Keir Starmer has urged TNT Sports to reconsider, saying supporters should not have to pay extra to watch a final of this scale.
The Champions League final will not be shown free-to-air in the UK for the first time since the competition began 34 years ago, despite Arsenal preparing for one of the biggest matches in the club’s history.
The final against Paris Saint-Germain takes place in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday, with kick-off at 5pm British time.
Yet supporters without a subscription will not be able to watch the game for free, breaking with the long-standing availability of European football’s biggest club match.
Keir Starmer, the prime minister and an Arsenal supporter, has written to TNT Sports urging the broadcaster to reconsider.
His intervention comes before Mikel Arteta’s newly crowned Premier League champions attempt to win Arsenal’s first Champions League title.
In his letter, Starmer said he was disappointed that a match of such national and sporting significance would sit behind a paywall.
“I was saddened to see that, for the first time since the competition started 34 years ago, tnt Sports has decided that the Champions League final will not be free to watch in the UK,” he wrote.
“The Champions League is the biggest club football competition in the world and rightly means a lot to fans in this country – the home of football. I am a firm believer that the final of this competition should remain free to watch, whether Arsenal have made it or not.”
Starmer also argued that supporters should not have to pay extra to watch a fixture of this scale, saying “hardworking people should not have to worry about forking out for a subscription to watch a game of this magnitude”.
He added: “We should be putting supporters first. That is why I encouraged Fifa to do more to make tickets more affordable at this summer’s World Cup.
“That is also why I want to urge you to reconsider and make the final on Saturday free to watch for the millions of football fans in this country.”
The final will be screened at Emirates Stadium, but that does not address the wider issue for supporters across the country. For the first time in the Champions League era, the showpiece itself will not be freely available to everyone in the UK.
TNT Sports has defended its decision by pointing to a lower-cost subscription route.
A TNT Sports spokesman said: “We have made all three Uefa finals this year available from £4.99, the price for a month-long subscription to HBO Max – exceptional value for fans.”
That may be cheaper than a full sports package, but it is still not free-to-air.