The Argentine FA announced that divisions of U.S. media companies 21st Century Fox and Time Warner "won a joint contract" to broadcast Argentine football for five years from next season, according to Luis Ampuero of REUTERS. Fox Sports Latin America, a unit of Fox, and Time Warner's TBS Latin America won a "three-way race" for TV broadcast rights against ESPN and Mediapro. Terms of the deal were not released, but local media reported that Fox and Turner would pay $206M per year and "some" $77.2M as a guarantee. The channels will begin broadcasting when the '17-18 season begins later this year. The companies will "also take on the court case" brought by Argentine media company Grupo Clarin against the Argentine FA, which sold ownership rights to the federal government for its subsidized, free-to-view Fútbol para Todos program in '09 (
REUTERS, 3/14).
'KNOCKOUT BLOW': OLÉ reported the Fox-Turner bid "included in its offer what was likely the knockout blow: a letter from sports marketing company Torneos saying it will not continue its legal action against the AFA for breaking the contract." It "was another point in the Fox-Turner bid's favor, as it removes one headache for the AFA" (OLÉ, 3/14). In Madrid, Ramiro Barreiro reported the "decision confirms the end of football airing on free-TV." Under the new format, fans will have to have cable subscriptions, for costs ranging from 600-1,000 Argentine pesos ($39-$64). Fox and its journalists "are familiar faces: the channel televises Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana matches" (EL PAÍS, 3/14).
