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Page 1: TVSM - d1k14t0yx9btx2.cloudfront.net · TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY It is arguable that the period 2016-2018 is when the impact of the so-called Fifa scandal started

TVSM GLOBAL REPORT

2017

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Published October 2017

© 2017 SportBusiness Group

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher.

The information contained in this publication is believed to be correct at the time of going to press. While care has been taken to ensure that the information is accurate, the publishers can accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for changes to the details given.

Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements including forecasts are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, the actual performance of companies mentioned in this report and the industry as a whole may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Editorial and research team:Chris BarnesKevin McCullaghRobin JellisCallum McCarthyFrank DunneDavid CookDavid Svenson

Typesetting: Character Design, Hereford

Published by: SportBusiness, a division of SBG Companies Ltd 133 Whitechapel High St London E1 7QA T: +44 (0) 20 7265 4100 F: +44 (0) 20 7265 4220

Registered address: Park House 116 Park Street London W1K 6AF

Cover images: Getty Images SportDustin BradfordAndy LyonsGallo ImagesRoss KinnairdMark ThompsonEzra ShawJulian FinneyClive BrunskillDerek LeungMirco Lazzari gp

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 III

CONTENTS

Contents

1 METHODOLOGY

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 THE TOP 10 SPORTS

16 THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

24 THE TOP 10 MARKETS

46 WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2018

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 1

METHODOLOGY

The information in this report has been compiled

using the TVSM Rights Tracker, the intelligence tool

for interrogating TV Sports Markets’ unique database

of sports media rights values. The value of rights

for properties not included in Rights Tracker, and

for upcoming deals not yet announced, has been

either gathered from figures reported in the media or

estimated by the TV Sports Markets team.

The vast majority of the deals we count are

those agreed by the original property, or ‘rights-

holder’, as opposed to the secondary sales market

that agencies work in. In the few cases where the

only value we know for a property is that agreed by

an agency in the secondary market, we have used

those values.

The annual values equate to the total annual

value of media rights deals agreed by the

property, within the sport or within the country

in a calendar year. The rights revenue for

competitions with seasons spanning two calendar

years, such as European football leagues, has

been apportioned to single calendar years. For

example, the total for calendar year 2016 has

been calculated as the average of the 2015-16 and

2016-17 revenue figures.

Rights deal values for periodic events such

as the Olympic Games and Fifa World Cup are

apportioned across the periods between events

rather than to the single year in which the event

is held. For example the value of all deals for the

2018 Fifa World Cup is divided by four to produce

an annual value for the competition in the 2015-

18 period.

Deal values have been converted into US

dollars at the exchange rate on the date of the deal

announcement. The growth rates of properties,

countries and sports are also in many cases based

on figures converted to US dollars, and therefore

are affected by exchange rate fluctuations. 

Some historic figures have changed from the

last edition of the report, TVSM Global Report

2016, which looked at the market based on 2016

figures. These changes reflect that, since publication

of the previous report, TV Sports Markets received

new information on some historic contracts, leading

to values changing. 

METHODOLOGY

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive summary

Total global value of sports media rights ($m)

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

31,42536,321

39,619

43,641 46,975

49,517 51,823 52,903

54,272

The global value of sports media rights was just

under $47bn in 2017, up from $43.6bn in 2016. Year-

on-year growth will continue, with the value of the

market forecast to break the $50bn-barrier in 2019

and reach almost $54.3bn by 2021.

The US remained the largest single market by

rights spend in 2017, at $21.2bn, far outstripping the

second highest-spending market, the UK, which was

on $4.8bn. The order of the top 10 by spend was the

same as last year, with the US and UK preceding:

Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Australia,

Canada and India.

In the period under analysis, 2013 to 2021,

Spain, perhaps surprisingly as one of the European

countries hit hardest by the economic downturn

post-2008, has the fastest-growing rights market,

with a CAGR of 9.1 per cent. India is in second place,

with 8.2 per cent. Canada, on 8.1 per cent, and the

UK on 7.9 per cent, were close behind.

Basketball remains the sport with the fastest

CAGR in the period 2013-2021, at 10.4 per cent.

Football remains second.

The bulk of the value of the rights market is

clustered around a small number of sports, with

football (soccer) accounting for 40 per cent of

global spending on rights in 2017. Football rights

were worth just over $18.8bn in 2017, up from

$17.1bn last year. While esports has probably been

the biggest growth story in terms of the overall

industry in the last two years, it still hardly makes a

blip on the radar of the overall rights market.

There has been little change to the dominance

of the top handful of properties. The NFL remains

out on its own, with a media value of $7.3bn in 2017.

The Premier League remains second, on $4.5bn.

The NBA and MLB complete the top four. The gap

between the MLB in fourth and the Uefa Champions

League in fifth is quite substantial. MLB rights

income is $3.4bn, compared to $2.2bn for Uefa.

