Turkey

Türk Telekom has agreed a shock deal for rights to the country’s Basketbol Süper Ligi, unseating beIN – the league’s preferred partner – with a huge bid.

Saran Media has renewed its Formula One rights in Turkey for the next three years, from 2018 to 2020, in a deal thought to have remained roughly flat on the previous cycle

The Infront agency is likely to benefit from relatively strong competition for domestic rights to the Turkish basketball league in its tender, despite difficult market conditions in the country.

BeIN Media Group has acquired Uefa Champions League rights in Turkey for a slightly reduced fee, meaning it will show both of the governing body’s club competitions from 2018-19 onward.

Saran Media is set to acquire rights to the Uefa Europa League in Turkey for a marginally smaller fee than the governing body’s allocation in the current cycle, TV Sports Markets understands.

The depreciation of the Turkish lira since 2014 continues to hurt the value of football rights in the country. Italy’s Serie A, the German Bundesliga and – most significantly – Turkey’s domestic cup, have all been affected.

Sports broadcaster Eurosport has completed its set of grand slam tennis rights in Turkey and Central Asia, acquiring Wimbledon rights from Saran Media in a three-year deal.

The Turkish Süper Lig’s tender structure has been drastically changed shortly before bids are due on November 21, making incumbent broadcaster Digiturk the clear favourite to renew its rights.

Türk Telekom has acquired rights to an assortment of European basketball leagues in recent weeks to compensate for its lack of Euroleague and Turkish domestic league coverage.

The Saran Media agency will become Turkey’s newest sports broadcaster in November, abandoning its role as a broker of media-rights deals in favour of exploiting rights itself.

The MP & Silva agency has secured a solid increase in the value of Serie A media rights in Turkey, but will wait to see how the market develops before committing to a deal for more than one season.

Political turmoil, arguments over price and the beginning of Turkish Süper Lig negotiations has created a logjam in the Turkish sports-rights market, badly affecting rights-holders including the International Olympic Committee and the English Premier League.

The revamp of Turkish professional football agreed earlier this month, which will give Süper Lig clubs control over their media-rights sales, has been guided by sports consultancy Opto Advisers.

The Saran Media agency’s barter deal with Turkish commercial broadcaster TV8 for National Basketball Association rights demonstrates how local interest in the NBA has waned over the last two years.

Turkish state broadcaster TRT is set to sublicense a package of Euro 2016 matches to pay-television operator Digiturk.

The Saran Media agency has suffered mixed fortunes in Turkey over the last fortnight, securing rights to England’s Premier League but losing out on Euro 2016 to Turkish state broadcaster TRT.

Fox’s deal to sublicense rights to the 2016 Olympic Games in Turkey to the Saran Media agency marks the end of its failed experiment with sport in the Turkish market.

BeIN Media Group’s recent rights deals in Canada, as well as negotiations in Spain and Turkey, demonstrate the company’s ability to adapt to market conditions in expanding its pay-television operation beyond its core market of the Middle East and North Africa.