Manchester Utd, Liverpool to retain demand for live EPL rights access despite risks
Manchester United and Liverpool will push ahead with their demand to exploit some of their English Premier League matches on their own digital channels despite the likely damage this will cause to the value of the league’s main international rights package, SportBusiness Media understands.
Uefa Women’s Champions League global rights tender draws strong agency interest
Uefa’s first-ever sale of centralised global media rights to the Women’s Champions League is thought to have drawn bids from at least four established sports-rights agencies, one new-entry agency player and one media group.
Discovery agrees ‘opportunistic’ WWE deal in Italy to build DMAX, Dplay Plus OTT
US media group Discovery has made a modest investment in the Italian rights to WWE wrestling to help increase audience share of its DMAX channel and improve the sluggish take-up of the broadcaster’s Dplay Plus premium OTT service.
Sky Italia pays small increase to renew exclusive F1 rights for two more seasons
Italian pay-television operator Sky Italia has extended its deal for exclusive rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship. The deal was agreed with Formula One Management, the Formula One Group subsidiary that handles the commercial rights to the series.
OTT challenge to Sky’s Serie A dominance unlikely despite court upholding internet ban
The ruling this month from Italy’s highest administrative court, which brought an end to the legal battle over Sky Italia’s ability to acquire exclusive internet rights, was ostensibly good news for OTT operators. It prevents Italy’s dominant ‘legacy’ pay-television operator from buying these rights, at least until 2022.
Amazon’s NFL renewal unlikely to herald major push in next cycle
The Thursday Night Football renewal between US tech and retail giant Amazon and the National Football League makes sense for both parties. But it does not mark a staging post from which Amazon could disrupt the make-up of the NFL’s main media-rights partners in the next cycle, US media experts say.
International Swimming League won’t delay D2C platform despite Covid-19 pandemic
The International Swimming League is working on two fronts to increase exposure and engagement levels ahead of its second season. It is in renewal talks with many of the broadcasters who covered the league’s inaugural season, while pushing ahead with the development of its own direct-to-consumer OTT platform.
Sports-media industry braces for post-Covid 19 world
Trading in sports media rights has stopped. This has never happened before. The last time global sport came to a standstill was for the Second World War, some time before the sports-rights industry was born.
Eurosport Events swoops to end IMG’s long-standing FIM speedway relationship
The investment of Eurosport Events in global rights to the Speedway World Championships and Speedway of Nations series makes sense for the company on several fronts, independent experts say.
Discovery favourite to pick up WWE in Italy after Sky Italia pulls out
Pay-television operator Sky Italia has dropped the wrestling entertainment series WWE after broadcasting it for 18 years. The decision follows similar choices by Sky’s divisions in the UK and Germany.