The last 18-24 months have been a period when

some strong macro-trends started to emerge. Some

of those trends have not yet had a profound impact

on rights values but look certain to do so in the next

three to five years.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is arguable that the period 2016-2018 is when

the impact of the so-called Fifa scandal started to

be felt. In the markets most affected by decades of

corrupt deals – the Americas – football rights have

routinely been coming to the market as part of

rigorously transparent tender operations. Opening

the market in a completely fair way to competition

has almost inevitably pushed up the values of the

properties held by Conmebol and Concacaf, the

governing bodies for football across the region.

This year was also probably the year when the

shadow boxing of the big internet companies – like

Facebook and Amazon – gave way to something

more aggressive. Neither landed a KO for a major

property but Facebook showed its muscle with

a $600m (losing) bid for Indian Premier League

cricket rights and Amazon picked up exclusive

rights in the UK to ATP tennis. Next year’s edition

of the global report is likely to feature many more

such deals.

The tentative nature of the entry into the rights

market of the internet giants did not mean OTT as a

delivery option had limited impact. But the impact

came from another source: digital specialists the

Perform Group. Perform’s DAZN premium service

launched with an aggressive rights-buying strategy

in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan and

Canada, and also bid for rights in other territories,

such as Italy. A much wider roll-out is expected.

One of the big questions in the coming years

is whether the premium subscription model

adopted by Amazon and DAZN will allow for

more aggressive spending than the advertising-

funded model of players like YouTube, Twitter and

Facebook. Commercial (i.e. ad-funded) broadcasters

around the world have had trouble keeping up

with pay-TV (subscription-funded) operators. Will

the same dynamic play out in the new landscape?

Or will the highly targeted advertising and data

harvesting of the Silicon Valley players be decisive?

Could a new kind of free-plus-pay model emerge

where social media operators become the new

default free-to-air platforms, and subscription OTT

operators the new normal for pay-TV deals?

The last 18 months have been interesting in

showing how different rights-holders approach

the free vs. pay conundrum. Uefa has increasingly

closed exclusive deals with European pay-television

operators for its flagship property, the Champions

League, and has enjoyed solid growth as a result.

Formula One under Bernie Ecclestone appeared to

be heading down that route but new owners – John

Malone’s Liberty Media – appear to favour a return

to free-to-air coverage to help drive sponsorship

and other commercial revenue.

Liberty’s $4.6bn acquisition of Formula One this

year highlighted another growing trend: media

companies and sports marketing agencies are

increasingly looking to own the IP in sports events,

rather than be part of a risky, short-term rights-

trading game which does not provide sustainable

growth. The IMG agency’s $3.55bn buyout of MMA

promoter UFC in the summer of 2016 and Wanda

Sports’s acquisition of the Ironman triathlon

franchise in 2015 were other high-profile examples.

Another major factor in rights inflation is the

continued battle between the super agencies – the

likes of IMG, MP & Silva, Infront Sports & Media,

Lagardère Sports and the Perform Group. Each

has been prepared to pay very large increases on

previous cycle values to secure top rights. IMG, in

particular, has been aggressive, paying headline-

making numbers to win properties like the FA Cup,

the Copa Libertadores (together with Perform) and

the international rights to Serie A.

Interestingly, where major rights-holders have

run open tenders which allow individual market

bids as well as global bids, they have ended up

opting for a global bid from an agency. This appears

to suggest that agencies are still prepared to pay

a premium that the broadcast market cannot see.

Logic suggests that this should make refinancing

bids very difficult – and there have been examples

of that being the case, even where agencies are

selling premium football rights. But being able to

bundle the rights gives agencies ways to exploit

them that are not open to broadcasters.

And there may be other strategic long-term

reasons why an agency will pay a big premium.

In IMG’s case, for example, it is widely assumed it

will launch an IPO in 2018, which could massively

increase the value of the company.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 4

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

The top 10 sports

Top 10 sports by global media rights value 2017 ($m)

20,000

18,000

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

Football American football

Basketball Baseball US college sport

Motorsport Ice hockey Golf Multi-sport events

Cricket

Source: TV Sports Markets

18,823

7,302

4,248 3,681 3,038

1,789 1,385 1,179 1,174 981

OverviewThe top 10 sports will generate a combined

$43.6bn from media rights revenue in 2017, a

7.6-per-cent increase on 2016, and are forecast to

top $50bn by 2021.

Nine of the 10 sports will generate over $1bn

in 2017, with cricket rising to that mark in 2018.

Only six sports topped $1bn at the beginning of the

decade.

The top 10 sports accounted for 93 per cent of

global sports rights value in 2017, the same level

as 2016. The total value of the top 10 is forecast

to grow by an average of 7.1 per cent (compound

annual growth rate – CAGR) between 2013 to 2021.

Football is by far the most valuable sport,

generating $18.8bn in 2017, a 9.9-per-cent increase

on 2016, the second fastest growing sport in the

top 10. Football generates 40 per cent of the global

total and 158 per cent more than the second-largest

sport, American football.

Football is forecast to exceed $23.4bn in 2021

and will be worth more than treble the value of

American football by that point. This reflects that

the value of American football is due to remain

relatively similar as its leading broadcast contracts

run until 2021 and 2022.

With the exception of football, US sports

dominate the top 10, with the country’s four big

professional sports and US college sport providing

five of the next seven positions.

