The global value of sports media rights has broken the $60bn barrier for the first time, boosted by the Summer Olympic Games and Uefa Euro 2024, according to the new SportBusiness Global Media Report.
The total value stands at $62.61bn for 2024, a 12-per-cent increase on last year’s figure of $55.85bn, with the year-on-year growth propelled by the presence this year of several marquee global events.
The top sports have also increased their value. This year saw particular growth from cricket (over 15 per cent up on 2023) and US college sports (over 12-per cent growth).
Football and American football dominate, together bringing in 54.5 per cent of the overall value. Football’s value has increased by almost 12 per cent on last year, bolstering its already-commanding position as the world’s most valuable sport. It holds over a one-third share of global media rights revenues.
Broadly, the world’s major properties continue to thrive despite flattening or declining rights fees felt by many others. This year saw the NBA strike 11-year, $76bn global media rights agreements with incumbent Disney and newcomers NBC and Amazon from 2025-26.
In 2025, the headline figure is projected to increase on 2023’s value, to $56.61bn.
This would seem to put the brakes on the narrative of an industry in decline that has gathered pace in some quarters. However, a nuanced analysis points to an industry that is flourishing at its upper end but in which properties beyond the top tiers are struggling to maintain value.
Sports media remains in flux as it continues to navigate the consumer changes that have accompanied the rise of digital over analogue.
In the world’s biggest market, the US, the decline of regional sports networks continues, while 2024 saw drawn-out carriage disputes.
And not even the top properties are guaranteed strong uplifts.
At the end of 2023, after last year’s report was published, the English Premier League’s first domestic media rights auction for almost six years produced an overall increase of just over three per cent. The deals secured the status quo till 2028-29 for what is the main pillar of UK sports broadcasting, but did appear to confirm a view that ‘flat is the new up’ for many properties.
Beyond the biggest global leagues and competitions, it is not only lower-tier properties which are struggling to eke out stable rights fees in the attention economy. This year saw France’s Ligue 1 strike late deals for its domestic media rights from 2024-25 onwards, with a much-reduced annual value on the previous cycle. Meanwhile, Italy’s Serie A has struggled with international rights sales.
Nevertheless, as Imran Yusuf, Editor of SportBusiness Media, says: “Media groups the world over understand more than ever the unique power of live sport to draw audiences and drive revenues – even if these verticals may evolve from the models used in previous decades.
“The year ahead will see Netflix take a bigger step into live sports broadcasting, with a number of key media rights deals on the horizon. These include the UFC seeking a new US deal for 2026 onward and Australia’s NRL also taking its rights to market. It also remains to be seen if Fifa can strike strong broadcast deals for the Club World Cup.
“As ever, there’s a lot going on. This report presents all the key data for sports media rights going back to 2020 and projecting to 2027, to give you a complete overview.”
As in previous editions, the Global Media Report breaks down the market by sport, property and territory.
All of the data contained within the report comes from SportBusiness Media’s Rights Tracker, the most comprehensive database of sports broadcasting data in the world. It contains verified information on over 30,000 deals, gathered and contextualised by a team of investigative journalists.
The 2024 Global Media Report is available to buy now.
To download the executive summary, click here.