beIN Sports takes on TF1 in battle for French team TV rights
June 13 – French national broadcaster TF1 and M6 are locked in a battle to secure the TV rights for France’s matches in the 2018-2022 cycle.
Broadcast
BT drops pay platform to broadcast European club finals on Youtube and freeview
By Tom Parsons
May 12 – BT Sport has announced it will show the Champions League and Europa League finals free-to-air on its YouTube channel and freeview channel after recent criticism about the broadcaster’s low viewing figures for European football on the pay channels.
Man City trials first live VR match in London, New York and Melbourne
By Paul Nicholson
May 11 – Manchester City has taken a deep media step into the opportunities of Virtual Reality with a test of last weekend’s game against Arsenal that was broadcast to a select group of fans in London, New York and Melbourne.
Germans rule to keep TV rights off a single platform, opening up bid competition
April 14 – For the first time, Germany’s cartel office has approved a plan to stop any one single pay-TV broadcaster from buying up live television rights for top-flight games, mirroring the UK where Sky and BT Sport share Premier League live coverage.
Internazionale launch TV channel on Indosat platforms
March 31 – Milan’s Serie A giant, Internazionale, has today launched the Inter Channel on smart phones and tablets into the Indonesian market. Indosat is the second biggest mobile phone operator in Indonesia with 70 million customers.
Virtually Live and STATS test first VR match on Scottish League Cup final
March 16 – Virtually Live teamed up with STATS LLC to test their virtual reality technology for the first time on a European football match in Europe covering the Scottish League Cup final on March 13 at Hampden Park – Ross County beat Hibernian 2-1.
MP & Silva and Simplestream combine to boost video sales options
By Paul Nicholson
March 10 – A sign that the broadcast sales of sports rights is shifting away from traditional platform sales to embrace the digital distribution options more fully can be seen from the partnership just announced by MP & Silva with Simplestream.
Fox to mic-up coaches during MLS live broadcasts
By Ben Nicholson
March 4 – En route to becoming a leading world soccer league, the MLS is innovating by placing microphones on coaches during nationally televised TV games so that viewers can hear the words coming from the horse’s mouth.
IMG to take Chinese Super League to the world
By Paul Nicholson
March 3 – While international interest in China has generally been inward looking with big name players from Europe making big money transfers to Chinese clubs, the Chinese Super League (CSL) itself is also looking outward and has appointed IMG as the exclusive sales agent for its global TV rights outside of China.
Second Milan giant teams up with China’s Le Sports
By David Owen
February 5 – AC Milan have followed local rivals Internazionale in announcing a partnership with Le Sports, the Chinese internet company. The former LeTV is becoming the Italian club’s official new media partner in mainland China. The deal is said to “span three consecutive seasons” culminating with 2017-18.
Inter Milan team up with Le Sports in China
By David Owen
January 29 – Italy’s Internazionale has agreed a deal for Le Sports, the former LeTV, to become the exclusive broadcast partner for the club’s TV channel in mainland China.
Premier League’s TV bonanza is out of sync with Euro rivals and economic measures
By Paul Nicholson
January 27 – The Premier League’s bumper €2.4 billion per season deal that kicks in with the 2016 season start has been well documented. Other leagues have looked on in envy and anticipation of good things to come in their home markets. Football Benchmark has looked at the macro-economies of the European countries to see if the English deal is justifiably much bigger than their European counterparts.
Man Utd switch on MUTV in China with Sina Sports
January 7 – Manchester United is to launch its dedicated TV channel in China with Sina Sports. The multi-year deal is exclusive to Sina Sports.
Spanish opt for giant Vizrt video wall to boost TV talk show
January 6 – In the battle to bring innovative broadcast technology to football, Canal+ in Spain has turned to Norweigan company Vizrt to revamp the look and feel of its popular ‘Mucho Más Deporte’ (Much More Sports) show.
Liverpool’s Barnes leads final week of Premier League carnival in Tianjin, China
January 5 – China’s Super Sports is now 30 days into its 38-day English Premier League ‘carnival’. The Chinese broadcast rights holder has been promoting the league and its clubs with events focussed in the Aegean Shopping Mall based in Tianjin.