In addition, the most valuable property in sixth-

ranked motorsport is the US stock car series Nascar,

which provides 46 per cent of the sport’s value. The

top property in the ninth most valuable sport – golf

– is the US-based PGA Tour, accounting for 54 per

cent of the sport’s total. In total, the US provides the

leading property in seven of the top 10 sports.

Third-largest sport basketball grew by 32 per

cent in 2017, due to the start of the current NBA

rights cycle in the 2016-17 season. Basketball is

forecast to be the fastest-growing among the top 10

between 2013 and 2021 at 10.4 per cent CAGR, the

only sport with double-digit CAGR over the period.

This is due almost entirely to growth in the NBA

rights fees – the property accounts for 93 per cent

of the sport’s total.

At the other end of the scale, ‘multi-sport events’

– which covers the Olympic Games, Asian Games,

Commonwealth Games and other such events – is

the slowest-growing among the top 10 sports at 1.6

per cent CAGR between 2013 and 2021.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 5

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

Top 10 sports – Share of global media rights market 2017

Source: TV Sports Markets

Global market =$47.0bn

American football15.5%

Football40.1%

Others7.2%

Cricket2.1%

Basketball9.0%

US college sport6.5%

Baseball7.8%

Motorsport3.8%

Ice hockey2.9%

Golf2.5%

Multi-sport events2.5%

Top 10 sports – Media rights value growth rate (CAGR) 2013-21

12.0%

10.0%

8.0%

6.0%

4.0%

2.0%

0

Basketball Football Cricket American football

Baseball Motorsport Ice hockey US college sport

Golf Multi-sport events

Source: TV Sports Markets

10.4%

8.2%

7.1% 6.9%6.5%

5.6%4.8%

4.3%

1.9%1.6%

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 6

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $18,823m

Share of global value 40.1%

2016-17 growth 9.9%

2013-21 CAGR 8.2%

Most valuable property Premier League ($4,550m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

24%

Football global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

12,481 13,585

14,876

17,133 18,823

20,248 21,719

22,407 23,446

1. Football

Among sports, football is by far the world’s largest

generator of rights fees at $18.8bn in 2017, and is

the second fastest growing sport in the top 10 with

a 9.9-per-cent rise on 2016.

Football provides 40 per cent of the global

market, and generates 158 per cent more rights

revenue than the second-largest sport, American

football.

Football is also the second fastest growing sport

among the top 10 between 2013 and 2021 with

8.2 per cent CAGR. The sport’s share of the global

market is due to increase to 43 per cent by 2021.

The English Premier League is the largest

football property at $4.55bn, more than double the

value of the second-largest, the Uefa Champions

League at $2.2bn.

The Premier League provides 24 per cent of

football’s total value. This is the lowest percentage

accounted for by the most valuable property among

the top 10 sports.

The top seven football properties – the big five

European leagues, the Uefa Champions League and

the Fifa World Cup – are worth $13.1bn, 69 per cent

of the football total. Even excluding these major

properties the remaining football competitions

would be worth $5.8bn – more than the global

value of any sport except American football.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 7

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $7,302m

Share of global value 15.5%

2016-17 growth 0.9%

2013-21 CAGR 6.9%

Most valuable property NFL ($7,302m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

100%

American football global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

8,000

7,000

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

4,400

6,540

7,075 7,239 7,302 7,366 7,386 7,465 7,485

2. American football

The American football total is composed entirely

of the global revenue for the National Football

League. In this report US college American football

is classified under college sports, while indoor

formats (such as the Arena Football League) are

also counted as a separate category.

American football, or the NFL, accounts for

15.5 per cent of the global sports rights market.

The NFL’s rights value is almost entirely generated

by domestic deals in the US.

American football grew by 0.9 per cent in

2017, one of the lowest rates in the top 10. The

low growth rate reflects NFL domestic broadcast

contracts are long term, running until 2021 and

2022. However, as the current domestic contracts

began in 2014, American football will experience

strong growth of 6.9 per cent CAGR over the 2013-

21 period, the fourth-fastest among the top 10.

Unlike the other three US major league sports,

individual NFL franchises do not have significant

local TV contracts.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 8

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $4,248 m

Share of global value 9.0%

2016-17 growth 32.2%

2013-21 CAGR 10.4%

Most valuable property NBA ($3,929m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

93%

Basketball global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

2,019 2,073 2,152

3,213

4,248 4,349 4,418 4,436 4,457

3. Basketball

Basketball overtook baseball to become the world’s

third most valuable sport in 2017 following a

32-per-cent increase on 2016 revenue.

That growth is on the back of a $24bn, nine-year

domestic National Basketball Association (NBA)

deal with Time Warner and ABC/ESPN, announced

in October 2014 and starting in the 2016-17 season.

Basketball’s value is dominated by the NBA,

which provides 93 per cent of its global total in

2017.

Basketball does not include US college

basketball competitions which in this report are

counted as part of US college sport (see the fifth-

largest sport).

Some other leading basketball competitions

signed major, long-term deals, although these are

of relatively small value.

In February 2016, the International Basketball

Federation (Fiba) signed a $540m deal with the

Perform Group covering international basketball

events between 2017 to 2033, including four World

Cups, continental competitions and qualifying

matches.

