Belgian fans will have it much easier to watch UEFA competitions next season, as Disney+ has made the surprise announcement of buying the television rights of UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Conference League between the 2027-2031 cycle (starting next season). Up until now, TV rights were divided in different channels: RTL and Proximus had Champions League rights, while RTBF and Voo Sport World held rights for Europa League and Conference League.
Disney+ already bought global rights of the Women's Champions League, and follows continued investments by OTT services, usually dedicated to TV and movies, into live sports: Amazon Prime has a big chunk of the NBA, Netflix is getting more and more boxing and even UFC fights...
How well did the Belgian football clubs in Europe?
This season, only Club Brugge reached the knockout stages of the Champions League, losing to Atlético de Madrid in the knockout play-offs. Genk was eliminated in round of 16 of the Europa League by Freiburg and RSC Anderlecht lost in the knockout round play-offs of the Conference League to AEK Athens.
But no Belgian club has ever won a major European trophy since Anderlecht won UEFA Cup in 1983, and a few European Super Cup and Cup Winner's Cup in the 1970s and 1980s, while Club Brugge reached the final of the European Cup in 1978.
Next season, Union Saint-Gilloise from Forest, Brussels, which was eliminated from the Champions League - league phase this season, may play again in the league phase as they won the regular season of the Belgian Pro League; the winner of the play-offs will get direct qualification for the Champions League league phase, currently disputed between Club Brugge and Union SG.