Second-party television rights – the rights to sell matches back into visiting team’s home markets – have long been a key part of agency revenues, with the biennial draws for the World Cup and Euro qualifying groups capable of landing agencies with large cash windfalls.
Kentaro is set to profit the most from the Euro 2012 qualifying cycle. Two of its federations, Austria and Kazakhstan, landed in a plum draw, with lucrative ties against Germany and Turkey. Most of its other federations got good or reasonable draws.
Sportfive, for many years the dominant player in the federation business, will also make a good profit. But its margins will be much lower than in previous years and a gamble on acquiring England second-party rights on the morning of the draw backfired. Fierce competition with Kentaro and others has seen Sportfive’s acquisitions costs rise and its portfolio shrink. It now has less than half the 51 participating federations.
The draw was a bad one for Infront, which has the third-largest federation portfolio outside Sportfive and Kentaro. Of the other agencies involved in the draw, IMG got a reasonably solid draw while Ufa Sports might just about break even.
For the full story, plus in-depth analysis of the draw and national team rights fees in 15 key markets, see the latest issue of TV Sports Markets.