In November 2015, Europe’s premier club

competition Euroleague agreed a 10-season joint

venture with agency IMG covering all aspects of the

business: media rights, digital rights, sponsorship,

licensing, ticketing and merchandising. The joint

venture will run from 2016-17 to 2025-26, with the

option of being extended for a further 10 seasons.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 9

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $3,681m

Share of global value 7.8%

2016-17 growth 3.7%

2013-21 CAGR 6.5%

Most valuable property MLB ($3,417m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

93%

Baseball global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

2,341

3,270 3,426

3,553 3,681 3,738 3,790 3,854 3,883

4. Baseball

Baseball is the fourth most valuable sport at $3.7bn

in 2017, having been overtaken by basketball this

year.

As with other US major league sports, baseball’s

US league is by far the biggest property, with Major

League Baseball (MLB) providing 93 per cent of the

sport’s global value.

Baseball media-rights revenue grew strongly

in 2014 thanks to the start of new MLB domestic

deals with broadcasters Turner Broadcasting, Fox

and ESPN. These were renewals and each was

more than double the value of the previous deal.

Together, they are worth $1.5bn per year.

The other baseball properties – including

Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Korea’s KBO

League and the Taiwan-based Chinese Professional

Baseball League – are worth a combined $264m in

2017.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 10

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $3,038m

Share of global value 6.5%

2016-17 growth 2.2%

2013-21 CAGR 4.3%

Most valuable property NCAA ($810m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

27%

US college sport global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

2,274

2,539 2,866 2,973

3,038 3,155 3,175 3,197 3,204

5. US college sport

This ‘sport’ covers US university sports competitions,

including American football, basketball and ice

hockey. It will generate $3bn in 2017, a 2.2-per-cent

increase on 2016.

Unlike the big four US major league sports,

US college sport is not dependent on a single

competition for the majority of its revenue. The

sport’s leading property, a package of rights sold by

the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA),

provides 26.6 per cent of the total. The NCAA

package is the 13th-most valuable global property.

The total is also driven by the rights for a

number of large conferences (regional groups

of universities that compete against each other)

and national championships, seven of which will

generate over $200m in 2017.

As with other US rights deals, the largest

contracts are long-term, running until the mid

2020s. The current NCAA deal runs for 14 years,

to 2024, while the next six largest deals run until

between 2023-27.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 11

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $1,789m

Share of global value 3.8%

2016-17 growth 0.6%

2013-21 CAGR 5.6%

Most valuable property Nascar ($824m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

46%

Motorsport global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,305 1,361

1,689 1,779 1,789 1,850

2,018 2,019 2,022

6. Motorsport

Motorsport grew by 0.6 per cent to $1.8bn in 2017.

The sport is dominated by two properties, which

provide 86 per cent of the total.

US series Nascar is the leading motorsport

property with an annual value of $824m, the total

being almost entirely derived from the domestic

market.

The other property, Formula One, is due to

become the most valuable motorsport property in

2019 with the beginning of a new six-year deal with

Sky in the UK worth $254m per year.

In 2017, Formula One generates seven times

the media-rights revenue of the third-largest

motorsport property, motorcycling series MotoGP.

Motorsport is growing at 5.6 per cent CAGR

over 2013-21, with most of the growth coming

from Formula One. Nascar’s value won’t change

much in the period as, like other US sports, its main

broadcast contracts are long-term, in this case

running to 2024.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 12

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $1,385m

Share of global value 2.9%

2016-17 growth 2.0%

2013-21 CAGR 4.8%

Most valuable property NHL ($1,186m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

86%

Ice hockey global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,016 1,192

1,360 1,358 1,385

1,438 1,458 1,470 1,476

7. Ice hockey

In 2015, ice hockey moved up to seventh place in

the top 10 sports, overtaking multi-sport events,

with the start of a major new deal in Canada.

As with the other big American professional

sports, the total is almost entirely based on the

North American domestic league, with the National

Hockey League’s $1.2bn media-rights income in

2017 accounting for 86 per cent of the ice hockey

total.

However, unlike the other major American

leagues, in the NHL most of the value comes from

Canada. In November 2013, broadcaster Rogers

Communications agreed to pay $5bn in a 12-year

deal for NHL rights, Canada’s largest ever rights

deal and more than double the amount paid for

NHL rights in the US.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 13

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $1,174m

Share of global value 2.5%

2016-17 growth 0.6%

2013-21 CAGR 1.6%

Most valuable property Olympic Games ($1,153m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

98%

Multi-sport events global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,141 1,141 1,167 1,167 1,174 1,174 1,174 1,174

1,292

8. Multi-sport events

The multi-sport competitions total is almost entirely

from the Olympic Games. Olympics media rights

revenue has been divided over four-year ‘Olympic

cycles’, each covering one Winter Olympics and one

Summer Olympics.

