Benfica TV or BTV, is a premium sports channel owned by the Portuguese club Benfica. The channel’s headquarters are located inside Estadio Da Luz, and its contents are focused around Benfica’s different professional teams, which include football, basketball, handball, volleyball, roller hockey and futsal. Benfica TV was launched on October 2, 2008, but its regular transmissions began on December 10, 2008.
The channel was free of charge for five years, until the club’s hierarchy decided to charge a fee to access its feed. This approach was adopted on July 3, 2013.
Initially, Benfica TV only aired content related to the club’s different teams, but since the channel adopted a premium status, its content expanded to other leagues, which included at one point games from the English Premier League, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1. Benfica TV has also aired UFC events and Major League Soccer matches in the past.
Benfica TV began its international expansion in 2014 by signing deals to air its broadcasts in Portuguese-speaking countries such as Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Angola. The channel was made available in other countries such as the United States, Canada, France, Luxembourg, and others. Benfica TV is available on several pay-tv carriers worldwide on both SD and HD.
