FA Cup ‘non-linear’ rights package opens door to Amazon
The FA has opened the market for FA Cup domestic rights to new competition with the inclusion of a ‘non-linear package’ – expected to attract interest from internet giant Amazon – in the tender for the 2021-22 to 2024-25 cycle, SportBusiness Media understands.
Star India’s OTT strategy in UK drives Sky IPL rights loss
Media company Star India’s plans to use the Indian Premier League to develop its Hotstar OTT platform in the UK drove pay-television broadcaster Sky’s loss of the property, SportBusiness Media understands.
French handball federation struggles to place national team domestic free-to-air rights
The Fédération Française de Handball is struggling to find a free-to-air partner for French national-team matches after carving these rights out of its new deal with beIN Sports, SportBusiness Media understands.
LNR shifts to minimum income model for French rugby Top 14 international rights
The Ligue Nationale de Rugby’s desire for greater revenues drove the shift to a minimum guarantee from a pure revenue share in its renewal of the Top 14 international rights distribution contract with Canal Plus.
Sky’s reunion with US PGA Championship to stretch to 2023
UK pay-television broadcaster Sky Sports’ new rights deal for the US PGA Championship is for the five-year period from 2019 to 2023, SportBusiness Media understands. This marks a rebuilding of the long-term partnership between rights-holder and broadcaster that ended in 2016 when Sky refused to meet rights distributor IMG’s valuation of the property.
L’Équipe TV among parties in talks with beIN over French Handball League free-to-air sublicensing rights
BeIN Media Group has told SportBusiness Media it is in talks with various parties for the domestic free-to-air rights for the Ligue Nationale de Handball competition from 2019 to 2023; one of these parties is understood to be French digital-terrestrial channel L’Équipe TV.
Amazon seeks UK tennis dominance with WTA rights play
Amazon secured Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour rights in the UK for the 2020-23 cycle with a bid nearly 60 per cent higher than incumbent pay-television broadcaster BT Sport's current fee, SportBusiness Media understands, as the tech and ecommerce giant moves to establish a dominant position in UK tennis broadcasting.
IMG hopes of emerging unscathed from Serie A antitrust probe hang in the balance
The Italian competition authority’s investigation into the sale of rights for Serie A is ostensibly a disaster for MP & Silva and B4 and a let-off for IMG. But MP & Silva and B4 are no longer active and IMG could yet face a major problem. The agency could be hit with a substantial damages claim by the league for lost earnings.
Pan-regional edge aids All Media Baltics in Premier League renewal
Pay-television broadcaster All Media Baltics used its pan-regional competitive advantage to retain English Premier League’s rights in the Baltics without a hefty increase in cost.
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