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📺 Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) Media Rights Deal with New World TV: What Does It Mean for African Sports Media? 🌍 The announcement of New World TV as the Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s new media rights partner for Sub-Saharan Africa was one of the most significant moves in the African sports market within the year. But beyond the headlines, there’s a deeper conversation to be had about the long-term impact on African sports broadcasting and the industry’s future. Here are a few things that stand out to me: 1️⃣ The Rise of New Players? New World TV’s rise as a key player in the sports media landscape could be a sign of a shift in who holds power in the African sports media space. It’s fascinating to see a relatively smaller player take the reins in such a high-profile deal, especially with competition from bigger, established media organisations. 💡 What does this mean? This shift could create opportunities for other emerging media companies to secure rights, innovate, and change the game in sports broadcasting. 2️⃣ A few teething issues: Announced just before AFCON 2023, there was limited time for other broadcasters to secure sublicensing deals. As a result, in major markets like Nigeria (The Afrosport Group) and South Africa (SABC) , the broadcaster was confirmed just before the tournament. ⚠️ Implication: These timing challenges could impact viewership, sponsorship opportunities, and overall fan engagement. When broadcasters don’t have enough time to promote their rights and attract advertisers, it affects the ecosystem. 3️⃣ A few more Teething Issues, #AFCON2025: Over the weekend, Kenya and South Africa were unable to broadcast AFCON 2025 qualifiers due to technical challenges. This raises important questions about preparation & infrastructure in key territories for such major events. (https://lnkd.in/gKk7UMzg) 👀 🎯 All Eyes on New World TV The situation begs the question of whether this is a temporary glitch or a sign of deeper infrastructural issues. But most certainly, the wider market are closely observing if this is sustainable for New World TV to manage, as many similarities to the rise & fall of Kwese TV have been made. 🚩 As someone interested in #sportsmedia, I’m interested to see how this plays out and what the long-term strategy for sports broadcasting in Africa will look like. The market is waiting to see how this unfolds. Would be keen to get your take on the matter? 👉 For a deeper discussion on sports media, join us at ASU Connex Summit: [https://lnkd.in/e55e7iVW] #SportsMedia #SportsBroadcasting #AFCON2025 #AfricanSports #SportsRights #MediaStrategy #ASUConnex

🇫🇷 The value of Ligue 1's TV rights have fluctuated significantly over the past decade, with a noticeable decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. After a period of growth during the 2016/17–2019/20 cycle and the promise of a lucrative long-term deal with Mediapro - which was abruptly terminated - the league has faced ongoing challenges in selling its media rights. These issues reached a peak this summer, when Ligue 1 managed to secure a deal just one month before the start of the 2024/25 season. 💰 With DAZN securing the rights to broadcast 8 games per matchday for €400 million and beIN SPORTS France acquiring the remaining weekly match for €100 million, Ligue 1's total revenue from media rights has fallen to around €500 million, down 32% from its peak value pre-COVID. 📉 As a result, the value of Ligue 1 rights in its domestic market is now very close to that of UEFA competitions in the French territory. This decline has been further compounded by the delayed bidding process, leaving clubs to set their season budgets months in advance without certainty. 📺 Although the current media rights deals extend through the end of the 2028/29 season, a break clause offers an opportunity to renegotiate and potentially secure more favorable terms. However, it also poses a risk to stabilizing this vital revenue stream if DAZN and beIN SPORTS fail to achieve their anticipated value from the broadcasts. 🗞️ If you want to read more about the challenges of Ligue 1, check out our article: https://lnkd.in/dZmQsyBR

As much as we try to pretend that all is fine in the premium tier of world football media rights, the current status of Ligue 1 new media rights cycle is a massive warning for the instability and the delicate long term balance of football current commercial modelling, including within the big 5 top European leagues, as well as a warning of the still existing power of the dominant traditional broadcasters fabric. Merely a few weeks before the start of the new pre-season for all clubs, the League is still to resolve the terms, width and volume of its new media rights package for this year and beyond. Originally with a target of €1 billion in annual revenue for its domestic and international rights for the 2024/2029 cycle, the League has since last October and in absence of any offer near to its target, starting direct private negotiations with a group of potential interested parties such DAZN or Amazon. Pressed by a mandatory need to support its clubs vast spending fix costs structures and still confronted by the absence of any satisfactory offer, LFP Media has launched its last stance, by announcing plans to launch its own d2c channel. According to media reports, the unnamed service would offer all 306 matches at a cost of between €25 (US$26.82) and €30 (US$32.19 million) a month, with the platform available on major IPTV platforms in France in a bid to drive awareness and adoption. The hope is that by reaching two million users, the LFP would generate more than €518 million a season in subscription revenue, with income from advertisers and other opportunities helping to deliver an average of €578 million per season over the five-year length of the next rights cycle. As much as I m supportive of the democratization and personalization of distribution, strong doubts need to be raised about the viability of such a proposition. Not just has been tried before by Mediapro unsuccessfully, as well as seems to try to simplify the challenges of a live d2c done at scale with large pressure over latency and concurrence and with tight timelines and the absence of a presence in all distribution platforms via carrier agreements seems to reduce substantially any chance of real success on this. On top I m very sure that any of the existing bidders will feel at ease with this threat and will not deviate of their current target offers. This week announcement of ligue 2 domestic rights grant to @bein looks indicative of the end result of this long quest. So the final thought remains - it is worthy to continue the traditional model of media rights commercialization in europe or shall we once and for all look at much more sophisticated hybrid models with much wider distribution range and personalization? Time to change

