Americas
Features
Conmebol World Cup qualifier distributors face losses after disastrous US process
Potential US buyers baulked at the asking price for media rights to Conmebol’s 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, exposing several members of the seven-strong selling consortium to significant losses on their investments.
OneFootball pays discounted fee to pick up Ligue 1 rights in Brazil
Digital streaming platform OneFootball has picked up French Ligue 1 rights in Brazil at a substantial discount after DAZN’s exit from the market.
IMG salvages Serie A exposure in Brazil but income drastically reduced
IMG has found new homes for the 2020-21 Serie A rights in Brazil after DAZN cancelled its deal. But the replacement deals will bring in significantly lower revenue, SportBusiness Media understands.
Bundesliga makes South America exposure play in OneFootball tie-up
Difficult markets conditions across South America has led Bundesliga International to push for greater exposure across the region.
Conmebol counts cost of Globo exit after Copa Libertadores deal agreed with SBT
The value of Copa Libertadores free-to-air rights in Brazil has halved in commercial broadcaster SBT’s deal following media group Globo’s vacation of the rights in the country.
Jair Bolsonaro’s swipe at Globo injects yet more uncertainty into Brazilian football
The business of Brazilian club football is a minefield at the best of times, but a temporary change to the law by the country’s president Jair Bolsonaro has made it even trickier, especially for dominant media giant, Globo.
Fox eyes future renewals after parting ways with US Golf Association
US broadcaster Fox elected to walk away from its rights to US Golf Association events to free up funds for properties more fitting its portfolio, market experts have told SportBusiness Media.
IndyCar takes slight Brazil rights-fee hit in one-year Bandeirantes renewal
Brazilian broadcaster Bandeirantes has agreed a one-year extension to its IndyCar rights, paying a lower per-year and per-race fee for the Covid-truncated 2020 season.
MLB sees sharp fee hike in Turner renewal ahead of possible postseason expansion
Major League Baseball has secured a domestic renewal with Turner Sports for the 2022-28 cycle worth over 50 per cent more than the broadcaster’s current outlay. But the league is looking to boost rights revenues further, with plans to significantly expand the postseason.
CBS Sports leverages women’s football growth in NWSL deal
CBS Sports' acquisition of National Women's Soccer League media rights underlines the network's growing commitment to soccer in the United States and is a significant attempt to leverage the growing popularity of the women's game in the country.
FREE | Soccer in the United States report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the media-rights landscape for soccer in the United States.
Soccer in the United States report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the media-rights landscape for soccer in the United States.
Fox Sports, ESPN merger offers glimpse into consolidating Brazilian market
The merger of Fox Sports and ESPN’s Brazilian arms further consolidates the country’s sports broadcast market and could make it even more difficult for international rights-holders to extract value from an already tricky territory.
Brazilian clubs, federation ‘opt for expertise over cash’ in Brasileiro betting rights deal
Brazilian Série A football clubs and the Conferderação Brasileira de Futebol, the nation’s football association, may have learned the lessons of previous doomed tenders by opting for expertise over cash in its betting streaming and data rights deal for the 2020-23 cycle, experts told SportBusiness Media.
Amazon’s NFL renewal unlikely to herald major push in next cycle
The Thursday Night Football renewal between US tech and retail giant Amazon and the National Football League makes sense for both parties. But it does not mark a staging post from which Amazon could disrupt the make-up of the NFL’s main media-rights partners in the next cycle, US media experts say.
Brasileiro Série A international rights set for correction with GSRM offer
The offer Brazilian football clubs accepted for their international rights from the newly-created GSRM agency is much more realistic than the outlandish valuations that characterised previous tenders, experts told SportBusiness Media.
Turner’s likely Brasileiro Série A cancellation heralds bleak future for rights-holders
US pay-television broadcaster Turner Sports’s likely cancelation of its pay-television rights with eight top-flight Brasilieiro Série A clubs could see a collapse in competition in the Brazilian domestic football rights market experts told SportBusiness Media.
Dorna prioritises exposure over rights fee in NBC deal
Dorna Sports, the commercial rights-holder of MotoGP, has prioritised exposure over the rights fee in its deal with US network NBC for the 2020-22 cycle, SportBusiness Media understands.
Formula One closes North American rights cycle with Canadian fee rise
Formula One Management, the commercial rights-holder of Formula One, has rounded out a successful North American rights cycle by increasing its fees in Canada by roughly a fifth, while also earning a healthy rights fee in the US.
Streamlined Copa del Rey rights process tempts ESPN Brasil into three-year deal
With Copa del Rey rights now available in one package, ESPN Brasil was comfortable agreeing a three-season deal for a competition that has historically been a tough sell in the territory.
ESPN continues football spending spree with Copa del Rey acquisition
US sports broadcaster ESPN has reaffirmed its strategic commitment to football by paying a substantial sum for exclusive rights to the Spanish Copa del Rey knock-out competition.
Uefa benefits from US digital battle as club competition values soar
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.
Bundesliga agrees big fee rise in US with ESPN, but takes exposure gamble
The Bundesliga is taking a calculated gamble in its new US media-rights deal, with ESPN, as despite the huge increase in the rights fee the deal involves a significant reduction in linear television exposure.
BeIN’s embattled US operation pays premium to secure marquee LaLiga rights
Pay-television broadcaster beIN will pay a more than 10-per-cent uplift in rights fees for Spanish football’s LaLiga over the course of its new four-season renewal in North America, SportBusiness Media understands, despite the challenging conditions beIN faces in that market.