SportsBizWatcher

Fascinated by the world of sports business and all that in encompasses

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

L I’m in a number of soccer group chats and know a ton of domestic fans & I only know one passionate MLS fan. It’s all EPL & Champions League.
Will be challenging, IMO, for MLS to get $4-500M/year especially given all the other rights (especially NFL) coming up soon #sportsbiz

[Awful Announcing @awfulannouncing]

MLS eyes $400 million TV deal amid crowded soccer landscape https://t.co/w0elOBjEGb

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Very interesting deal here considering NBCU is about to get spun off from Comcast. Peacock clearly targeting reach instead of a single paywalled product.
Strategy from YT also interesting… and eye to upcoming NFL rights negotiations?? #sportstv #sportsbiz

[Austin Karp @AustinKarp]

NBCU-YouTube deal includes sports production, broader Peacock distribution

Also makes one wonder what YouTube has up its sleeve on sports rights acquisitions, because right now, the cuboard is kind of bare (no live NFL game this season)

https://t.co/L8PmoYHAiI

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

This is unexpectedly huge news. It really says something that Augusta, the most traditional and August of sporting institutions will dip its toe into streaming. Well done @jaymarine #sportstv #sportsbiz #tvbiz #mediarights

[PrimeVideoSportsPR @PrimeSportsPR]

🏌️‍♂️BREAKING: @PrimeVideo will debut as a domestic broadcaster of the @TheMasters next April!

The Masters will stream live on Prime Video from 1:00 – 3:00PM ET on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10.

For more details, 🔗: https://t.co/zfGf2iwoN1

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

So this is like Venu without WBD involved… Also, this makes the Goodell comments about a college football red zone make a lot more sense.

[CordCuttersNews @CordCuttersNews]

ESPN & Fox Team Up To Offer a $39.99 Bundle Of Their New Streaming Services https://t.co/qrmeBBNm6q

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Utterly fascinating news here from down under. Implications should be vast in both rights as well as distribution as well as DAZN first venture into non-sports content. Reminds me a little of Hulu with this mix of sports and general entertainment. #tvrights #sportsbiz

[Nick Meacham @SportsProNick]

The @dazngroup acquisition of Australian pay-TV giant @Foxtel for $2.2 billion is significant for several reasons. Here are ten of them:
---

1. Telstra and News Corp had the bulk of the acquisition converted into DAZN shares, making it unclear how much cash actually exchanged hands in the deal.

2. Foxtel was once a powerhouse profit machine, but like all Australian media outlets, its profits have suffered as the market becomes overcrowded with new entrants and streaming services.

3. Foxtel offers a vast amount of general entertainment content, marking DAZN's first move into non-sports content.

4. The acquisition includes Kayo Sports and BINGE — two successful Australian streaming platforms that are competitively priced and targeted to challenge Netflix and other tech giants.

5. Foxtel has 4.7 million subscribers across its platforms, representing over 50% of Australian households — though this figure includes overlap.

6. DAZN's use of shares as the primary acquisition tool mirrors the strategy employed when acquiring Eleven Sports.

7. Foxtel holds most of the key Australian sports rights outside of the main linear broadcasters, positioning DAZN as a market leader in Australia from day one.

8. Australians are passionate about sports globally, not just locally. Foxtel allows DAZN to cross-market fans to supplementary platforms like NFL Game Pass.

9. DAZN is still relatively unknown in Australia, so it will be interesting to see how the market responds to the brand and its positioning.

10. On a per capita basis, Australians spend more and watching of sports is only rivaled by the US.

This acquisition comes at an opportunistic time, as Telstra and News Corp have been looking to sell for a while. DAZN is open to partnering with anyone who can add value to its business and is willing to accept shares in return.

If you were DAZN, which local sports outlet would you target next in the race to scale?

#sportsbiz

https://t.co/RAoOYXEjjA

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Fascinating story to continue to watch here. The scope of the content put out here is enormous

[Nick Meacham @SportsProNick]

People are wondering what the @premierleague shift away from @IMG Productions means. Well here's some context of the scale of what IMG were delivering:

- 6,000 hours of content every season to the Premier League’s 55 international broadcast partners, covering 189 markets globally.

- Coverage includes all 380 matches live, as well as a 24/7 content service and other support programming such as magazine shows, including the Fantasy Premier League Show and The Final Word.

That's some serious output.

I don't think anyone would be surprised to see them take it in-house, however the scale of delivery is MASSIVE - and the Premier League will have to work hard to ensure the quality of their broadcast is kept to the high standards IMG has delivered. That will be no mean feat.

So why do it?

1) Cost savings - IMG would be charging a premium for what they're delivering

2) the ability to be agile with their approach to content

3) rethinking the content mix they output with broadcast partners - no doubt broadcast partners want more than ever provided to them - story telling outside of the live match will be critical

4) The possibility to create a Premier League network proposition of sorts - to give to partners or to wrap in a DTC offering that's on its way.

5) create new genres or new content types for distribution on other platforms i.e. documentaries on Netflix....

Practically everyone I spoke to at #SPMadrid was talking about when and what we'll see from the EPL soon when it comes to launching a DTC proposition. This is a big a sign as ever as they're set to seriously evolve into a full blown media operation - just like most of the sports properties globally already have.

Welcome to the party EPL.

[Russell Wilde Jr. @RussWildeJr]

These Army helmets are unreal. Playoff bound?!

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

This one surprises me… the real question for the launch of the service is… can they get the appeal done in time for the NFL season? #sportsbiz #streaming #mediarights

[Front Office Sports @FOS]

BREAKING: A federal judge has granted a temporary injunction blocking the launch of Venu Sports.

The joint venture between Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery had been slated to launch Aug. 23, but the ruling puts it on hold.

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

HUGE news about the development of “Spulu” as some have called it. The outline of venture starting to take shape. #sportstv #sportsbiz #media #tvbiz

[Awful Announcing @awfulannouncing]

Pete Distad announced as CEO of ESPN/Fox/WBD streaming service https://t.co/MhxA0H9Hm1

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Surprisingly big news; but completely understandable why a rebrand would be wanted after emerging from bankruptcy #SportsBiz #sportsmedia #sportstv #mediarights

[Ken Fang -- Very Asian @fangsbites]

Diamond Sports Group dropping Bally’s branding from regional sports networks https://t.co/ZEGCsdPnI5

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Emirates going all in on tennis. Now with all 4 slams as well as some Masters 1000s. Good tie in between such an international sport & airline with nearly all international destinations #SportsBiz #tennis #Wimbledon #sponsorship

[Sport Industry Group @SportIndustry]

Emirates become new @Wimbledon partner🎾✈️

The AELTC announces @emirates will sponsor all 4 grand slam tennis tournaments, and the airline will benefit from on court branding as well as several other activations!🤝

👉Read in full: https://t.co/4ZIJkO3aMd

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Very interesting to see Apple’s strategy. Very clean, concise UI. Perfectly timed launch for MLS & will undoubtedly be updated many times. My question is; will team / league engagement on this app direct Apple & Eddy Cue on rights deals? #sportstv #sportsbiz @TheWilliamMao

[Rich Greenfield, LightShed 🔦 @RichLightShed]

Are we missing something? Isn't this the old ScoreCenter app circa 2009 from ESPN?

paging @ryanspoon @aaron

https://t.co/BtzmBtikg9

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

@SVG_Brandon What’s the best way to get the best out of it? Apple TV 4K, OLED and what make of sound bar?

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

@SportByFort @AustralianOpen @kiaaustralia Kia has done that for years. There’s an all time speech from the Kia CEO after the Men’s Australian Open Final in, I believe, 2012.

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

This is just simply incredible. What else really needs to be said?? #sportstv #mediarights

[Lev Akabas @LevAkabas]

It's the NFL's world... we all just live in it

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

This is a big deal for many reasons; and one rather interesting tidbit is that the women’s basketball tournament was not broken out into its own rights deal as many thought. Also noteworthy, NCAA included $$ for production costs. #sportsbiz #tvrights #mediarights

[Front Office Sports @FOS]

BREAKING: The NCAA and ESPN have signed an eight-year, $920 million extension to their current media rights package of 40 NCAA championships.

It values the D-I women’s basketball tournament at $65M annually.

"We didn’t do a renewal. This is a reset."

@achristovichh's story ⬇️

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

@AndrewMarchand @Ourand_SBJ Have you all heard anything about the French Open US domestic rights after 2024? I know NBC/Tennis Channel expires after’24. Thanks guys and I just put my subscription to Puck in yesterday. Know you’ll continue the great work there John.

[Mike Ozanian @MikeOzanian]

The sports rights renewal market is in a bit of a lull excl. the NBA, as the majority of the big-ticket deals are locked-in through the end of the decade.The top 5 sports leagues now account for ~85% of the total U.S. sports rights value. This trendline appears set to continue.

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

Huge step forward for the NWSL. To go from $4.5M/yr to $60M is a huge step forward (even with both deals taking on production costs) just at a time when the league is getting two new teams and setting viewership records. #tvrights #NWSL #womenssports #sportsrights

[John Ourand @Ourand_Puck]

re: The $60 million/year number on the NWSL's media deal.

That figure is not a straight rights fee, as it "includes rights fees, the [expected] cost of production and [the projected value of ] marketing commitments."

@AlexMSilverman has the details.

https://t.co/jchY9K2lD1

[SportsBizWatcher @SportsBizWatch]

@TheWilliamMao @usopen @espn @Octagon This is incredible by itself and even made more so by the fact that the Charter / Spectrum blackout was in effect for the women’s final.