Analysis
Probe will look at why ‘winner’ Sky was denied rights
The surprise decision of the Italian antitrust authority to launch an investigation into the live rights deals for Serie A will reopen the question of why the league ignored the outcome of its own auction in June 2014.
Furious NC Plus to get a second bite at the cherry
The award of the domestic live rights to Poland’s top football league, the Ekstraklasa, is likely to come down to a straight shootout between the incumbent rights-holder, pay-television platform NC Plus, and Eleven, the new channel operated by Andrea Radrizzani.
Seven dives into the pool
Australian commercial broadcaster Seven will broadcast the 2015 and 2017 World Championships run by Fina, the global governing body of aquatic sports. Fina, and its marketing agent Dentsu, had failed to agree a deal covering the 2013 event in the country.
Matchroom secures Sky increase
Boxing promoter Matchroom Sport is thought to have secured a small increase in the value of its rights in last week’s renewal with UK pay-television broadcaster Sky.
ITN out to ‘stir up’ the business
ITN Productions is planning “to stir up the sports business” following its deal with the English Football League, managing director Mark Browning told TV Sports Markets this week.
Kenyan FA under fire over contents of MP & Silva deal
The Football Kenya Federation is embroiled in two separate, but related, disputes which will have a major impact on how both domestic league and national team rights are sold.
Scramble for Asian rights continues ahead of qualifiers
Qualifier matches for the 2019 Asian Cup begin on June 11 with about a dozen Asian football federations yet to sell second- and third-party media rights to their home matches to an agency.
NRL timing switch will test budgets and priorities
The National Rugby League’s decision to accelerate its sales process means the two biggest sport properties in Australia will negotiate new deals simultaneously.
Watching Brief (Vol.102) Special Focus: Football – English Premier League
Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence examines television audiences in the UK for the 2014-15 English Premier League season
Strikes, threats, and insults – but La Liga collective selling decree set to become law
The Royal Decree that paves the way for the collective selling of Spanish Liga media rights generated fallout – a week of strike threats, insults and posturing by all sides – which diverted attention from what remains a momentous change in Spanish football.
Ufa bosses go back for ‘something big’
The senior management of Ufa Sports supported the sale of the agency to Lagardère Unlimited on the understanding that Lagardère has ambitions to become a major force in the sports-rights market once again, TV Sports Markets understands.
Infront’s China/Africa axis is threat to Sportfive contract
The Confédération Africaine de Football could be set for a huge increase in the value of its global media and marketing rights, as negotiations with incumbent rights-holder Sportfive and rival agency Infront Sports & Media near a conclusion.
Nova renews; but two clubs out
Greek pay-television broadcaster Nova extended its deal for Greek Superleague rights by two seasons last week, although two clubs still oppose the renewal.
Italian club football on the up
Marco Bianchi, president of the B4 Capital agency, this week told TV Sports Markets that his company’s aggressive bid to win the international rights to Italy’s Coppa Italia and Supercoppa showed that Italian football was far healthier than some critics have suggested.
Expansion into Asia-Pacific drives revenues for ICC
Revenues for the 2015 International Champions Cup summer friendly competition are set to double as a consequence of expanding to three tournaments, and adding matches in Australia, China, England, Italy and Mexico to the US and Canada.
Diamond League secures coverage in two vital markets
Pan-regional sports broadcaster Eurosport took advantage of a lack of competition to secure live rights for the Diamond League athletics series in the key German and UK markets ahead of the 2015 season.
Rivals put aside enmities to deliver record global rights fees for ‘fight of the century’
The welterweight clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas this Saturday is set to smash all records for media-rights revenue for a single fight.
Agencies and channels jostle for position
The annual congress of the Asian Football Confederation, which took place this week in Bahrain, was ostensibly a political event - but a whole range of media-rights issues were under discussion.