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Features
Serie A’s stripped-down international rights tender puzzles agencies
Serie A’s carve out of important rights in its international rights invitation to tender for the 2021-24 cycle has surprised potential agency bidders. Agency sources say there is a premium attached to being the sole global distributor of a property, which is reflected in rights fees. This will be lost in the current process.
IMG salvages Serie A exposure in Brazil but income drastically reduced
IMG has found new homes for the 2020-21 Serie A rights in Brazil after DAZN cancelled its deal. But the replacement deals will bring in significantly lower revenue, SportBusiness Media understands.
Euroleague Basketball carves out Lithuanian FTA rights while growing Baltic value
Euroleague Basketball has boosted the value of its rights in the Baltics by carving out free-to-air rights in the valuable Lithuanian market, in deals with media group TV3 and Lithuanian public-service broadcaster LRT.
LaLiga begins European rights sales with revenue gains in Nordics, Balkans
LaLiga has started its European sales round strongly, gaining impressive fee increases from both the Nordic and Balkan regions in the first deals since the lifting of the three-season limit.
Eurosport Events swoops to end IMG’s long-standing FIM speedway relationship
The investment of Eurosport Events in global rights to the Speedway World Championships and Speedway of Nations series makes sense for the company on several fronts, independent experts say.
IMG closes in on Giro d’Italia international rights renewal
The IMG agency is on the verge of retaining international rights to the Giro d’Italia cycling stage race despite heavy interest from US media giant Discovery, SportBusiness Media understands.
FREE | The Role of Agencies in the Media Market Report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the role of agencies in the media-rights market globally.
The Role of Agencies in the Media Market Report, 2020
In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the role of agencies in the media-rights market globally.
IBU doubles global media-rights value after exclusive EBU talks
The International Biathlon Union has doubled the value of its global media-rights in a ‘four-plus-four’ deal agreed in exclusive negotiations with the European Broadcasting Union.
Discovery ties Wimbledon renewals to ATP portfolio in multi-territory deal
International media group Discovery streamlined its portfolio of Wimbledon rights in its latest multi-territory European deal to align with its ATP Tour holdings across the continent.
Sky Italia pays premium for ATP rights extension after competitive tender
Pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia has paid a 50-per-cent uplift to agree a three-year extension of its rights to ATP Masters 1000 events and the end-of-season ATP Finals.
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.