Facebook adds LaLiga to fast-growing live football rights roster
July 10 – Reports are that Facebook has snapped up its second major European league with a live TV rights deal with LaLiga for the Indian subcontinent.
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Facebook picks up premium Premier League rights market with £260m deal in SE Asia
July 6 – The entry of the giant OTT streaming services into the top tier football rights market is gathering pace with Facebook agreeing an estimated £260 million deal for live Premier League matches in south-east Asia.
Piracy: LaLiga condemns BeoutQ as world tennis bodies demand its shut down
By Paul Nicholson
July 5 – Spain’s LaLiga is the latest football rights holder to condemn the on-going copyright theft by pirate satellite broadcaster BeoutQ that is transmitting sports content it does not own. Separately world tennis’s various governing bodies and major tournaments have combined to issue the strongest demands yet, calling for the “immediate closure” of the channel.
Amazon set to pounce on more European TV rights with LaLiga deal rumoured
July 4 – Amazon looks set to make another foray into the domestic European TV rights market, being rumoured to in line pick up the remaining rights packages for Spain’s LaLiga.
Beach Soccer strikes landmark live-streaming deal with mycujoo
June 29 – Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) has signed a four-year partnership with streaming platform mycujoo that will see more than 1,500 matches live-streamed between 2018 to 2021.
LaLiga secures 3-year €980m domestic TV deal with Telefonica
June 26 – Spain’s La Liga has sold its 2019-2022 television rights for €980 million ($1.15 billion) per season to Telefonica, an increase of 15% on the last three seasons.
Copyright theft: UEFA turns up heat on pirate Saudi broadcaster beoutQ
By Paul Nicholson
June 22 – UEFA has added its voice to the fast-growing lobby of broadcasters and sports rights owners lining up against pirate Saudi Arabian sports channel beoutQ that has so far stolen feeds for every game of the Russia 2018 World Cup and rebroadcast to a middle east and north African footprint via the Arabsat satellite.
BeoutQ piracy continues as more broadcasters issue warnings over ‘stolen’ live broadcasts
By Paul Nicholson
June 21 – Saudi rogue broadcaster BeoutQ, currently under fire for stealing live pictures from Qatar-based TV network beIN Sport and NBC’s Telemundo, has also come under fire from Eleven Sports Networks for pirating its live rights.
FIFA in the spotlight as defiant beoutQ pirates World Cup signals from NBC and beIN
By Paul Nicholson
June 18 – The pictures flashed around the world of FIFA president Gianni Infantino sitting majestically between his two new best friends, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on his right and Valdimir Putin on his left at the opening match of the 2018 World Cup, will have left FIFA’s high paying rightsholders wondering if there is another game in play that they are not part of.
Italian ‘disruption’: Serie A sell 114-game live package to Perform’s DAZN
By Paul Nicholson
June 18 – The controversial on-off sale of Italy’s Serie A TV rights have taken a new technology turn with Perform’s streaming service DAZN picking up a package of 114 matches a season in a three-year deal.
Qatar’s beIN opens up World Cup broadcasts to Saudis and Egyptians on free-to-air channels
By Paul Nicholson
June 14 – Egyptian and Saudi Arabian fans will be able to watch their teams play at the World Cup after a last minute announcement by broadcast rightsholder beIN Sport that 22 matches will be broadcast on their free-to-air channels. The dispute over beIN’s distribution in both countries has been bitter with the Qataris having distribution issues and the Saudis even pirating rights on newly launched broadcast-spoiler station BeoutQ.
Amazon breaks into the football business with Premier League livestreaming deal
By Paul Nicholson
June 7 – The final Premier League TV rights packages for the UK have been awarded with Amazon swooping in with a groundbreaking deal that breaks Sky and BT’s grip on the broadcast of live games in the UK.
Mediapro swoops on key Ligue1 TV rights packages as fees hit €1.15bn record
May 30 – Spain’s Mediapro has gatecrashed the TV rights party in France by snapping up key broadcast packages for Ligue 1 as total fees for the rights sale hit €1.15 billion. Canal Plus ended up with no rights in this round of bidding, in what is a major setback for the broadcaster.
Qatar’s BeIN calls on FIFA to protect its World Cup TV rights from Saudi pirates
May 30 – The Qatar-based beIN Media Group, the biggest sports broadcaster in the region, has urged FIFA to take legal action against what it called pirate broadcasters in Saudi Arabia ahead of the World Cup.
Bayern push deeper into US and Hispanic markets via content deal with ESPN
May 16 – ESPN has signed a content deal with German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich to bring club content to the broadcaster’s digital and linear networks in the US, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.