LeSports, which is operated by Chinese internet company LeEco, has said it has sealed a new round of funding that values it at Y24bn (€3.2bn/$3.5bn), adding that its investors will form a new body that will seek to supervise its financial affairs.
The Reuters news agency said LeSports did not disclose the scale of the funding in the latest round after stating in April 2016 that it had raised $1.2bn in a round led by HNA Capital, part of China's HNA Group.
Investors, including HNA Capital, will form a new steering committee for strategic decisions, daily oversight and financial supervision. LeSports said it will continue to acquire rights to new content but will take a more balanced approach.
LeSports has been shedding sports rights this year amid cost-cutting measures at its parent company.
In March, online streaming company PPTV agreed an exclusive deal for domestic digital rights to the Chinese Super League. The agreement covered the 2017 CSL season and was struck with the China Sports Media agency. CSM had previously sold digital rights to LeSports under a two-season agreement, covering 2016 and 2017.
The CSL announcement came after CSM acquired rights in the country for Asian Football Confederation events after the governing body terminated an agreement with LeSports. CSM’s deal will run for the remainder of the four-year cycle, from 2017 to 2020. The exclusive deal covers the Asian Champions League, Asia’s final round of qualifying for the 2018 Fifa World Cup and the Asian Cup from 2017 to 2020. The AFC said it had “no alternative but to terminate its contract with LeTV, which had been signed in August 2015”. It had earlier been reported by Reuters that LeSports had fallen behind with rights-fee instalments.
The fresh news today (Friday) comes as Hong Kong commercial broadcaster TVB said it will step in to ensure Saturday’s English FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea will be broadcast in the country.
The South China Morning Post newspaper said LeSports had previously pulled its scheduled broadcast of the game citing “programme adjustments”.
In a statement, the MP & Silva agency – the FA Cup rights-holder across Asia, excluding Thailand, from 2012-13 to 2017-18 – said: "The only reason LeTV didn’t broadcast the FA Cup Final is their payment default. Despite having been granted several payment reductions and payment referrals, LeTV didn’t comply with promises they made in the last couple of months.
"In a last attempt to get access to the TV signal of the FA Cup Final, LeTV promised to deliver a bank guarantee, but failed to comply with this promise as well. In order to avoid the Hong Kong TV audience having to pay the price for LeTV’s failure, MP & Silva granted free-to-air rights to TVB for a symbolic fee."