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.
October 2 – The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) has defended its tender for the rights of the Mexican national team after a controversial extension with broadcaster Televisa and TV Azteca.
September 29 – In what is perhaps a sign of the times in football’s monied circles, the Premier League’s big six clubs are demanding a larger share of the new international television deals that will start in 2019. In the current three-year cycle clubs earn an equal £39 million annually from the aggregate £3 billion deal.
September 25 – UEFA has wasted no time securing its first media deals for its newly announced Nations League competition with China’s Super Sports Media stepping up to acquire exclusive digital media rights to the competition in China for the 2018-19 and 2020-21 editions of the competition.
By Paul Nicholson
September 13 – Sky and the English Football League (EFL) have agreed a five-year £600 million broadcasting deal starting with the 2019/20 season.