EFL ties up £600m Sky deal and opens up live streaming market in UK
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.
Broadcast
Real Madrid test Facebook’s latest Watch platform with behind-the-scenes doco series
September 1 – Real Madrid has teamed up with GoPro to produce an eight-part behind the scenes documentary – Hala Madrid – that will broadcast on Facebook’s new Watch video platform in the US.
AFC takes first Facebook Live broadcast steps with AFC Cup in India
August 23 – Facebook Live has acquired the Indian digital streaming rights from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the remaining fixtures of the AFC Cup, the continent’s second tier club competition.
Broadcast rights boom set to stay, but the market players and payers might change
August 10 – Anyone expecting the football bubble to burst for premium broadcast rights will have a long wait. A survey by broadband and TV comparison website Broadband Genie found that 78% of sports subscribers would consider leaving or switching their TV provider if they lost the rights to their favourite sports.
Qatar’s beIN Sport beats the blockade with UEFA TV rights win
July 24 – The Saudi Arabian-led boycott of Qatari-owned beIn Sport as part of the diplomatic dispute in the region has not prevented the channel being awarded Middle Eastern and North African broadcasting rights for the Champions League and Europa League.
Man Utd cut reliance on Sky and Virgin to launch TV channel on the web
July 11 – Manchester United has launched a new streaming service at mutv.com which will enable subscribers to sign up to the channel without having to go through a satellite subscription. The channel will only be available to subscribers in the UK and Ireland at the start.
TV scheduling row: Game, set and match to FIFA in Wimbledon clash
July 6 – FIFA says it will not back down after scheduling next year’s World Cup final kickoff in Russia on the same afternoon as the Wimbledon men’s tennis final.
Premier League pirates. English fans turn to illegal streaming to watch their teams
July 4 – Nearly half of Premier League fans have at some stage streamed a top-flight game online through an unauthorised provider, according to a survey conducted by the BBC.
Telemundo hits record high with Mexico’s Confederations Cup performance
June 21 – Telemundo is reporting record broadcast numbers on its digital platforms for its coverage of the Confederations Cup 2017 from Russia. Nielsen ratings report that the Portugal vs. Mexico reached 4 million total viewers on Telemundo and ranks as the most streamed match ever on Telemundo’s digital platforms.
EFL launches iFollow live digital streaming service with over 1,500 games
June 15 – The English Football League (EFL) is expanding its broadcast platform for its three professional from next season with the launch of the iFollow service for overseas markets. Matches already being broadcast outside the UK and Irelands will not be available on iFollow. More than 1,500 games will be streamed digitally.
Diplomatic row squeezes beIN Sports as Egyptian clubs ban reporters and Mido stands down
June 6 – Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek have announced they will boycott the Qatari-owned television network beIN Sports following the damaging diplomatic rift between Qatar and several Arab countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
FIFA lands last-minute Russian TV deal with Match-TV
June 5 – With less than two weeks to go before the tournament starts, FIFA has secured a domestic TV deal in Russia to broadcast the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup with national sports channel Match-TV.
Globo loses Brazil friendlies as CBF opens up local broadcast market to new platforms
By Samindra Kunti
May 31 – Brazilian broadcast giant TV Globo has fallen out with the Brazilian FA (CBF) and will not cover the national team’s two friendly fixtures in June in Australia.
TSN secures Canadian TV rights for Gold Cup and Champions League
May 17 – CONCACAF has secured another cornerstone broadcast partner for its blue riband Gold Cup and Champions League competitions. Canadian sports network TSN has signed a multi-year rights deal for Canada that begins with the upcoming Gold Cup this July.
Telecom giant SFR doubles TV money for European club competitions in France
May 12 – TEAM Marketing has doubled broadcast revenue from France for the Champions League and Europa League to €350 million for the 2018-21 seasons. The new money comes with a new broadcaster. Telecoms giant SFR takes over from Canal + and BeIN Sports who were paying a combined €140 million.