Analysis

Pay-television broadcaster Star India asked for a delay to the start of the Indian Super League because of internal issues with the franchise football tournament, not, as widely reported, to avoid a clash with the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Dutch commercial broadcaster SBS this week bought rights to friendly matches of the Dutch national football team from Fox International Channels, in a sublicensing deal which is thought to cover the cost of Fox’s initial deal for the rights.

German pay-television broadcaster Sportdigital last week picked up the rights to the Belgian Pro League in a deal covering just the 2014-15 season.

The breakdown of the agreement between the MP & Silva agency and the Chinese Professional Baseball League shows one of the main limitations of advisory deals compared to traditional buy-out deals, insiders say.

Mike Kiernan, Analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, looks at television audiences in the major European markets and America for the 2014 Fifa World Cup

IMG said this week that its new merged events and media division would create efficiencies and provide opportunities that had been stymied by the compartmentalised management structure operated by private equity owners Forstmann Little prior to the sale of the agency late last year.

The Danish Superliga has increased its domestic rights fee despite limited competition by offering its rights for six years – an option opened up by a change in policy by the country’s competition authority.

The United States Golf Association was able to use the competition, or the threat of it, in the UK pay-television market to secure a strong increase in value of the rights to the US Open.

The Pragosport agency is understood to have broken even on its deal for the Czech football league following two broadcast deals it agreed at the end of last month.

The MP & Silva agency agreed deals for highlights and clips rights to the Belgian Pro League late last month, taking it towards breakeven on the  property.

Uefa achieved another big increase in the value of its Champions and Europa League rights in the Indian subcontinent in its renewal earlier this month with incumbent rights-holder Ten Sports.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven is paying a high price in its deal for the Olympic Games of 2016, 2018 and 2020, local media-rights experts say, but the broadcaster will view the deal as a good investment for a number of reasons.

Last week’s Serie A rights-sharing deal between Italian pay-television operators Mediaset Premium and Sky Italia does not appear to presage a wider truce between the two companies, including a sharing of Uefa Champions League rights.

The MP & Silva agency agreed deals with the three leading pay-television operators in Belgium last week for the Belgian Pro League but still has an uphill struggle to avoid losing money on the contract.

Deutsche Telekom’s surprise deal for exclusive domestic basketball rights in Germany last week is small in value but potentially rich in significance.

The International Olympic Committee and the Japan Consortium of broadcasters, which this month acquired exclusive Japanese rights to the Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024, are both likely to be happy with the deal, local experts say.