Analysis

Lega Basket, the governing body of top tier Italian basketball, saw its domestic pay-television media-rights income growth slow considerably in the 2020-22 rights round, driven by a significantly less competitive market.

China’s sports media-rights market is in the throes of a major correction, with the OTT platforms that have driven growth in the last five years seeking to renegotiate a string of deals.

Dutch telco Ziggo has secured another fee reduction in its latest renewal of Spanish LaLiga rights amid a lack of competition in the market.

International media group Discovery has continued its sublicensing agreement with DAZN into 2020-21 at the same fee after the former’s attempt to terminate its Bundesliga rights deal was thwarted by the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS).

The Portuguese arm of pay-television broadcaster Eleven Sports has only slightly raised its per-season outlay on Spanish LaLiga rights, for the 2021-24 cycle, with the property looking to have hit a ceiling in the territory.

IMG Arena has maintained its outlay on betting streaming rights to the top tier of Brazilian domestic basketball in a six-year renewal of the property.

After a five-month delay and a few matches shaved off the top, this season’s Uefa Champions League and Europa League have finally come to a close. The one-legged format used from the quarterfinals produced one of the most exciting tournaments in recent memory, prompting Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin to ponder whether Uefa could learn a thing or two for future seasons.

Canal Plus and the European Tour renewed their deal in France for a mammoth eight years in what is seen as an attempt by the broadcaster to fend off the potential threat of Discovery’s GolfTV channel.

The Asian Football Confederation and the Football Marketing Asia agency are to renegotiate the terms of their landmark, $2.4bn (€2bn) global commercial rights contract covering 2021-28, SportBusiness understands.

The Polish Esktraklasa was able to avoid paying domestic rebates for the suspended 2019-20 season by extending its existing deals with pay-television broadcaster Platforma Canal Plus and public-service broadcaster TVP for a further two seasons on unchanged final terms.

While Sri Lanka Cricket has closed a protracted sales process for its global media rights from 2020 to 2023, the board’s income for the period is yet to be fully determined and will be affected by a shifting international cricket calendar.

Belgium’s Pro League saw a sizeable uplift in the value of its international betting streaming rights in its deal with sports data and technology company Stats Perform for the 2020-25 cycle.

Israeli pay-television broadcaster The Sports Channel’s latest renewal with the National Basketball Association saw it double its expenditure on a property with which it has become synonymous.

The value of FA Cup rights in Hong Kong fell again in commercial broadcaster TVB’s deal for the 2020-24 cycle, which followed the collapse of the two prior broadcast agreements in the territory.

Hungarian commercial and pay-television broadcaster TV2 has renewed rights to Spain’s LaLiga, as it looks to secure key rights to retain its dominant position amid new competition.

The German Bundesliga’s strategy of intertwining international media-rights agreements with ancillary brand-building and football development activities has continued in its deal with Indonesian OTT and pay-television platform Mola TV.