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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
By Samindra Kunti
May 5 – Telenet and VOO have retained the TV rights to broadcast the Belgian top flight league for the next three seasons. The Belgian clubs will net €75 million per season.
May 1 – The expanded CONCACAF club competitions, including the Champions League, have signed their first major broadcast deal for the new format with FOX Sports Latin America. The five-year deal renews Fox’s existing broadcast deal from 2017/18 to the end of the 2021/2022 season.
By Samindra Kunti
April 27 – Social media platform Twitter has broken into top tier football rights territory with the live-streamed final of the CONCACAF Champions League as part of their partnership with the governing body.