Asia
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Basketball market report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the basketball media-rights landscape.
Star snatches Cricket South Africa rights in India from Sony
Indian pay-television broadcaster Star is poised to strengthen its grip on cricket broadcasting in the subcontinent by beating incumbent Sony to the rights for Cricket South Africa content.
Winnie Chan, chief commercial officer, Malaysian Football League
Winnie Chan discusses the latest Malaysian Football League domestic media and sponsorship rights deals and the challenges the league has faced, and the action it is taking to overcome them.
Malaysian football rights values come back down to earth as Telekom returns
The value of the Malaysia Football League’s domestic media and sponsorship rights have dropped significantly in the latest deal with Telekom Malaysia after two previous rights rounds of inflated valuations and, ultimately, collapsed deals.
Digital Consortium powers KBO growth but its sports ambitions thought limited
The emergence of a ‘digital consortium’ to rival the long-standing Korea Pool of free-to-air broadcasters led the Korea Baseball Organisation to record-breaking rights income for its new cycle in the most recently concluded deals. But local industry experts see the digital consortium (DC) deal as a one-off and do not expect it to become a major player in the sports media-rights market.
Indian Super League viewership rises
Television audiences for India's top football league, the Indian Super League, increased strongly in the 2019-20 season according to the Broadcast Audience Research Council
Sony’s WWE renewal includes WWE Network, Wrestlemania debuts on Fox Sports PPV
Pay-television broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks has finalised an extension and expansion to its rights deal in the Indian subcontinent with US-based wrestling organisation WWE, securing exclusive access…
Facebook in talks for stake in Indian telco Jio
Facebook is in talks to acquire a 10-per-cent stake in Indian mobile telco Reliance Jio, according to the Financial Times
Tencent reports increased revenues and profits, warns on virus impact
Chinese digital media company Tencent reported large increases in revenues and profits in 2019, but warned of the impact on its business of the coronavirus epidemic
WWE earns another big fee rise from Sony in India
World Wrestling Entertainment’s media-rights income from the Indian subcontinent has increased about 80 per cent in a deal being finalised with pay-television broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks, SportBusiness Media understands.
FanCode targets ‘long-tail’ content for Indian subscription video launch this year
Indian online sports media platform FanCode is launching a subscription video product this year, built on content not currently covered by Indian broadcasters.
K-League closes on deal, but national-team rights still unsold in Korea
The Korea Football Association is finalising a deal with pay-television broadcaster JTBC for domestic K-League media rights for the 2020-23 cycle, but men’s senior national-team matches remain on the market after a lacklustre response to a tender held in January.
Media-rights revenue not primary goal for Riot Games
Riot Games has been prolific in sealing League of Legends esports media-rights deals with Asian streaming platforms in recent months, but such deals remain secondary to the company's primary focus of games publishing.
CJ ENM’s re-emergence fails to help DDMC Fortis avert AFC fee fall in Korea
CJ ENM’s step back into sport after a near-decade-long hiatus was not enough to save DDMC Fortis from a fee decline in its sale of Asian Football Confederation rights in South Korea for the 2021-24 cycle.
Unsuccessful initial tender raises questions over K-League’s domestic media strategy
Korea’s K-League and the Korean Football Association have pooled their media rights, but an initial tender attracted no firm bids, forcing the rights-holders to extend the deadline and change the tender’s terms to allow consortia to participate.
Fifa will need more than eager investors to make new club competition work
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.
Bilibili aims to fulfil esports potential in China with League of Legends deal
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.
IOC extends non-Tokyo Games rights growth trend in Japan to 2032
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.
Sport spearheads Djarum’s bid for ‘premium player’ status in Indonesian media
OTT platform Mola TV has lit a fire under the Indonesian sports-media industry in the last year with the rapid rollout of its new service and a string of media-rights acquisitions. In an exclusive interview, Mirwan Suwarso, a representative of the company, tells SportBusiness Media that sports content is the spearhead of a wider plan by parent company Djarum to create a major domestic and international media business.
Plan B in talks to sublicense Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Thailand
The Plan B Media agency is in talks with multiple broadcasters in Thailand to sublicense the Tokyo 2020 Olympics rights, which it acquired from the Japan-based Dentsu agency in a surprise move this summer.
Thai FA aims to attract international bidders to drive rights value in new tender
The Football Association of Thailand and its media-rights sales adviser, the Octagon agency, expect a competitive market to deliver a revenue increase of over a third in their forthcoming tender for domestic and international rights to club and home-fixture national team events for the 2021-28 cycle.
NBA talks go to wire in the Philippines after Solar loses appetite
Filipino pay-television broadcaster Solar Entertainment Corporation withdrew from talks to renew its long-held rights to the National Basketball Association last week after deciding the property had become too expensive, SportBusiness Media understands.
DAZN cuts LaLiga losses in Vietnam with SCTV sublicense deal
DAZN has sublicensed its rights to Spanish football’s LaLiga in Vietnam to local pay-television broadcaster SCTV from 2019-20 to 2022-23, substantially cutting its losses on the property after postponing plans to launch an OTT service in Southeast Asia.
Emtek picks up Uefa Champions League rights in Indonesia after FMA deal collapse
Indonesian media company Elang Mahkota Teknologi (Emtek) has agreed a two-season deal with Uefa for Champions League and Europa League rights, which became available after the collapse of the rights-holder’s deal with the Futbal Momentum Asia agency.
Ewell Zhao, General Manager, Tencent Sports
Ewell Zhao talks about Tencent’s rights renewal with the NBA, its method for valuing sports media rights and the future of the Chinese sports video streaming industry.
China’s Tencent sees off Youku to keep NBA digital rights in record deal
Chinese social media giant Tencent saw off competition from rival streaming player Youku Tudou to retain the NBA’s digital rights in the country for the 2020-25 cycle at a record-breaking fee, underscoring the strong growth in China’s streaming market in recent years.
Fox squeeze opens door to GolfTV push for The Open in Asia-Pacific
Fox Sports Asia’s desire to reduce its spend on rights to The Open in Asia-Pacific opened the door for OTT platform GolfTV to grab non-exclusive rights alongside the pay-television broadcaster.
Ambitious JTBC shakes Korean FTA broadcasters, delivers strong Olympics fee for IOC
South Korean pay-television broadcaster JTBC’s recent acquisition of Olympics Games rights has jolted the country’s sluggish sports media rights market and delivered an unexpectedly strong fee increase for the International Olympic Committee.