November 25 – Conmebol is suing Brazilian broadcaster Globo for $120 million over a Copa Libertadores TV rights dispute.
The South American governing body has filed a lawsuit to claim compensation for the termination of the Copa Libertadores rights contract by TV Globo, Brazil. Conmebol is chasing the payment of outstanding rights fee in a four-year deal agreed with the continent’s biggest broadcaster, according to Brazilian media outlet UOL.
In a virtual meeting with the 16 clubs participating in the second round of the Copa Libertadores, Conmebol president Alejandro Dominguez said that he had already initiated legal action against both Globo and DAZN for the losses in breaking the contract.
“We put around $95 million available to member associations and clubs in the context of anticipating entry bonuses, help with laboratory tests and logistics for travel by participating teams,” said Dominguez. “This was done despite the strong blow that meant the unilateral termination of contracts for the transmission of our matches in the Brazilian territory by the Globo group and the DAZN company.”
In Brazil, Globo held the broadcasting rights of the Copa Libertadores on open and closed TV, shared with Fox Sports. The contract ran from 2019 to 2022, with a value of $60 million per year.
The Globo group relinquished the rights because of the rising dollar-to-real conversion rate, which meant that the broadcaster’s expenditure rose by a third. With the departure of Globo, Conmebol entered a new deal with Brazilian commercial free-to-air broadcaster SBT, which covers the remainder of the 2019-22 cycle.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1734926860labto1734926860ofdlr1734926860owedi1734926860sni@o1734926860fni1734926860