Champions League football could be set for a return to terrestrial television after the current three-year exclusive contract with BT Sport expires.
Viewing figures for Europe's premier competition have plummeted since the £897million deal with BT came into effect at the start of this season.
And now a high-ranking UEFA official has admitted that the agreement was a 'mistake', according to the Daily Mail.
A peak audience of just over a million viewers saw Manchester City's quarter-final first leg at Paris Saint-Germain last week, five times less than the number ordinarily drawn by ITV.
UEFA are apparently happy with the production supplied by BT, but not with the viewing figures which are a direct knock-on effect of matches being shown exclusively on a subscription service.
The tender for the next cycle of Champions League rights are set to return again later this year, with ITV or another terrestrial network expected to return to the bidding for part of the rights.
Sky and BT will likely do battle for the subscription part of the deal.
The current deal with BT was signed in November 2013, with the channel attracting a host of big-name pundits such as Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard, while their coverage is fronted by Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker.
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