The Olympic Games account for 98 per cent of

the multi-sport total, with the balance from events

such as the Asian Games and the Commonwealth

Games.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 14

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $1,179m

Share of global value 2.5%

2016-17 growth 3.0%

2013-21 CAGR 1.9%

Most valuable property PGA Tour ($638m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of sport

54%

Golf global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

1,250

1,200

1,150

1,100

1,050

1,000

950

900

850

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,050 1,050

1,140 1,145

1,179 1,189 1,190

1,221 1,221

9. Golf

Golf media rights generated $1.2bn in 2017, a 3-per-

cent increase on 2016.

Golf’s value is driven by the US PGA Tour, which

generated $638m in 2017, 54 per cent of the sport’s

annual value. The four major tournaments – The

Masters, The Open, the PGA Championship and the

US Open – were worth a combined $363m, 31 per

cent of the sport’s total value.

Golf is the second-slowest-growing sport in the

top 10, with a compound annual growth rate of 1.9

per cent between 2013 and 2021.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 15

THE TOP 10 SPORTS

2017 market value $981m

Share of global value 2.1%

2016-17 growth 0.1%

2013-21 CAGR 7.1%

Most valuable property ICC ($263m in 2017)

Most valuable property's share of sport

27%

Cricket global media rights value 2013-21 ($m)

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

950 916

949 980 981

1,471 1,516 1,638 1,639

10. Cricket

Cricket is due to break the $1bn revenue mark in

2018 with the start of the new $510m-per-year

Indian Premier League global rights contract.

Unlike most other sports in the top 10, no

single event drives the global cricket total. In 2015,

International Cricket Council (ICC) events overtook

Cricket Australia events to become the most

valuable property in the sport, accounting for over a

quarter of the total. However, the new IPL deal will

be around double the value of the ICC rights.

Five cricket properties – the packages sold by

the ICC, Cricket Australia, IPL, Board of Control for

Cricket in India, and England and Wales Cricket

Board – generate over $100m per year, and are

worth a combined $839m in 2017. That equates to

86 per cent of the sport’s total value, up from 77 per

cent in 2014.

Following the IPL deal, cricket is the joint-fourth-

fastest-growing sport in the top 10, with a 7.1-per-

cent CAGR over 2013-21.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 16

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

The top 20 properties

Top 20 properties by global media rights value 2017 ($m)

Source: TV Sports Markets

7,302

4,550

3,929

3,417

2,196

1,853

1,545

1,186

1,153

1,115

1,046

824

810

766

709

638

536

470

465

413

NFL

English Premier League

NBA

MLB

Uefa Champions League

LaLiga

Serie A

NHL

Olympics

Bundesliga 1

Ligue 1

Nascar

NCAA

Fifa World Cup

Formula One

PGA Tour

Brazilian Série A

College football play-offs

Turkish Super Lig

Uefa European Championship

Overview Global sports media rights value is highly

concentrated in a small number of the most

popular properties. The top 20 properties account

for $34.9bn in 2017, an 8 per cent increase on 2016.

The top 20 properties account for 74 per cent of the

global total.

The major properties are drawn from two main

categories: US-based properties and football.

The massive value of the US market is underlined

by its eight entries in the top 20, down from nine

in 2016, which will generate $18.6bn in 2017, 40

per cent of the global total. The US entries rely on

their domestic market for the vast majority of their

income. Properties like US college sport events

and Nascar have limited appeal internationally

compared to the top European football leagues,

Formula One or the Olympic Games.

Football is the dominant sport among the

top properties, accounting for ten of the top 20,

one more than in 2016, and worth a combined

$14.5bn, 31 per cent of the total global value.

European football in particular is the driver, with

six properties – the ‘big five’ European leagues plus

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 17

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

Share of global market 2017

Source: TV Sports Markets

Share of global market value 2017 – property groupings

Source: TV Sports Markets

Global total =

$47.0bn Properties 1-1060.1%

Other properties 12.2%

Properties 11-2014.2%

Properties 21-306.3%

Properties 31-404.2%

Properties 41-503.0%

the Uefa Champions League – in the top 11, worth

a combined $12.3bn. In addition the Uefa European

Championship is a new entry as the twentieth

largest property.

Outside American sports and football,

the properties that make the top 20 are from

motorsport, golf and the multi-sport Olympic

Games. Cricket is due to make its debut in the top

20 in 2018 with start of the Indian Premier League’s

new $510m-per-year, five-year global rights deal

with Star India.

The NFL’s lead as the world’s most valuable

property is so great – it’s worth 15.5 per cent of the

global value of sports media rights in 2017 – that

it won’t be threatened soon. However, the lead

has been diminished by growth among the chasing

Global total =

$47.0bn

NFL15.5%

English Premier League9.7%

NBA8.4%

Others39.9%

MLB7.3%

Uefa Champions League4.7%

LaLiga3.9%

Serie A3.3%

Olympics2.5%

Bundesliga 12.4%

NHL2.5%

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 18

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

Top 20 properties CAGR 2013-18

Source: TV Sports Markets

17.4%

16.2%

16.1%

14.0%

11.9%

10.6%

10.9%

7.5%

7.4%

7.0%

6.1%

5.7%

5.5%

4.6%

3.7%

2.9%

0.6%

0.6%

0.0%

NBA

LaLiga

Bundesliga 1

English Premier League

Uefa Champions League

NFL

MLB

Nascar

Formula One

NHL

Uefa European Championship

Turkish Super Lig

Serie A

Fifa World Cup

Ligue 1

Brazilian Série A

PGA Tour

Olympics

NCAA

pack, in particular the English Premier League,

which has become the second-most valuable

property and is worth 62 per cent of the NFL’s value

in 2017.

