February 21 – Agent Trump will be delighted, US broadcaster FOX Sports has unveiled a World Cup 2018 schedule of more live broadcasts than ever before and including studio coverage from the heart of the iron fist of democracy in Moscow’s Red Square.
February 7 – Italy’s Serie A has accepted Spanish’s MediaPro offer for rights to broadcast matches for the 2018-21 seasons at just above €1.05 billion.
January 31 – The first of the Premier League’s new domestic TV deals has been announced with the BBC agreeing a £211.5 million deal, securing its iconic Match of the Day highlights show.
January 29 – Italy’s Serie A is in talks with Spain’s Mediapro on a €950 million deal for the 2018-2021 seasons. This follows a breakdown in discussion with Sky Italia who had not met the €1.05 billion minimum set by the league’s advisor Infront.
January 24 – Sports broadcaster Eleven Sports secured exclusive TV rights in Belgium for a host of major international matches, reasserting its market position in the Belgian TV landscape.
December 11 – The Premier League’s tender for its domestic broadcast rights package for 2019-22 has seen the league boost the number of packages available to seven with a total of 200 live games (up from 168).
By Samindra Kunti
November 11 – Argentinian giants Boca Juniors have agreed a content partnership with Netflix. The online streaming service will make a four-part documentary series which will be released in 2018.
By David Owen
October 24 – The new UEFA Nations League is set to enhance the value of European international football matches, according to Guy-Laurent Epstein, the European football body’s marketing director.
October 19 – Barcelona are the latest of Europe’s giant clubs to announce a behind-the-scenes TV show with a media partner. The club and US streaming service Verizon go90 have announced the launch of Inside Barça which will air weekly.
October 16 – Facebook have one, Netflix announced they are making one, and now Amazon Prime are joining the US OTT broadcast entry into fly-on-the-wall football docuseries with a Manchester City biopic.
October 13 – Viewing figures for Premier League football in the UK are showing a rebound in interest from the start of the season, after summer data showed that viewing figures for Sky’s Premier League coverage had slumped to their lowest point in seven years last season.
October 12 – Sports agency IMG has won the international TV sales rights to Italy’s Serie A in a three-year deal reportedly worth €371 million per season. The price marks a doubling of the value of the Italian overseas rights as well as a switch in agency.
October 11 – Netflix have entered the European football documentary market announcing a fly-on-the-wall series with Italian champions Juventus that will debut on the streaming service in 2018.
By Paul Nicholson
October 9 – Expectations that Facebook will be the next premium tier sports rights buyer that pushes broadcast fees into the next level financial stratosphere are likely premature. While the global social media giant has plenty of cash and bandwidth, it is its bandwidth it is selling and not its cash it is spending.
October 5 – English Premier League clubs have rejected a proposal to end equal distribution of overseas TV money and replace it with handing a greater share to those who finish highest in the table.