By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – Lagardère Sports have won the international sales rights to CONCACAF events including this year’s Gold Cup, taking over from last international sales reps IMG who held the contract for a year. No details were given on the deal or the size of the guarantee that Lagardère made.
The win for the France-based group will be a disappointment for IMG who picked up international rights in August 2014 for a package of CONCACAF championships in 2015, including the Gold Cup and the Champions’ League. That deal was for all territories outside of the CONCACAF region.
When the corruption scandal over marketing rights that lead to the arrest of CONCACAF executives hit in May 2015 IMG remained in place to sell the 2015 Gold Cup – a tournament that became a life-saving event commercially and a life-affirming competition for the confederation – working alongside Soccer United Marketing (SUM) who came in at short notice to take over from Traffic Sports (the agency at the centre of the corruption).
IMG – again working with SUM – were called in to handle the international commercial rights for the Copa America Centenario 2016.
The jewels in the package Lagardère Sports will be representing are the 2017 and 2019 Gold Cup tournaments. The Gold Cup has gained in profile, fan and media interest within the region, with the MLS this year breaking its schedule for Gold Cup games for the first time. In 2013 the Gold Cup opened at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles on the same day MLS side LA Galaxy played a home league fixture.
“As we continue to expand the international broadcast reach of our tournaments to meet growing demand internationally, we are happy to embark on this partnership with Lagardère Sports,” said CONCACAF General Secretary Philippe Moggio. “This is an exciting time for CONCACAF and international football viewers around the world.”
The rights win is an important step forward for Lagardère Sports who already hold all commerical rights to Asian Football Confederation (AFC) events.
“Our partnership will draw on all our experience in football and in media rights sales to assist CONCACAF’s global prominence and strategic evolution,” said Stefan Felsing, Executive Vice President – Media Sales and Acquisitions for Lagardère Sports.
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