Three other properties each account for 7 per

cent or more of the global total – the Premier

League, the NBA and the MLB. The top 10 are

worth over four times the value of the 11th-20th

properties, which in turn are worth more than

double the 21st-30th properties.

The NBA will be the fastest-growing in the 2013-

18 period examined in this report, with 17.4 per cent

CAGR, 1 percentage point more than the second

fastest growing property, Spain’s LaLiga (16.2 per

cent).

Five other properties have double-digit CAGR

in the period: the German Bundesliga 1 (16.1 per

cent), the Premier League (14.0 per cent), the Uefa

Champions League (11.9 per cent), the NFL (10.9 per

cent) and MLB (10.6 per cent).

In the following section the top 10 properties are

looked at in more detail. The number in brackets

next to each property headline indicates its position

in TVSM Global Report 2016.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 19

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

1. NFL (last year’s position = 1st)

The NFL is by far the largest generator of media

rights revenue among the world’s sports properties,

courtesy of being the most popular property in

the world’s biggest consumer market. The league

derives almost all its $7.3bn annual rights income

from its domestic market.

NFL rights values leapt by 49 per cent in 2014

due to new long-term deals with broadcasters

CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN, and telco Verizon. They

increased again in 2015 due to a new deal with pay-

television platform DirecTV.

The Thursday Night Football slot, launched in

2006, has contributed to growth, with its television

rights revenue increasing to $450m per season for

2016 and 2017, 50 per cent up on its revenue in

2015. The NFL also achieved a reported five-fold

increase in the value of the slot’s digital rights in a

$50m deal with Amazon covering 2017.

Most NFL deals are long term, so big changes in

its rights income are not expected for several years.

The CBS, Fox, NBC and DirecTV deals run to the

end of the 2022 season, and the ESPN deal to 2021.

But there is likely to be some change in 2018, as

Verizon’s $250m-per-year deal for mobile streaming

rights ends in 2017.

2. Premier League (2)

Domestic media-rights values have soared over

the last two rights cycles following the arrival

of BT Sport in the UK pay-television market as

a challenger to long-standing Premier League

broadcaster Sky.

Domestic rights value hit £5.136bn for the three

seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19, a 70-per-cent

increase on the value of the rights in the previous

cycle, from 2013-14 to 2015-16. This followed a

similar increase from the cycle before.

The Premier League is very much a global

property, and earns close to $1.8bn per season from

international rights revenue in the 2016-17 to 2018-

19 cycle. International rights revenue accounts for

about 40 per cent of the Premier League’s total.

The domestic and international deals cement

the league’s position as the most valuable media

rights property in football, and strengthen the

financial muscle of its clubs in comparison with

their rivals in other European leagues.

The league is expected to offer its domestic

media rights to the market late this year and

conclude a new set of deals in February 2018 for the

2019-20 to 2021-22 cycle.

Some international deals have already been

struck for the new cycle: in Brazil, China, sub-

Saharan Africa and the US.

NFL media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

8,000

7,000

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

4,400

6,540 7,075 7,239 7,302 7,366

Premier League media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

5,000

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

2,368

2,965 2,965

3,758

4,550 4,550

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 20

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

MLB media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

2,094

3,0103,164

3,2903,417 3,468

NBA media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,800 1,847 1,922

2,939

3,930 4,014

3. NBA (4)

The National Basketball Association’s global

media-rights revenue increased by $1bn between

2016 and 2017, reaching $3.9bn this year. This is

due to 2017 being the first full calendar year of the

NBA’s latest round of domestic rights deals, that

started running in the 2016-17 season. The deals,

agreed in 2014 with Turner and The Walt Disney

Company, generated an increase of around 180 per

cent in domestic rights income. They are long-term

agreements, running nine seasons to 2024-25.

As with Major League Baseball, NBA teams have

regional deals with local broadcasters. The values

of these deals vary hugely. At the top end, the deals

are worth $100m per season or more, with the

Los Angeles Lakers deal with Time Warner Cable

reported in US media to be worth up to $200m per

season. Such income is the exception rather than

the rule, however, and 15 of the 30 franchises will

earn $20m or less. Many regional deals are long

term, with some expiring after 2030.

In total, NBA teams are estimated to earn about

$868m from regional deals in 2017, compared to

$2.7bn for the nationwide deals.

4. MLB (3)

Major League Baseball will earn $1.65bn in 2017

from four nationwide US deals, with ESPN, Fox,

Turner and DirecTV. The league’s income from

nationwide – as opposed to regional – deals will

not change dramatically for several years. The Fox,

Turner and ESPN deals all run to 2021.

The current rights cycle, with deals beginning in

the 2014 season, brought major rights fee increases.

ESPN’s fees increased by 136 per cent, Fox’s by 104

per cent, and Turner’s by 120 per cent.

