Football media rights remained as lucrative as ever in 2016. Leagues in England, China and Australia all signed new TV deals that will extend their global reach. Multi-billion dollar media takeovers stole headlines with Rupert Murdoch’s as-yet-unapproved proposed takeover of Sky leading the way. The IOC also made waves with the launch of the Olympic Channel following the Rio Games. Up and coming niche sports shook up the media landscape as esports and drone racing signed major deals to grow their following.
WHERE THE MONEY IS: Coming off its record $7.8B domestic TV deal in ‘15, the English Premier League added to its coffers with a $600M deal to show matches in China. Suning’s PPTV streaming service picked up the rights over the next three seasons in a deal that dwarfed the previous $17M agreement. The deal makes China the most lucrative overseas territory for the Premier League. In China, the Chinese Super League inked a deal with England’s Sky Sports to show matches in the U.K. The CSL has garnered a lot of attention recently, with a number of clubs signing talent from Europe’s top leagues, and now fans have the chance to see them in action on their new teams. With the new deal, Sky Sports now holds the rights to the Premier League, the English Football League, La Liga, Major League Soccer and the CSL. The CSL also made moves domestically signing a deal that will see matches shown on China Central Television. Australia’s Football Federation (FFA) landed a huge boost for A-League clubs when it signed a $250M deal with Fox Sports. The six-year agreement far exceeds any previous deal it had with Fox Sports, in length and value. The A-League has seen a surge in popularity after Optus purchased the EPL rights in the country. With the EPL off of Fox Sports, the A-League has found its way out of the shadow of the world’s most popular football league.
OLYMPIC LAUNCH: The IOC launched its OTT service, the Olympic Channel, on Aug. 21 following the closing ceremonies of the Rio Games. The channel has partnered with 36 int’l federations to showcase more than 30 live events including Olympic qualifiers. Just this month, the channel reached an agreement with FIFA to promote football within the Olympic Movement. The IOC’s goal for the Olympic Channel is to encourage year-round Olympic support and to engage a younger audience. Olympic Channel senior exec Lawrence Dallaglio said, “We started our social following July 27 and we started with zero followers. We’re now more than 2 million.”
STIRRING THE POT: Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox’s proposed $14.6B takeover of Sky has caused a stir in the past month. Rival broadcasters fear that the takeover would mean Murdoch’s firm would dominate bidding for top sports rights. That fear has led to many calling for the competition authority to probe the deal, with several politicians joining the cause. The media tycoon’s first bid to take over Sky in ’10-11 was decided to “not be in the public interest” by then-U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable. However, analysts have said the current deal will likely have an easier time being approved because of the little or no competition issues this time around.
CARVING A NICHE: While football continued its dominance of world sports, several ambitious new ventures have also signed major deals to increase their exposure. Following their Asian counterparts’ lead, European media companies signed deals to show esports competitions. In France, Vivendi and its Canal Group jumped into esports with a partnership with ESL France to establish and broadcast esports leagues. The French Professional Football League also created its own e-Ligue 1 comprised of teams that Ligue 1 clubs have created by recruiting top esports players. Esports are now shown throughout Asia, Europe and North America. Beyond video games, drone racing broke through in a deal with Eurosport to bring the DR1 drone racing series to 70 countries. A separate drone racing league, the DRL, received a $1M investment from Sky as well as backing from Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 to promote the competition. The DRL also signed a deal with ESPN to show the series across North America. These niche "sports" have carved their way into the highly sought-after demographic of millennials.
