Analysis
MLB gets first fee from China
Major League Baseball’s three-year deal with Chinese internet operator Le Sports guarantees the league extensive coverage in China for the first time.
Sanzar negotiates tough home markets and wins big in UK, France and Middle East
Southern hemisphere rugby rights have increased significantly in global value, driven by explosive growth in the UK, France and the Middle East, and supported by strong returns in difficult core markets.
‘Existential threat’ helps league treble value
The threat of an OTT player entering the local television market helped Israel’s Premier League to a 198-per-cent increase in the value of its media rights last month.
Revamped League Cup gives BT Scottish exclusivity
Securing some Scottish club football on an exclusive basis was the primary reason BT Sport invested in rights to the revamped Scottish League Cup competition.
PPTV pays out for UFC
The Chinese digital market’s seemingly never-ending growth boosted another property last month, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship agreed a lucrative deal with PPTV Sports.
Muted response to MCL
Coupe de la Ligue secures top dollar from joint deal
Canal Plus’s recent loss of English Premier League rights in France helped the value of Coupe de la Ligue media rights increase by 119 per cent last month.
IOC’s long-term trend continues with latest deal in Brazil
An eight-Games deal with Brazilian media group Globo has helped the International Olympic Committee lock in the gains of Rio 2016 for the long-term.
State interference clears way for CCTV World Cup deal
The Chinese government has intervened in the sale of media rights to the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups in the country, ensuring a deal will eventually be struck with state broadcaster CCTV.
Nos huffs, puffs, and blows Altice away in Portuguese battle
Portuguese telco Nos has won the battle for premium domestic football rights, beating rival Altice to deals with nine more clubs.
Portability should be enough to save geo-blocked rights
The kind of portability clauses included for the first time by England’s Premier League in its recent European rights tenders look set to become an industry norm.
Free-to-air windfall for Uefa, F1 and British horse racing
Concurrent auction processes for three UK media rights deals in recent weeks generated strong competition between free-to-air broadcasters, helping each rights-holder to a healthy fee increase.
ATP and WTA see decent returns in Canadian deals
The premier men’s and women’s tennis tours struck new media rights deals in Canada last month, both earning decent rights-fee increases.
Salman election win could lead to major Fifa rights shake-up
A victory for Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa in Fifa presidential election could have major repercussions on the sale of Asian Football Confederation media rights.
Uefa rides the Russian storm for Euro 2016 deal
Uefa has agreed a deal in principle with the Telesport agency for Euro 2016 rights in Russia, a deal which appears to have been worth the wait for European football’s governing body.
Saran’s Premier delight tempered by Euro 2016 loss
The Saran Media agency has suffered mixed fortunes in Turkey over the last fortnight, securing rights to England’s Premier League but losing out on Euro 2016 to Turkish state broadcaster TRT.
Watching Brief (Vol.116) Special Focus: UK TV Sports Viewing – 2015 Review
John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, reviews the most-watched events of 2015 on UK television
Tebas: beIN and telco rivals drive historic deals which prove LaLiga sceptics wrong
LaLiga president Javier Tebas this week described the Spanish league’s new domestic media rights deals as “historic” in terms of income and the completion of the move to collective selling.