Asia
Features
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
Navigating the payments minefield is crucial for Asian OTT services
While over-the-top broadcasting platforms are increasing in popularity internationally, their growth in Asia has been restrained by challenges around pricing, piracy, and payments.
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.
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.