Analysis
MTG renews NHL but misses out on IIHF rights in Sweden
Multi-territory broadcaster Modern Times Group renewed National Hockey League rights across the Nordics late last month, but missed out on the sport’s World Championship rights in Sweden.
SuperSport pays top dollar to retain African crown
Football rights fees across sub-Saharan Africa continued their rapid growth this month, with big increases paid for three of Europe’s major football leagues.
LeTV Sports leads charge of China’s digital brigade
China’s booming digital sports rights market has helped the Premier League, LaLiga and Uefa’s Champions League earn impressive returns in recent months from a historically difficult market.
NBC doubles fee for longer Premier League term
NBCUniversal blew its rivals out of the water to retain Premier League rights in the US earlier this month – the league’s first deal in its new international sales cycle.
Altice signals sport intent with deal for Premiership Rugby
French telco Altice signalled its intent to bid aggressively for sports rights late last month, teaming up with RDA TV to buy international Premiership Rugby rights.
NRL’s bold choice pushes Foxtel to go large on AFL
Nine’s capture of additional National Rugby League free-to-air rights helped drive a record fee for the Aussie Rules Australian Football League, as both codes agreed new deals this month.
MEDIA RIGHTS: From July 23 to August 26
Media rights clips from July 23 to August 26
Watching Brief (Vol.107) Special Focus: Cycling – Tour de France
Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences for the 2015 Tour de France
Collective switch vindicated as LaLiga overtakes Serie A following income jump
Spain’s LaLiga has leapfrogged Italy’s Serie A in media rights income to become Europe’s second most valuable league following deals agreed in recent weeks.
Masquelier: We intend to be number one
The global betting rights for Spain’s LaLiga will come to the market this summer, at a time when the betting rights market is reaching a fever pitch due to the aggressive entrance of the IMG Events & Media agency.
Race to pick off ‘highly profitable’ Traffic contracts
Several major sports-rights agencies are trying to buy Traffic Sports’s rights portfolio in the wake of the Fifa bribery scandal in which the agency is implicated.
Pay-TV premium not enough to stop free-to-air team-up
The Six Nations Committee bucked the trend when awarding its UK rights earlier this month, opting for wide coverage from free-to-air broadcasters and leaving pay-television money on the table.
Japan hosting helps IPC land its biggest broadcast deal
The value of exclusivity and a home Games in 2020 helped the International Paralympic Committee strike its biggest-ever deal, with Japanese state broadcaster NHK, late last month.
Shift to pay-TV helps R&A boost global Open revenue
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club is expected to increase its global media rights revenue by about 64 per cent from 2015 to 2017.
New BTV deals part of continued market shake-up
Pay-television channel BTV, owned by Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica, this month acquired exclusive rights to three second-tier properties in Portugal.
Premier League boosts coverage in China; sells UK clips
The value of Premier League internet rights increased hugely in deals in China, but the value of digital clips in the UK remained flat in this week’s deal with Sky.
MP & Silva opts for wider coverage in deal with MSM
Star India’s strategic shift away from overseas sport allowed Multi Screen Media to buy rights to Italy’s Serie A and the English FA Cup earlier this month.
Watching Brief (Vol.106) Special Focus: Football – Fifa Women’s World Cup
Lukas Zajancauskas, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences for this year's Fifa Women's World Cup.