Before a big weekend of footy finals arrives, check out this insight where Jasleen Atwal and I summarise the current state of sports broadcast deals in Australia and the outlook into next year. Download the summary of major deals for the back pocket.

Value of Premier League media rights in India over the years: 1. $145 million (2013/14-2015/16) 2. $100 million (2016/17-2018/19) 3. $81 million (2019/20-2021/22) 4. $60 million (2022/23-2024/25) The sharp decline in media rights value can be attributed to factors like low TV viewership, monetisation challenges, drop in star players quality and a lack of interest from rival broadcasters. The existing deal of Premier League with Star India is set to conclude at the end of the 2024-25 season and the broadcaster has not shown any inclination to renew the deal. Premier League has reached out to other players in the market like Sony Sports Network, Warner Bros. Discovery's Eurosport and Fancode. According to sources, Premier League has also shown an indication to sell specific kinds of packages if the broadcaster does not want to feature all the matches. It is believed that both Star and Sony are currently focused on securing the Asian Cricket Council (ACC ) media rights and hence have put the Premier League media rights proposal on the back burner.

WSL domestic broadcast rights are valued at UK£15.6m a year as TV audiences could grow by up to 18% with optimised scheduling. 🔔 The Women’s Super League (WSL) commands significant attention with domestic media rights estimated at £15.6 million ($19.6 million) annually, as per a recent report by Nielsen and Prospect. 📌 The current broadcast deal with Sky Sports and BBC stands at £8 million ($10.1 million) a season, featuring 44 live games on Sky and 22 on BBC, with additional streaming on FA Player. 😳 Nielsen's analysis suggests that both broadcasters are paying considerably below market value for the WSL's rights. 📈 Live audience figures surged to 14.8 million for the 2022/23 season, marking a 37% increase from the previous year and a significant rise from the 900,000 viewers in the 2020/21 season. 💶 WSL's upcoming media rights negotiations aim for increased revenue, with more games slated for broadcast to entice higher offers. 📡 The shift towards free-to-air coverage through BBC underscores the importance of maximising reach alongside revenue for the league's growth. 📺 Sky's prominence in football broadcasting facilitated WSL visibility but challenges exist with the Sunday primetime evening slot, warranting a potential rethink. 💡 Suggestions to exempt WSL from the traditional 3 pm blackout seek to enhance audience engagement but face opposition. 🙌🏼 As the WSL positions itself for a lucrative media rights deal, understanding audience preferences and optimising broadcasting strategies emerge as pivotal factors in driving sustained growth and engagement. Source: SportsPro ------ The world of sports is evolving digitally and streaming continues to revolutionise sports broadcasting. 🌍📡 🔗 Who - Stream7 is an Event Broadcasting & Streaming company. 💼 Work - We work alongside brands, partners, rights holders and broadcasters to elevate the streaming tech. 📬 Get in touch or Drop a DM if you are looking to broadcast/stream your sports event. #sportsstreaming #sportsmarketing #sportsbiz #womensfootball #wsl

 WNBA's Media Rights Boom: A Game-Changer in Sports Broadcasting Straight off of securing a new media rights deal the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) is set to reassess its media rights after 2028, potentially unlocking significant value. Here's what you need to know: 📈 Rising popularity, fueled by stars like Caitlin Clarke and Angel Reese, is driving growth 🏀 Current deal: Minimum $200M/year from NBCUniversal, Amazon, and The Walt Disney Company 💰 Additional revenue potential: Up to $60M from partnerships with local broadcasters, Scripps, and ION At Juice Media, we're watching this space closely. The WNBA's strategy highlights the importance of: 1. Capitalizing on rising viewership 2. Diversifying media partnerships 3. Leveraging star power for increased value What opportunities do you foresee for brands as leagues like the WNBA expand their media footprint?

