Portuguese telecommunications companies Nos and Vodafone have agreed a Memorandum of Understanding under which they are set to share broadcast rights for sports events.
The MoU announced today (Wednesday) also calls for sharing the broadcast and distribution of sports and club channels held by the signatory parties, along with the sharing of costs relating to this content.
Nos said in a statement that other pay-television distributors in the Portuguese market may also participate in the agreement, under the same terms and conditions as the current parties.
Vodafone added that the agreement will take effect from the 2016-17 sporting season, granting it access to the prize rights associated with Primeira Liga football club Benfica.
Primeira Liga clubs sell their rights on an individual basis and Nos in December signed a deal with Benfica that will run for a maximum of 10 seasons, from 2016-17 to 2025-26. Nos has since sealed long-term deals for the home matches of Académica, Arouca, Belenenses, Braga, Marítimo, Nacional, Paços de Ferreira, Benfica’s fellow Lisbon-based giant Sporting and Vitória Setúbal.
Mario Vaz, chief executive of Vodafone Portugal, said: “This is a very important and decisive moment for Vodafone and for the market as it allows us to fulfil the promise to bring our customers the content they value and lays the foundation for the development of a market for access to content that we would like to be universal.”