The IMG agency’s joint venture in China with the country’s state broadcaster, CCTV, has agreed a 10-year deal, from 2012 to 2021, to manage and market the Chinese Football Association Super League, the nation’s top football division.
Under the agreement, IMG-CCTV will help to manage and develop the competition.
In a separate development, pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport agreed a rights deal with the league brokered by the World Sports Group agency.
Eurosport acquired the exclusive live pan-European television and internet streaming rights for the league, in a deal covering the remainder of the 2012 season and the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Eurosport also acquired sublicensing rights for its 59 European territories.
The broadcaster said that it would exploit the rights on its Eurosport 2 channel, which already provides coverage of the J-League, the top-tier Japanese domestic football league, and the Asian Football Confederation Champions League club tournament.
STORY UPDATED ON 23 OCTOBER 2012, TO REMOVE STATEMENT THAT IMG-CCTV WILL SELL MEDIA RIGHTS UNDER THIS DEAL. THE DEAL DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY MEDIA RIGHTS.