Frank Dunne

In the last three to four years, the sports media industry in sub-Saharan Africa has seen an influx of new players who are challenging established operators and entrenched myths about how business works in the region.

The Confederation of African Football completed a series of deals before Christmas which have put its precarious finances back on an even keel after several difficult years following the cancellation of its $1bn, 12-year contract with the Lagardère Sports agency.

Uefa and Fifa benefitted from the aggressive entry into the African sports-rights market of New World Television, the Togo-based pay-television operator, to enjoy strong uplifts for club competition and World Cup rights, respectively.

Sub-Saharan Africa has become the hottest sports-rights market in the world, but that dynamism could be brought to an abrupt halt if the proposed merger between France’s Canal Plus and South Africa’s MultiChoice goes ahead.
USA

Amazon’s proposed agreement with Diamond Sports Group to secure local streaming rights to US sports leagues has been hailed as a “brilliant, brilliant deal”, though approval of the plan is far from certain.

Mauro Balata, president of Italy’s second football division, Serie B, has called on football’s governing bodies to be more aware of the negative impact their constant expansion of competitions has on the value of domestic leagues.
USA

The National Basketball Association’s next round of domestic rights deals seems certain to look very different to those of the last two decades, as streaming technology and changing user behaviour drive change in the US media market at an unprecedented pace.

Amazon has found that premium sports properties drive acquisition of new customers to its Amazon Prime premium service but are not necessary for their retention.

The English Premier League’s first domestic media rights auction for almost six years has produced an overall uplift of just over three per cent, prompting sighs of relief across offices in Paddington, Isleworth and Chiswick.

Serie A clubs, in accepting a total of €900m per season from DAZN and Sky Italia for five seasons, opted for guaranteed rights fees in the face of their high operational losses and debts.