Chinese company LeSports had its four-year contract to broadcast Asian Football Confederation competitions "terminated by the continental governing body last week after failing to pay" an installment on the deal, sources said, according to Michael Church of REUTERS. The deal, worth "in excess of" $100M, was signed with the sports unit of Chinese technology company LeEco in Oct. '15 and "gave the company exclusive China broadcast rights to matches played under AFC auspices." The agreement was canceled last week, sources said, "after LeSports failed to pay" the latest installment on a contract that covered the Asian Champions League, Asia's final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup and the Asian Cup from '17-20. There was "no immediate reply" to a request for comment from LeEco. The AFC said that it was "not in a position to comment" (REUTERS, 2/27). BLOOMBERG's Panja & Ramli reported LeSports' failure to make the payment is the "first sign of cracks in China's super-charged media market for sports rights, which has seen companies in the world's most-populous country bid up the price" of football properties from the domestic Super League to England's Premier League to "record levels." PPTV in November agreed to buy three years of Premier League rights for more than $650M, "more than 12 times the current contract." The deal between LeSports and the AFC was negotiated by Lagardère. LeSports was given a "final mid-February deadline to make a payment that was due at the start of January," and after missing that too, the company was told that "its contract was terminated and legal action would be taken to secure the funds" (BLOOMBERG, 2/27).
