Each week we take a look at the world of the Irish and international sports media, the stories, the numbers and the organisations that are, more than ever before, our window on the world of sport…
This week we look at the latest in the mega sale of BT Sport, at numbers from the NFL and an Irish broadcaster doing rather well in Asia…
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BT SPORT AND EUROSPORT TO LINK UP
BT Sport, available here on the Sky Platform is understood to be close to a deal with Discovery, the owners of Eurosport, which would lead to a merger of the two brands.
The proposed 50;50 joint venture would have rights to the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the Olympic Games, Tennis’s Grand Slams and Cycling’s Grand Tours among plenty more.
BT Chief Executive Philip Jansen said the company saw all upside and no downside in the Discovery tie-up, and was very happy with the terms it had agreed on content.
“From a corporate financial point of view, the profile much improves, because obviously there will be synergies, both in cost and revenue,” he told reporters.
“And it keeps us very much in the competitive framework for what is a very interesting, exciting content market.”
BT’s reciprocal deal for the carriage of channels has also been extended through to 2030.
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PREMIER SPORTS EXPANDS ASIAN OFFERING
Premier Sports has signed an exclusive three-year Six Nations rights renewal for South East Asia and has also picked up exclusive rights in the Middle East and North Africa.
It launched its OTT streaming service in 2020 after landing rights to the Six Nations and the Autumn Nations Cup in 22 countries. The latest agreement also includes the Women’s and Under-20’s Six Nations tournaments.
In addition to the Six Nations, Premier Sports has also secured rights in the Mena region to the United Rugby Championship and England’s Gallagher Premiership.
“The Guinness Six Nations Championship means so much to so many rugby fans around the globe,” said Ryle Nugent, the former Head of Sport at RTÉ who became CEO of Premier Sports Asian and Middle East Business last year.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring this wonderful Championship to our audiences. To bolster our Six Nations Rugby offering with the Women’s and U20 competitions truly allows us to strengthen our premium rugby union content offering.”
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NFL ON FIRE
There was no Tom Brady, no Aaron Rodgers and no Dallas Cowboys or New England Patriots, but the NFL is a juggernaut and the combined TV viewing audiences for last weekend’s two Championship Games, (semi-finals for the SuperBowl topped 49 million.
That was the second-biggest audience for this equivalent weekend in history, only beaten by the games of 2015.
It has been the same all the way through the play-offs building to what could yet be a record audience when the LA Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday week.
We will build-up to the big game next week with a daily look at the SuperBowl ads that will air across the United States
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RTÉ, Sky Sports, Virgin Media, OTB, TG4, DMG Media, Nemeton TV, TVM, Iris Productions, Pundit Arena and Balls.ie are among the more than 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas.
