IMG
Features
FA Cup rights take a dip in Sub-Saharan Africa as StarTimes replaces SuperSport
StarTimes, the Chinese-owned African pay-television broadcaster, was able to exploit regulatory pressure facing rival broadcaster SuperSport and secure exclusive rights to the English FA Cup and Community Shield at a reduced fee.
Fifa will need more than eager investors to make new club competition work
Sports marketing companies and private equity houses bidding to become the vehicle for the delivery of Fifa’s new China-hosted club competition in 2021 will face the same challenge: the competition is only likely to be successful if a Chinese company is involved.
Saran leverages long-standing relationship to keep fee flat in Wimbledon renewal
Saran Media has leveraged its long-standing relationship with the All England Lawn Tennis Club to extend its deal for Wimbledon rights in Turkey and Central Asia.
Discovery furthers tennis ambitions in Europe with multi-territory ATP deal
US media group Discovery continues to push for dominance over tennis in Europe, acquiring exclusive rights to the ATP World Tour in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Nova raises fee to secure three-year Wimbledon extension in Greece
Greek pay-television broadcaster Nova has paid over a 10-per-cent increase to secure a three-year extension for the rights to grand slam tennis tournament Wimbledon.
Canal Plus has clear run to NHL ice hockey renewal in France
French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus faced little competition in renewing its NHL rights, SportBusiness Media understands.
Wanda and Infront’s interests align in long-term IAAF media, marketing deal
Wanda Sports’ mass participation drive and its subsidiary Infront’s push for summer sports were the basis for their decision to push into athletics through a record 10-year agreement with the International Association of Athletics Federation, from 2020.
Euroleague secures robust fee rise in Turkey amid booming basketball interest
Euroleague Basketball has capitalised on the sport’s increasing popularity in Turkey to successfully raise the value of the top-tier EuroLeague by over two-thirds in its renewal with pay-television broadcaster Digiturk.
Yandex to build sports portfolio after winning NHL rights battle in Russia
Russian internet company Yandex will look to expand its sports-rights portfolio after acquiring exclusive rights to the National Hockey League in Russia amid fierce competition.
IMG ends Strive experiment in Sweden with LaLiga, Serie A, MLS sale to Bonnier
The IMG agency has sealed a deal for rights to Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A and the US’ Major League Soccer in Sweden with media group Bonnier. The deal signals the end of its OTT experiment in the country as it had previously been broadcasting the properties on its Strive streaming platform.
Fox squeeze opens door to GolfTV push for The Open in Asia-Pacific
Fox Sports Asia’s desire to reduce its spend on rights to The Open in Asia-Pacific opened the door for OTT platform GolfTV to grab non-exclusive rights alongside the pay-television broadcaster.
Nova pays premium to secure Euroleague Basketball rights in tumultuous Greek market
Greek pay-television broadcaster Nova has paid a premium to renew its exclusive rights to EuroLeague and EuroCup basketball in Greece and Cyprus, SportBusiness Media understands, marking a second consecutive fee increase for the European tournament’s rights in the territory.
TV2 targets tennis in Denmark with ATP, Wimbledon deals
Danish commercial broadcaster TV2 has targeted tennis rights, with the additions of the ATP Tour and Wimbledon to its portfolio over the last two months complementing its WTA rights.
Danish Superliga secures income rise after forced tender
Having been forced into an open tender by the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority, the Danish Superliga has secured a modest increase in its domestic media-rights income despite a lack of competition.
Perform makes last-ditch attempt to outbid IMG for ATP Tour betting, data rights
Digital and data specialists Perform Content wrote to tennis’s ATP Tour this week to say the company is prepared to make a larger offer than that currently on the table from IMG for the betting and data rights to ATP World Tour events, SportBusiness Media understands.
Multiple factors combine to weigh on ICC football rights in Italy
The rights value in Italy for the pre-season International Champions Cup football tournament was weighed down by a combination of lower inventory, a busy summer sports calendar and a tough market environment, SportBusiness Media understands.
Discovery offer to take lower-tier rights helps ATP acquisition in Nordics
Media group Discovery’s willingness to acquire more ATP Tour content in the Nordic region than rival broadcasters had in the current cycle was key to its successful acquisition of the property.
IMG hopes of emerging unscathed from Serie A antitrust probe hang in the balance
The Italian competition authority’s investigation into the sale of rights for Serie A is ostensibly a disaster for MP & Silva and B4 and a let-off for IMG. But MP & Silva and B4 are no longer active and IMG could yet face a major problem. The agency could be hit with a substantial damages claim by the league for lost earnings.
Pan-regional edge aids All Media Baltics in Premier League renewal
Pay-television broadcaster All Media Baltics used its pan-regional competitive advantage to retain English Premier League’s rights in the Baltics without a hefty increase in cost.
DAZN bags Copa América rights in Italy as talks continue for International Champions Cup
DAZN picks up Copa América at bargain price as rivals focus elsewhere
DAZN, Sky, Mediaset bid for International Champions Cup
Rai to share Women’s World Cup with Sky, show Uefa U21s exclusively
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Euroleague beats bearish Spain outlook with DAZN deal
Euroleague Ventures – the joint venture between Euroleague Basketball and the IMG agency –secured a robust price from sports streaming service DAZN for the 2019-20 to 2022-23 rights cycle in Spain despite an initially unpromising market outlook, SportBusiness Media understands.
Premier League slumps in South Korea as agency interest evaporates
South Korea can be added to the list of Asian markets where English Premier League rights have fallen in value in the 2019-20 to 2021-22 cycle, SportBusiness Media has learned.
Sky Deutschland solidifies golf dominance in DACH with PGA, Open deals
Pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has raised its annual outlay on two of golf’s majors, the PGA Championship and Open Championship, by almost half to secure its dominance over the sport in the DACH region against the threat of US media group Discovery.
IMG-Serie A legal battle would place league’s Italian-language rights strategy under microscope
In rejecting IMG’s damages claim for nearly €60m ($67.2m) in April, Lega Serie A has presented the agency with a dilemma. Taking the league to court could be expensive with no guarantee of success. And there are issues of reputation and positioning in the market.