Gary Stevenson, president and managing director, MLS Business Ventures
Interview with Gary Stevenson, president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures, on the new MLS/SUM eight-year deal with IMG Events & Media.
Fiba hopes clicks help rights sales
The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) expects the strong engagement with digital coverage of last month’s World Cup in Spain to aid media-rights sales for EuroBasket 2015 and other events.
Bundesliga’s strong sales continue in Africa and beyond
Germany’s Bundesliga is thought to be finalising a number of rights deals involving substantial increases on current deal values.
Adviser deals will work for ‘weak’ football leagues
The adviser model for football leagues operated by the Infront Sports & Media and MP & Silva agencies could be rolled out in more European markets than the three where it already exists, rights experts say. But it is unlikely to be adopted by leagues which are confident about their growth prospects.
NC Plus holds the key to Silva deal
In appointing the MP & Silva agency as adviser for its domestic and international media rights, in a deal based on a ‘top-up’ guarantee, the Polish football league has ostensibly rejected two other business models. But the choice was about the money rather than the model.
SuperSport steps up again as another African deal fails
Sub-Saharan Africa pay-television operator SuperSport has stepped in to acquire the free-to-air rights in the region to England’s Premier League after local rights-holder, Optima Sports Management International, defaulted on its payments.
Infront gives CAA a second chance
Private equity company Bridgepoint Capital could exploit the global expansion ambitions of the two major US sports marketing companies – WME/IMG and CAA – to secure a price in excess of €1bn ($1.32bn) for the Infront Sports & Media agency, experts say.
Lukewarm Traffic lets in IMG for rights to Concacaf events
The IMG Events & Media agency picked up the media rights for the Concacaf 2015 Gold Cup and the Champions League but strong competition failed to materialise.
IMG to explore all avenues, but tough sell predicted
The IMG Events & Media agency said this week that US stock car racing operator Nascar was open to all ideas for expanding its series beyond its core US audience, including bringing in international drivers and developing race circuits abroad.
RSE looks to Team Marketing model to drive rights value
US investment company RSE Ventures enjoyed a substantial increase in the value of the global media rights for the 2014 International Champions Cup, the summer friendly club tournament involving some of Europe’s top clubs.