Eleven Sports’ acquisition of Formula One in Portugal will bring diversity to its offering in the country but will have little impact on market leader Sport TV’s business.
Eleven will hold Formula One rights for three years, from 2019 to 2021, replacing pay-television broadcaster Eurosport as the motorsport series’ exclusive broadcaster in the country.
Eurosport will hold rights until the end of the 2018 season and is unlikely to have bid aggressively to retain them. The broadcaster will rely on its portfolio of tennis and cycling in Portugal – the backbone of its pan-European portfolio.
Sport TV held exclusive rights to Formula One in 2017, sublicensing them from Eurosport. It renewed this deal in 2018.
While Sport TV can still claim dominance – it holds rights to all domestic football, the English Premier League and Serie A – Eleven took Uefa Champions League and Spanish LaLiga rights from Sport TV earlier in the summer, bringing competition to a previously lifeless Portuguese market.