Analysis

Football

Second-round bids for Portuguese Primeira Liga international rights have once again fallen below Sport TV’s expectations, despite a five-way agency shootout.

Football

Argentina’s Primera División is beset by uncertainty as a leaderless football association – its government funding withdrawn and a new season imminent – fields offers for its media rights and searches for a new president.
Football

Dutch public-service broadcaster NOS has agreed to pay an increase of just over eight per cent for rights to Euro 2020, compared to Euro 2016.
Football

On January 4, the Egyptian Competition Authority accused Caf of contravening Egyptian competition law – specifically laws surrounding abuse of a dominant position.

Cycling

German public-service broadcaster ARD is close to renewing its non-exclusive deal for Tour de France cycling rights at a small fee increase.
Football

Ecuador’s football federation and its government have reached an agreement that will ensure the existing contract for the country’s domestic league will run to the end of its term in 2017.
Handball

German pay-television broadcaster Sky triggered a clause to renew EHF Champions League rights late last year, extending its deal until 2019-20.
Football

An unsolicited Esporte Interativo offer drove media group Globo to more than treble its fee for domestic Copa do Brasil rights in a deal with the Confederação Brasileira de Futebol.
Badminton

Astro’s renewed deal with the Badminton Association of Malaysia will see the telco invest much more in promotion but is largely unchanged in cash terms.
Darts

Dutch commercial broadcaster RTL paid close to a three-fold increase to strike a long-term deal for Professional Darts Corporation rights in the Netherlands.

Please enjoy the first issue of the newly designed Watching Brief, covering UK television audiences in the week between Monday 2nd January and Sunday 8th January

Watching Brief is kicking off 2017 with a special edition ranking the UK's most-watched sports broadcasts across both pay and free-to-air television in 2016.
Football

Uefa is confident the European pay-television market – the engine room of value for Champions League media rights – is sufficiently competitive to help it reach its income targets for the next cycle.
Mixed Martial Arts

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is preparing to ditch pay-per-view as its main media-rights revenue stream in the US, as owners WME|IMG seek to increase the guaranteed revenue of July’s $3.775bn (€3.522bn) acquisition.
Football

Reigning Brazilian champion Palmeiras has brought the battle over Série A club’s pay-television rights to an end by agreeing a deal with Esporte Interativo from 2019.

Football

The MP & Silva agency will invite offers for domestic rights to Belgium’s top-tier Pro League in mid- to late-January 2017, TV Sports Markets understands.
Football

Uefa, European football’s governing body, last month secured a strong increase in the value of its national team media rights from telco Digitalb in Albania and Kosovo.
Kickboxing

The Glory kickboxing promotion has secured a huge increase in its latest deal in the Netherlands with Ziggo, leveraging stiff competition and a marquee fight between two Dutch stars to sign its most lucrative single deal to date.