Belgian top tier league turns to streaming platforms to drive distribution
March 5 – Belgium’s Jupiler Pro League (JPL) has turned to streaming platforms to expand its international broadcast footprint in a deal brokered by Mediarpro.
Broadcast
Man Utd’s new Chinese-owned African TV partner in court for non-payment
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – The Chinese company appointed by Manchester United to broadcast its matches in some 30 African countries is alleged to owe millions of dollars to a range of stakeholders across the globe.
Court forces Fenerbahce to change channel over ‘abusive’ use of beFAIR logo
March 3 – Turkish Super Lig broadcaster beIN Sport has won an injunction against one of the league’s leading clubs to stop it breaching its intellectual property, preventing use of a beFAIR logo that has been used on club t-shirts, training bibs, LED stadium banners and even on 3D carpets on the pitch.
K League launches dual-language OTT channel with eye on global markets
February 23 – Korea’s K League is launching a dedicated OTT platform for its top two leagues ahead of the start of the 2021 season that kicks off February 27.
Beko sticks with Barca sponsorship but drops sleeve position
February 17 – Barcelona and Beko have extended their partnership by a year, but the parties have dropped the sleeve sponsorship rights in a re-worked sponsorship agreement.
Mediapro returns to Concacaf fold with international sales deal
February 15 – The Mediapro Group have picked up the international rights to Concacaf’s club and national team competitions outside of the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region.
beIN Sports steps up as LFP’s Ligue2 broadcast lifeline to end of season
February 12 – French professional football has been thrown a lifeline by broadcaster beIN SPORTS France who have done a deal with Canal+ for the domestic rights to Ligue 2 in France until the end of the season.
LaLigaTV breaks new ground in UK with Amazon Prime channel deal
February 12 – LaLiga has added its 24/7 English-language tv channel to the Amazon platform as one of the Prime Video Channels in the UK only.
Serie A TV deals reach crucial point as CVC shows signs of cold feet
February 10 – The new Serie A deals for domestic and international broadcast rights – revenue that will underpin the league and its clubs – have reached crucial and sensitive stages at the same time.
AFC adds new broadcasters in Asia and Europe for 2021-24 rights cycle
February 9 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has increased the pace of its broadcast rights sales with two new partners announced for its 2021 to 2024 rights cycle, one in Europe and one Asia.
Ozil’s new club Fenerbahce pushes beIN to limit, sparking fear over next SuperLig deal
By Paul Nicholson
February 8 – Mesut Ozil, no stranger to conflict and controversy in recent years, may not find Fenerbahce the calm and safe haven club he was looking for.
Canal+ throw LFP a €35m lifeline for more TV rights to end of season
February 5 – France’s professional leagues have been handed a badly needed lifeline to help them over their broadcast rights crisis after Ligue 1 reached an agreement with Canal Plus to screen the remainder of matches this season following the spectacular collapse of a record contract with Mediapro.
French club crisis deepens as TV rights tender falls flat
By Samindra Kunti
February 2 – The TV rights crisis in French football is deepening after a new tender for Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 looks to have flopped with bids below what the league and clubs had expected.
Portuguese to centralise media sales; Italians talk up €1.1bn target for domestic deal
February 1 – Portugal’s Primeira Liga is to centralise its domestic broadcast rights from 2027/28, forming a company with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to sell media rights.
NBC Sports closure raises questions over $1.3bn Premier League deal
January 27 – Premier League broadcast rights partner NBC, is shutting its Sports Network in the US and is expected to close operations by the end of 2021.