In addition to the nationwide deals, MLB teams

have individual regional contracts with local

broadcasters. Regional deals for the 30 franchises

are worth an estimated total of $1.7bn in 2017, an

8-per-cent increase on 2016, and provide 50 per

cent of the MLB’s total media rights value.

Regional deals are typically longer-term than

nationwide deals – some run for over 25 years,

compared to the eight-year contracts with ESPN,

Fox and Turner. In some cases, instead of selling

their rights the teams have a stake in a broadcaster

and receive a yearly income from it. An example is

the New York Yankees’ deal with the Yes Network.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 21

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

LaLiga media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

2,000

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

912 925

1,220

1,680

1,853 1,934

Uefa Champions League media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,504 1,504

1,850

2,196 2,196

2,636

5. UCL (5)

Most of the Champions League’s income is

generated in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and

the UK – Europe’s big five economies and football

leagues. The property also has strong appeal in sub-

Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

Champions League rights are sold by Uefa

simultaneously with rights to its second-tier sister

competition the Europa League.

In its new rights cycle, from 2018-19 to 2020-21,

Uefa has agreed deals for both competitions in

four of the big five European markets. Competition

between pay-television broadcasters helped it

secure particularly strong growth in France and

Spain. It also secured an increase of almost 200 per

cent in the value of both competitions (jointly-sold)

in the Middle East and North Africa.

Uefa’s recent success in securing big fee

increases in Europe, the Middle East, and also the

US, together with the competition’s cachet and

growing popularity in developing pay-television

markets, looks to ensure future rights fee growth.

6. LaLiga (6)

Domestically, LaLiga generates just over €1bn per

season in its 2016-17 to 2018-19 rights cycle, in

deals with pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports

and telcos Telefónica, Vodafone and Orange. It also

has some smaller deals with the Mediapro agency.

LaLiga earns about €650m per season from

international rights in a cycle running from 2015-

16 to 2017-18. This was a 177-per-cent increase on

what it earned in the cycle from 2012-13 to 2014-15.

The growth in international rights value was

driven by a number of factors, including the

continuing global appeal of the league’s top teams

and stars, and kick-off times being rescheduled to

better suit international audiences. Outside Spain,

the league is most valuable in the US, the Middle

East and North Africa, Southeast Asia, China, France,

and Latin America.

From 2015-16 onwards, our figures for LaLiga

include the value of rights for Spain’s second-tier

league, the Segunda División, as they began to be

sold simultaneously. To give an indication of their

comparative value, in 2014-15 Segunda División

global rights were worth about 7 per cent of the

value of the top division’s global rights.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 22

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

NHL media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

853

1,018 1,180

1,178 1,186 1,199

Serie A media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,303 1,329 1,4431,545

1,545

1,700

7. Serie A (7)

Serie A is Italy’s main pay-television subscription-

driving property. Competition for domestic rights

between the market’s two main pay-television

broadcasters, Sky Italia and Mediaset Premium, has

driven up their value. Serie A global rights revenue

topped $1.5bn in 2017, including domestic deals

worth $1.3bn.

Some of this income is paid to agency Infront

Sports & Media, which sells the rights on the

league’s behalf under a deal running until 2020-21.

Serie A international rights revenues will double

to just over €370m per season in the next cycle,

2018-19 to 2020-21, under new deals with the IMG

agency and Italian state broadcaster Rai.

Serie A has not enjoyed the big percentage leaps

in domestic revenues in recent cycles that some

other European leagues have. Until the beginning

of 2017, the prospects of a big increase for the

next cycle did not look good either. Mediaset

Premium’s heavy losses appeared to leave Sky with

an overly powerful position in the market. However,

new players such as Canale + and OTT service

DAZN, together with a more aggressive approach

by Discovery, appear to offer greater hopes of

competition. The rights tender is expected before

the end of the year.

8. NHL (8)

The NHL is unique among the North American

major league sports in drawing the majority of its

revenue from outside the US. In the NHL’s case,

rights in Canada account for 51 per cent of revenue,

with the US market accounting for 48 per cent.

Canada’s lead position is due to a nationwide

deal with telco Rogers Communications worth

$417m per year, more than double the $200m paid

by Comcast-NBCU for the US rights.

The US and Canada nationwide deals are both

long-term, until 2020-21 and 2025-26, respectively.

So NHL central rights income will not change

dramatically in the near future.

In addition to the nationwide deals, NHL teams

have regional deals. US teams account 66 per cent

of the estimated combined regional value of $554m

in 2017 because 23 of the 30 teams in the league

are based there.

NHL rights fees are almost entirely supplied by

the two domestic North American markets, with

international revenue accounting for just 1.3 per

cent of the total value.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 23

THE TOP 20 PROPERTIES

Bundesliga media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

639762

821 880

1,115

1,350

Olympics media rights values 2013-18 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,120 1,1201,146 1,146 1,153 1,153

9. Olympics (10)

We have annualised the value of all Olympics

deals over a four-year Olympics cycle – the typical

time period for which the International Olympic

Committee agrees deals, covering one winter

Games and one summer Games.

It’s worth remembering that the Olympics

delivers a total of just over two weeks of television

content every two years – taking into account

both the winter Games and the summer Games –

compared to the hundreds or thousands of hours

provided annually by some of the other properties

on this list.

