Analysis

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) accepted a fee from telco Telefónica for Supercopa de España domestic rights that was just half its original target, driven by a dearth of competition for the property.

Sports marketing companies and private equity houses bidding to become the vehicle for the delivery of Fifa’s new China-hosted club competition in 2021 will face the same challenge: the competition is only likely to be successful if a Chinese company is involved.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s new deal with the South African Football Association was agreed at a more than 50-per-cent reduction on the pair’s previous rights agreement, with the broadcaster’s financial difficulties key to the decline.

The differing treatment of media operators in the latest Belgian Pro League domestic rights tender is justifiable as a way of increasing competition, according to the country’s competition authority.

Mobile gaming and streaming company Bilibili is hoping its deal for rights to the next three League of Legends World Championships will demonstrate the strategic power of top-tier esports content in China.

Premier League club Liverpool’s decision to launch ‘paid-for’ content options on global video-sharing platform YouTube is a taster of how the platform will develop its sports-broadcasting partnerships.

TF1 and M6’s joint acquisition of Euro 2020 free-to-air rights was struck at a similar per-match fee as the one they paid for the last comparable edition of the tournament, in 2012.

There are two truisms in the sale of sports media rights which at first glance appear difficult to reconcile. One is that every market has a unique set of characteristics and the value earned is contingent upon those characteristics at the moment the rights are sold. The other is that the early deals in a market-by-market sales cycle create a psychological benchmark which affects how sales in the following markets play out.

The International Olympic Committee extended a long run of media-rights revenue growth in Japan in its latest deal with the market’s free-to-air broadcaster consortium for 2026 to 2032, when the special case of the large Tokyo 2020 sales cycle is disregarded.

Absent any competition for Greek Cup rights in Cyprus, Cyta translated a 33-per-cent fall in inventory directly into a near one-third discount. 

Mediapro’s accusation of impropriety in the Uefa Champions League tender process in France has cast a cloud over a record rights-fee outcome for Uefa in the country. But the agency’s threat to take Uefa to court may not be credible, industry experts told SportBusiness Media.

Competition to create effective digital offerings in the US drove a hike in value for Uefa’s club competitions for the 2021-22 to 2023-24 cycle. CBS overcame strong opposition to surprise the market in acquiring English-language rights, while Univision renewed its high-performing Spanish-language rights.

Saran Media has leveraged its long-standing relationship with the All England Lawn Tennis Club to extend its deal for Wimbledon rights in Turkey and Central Asia.

The value of Spanish football’s LaLiga in Turkey has fallen by more than 40 per cent in pay-television broadcaster D-Smart’s acquisition of exclusive multi-platform rights to the property. The deal was the direct result of the cancellation of LaLiga’s agreement with Digiturk earlier this season.

US media group Discovery continues to push for dominance over tennis in Europe, acquiring exclusive rights to the ATP World Tour in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

RTBF’s Olympic sublicensing deal with US media group Discovery was delayed by the Belgian broadcaster’s determination not to exceed the amount it committed to the European Broadcasting Union’s failed attempt to acquire the property, SportBusiness Media understands.