Asia
Features
Pakistan Cricket Board’s new rights approach bears fruit but final income uncertain
The Pakistan Cricket Board is emerging from a round of global rights sales for the 2021-23 cycle with respectable rights fees, industry insiders say, in a vastly changed and more challenging market compared to its last sales cycle.
Big year for Korean golf rights as JTBC seeks to squeeze out SBS
It will be a consequential year for golf in South Korea, one of the most lucrative territories for the sports media rights in Asia, as one of the market’s four biggest properties comes up for renewal, a new deal begins for another, and a major golf content joint-venture gets underway.
Uefa sees nominal fee rise in club rights renewal in Indonesia
The value of Uefa club competition rights in Indonesia has risen incrementally in a renewal with media group Emtek, covering the three seasons from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
China Mobile rights spree doesn’t herald new boom, but raises hopes for competition
Three big deals by telco China Mobile have raised cautious hopes for competition in the Chinese rights market after a dreadful 2020.
Amazon stirs India with NZ Cricket deal but careful approach expected
Amazon’s push for New Zealand Cricket rights in India stirred the local media-rights market, helping the board secure a strong deal with the ecommerce giant. But the market does not expect Amazon to move quickly into sports rights in India – instead, it anticipates the same careful approach the company has used in other territories it has entered.
Varavuth Jentanakul – Zense Entertainment
Varavuth Jentanakul, founder and chief executive of Thai media company Zense Entertainment, explains the story behind his company’s landmark eight-year deal for Football Association of Thailand rights.
Strong competition lifts AFC fee in Vietnam in pre-Covid deal
The value of Asian Football Confederation rights in Vietnam rose considerably in the recent deal with telco FPT, driven by a competitive sales process that took place well before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zense, Eleven plan Thai football broadcast overhaul after FAT tender
Thai media company Zense Entertainment and international broadcaster Eleven Sports are discussing the creation of a linear and digital media platform for Thai domestic football in the wake of Zense’s landmark eight-year rights deal with the Thai FA.
Mixed fortunes for Bundesliga in challenging Asian markets
The German Bundesliga had mixed fortunes in a series of deals agreed in Asia in recent weeks, achieving relatively strong fees and coverage in some markets but struggling to finalise deals in others.
KBS stokes competition for Bundesliga rights in Korea but value drops
The surprise emergence of free-to-air broadcaster KBS as a bidder for German Bundesliga rights in South Korea generated some competition during the 2020-22 sales process, but not enough to stave off a dip in value.
Premier League sees steep discount in short-term China deal
Chinese internet giant Tencent picked up the English Premier League rights for the 2020-21 season at a massive discount compared to the value of the terminated deal with previous rights-holder PPTV.
Covid-19 bursts China bubble amid changing political, economic winds
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.
AFC and FMA to renegotiate global rights contract
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.
FA Cup rights hit again in Hong Kong in TVB deal
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.
Bundesliga ties Indonesian rights deal to Mola’s youth football focus
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.
Pay-television platforms put pressure on depleted Fox Sports
Fox Sports Asia is in a challenging series of carriage negotiations in its key markets, with pay-television platforms trying to use the pan-regional broadcaster’s eroded sports portfolio to drive down fees.
NBA takes haircut in Philippines in Cignal, Smart deal after long stalemate
The value of NBA rights in the Philippines has fallen sharply due to the withdrawal of two major sports broadcasters, Solar Entertainment and ABS-CBN, from the market.
Covid-19, betting factor boost Russian Premier League rights on Hong Kong return
The Russian Premier League has secured a strong fee from pay-television platform i-Cable for its media rights in Hong Kong.
Indonesia’s Mola TV applies brake on sports-rights investments
Indonesian OTT platform Mola TV is scaling back its investment in sports content after concluding it is not delivering value for money. The move is a blow to rights-holders selling into Indonesia as the well-resourced Mola has recently been the source of considerable rights-fee inflation.
Bundesliga secures ‘solid’ rights fee, brand-building commitments in Vietnam
The Bundesliga has secured what local experts consider a solid fee in a new deal with the Next Media agency in Vietnam, as well as commitments to joint brand-building and football development projects that the league hopes will build the value of the property.
Robert Klein and Kevin Sim – Bundesliga International
Robert Klein, CEO, and Kevin Sim, Head of Asia-Pacific, at Bundesliga International explain the German football league’s approach to the first two media-rights deals of its new sales cycle in Asia, in Japan and Vietnam.
Bundesliga starts Asian sales with Sky PerfecTV deal in Japan
Japanese pay-television broadcaster Sky PerfecTV has renewed its German Bundesliga rights at a small discount, in a deal covering the five seasons from 2020-21 to 2024-25, SportBusiness Media understands.
Hot market in Vietnam helps Lagardère raise Suzuki Cup value in four-country deal
Vietnam’s hot market for national-team football rights helped Lagardère Sports secure an increase in the value of rights in the country for the 2020 Asean Football Federation Championship.
Southeast Asia market report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the media-rights landscape in Southeast Asia