Uefa

Lega Serie A and Uefa are in a race to be first to sell their rights in Italy for the period 2018-19 to 2020-21.

Difficulties in the Greek media market meant Uefa suffered a decrease of about 23 per cent in the value of national team qualifying matches last month.

The strength of the UK broadcast market helped English Premier League clubs Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur to receive more prize money last season from football’s European governing body, Uefa, than any other teams participating in the Europa League tournament.

English Premier League football club Manchester City earned €83.8m ($92.18m) in Champions League prize money last season to top the table of payments from European football’s governing body Uefa, thanks to the strength of its national television market.

Uefa has failed to secure any meaningful uplift in value for its national team competitions in deals agreed recently in France and Germany. The deals underline that, while Europe remains the bedrock of value for Uefa, it has become a difficult region in which to achieve growth for its national team properties.

Uefa’s latest deal for its national team rights in Austria is evidence of a change in strategy for sales in Europe from 2018-19, as European football’s governing body attempts to meet its targets for both revenue and exposure.

New inventory and strong broadcaster competition has seen the value of Uefa’s package of national team rights increase markedly in Scandinavia.

Uefa increased the value of the women’s European Championship tournament hugely in a deal with France Télévisions last month.

IMG this month added a second Sport 24 in-flight channel to its offering following its deal for Euro 2016, for which it paid considerably more than Euro 2012.

Romania’s public-service broadcaster TVR and general entertainment channel Antena 1 failed in a last-gasp attempt to block a deal by commercial broadcaster Pro TV for free-to-air rights to 23 Euro 2016 matches.

John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence examines television audiences in selected European markets for the 2015-16 Uefa Champions League.

BeIN Media Group has begun legal action against various platforms and channels in the Middle East and North Africa, notably telco Ooredoo, for infringement of its exclusive Uefa Euro 2016 rights in the region.

German commercial broadcaster RTL significantly increased the value of national team football rights in the country in a deal with Uefa last month.

Last-minute Euro 2016 free-to-air sales have continued in sub-Saharan Africa, with deals secured in the key markets of Kenya and South Africa.

Uefa’s much-reduced deal for Euro 2016 rights in Spain reflects an advertising market yet to recover from the financial crash of the late 2000s.

RTP has recouped about 30 per cent of its investment in Euro 2016 media rights by sublicensing a package of rights to pay-television broadcaster Sport TV.