Uefa

Turkish state broadcaster TRT is set to sublicense a package of Euro 2016 matches to pay-television operator Digiturk.

Sky Italia’s investment in this summer’s two major football tournaments – Euro 2016 and the Copa América Centenario – came as a surprise as the broadcaster had said it has abandoned its strategy of acquiring rights to major events. It does not, however, represent a U-turn – the deals were last-minute, opportunistic acquisitions.

Concurrent auction processes for three UK media rights deals in recent weeks generated strong competition between free-to-air broadcasters, helping each rights-holder to a healthy fee increase.

Uefa has agreed a deal in principle with the Telesport agency for Euro 2016 rights in Russia, a deal which appears to have been worth the wait for European football’s governing body.

The Saran Media agency has suffered mixed fortunes in Turkey over the last fortnight, securing rights to England’s Premier League but losing out on Euro 2016 to Turkish state broadcaster TRT.

BeIN Media Group this week finalised its acquisition of English Premier League rights in the Middle East and North Africa, and is close to taking two properties – Uefa European Qualifiers and Wimbledon – from its main local rival, Abu Dhabi Media.

Uefa is the latest rights-holder to feel the pinch from the new-look Russian sports rights market, as the income from its club competitions in the territory has plummeted well below previous cycles.

Uefa opened its international competition rights to the US market early in its sales cycle to take advantage of the competitive environment, and was rewarded with a significant uplift.

After protracted negotiations over a UK deal for Euro 2016 and 2020, Uefa last week signed off on a valuable deal with long-term partners the BBC and ITV.

French commercial broadcaster TF1's deal to show a further 11 matches from Euro 2016 will enhance the tournament’s free-to-air reach.

Strong pay-television competition in four of Europe’s big five markets helped Uefa significantly increase the media rights value of its club competitions in the 2015-16 to 2017-18 cycle.

The CAA Eleven agency has launched a tender in Russia for rights to the European qualifiers for the Uefa Euro 2020 and 2022 Fifa World Cup national team tournaments, the 2018-19 and 2020-21 Nations League competitions and other international matches.

LeTV Sports, a digital platform operated by Chinese IPTV operator LeTV, has agreed a three-year deal for rights to the Uefa Champions League and Europa League club football competitions.

The CAA Eleven agency has opened a number of tenders in Singapore and Taiwan for media rights to football properties of European governing body Uefa, including the new Nations League tournament.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Media Group has acquired rights in the Oceania region for football’s Uefa Champions League European club tournament.

Cyprus’s weakened economy has caused a decline in the value of Uefa’s club football competitions for a second successive cycle.

The European Broadcasting Union signed off a deal for the Euro 2016 tournament in 26 territories late last month in a contract worth considerably less than its deal for Euro 2012.

BeIN Sports and Abu Dhabi Media are bidding head-to-head for two major football properties in the Middle East and North Africa – England’s Premier League and Uefa’s European Qualifiers.