South America

Agency Tenfield is understood to have struck a deal in principle for global rights to Ecuador’s domestic football competitions.

The International Paralympic Committee has hailed record audience figures for its 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro stating the organisation has benefited from a change in strategy for its rights deals.

The Brazilian Confederation of University Sports (CBDU) has agreed a rights deal with Esporte Interativo under which the pay-television broadcaster will cover the 2017 summer Universiade multi-sport event.

The Argentinian Football Association has selected a joint proposal by US media companies Fox and Turner as the winner in the auction for rights to the domestic Primera División.

Social video production company Grabyo has appointed sports and entertainment executive Mike Kelley as its new president of the Americas to lead a new office in New York that will focus on new projects in North and South America.

Lagardère Sports and Mediapro deals illustrate the inroads international agencies continue to make in the Latin American sports-rights market.

The Mediapro agency has agreed a production rights deal with the Liga de Fútbol Profesional Boliviana, the top division of club football in Bolivia, under a wide-ranging contract with the championship’s rights-holder, The Game.

The Mediapro agency has emerged as a late entrant into the competition for Argentinian Football Association rights as the auction kicked off yesterday (Monday) with three bidding parties.

Brazil’s Paranaense Football Federation (FPF) has been criticised after it made the late decision to postpone a Campeonato Paranaense state championship game between Atletico Paranaense and Coritiba that was due to be live streamed via social media platforms Facebook and YouTube.

The Uruguayan Football Association has appointed the Mediapro agency as the body’s distribution partner for domestic tournaments and national team matches.

The Lagardère Sports agency has signed a multi-year agreement with Chilean sports television network Canal del Fútbol to market the broadcast rights of domestic football to international territories.

The Argentinian Football Association has reportedly rejected a request from intellectual asset management company Consor to extend the deadline for submitting a bid for the next set of rights to the domestic game, while US media companies Fox and Turner are said to be seeking clarification over certain parts of the process.

The Argentinian Football Association and the government have agreed terms on the termination of the Fútbol para Todos contract as stakeholders close in on agreements that will result in the return of domestic action.

The Fox Networks Group Latin America division of media company 21st Century Fox has secured fresh carriage deals in the region with pan-regional pay-television operator DirecTV and Brazilian pay-television operator Sky Brasil.

Torneos has confirmed that former chief executive Alejandro Burzaco has divested himself of his remaining equity interest in the Argentinian media group and sports-rights agency and is no longer a shareholder of the company.

Clubs in the top two divisions of Argentinian football, the Primera División and Primera B Nacional, have agreed on a timeline that is set to decide the new rights-holder for the domestic game ahead of a planned return to action on March 3.