BT Sport and Sky "will consider renewed bids for the British rights" for La Liga and Serie A if, "as now seems likely, they are put back up for sale," according to Martyn Ziegler of the LONDON TIMES. The rights were won by Eleven Sports, which is owned by League Championship Leeds United Chair Andrea Radrizzani, during the summer "but it has struggled to attract enough subscribers." Significantly, "it failed to secure carriage deals with Sky, BT or Virgin to carry the matches on their platforms." Eleven Sports outbid Sky for the La Liga rights, and BT Sport for Serie A, "but now owes millions of pounds in rights fees and is looking to restructure the deals." It is negotiating directly with La Liga, and with IMG, which arranged its broadcast deals with Serie A, the Eredivisie in Holland, plus the Swedish and Chinese leagues that it "wants to renegotiate." Eleven Sports "wants to keep online streaming rights," which would cost it "significantly less," but allow the leagues to sell the linear TV rights to other broadcasters. That "may be problematic as both BT and Sky would want to be able to show matches on their digital platforms" if they are to spend money on TV rights. Both broadcasters are, however, "understood to be interested in going back into the market if the deal is right" (LONDON TIMES, 12/13). The BBC reported meanwhile, UFC "pulled out of a deal with Eleven Sports, which was supposed to start in January, after the latter did not agree a contract to redistribute its events." It is understood Eleven Sports "is not in financial difficulties" and the problems in the U.K. "are in isolation rather than impacting on other markets in which it operates" (BBC, 12/13).
