Constantin Medien plans to launch a second free-to-air sports channel as part of a strategic shift that will allow the German media company to concentrate its efforts on the sports sector.
The decision was taken following a tumultuous annual general meeting, in which a number of shareholders, including the former chairman of the management board Bernhard Burgener, were reportedly not allowed to vote on the changes.
After the two-day meeting, the company said that it had approved the proposal of the management board and supervisory board for a “strategic reorientation” to focus on its sports and event marketing divisions. The company said that this would lead to a “separation from the film division, a clear streamlining of the group’s structures and an improvement in the financial structure of Constantin Medien.”
No further details about the new sports channel, which will be called Sport2, were immediately available. Constantin currently operates free-to-air channel Sport1, and pay-television channels Sport1 Plus and Sport1 US, as well as the Team Marketing agency.
“As we see it, positioning as a sports-only company is the long-term best and most promising strategy for the Constantin Medien Group,” Fred Kogel, the current chairman of the management board, said. “This gives us the opportunity to sustainably increase the profitability of our group.”
In March 2015, Team Marketing reached a long-term agreement with Uefa, European football's governing body, under which it will continue as the exclusive agent for the global marketing of commercial rights relating to the Champions League, Europa League and Super Cup club competitions.
The term of the new agency agreement covers Uefa club competitions from the 2015-16 season to the end of the 2020-21 campaign and, subject to Team’s ongoing performance, will also include seasons 2021-22 to 2023-24. Team is responsible for the world-wide marketing of media, sponsorship and licensing rights to the three competitions.