Analysis
Sky opts for initial short-term Women’s Premier League deal
Sky Sports acquired exclusive rights to the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League after deciding, for now, to agree a one-year deal rather than make a long-term commitment.
Sport1 secures last-minute highlights deal as Sky ponders F1 strategy
Commercial broadcaster Sport1 struck an eleventh-hour deal with Sky Deutschland for Formula 1 highlights in Germany, ensuring there will be regular free-to-air coverage of the motor racing series in the market throughout 2023.
Legends League T20 grows media revenue in new Star deal
Legends League Cricket is already the second most-watched T20 property in India, according to Raman Raheja, its co-founder and chief executive.
Sky holds off Netflix challenge to secure ATP/WTA clean sweep
Sky pounced on its opportunity to take ATP Tour and WTA Tour rights on an exclusive basis across the UK, Ireland, DACH and Italy, but was almost beaten to the package by Netflix.
SRG sparks debate after paying up for Uefa club competition rights
Public-service broadcaster SRG SSR has kicked off a debate in Switzerland over the role of licence fee-funded media after outmuscling its commercial rivals to recapture free-to-air rights to Uefa club competitions.
Nine splashes out with bet on Brisbane to monetise Olympics deal
Nine Entertainment secured exclusive rights in Australia to the Summer and Winter Olympic Games from 2024 to 2032 after evaluating that it could harness its broad media portfolio to successfully monetise the rights.
Viaplay brings Finland into MotoGP fold to cement pole position
Multi-platform subscription broadcaster Viaplay has tightened its grip on motorsport properties in the Nordic region through a six-season agreement for exclusive MotoGP rights.
BT Sport exploits gap to bag India-Australia series
Pay-television broadcaster BT Sport faced no strong competition in its acquisition of exclusive rights in the UK and Ireland for Australia’s current tour of India.
Sportklub doubles fee to renew Euroleague rights in Balkans
Sportklub retained its Euroleague Basketball rights in the Balkans after agreeing to more than double its fee during private negotiations, bucking a trend that has seen it lose out on key properties to free-spending rival Telekom Srbija.
F1 goes DTC in India as non-cricket properties face tough times
Formula 1 launched its OTT platform F1 TV Pro in India prior to the 2023 season’s start after none of India’s major sports broadcasters offered a high enough rights fee for the motor racing series.
ECB provides makeweight to ensure Sky coverage of England’s Bangladesh tour
The England and Wales Cricket Board stepped in at the last minute with a makeweight to the fee offered by Sky Sports to ensure England’s current white-ball tour of Bangladesh was shown on Sky as well as on the ECB's own digital channels.
NFL deal helps Google park tanks on traditional pay-TV’s lawn
For YouTube, as a sports content platform, the deal represents a dramatic acceleration of its ambitions in pay-television in the US.
IOC retains value of European rights despite lack of competition
The bidding alliance formed by the EBU and WBD faced no pan-European competition from an agency alternative during the IOC's recent tender, prompting protracted negotiations over the fee and additional inventory to get a deal over the line.
EFL offers rights a la carte to entice Viaplay, DAZN to fight Sky
SportBusiness Media analyses the EFL's global media rights tender, in which an a la carte menu has been provided to bidders, with 26 standalone packages available.
Televisa’s World Cup cash-in could prevent Fifa from hitting lofty targets
Gianni Infantino expects Fifa to increase its media rights revenue by almost $1bn in the 2023-26 cycle, but his media rights sales team will go to market with a millstone around its neck.
Euroleague set to maintain Greek growth despite limited competition
Euroleague Basketball is set to increase the value of its media rights in Greece and Cyprus, despite a foretold shootout between Greek pay-television rivals Nova and Cosmote never coming to pass.
Revamped Malaysian Football League secures domestic rights increase
The Malaysian Football League secured a strong increase in its media rights income in new domestic deals with pay-television broadcaster Astro and public-service broadcaster RTM.
Ziggo breaks the bank for Uefa club rights in Netherlands
Uefa and and its sales agent Team Marketing have benefitted from the increasingly dynamic Dutch market, securing a massive increase in value for media rights to Uefa club competitions.