Football

DAZN, the OTT service operated by digital sports-media company Perform, has agreed a carriage deal in Canada for Major League Soccer’s MLS Live out-of-marketing streaming package, while it has also signed a rights partnership with Pac-12 Networks, the content and multi-platform media company for the Pac-12 US college sports conference.

FC Diez Media, the joint venture between the IMG agency and digital media company Perform, is making radical changes to the way Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana media rights are sold, to drive competition in the marketplace and recoup their aggressive minimum guarantee.

Pay-television broadcaster Eleven Sports bolstered its Belgian sports portfolio last month, buying rights to Italy’s Serie A and Germany’s Bundesliga ahead of carriage negotiations.

Uefa has reversed the falling value of its club competition media rights in Cyprus via an exclusive deal with telco Cyta.

Media group 365 has retained its grip on Uefa Champions League and Europa League media rights in Iceland, paying an increase of about 50 per cent.

Portuguese public-service broadcaster RTP has acquired rights to domestic club football competition the Taça de Portugal, along with national team friendly matches, but has said it will end broadcasts of the Uefa Champions League following this season’s tournament.

Perform and the IMG agency this week unveiled their new joint venture, FC Diez Media, for the commercialisation of marketing and media rights to the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. Perform’s Bruno Rocha talked to TV Sports Markets about the thinking behind the joint venture’s commercial strategy.

Italian Minister for Sport Luca Lotti has unveiled a new distribution model for rights income generated by Lega Serie A, the top division of football in the country.

Ukrainian media group MGU and telco Kyivstar have teamed up to launch a new OTT service dedicated to football coverage.

Seattle Sounders have become the latest Major League Soccer franchise to strike a rights deal with YouTube TV, the cable-free live television service of video-sharing company YouTube.

US telco Verizon has agreed a wide-ranging media-rights partnership with the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf).

Spanish LaLiga football club Real Madrid has linked up with content producer The Dream VR to launch it own virtual reality channel.

Spanish agency Mediapro has said it will open a tender for domestic rights to the Uefa Champions League and Europa League next month, as Vodafone España became the latest telco to express its unease at the cost of agreeing carriage deals for club football in the country.

The IMG agency and digital media company Perform have formed FC Diez Media, a joint venture which will advise the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) on the commercial rights to its club competitions.

Football streaming service Fanatiz has reached an agreement with the MP & Silva agency for rights in the US and Canada to the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana club competitions.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) has agreed a wide-ranging multi-year rights deal with Caribbean pay-television broadcaster Flow Sports.