The global value of sports media rights reached $49.533bn (€43.782bn) in 2018, according to data released today by SportBusiness Consulting, up from $46.871bn in 2017.
The 2018 SportBusiness Consulting Global Media Report shows that football remains by far the most valuable sport – accounting for more than 40 per cent of the global value of sport media rights – though the NFL is the single most valuable property at $7.76bn.
Other major findings from the report show:
- The top 10 properties account for 60 per cent of the total global value of sports media rights
- For the first time, the world’s 10 biggest media-rights markets are all worth over $1bn, driven by growth in the Indian sub-continent and Latin America
- The world’s top 10 sports are also all earning more than $1bn for the first time, bolstered by a 50 per cent increase in the global value of cricket rights
- The Indian Premier League is now among the top 20 most valuable media properties
- The Olympics Games is no longer one of the world’s 10 most valuable sports properties, having been overtaken by both the German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 as football’s dominance of global media rights continues to grow
- The share of market spend by digital players has trebled since 2016.
Commenting on the report, Simon Cory-Wright, head of consulting at SportBusiness, said “With SportBusiness Consulting taking on the report this year, we’ve looked to add a deeper level of analysis by adding two special-focus pieces, one on the US sports market and one on the latest developments in OTT. This adds a new dimension to the 2018 report.”
SportBusiness subscribers can download the full report here:
Non-subscribers can download the Executive Summary for free here: