The Sports TV Rights agency is poised to renew its media rights for the top tier of Bolivian domestic football with the nation’s football association (FBF) for a four-year cycle between 2021 and 2024.
The rights cover all matches to the División Profesional as well as second-tier División Aficionados and the Copa Simón Bolívar, knockout cup competition. The agency will pay $46.5m (€39.1m) over the deal’s lifespan, according to Página Siete, the Bolivian newspaper.
Sports TV Rights was chosen by the FBF executive committee as the best offer received after facing competition from two other media companies; telco Telefónica Celular de Bolivia (Telecel) and GolTV, the pay-television broadcaster active in the Americas.
The FBF had previously announced that Telecel’s offer was worth $46m, while GolTV’s offer was revealed to be worth $49,979276 and included a revenue-sharing element.
The FBF said earlier this month that Sport TV Rights’ offer was worth $46.5m over the four years, though the agency’s director José Quiroga disputed the accuracy of the rival bid figures. He also said that the incumbent’s offer was equal to $41m in rights fees, plus just over $5m to produce the video assistant referee (VAR) system in both leagues.
Sport TV Rights’ current rights for the properties are worth $4.1m per season and expire at the end of the current season.
The federation previously set out terms for a four-year contract, with a base total amount of $45m – an average of $11.25m per season – being requested. Bidders also had to provide financing for the implementation of the VAR technology in FBF competitions.
The tender process was given a deadline of August 10 for first-round bids which would then be assessed on that same day. The original tender was cancelled in early July after attracting criticism from a number of sources.
The 14 clubs that make up the Primera Divisíon were reportedly considering a 10-year offer from Bolívar president Marcelo Claure worth a possible $100m, but failed to reach a consensus that would have ended the tender.
The FBF has reclaimed control over the División Profesional rights from 2021 onwards. The rights reclamation stripped the league’s 14 clubs of negotiating their own broadcast rights in favour of placing the collective negotiating power with the FBF.