By Paul Nicholson
November 14 – FOX Sport in the US have renewed their Gold Cup TV deal with North, Central American and Caribbean confederation CONCACAF. The new deal secures them the rights to the 2017 and 2019 tournaments.
FOX, who last weekend aired the US national team’s World Cup qualifying loss to Mexico, has built an international football broadcast schedule around US national team games and major tournaments and has already secured World Cup Final rights under a deal done with disgraced former FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke as a sweetener for the move of the 2022 World Cup from Summer to Winter.
FOX was against the time switch arguing they had acquired rights to a Summer World Cup but FIFA moved to sell future World Cup tournament rights early and, according to FOX’s broadcast rivals, without a tender process
FOX aired the 2013 and 2015 Gold Cup tournaments in the US in the English language. The 2017 and 2019 events will qualify CONCACAF’s representative to the 2021 Confederations Cup in Qatar – the winners of each will play off (assuming the same nation doesn’t win both).
The 12-team Gold Cup is CONCACAF’s blue riband event for national teams and is traditionally played in the US, usually with either the US or Mexico winning. The US won in 2013 but Mexico won in 2015 in a tournament that was hastily rearranged following the US Department of Justice indictments of federation officials that left the confederation on its knees and fighting for life.
The 2015 Gold Cup was a major triumph for football in the region, breaking attendance and broadcast records.
“As the Gold Cup continues to attract record-breaking interest in stadiums and across media platforms, we’re excited to extend our relationship with FOX, a strategic partner in the exceptional growth of this event,” said Philippe Moggio, CONCACAF General Secretary.
The 2017 Gold Cup will be played in July though CONCACAF said “exact dates, host cities and seeding procedure will be announced in coming months”.
“The CONCACAF Gold Cup is the crown jewel of national team soccer competitions in North America. By extending our partnership with CONCACAF through the 2019 tournament not only will we extend our coverage of the US and Mexican Men’s National Teams, but further, we’ll be able to tie that narrative to the team that represents CONCACAF in the 2021 FIFA Confederation Cup also airing on FOX Sports,” said David Nathanson, Head of Business Operations, FOX Sports.
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