The Sportfive agency has been appointed to exclusively sell international broadcast rights to Portugal’s Primeira Liga from 2020-21 to 2022-23.
The agreement has been announced a month before the delayed 2020-21 season gets underway and comes after Portuguese pay-television broadcaster Sport TV, which holds the international distribution rights, issued an invitation to tender at the start of April.
Sportfive distributed broadcast rights to the league in Europe and Latin America during the 2017-20 cycle, and has now expanded that role to an international remit, excluding Portugal and “selected territories”.
Nuno Ferreira, chief executive of Sport TV, said: “We are extremely proud and enthusiastic in continuing this partnership with Sportfive. Liga NOS is a very attractive competition, becoming more popular every season, and we know that Sportfive expertise will be the ideal boost to materialise all the potential.”
Nikolaus von Doetinchem, Sportfive’s president of global media, described the extended deal as a “clear commitment of the revived Sportfive towards our involvement in football”.
Von Doetinchem was recently named as the agency’s president of global media in an executive reshuffle carried out in the wake of its takeover by H.I.G. Europe, an arm of the international private equity and asset management firm, and the subsequent rebranding (from Lagardère Sports).
Portuguese clubs sell broadcast rights to their home league matches on an individual basis, and have historically sold their domestic and international rights to either the Olivedesportos or PPTV agencies, which then sold them on to Sport TV.
Last month, the Spring Media agency agreed a deal with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to sell international broadcast rights to the final of this season’s Taça de Portugal cup competition.