in the UK for the first time since the competition’s rebrand 34 years ago. For viewers searching where to watch europa league final coverage, the key change is that the Paris Saint-Germain v Arsenal final will stream on HBO Max alongside TNT Sports, not on discovery+ for free.
That is a clear break from the previous two seasons, when TNT made the final free on its streaming service and an average audience of about 1 million watched each year. TNT’s figures for the 2024 and 2025 finals were about 2.5 million, showing the game still reached far beyond the free-streaming audience.
HBO Max and TNT Sports
HBO Max is available in more than 10 million UK households, and TNT is betting that reach can replace the exposure it gave up on discovery+. HBO Max launched in the UK in March and is also available with ads at no extra cost for Sky Sports subscribers, while it can be accessed as a paid extra via Amazon Prime Video.
That shift follows a longer run of free access on different platforms. From 2015-16 until the 2022-23 season, the UK rights holder made the Champions League final free on YouTube, and before that ITV screened the final after the European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.
Jon Trickett on UK access
Jon Trickett, the Labour MP, pushed back on the change on X. “All major sporting finals should be free to watch on UK television” he wrote, then added: “I’d like to see the government take action to ensure future events like the Champions League final are accessible to as many people as possible.”
Uefa’s commercial team is understood to be happy with TNT’s decision because it believes it will deliver a bigger audience. That leaves the final in a different place for UK viewers: available through TNT Sports and HBO Max, but no longer free on the service that carried it without charge for the past two seasons.
