beIN renews EFL deal for two years, buying rights to 1,600+ matches
August 17 – beIN Sport has renewed rights to the English Football League’s (EFL) three divisions, play-offs and Cup competition in a two-season deal.
Broadcast
BeIN and Twitter partner for World Cup content push
August 16 – Broadcaster BeIN Sports has partnered with social media platform Twitter to share content during the World Cup in November and December.
Erling Haaland gets his own Premier League TV deal
August 15 – Streaming operator Viaplay Group has announced a multi-year deal with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
LaLiga and Premier League climb the Chinese broadcast wall
August 3 – England’s Premier League, and Spain’s LaLiga have both announced new deals in China suggesting that there may be a thawing in football relationships with the country that has pretty much closed its doors to outside football influence.
Man City go live with Recast Channel and micro-payment revenue model
July 27 – Micro-payment streaming platform Recast has launched a Manchester City channel that is available globally and kicked off with the club’s friendly against Bayern Munich last weekend in Green Bay.
Saran Media lines up full LaLiga TV package for S Sport platforms
July 21 – Turkish media company Saran, who had secured the Turkish SuperLig roghts only to have them stripped and returned to late and higher bidding beIN Sports/Digiturk, have secured LaLiga rights.
Serie A left with ADM in cut-price TV deal after beIN throws in the towel in frustration
July 1 – With beIN Sports pulling out of the bids for Serie A broadcast rights, the Italian league and its chief executive Luigi De Servio has awarded the rights to Abu Dhabi Media group in a deal that is less than beIN were offering before they pulled out.
Just as Serie A and beIN looked to be kissing and making up, De Servio hits self destruct
By Paul Nicholson
June 30 – Just as Serie A looked to have repaired bridges with beIN Sports for its broadcast rights in the Middle East and Africa, the league’s chief executive Luigi De Servio has surprisingly cast doubts on a potential deal brokered by AS Roma that could bring the league and the broadcaster back into alignment.
Turkish Süper Lig and beIN renew their vows after bitterest of rows
June 24 – After a fraught, and often bitterly chaotic, broadcast rights tender process in Turkey, beIN SPORTS has agreed a two-year deal as the exclusive domestic broadcaster of the Turkish Süper Lig in Turkey.
LaLiga renews Ziggo but hits the wall in China, RFEF issues Super Copa tender
June 23 – The trend to longer term broadcast deals and away from three-year licensing agreements has been re-emphsised in Spain.
Apple takes a 10-year leap into live MLS broadcast rights with $2.5bn deal
June 15 – Apple has taken its first step into live football broadcasting agreeing a deal that will see the Apple TV app become the exclusive platform for every MLS match.
FIFA+ adds four new languages to global streaming service
June 8 – FIFA has expanded its FIFA+ streaming platform with the addition of Japanese, Korean, Italian and Bahasa languages.
Bundesliga adds another four years to its SKY Mexico broadcast deal
May 19 – Following on from the announcement of an MoU with Mexico’s Liga MX, Germany’s Bundesliga has reinforced its position in Mexico and Central America with a four-year extension to its TV deal with subscription broadcaster SKY Mexico.
Fox agrees full package of Canadian broadcast rights for US market
May 16 – US sports broadcaster Fox has secured another two seasons of neighbouring Canada’s men’s and women’s football.
Women’s World Cup and Euros to be added to UK’s protected events list
April 29 – The UK government has added the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the UEFA European Women’s Championship to its ‘listed’ events, ensuring the tournaments will remain available for free-to-air television broadcasters.