Analysis

Sub-Saharan Africa pay-television operator SuperSport has stepped in to acquire the free-to-air rights in the region to England’s Premier League after local rights-holder, Optima Sports Management International, defaulted on its payments.

The Hong Kong Premier League agreed a deal with free-to-air broadcaster ATV earlier this month, just days before the kick-off of the league’s inaugural season.

Canadian pay-television broadcaster Rogers Communications’ acquisition of the English-language regional rights to Montreal Canadiens games this month was driven by its desire to offer the full complement of Canadiens games in English on mobile and online platforms.

The IMG Events & Media agency beat off strong competition for the Asian rights to the US National Football League earlier this month, including a bid by incumbent rights-holder Yes TV.

Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences in key European markets for last month’s European Athletics Championships

Qatari pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports is in advanced negotiations to secure the rights to the German Bundesliga in the Middle East and North Africa, TV Sports Markets understands.

Private equity company Bridgepoint Capital could exploit the global expansion ambitions of the two major US sports marketing companies – WME/IMG and CAA – to secure a price in excess of €1bn ($1.32bn) for the Infront Sports & Media agency, experts say.

French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports picked up the rights to the Argentinian Primera División this week in a deal with the Pitch International agency.

The International Premier Tennis League is thought to have set the Ufa Sports agency a target for global media rights sales for this year’s inaugural event in order to trigger a two-year extension, for 2015 and 2016.

Eurosport France, the French arm of the pan-regional broadcaster, has renewed its non-exclusive domestic rights to cycling’s Tour de France.

The IMG Events & Media agency picked up the media rights for the Concacaf 2015 Gold Cup and the Champions League but strong competition failed to materialise.

The Bulgarian top-tier football league suffered a rights-fee cut in its new deal with Nova Broadcasting Group. The drop is part of a longer-term decline in the value of the league’s domestic media rights caused largely by the country’s wider economic difficulties.

Pay-television platform i-Cable paid a significant increase to retain rights amid stiff competition for the Uefa Champions League in Hong Kong.

French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports easily beat its main rival Canal Plus to land rights to European rugby’s new club tournaments, adding evidence to claims that the previously intense competition between the two broadcasters is cooling.

UK sports production and media company Sunset+Vine will look for “more and more” opportunities for rights acquisitions following its four-year archive rights deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

Fox Sports Latin America and ESPN International were forced to increase their fee for the Uefa Champions League and Europa League pay-television rights in Latin America this month to see off aggressive rival bids from Qatari-owned broadcaster beIN Sports and Spanish telco Telefónica.