Frank Dunne

Discovery Communications’ decision to end negotiations with Germany’s public-service broadcasters over the free-to-air rights for the Olympic Games will be a very expensive one.

This month’s creation of the Bamtech Europe streaming operation by US technology company Bamtech and Discovery Communications provides immediate benefits for its owners.

England’s Football Association told TV Sports Markets this week that its strategy of opening up FA Cup international rights by running a single tender was vindicated by its deals with the IMG and Pitch International agencies.

Lega Serie A and Uefa are in a race to be first to sell their rights in Italy for the period 2018-19 to 2020-21.

Sky Italia has strengthened its grip on the NBA in Italy by becoming the league’s sole media partner in its new two-season deal, and has done so without paying an increased rights fee.

Uefa has failed to secure any meaningful uplift in value for its national team competitions in deals agreed recently in France and Germany. The deals underline that, while Europe remains the bedrock of value for Uefa, it has become a difficult region in which to achieve growth for its national team properties.

The Football Association’s invitation to tender for its international rights from 2018-19 to 2023-24 opens the way for a type of deal that has become increasingly rare: a single agency buyout worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF are unlikely to change their position over free-to-air rights to the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games, despite being subjected to questions in parliament this month over their hard-line negotiating tactics.