SportsInvest Advisory Insights © A lot has been said on the new domestic media rights deal closed by The Premier League last week. The 4-year deal spanning until the conclusion of the 2028/29 season reached £6.7 billion, with historical broadcasters Sky and TNT Sports (formerly known as BT Sport). Amazon Prime, which currently broadcasts 20 games, has not retained the rights for the new domestic cycle. ✅ On one side: Excellent news, record-breaking deal, Europe’s most lucrative sports franchise. 🛑 On the other: Concerning, worrying news for media rights outlook and the future of the sports industry. A few thoughts to hopefully help navigating your way into this debate: ➡️ First, the +4% growth rate announced by the EPL for the next cycle compares it to the previous two 3-year cycles (2019-22 and 2022-25). When comparing it to the £5.1 billion 3-year deal of the 2022-25 period, the £6.7 billion 4-year deal actually shows a slight drop. Not to mention that the +4% growth rate should be a decrease when accounting for the inflation rate over the last years. ➡️ Second, the # of live televised games per season has been drastically increased, from 200 historically to 267 for the 2025-29 period (i.e., from c.53% to 70% of the total 380 games per season). That means that the actual value per live game shows a significant decrease from c.£8.5 million per game for 2022-25 to c.£6.3 million for 2025-29. ➡️ Third, this deal has to be looked at in the context of a flattening (if not decreasing) media rights market for European football. The Bundesliga's current deal (until the end of 24/25) with Sky and DAZN saw a decrease from €1.16 billion to €1.1 billion AAV. In Italy, the €900 million deal struck by Lega Serie A with DAZN and Sky was -3% down from the €927.5 million per year which Italian clubs currently receive. And in France, the first phase of the domestic media rights tender process was not successful, with direct negotiations now taking with broadcasters - the LFP is targeting €800 million for the 24/25 to 28/29 cycle (assuming a +28% growth compared to the €624 million of the current cycle). Interestingly enough, SportBusiness released 3 weeks ago their Global Media Report 2023 (link in comment) showing that the global value of sports media rights had increased c.$56 billion over the last 12 months, up +2.4% vs. 2022. They highlight that the value is expected to pass $60 billion for the first time in 2024 driven by the return of the Olympic Games and UEFA European Championship. But the picture looks a bit different when looking at the granularity between sports and regions - Callum McCarthy, SportBusiness Editor in Chief, rightly adds: "Most European football leagues are struggling to grow their media revenues beyond current levels, but global sport reaches far beyond five leagues in five countries. Properties such as the NFL, NBA, Formula 1, IPL and WWE are performing strongly and will continue to do so throughout the decade".

[To read]🚨De Gaulle Fleurance and Onside Law issue their report on Sports Broadcasting Rights🚨    James Tobias, and Josh Wood, respectively Partner and Associate lawyers at Onside Law, and Smaïn Guennad, and Victor OMNES, Senior Manager and Associate at De Gaulle Fleurance, are delighted to share their latest report! This report focuses on the football and rugby broadcasting rights market and legal framework, providing a comparative study of France and the UK and offering invaluable insights for industry stakeholders⚽ 🏈    📈 Key Trends in Sports Broadcasting:  🔹 Rising Viewership: Sports events are attracting an increasing number of viewers, making them a major media market worth an estimated €1.6 billion in France and £3.5 billion in the UK.  🔹 More Inclusive Consumption: Sports content consumption has become more inclusive, with increased attention to women's and para-sport competitions. 🔹 Diversification of Distribution Channels: With digitalization and the rise of platforms like Amazon Prime, beIN, Free, Canal +, and DAZN, younger viewers are increasingly turning to online media over traditional linear services. 🔹 Broadcasting Rights Market Value: While the value of Premier League rights has stabilized since 2016 (£1,687 million for 2025-2029), Ligue 1 audiovisual rights have decreased, with an estimated €500 million per season for 2024-2029.  🔹 Clubs Economic Dependence on Broadcasting Rights Revenues: The sale of broadcasting rights is crucial for the financial viability of professional clubs. . In France, broadcasting rights represent a significant part of club revenues, such as in Ligue 1 where these rights account for approximately 30%.   ⚖️ Legal Framework Insights:  Rights ownership. Rights allocation process and competition law compliance. Distribution of broadcasting rights revenues.   🔍 Analysis of Recent Matters:  The Mediapro case in France. The 2024 Ligue 1 rights allocation process. The Virgin Media complaint and Ofcom investigation in the UK.   To learn more, download the report here 👉https://lnkd.in/eqqdzNxb #legalsteptochange #sportsbroadcasting #football #rugby #broadcastingrights #mediamarket

Interesting analysis on the sports media rights climate. It's a challenging time for tier 2 or 3 rights holders with limited linear windows, a declining regional cable market, and streamers becoming more data savvy. A bearish market looms for the majority of rights holders. #SportsMedia #MediaRights