The US is by far the biggest market for Olympics

rights, currently accounting for nearly 50 per cent of

the property’s total media-rights value.

Outside the US, the event generates decent

rights fees comparable to other sports properties in

almost every advanced media market, including a

€1.3bn pan-European deal with Eurosport covering

the four games between 2018 and 2024, as well as

valuable deals in Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea,

and across the Middle East and North Africa.

10. Bundesliga 1 (11)

Germany’s Bundesliga 1 will earn $1.1bn in media

rights revenues in 2017, up 27 per cent on 2016 due

to the beginning of a new cycle of domestic and

international deals. Income will jump again in 2018,

the first full calendar year of the new cycle.

The league has agreed domestic rights deals

covering Bundesliga 1 and the second-tier

Bundesliga 2 worth €1.16bn per season, from 2017-

18 to 2020-21. In this report, the value allocated

to Bundesliga 1 is calculated as 80 per cent of

the domestic total, based on information that this

was the split in previous cycles. Pay-television

broadcaster Sky Deutschland has the lion’s share

of the rights, paying €876m per season for live

coverage of most Bundesliga 1 matches and all

Bundesliga 2 matches.

International revenues in the cycle will generate

about another €240m per season. The league’s

rights are valuable in neighbouring Austria and

Switzerland, where Sky and Eurosport have ‘mirror

packages’ to their domestic deals. The league

also has a lucrative deal in the Middle East and

North Africa with pay-television broadcaster beIN

Sports, and a 31-territory agreement with the MP &

Silva agency covering Central and Eastern Europe,

Eurasia, the Nordics and Portugal.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 24

THE TOP 10 MARKETS

The top 10 markets

Top 10 markets by media rights spend 2017 ($m)

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0.0

US UK Italy France Germany Spain Brazil Australia Canada Indian subcontinent

Source: TV Sports Markets

21,222

4,844 2,269 2,234 1,883 1,227 1,707 1,112 940 782

OverviewThe US is by far the largest sports media rights

market in the world with a value of $21.2bn in 2017,

a 6.5-per-cent increase on 2016. The US provides

45 per cent of global sports media rights value and

is over four times the size of the second-largest

market, the UK.

The UK is the second fastest growing market in

2017 with a 14.3-per-cent increase to $4.8bn. The

UK accounts for 10 per cent of the global market

and is more than twice the size of the third-largest

market, Italy. The big five European markets occupy

the second to sixth places with a combined value

of $13bn, up 11 per cent on 2016, and account for

28 per cent of the global value. The order of the top

ten markets remains unchanged from 2016.

The US and European sports media markets

have different drivers. The European markets are

mainly driven by pay-television operators, with all

having at least two competing platforms. In the US,

nationwide free-to-air networks compete strongly

with each other and pay-television for premium

rights.

Eight of the top 10 markets are worth over

$1bn, with India due to pass that mark in 2018 on

the back of new deal for cricket’s Indian Premier

League, worth $485m per year domestically from

2018 to 2022.

The global market is dominated by the top 10

markets, with the rest of the world only accounting

for 19 per cent of global media rights value,

equating to $8.7bn.

Spain is the fastest-growing market over the

2013-21 period with a compound annual growth

rate (CAGR) of 9.1 per cent – 0.9 percentage points

more than second fastest growing territory India.

Per capita, the UK pays proportionally the most

for media rights among the 10 largest markets,

at $73.21 in 2017 – 12 per cent more than the US.

Within Europe, the UK is paying 90 per cent more

per capita than Italy and over three times more

than Germany.

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TVSM GLOBAL REPORT 2017 25

THE TOP 10 MARKETS

Share of global media rights value 2017

Source: TV Sports Markets

Global total =

$47.0bn

US45.2%

Others18.6%

UK10.3%

France4.8%

Italy4.8%

Germany4.0%

Indian subcontinent1.7%

Canada2.0%

Australia2.4%

Brazil2.6%

Spain3.7%

Media rights value growth rate (CAGR) 2013-21

12.0%

10.0%

8.0%

6.0%

4.0%

2.0%

0.0%

Spain Indian subcontinent

Canada UK Germany US France Australia Italy Brazil

Source: TV Sports Markets

9.1%

8.2% 8.1%7.9%

7.2% 6.7%

5.7%

4.2%3.7%

2.4%

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THE TOP 10 MARKETS

Top 10 markets - media rights spend per per capita 2017 ($)

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

UK US Australia Italy Spain France Canada Germany Brazil Indian subcontinent

Source: TV Sports Markets

73.21

65.39

45.51

38.2236.77

25.66

34.39

22.96

5.87

0.45

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THE TOP 10 MARKETS

US sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

13,385

16,724

18,429 19,934

21,222 21,626 22,106 22,292 22,480

1. US

The US is by far the world’s most valuable sports

media-rights market, due to its world-leading

economy and highly developed television and

commercial sports industries.

The market is home of four of the world’s ten

most-valuable properties, headed by American

football’s National Football League, which derives

virtually all of its rights income – which will total

$7.22bn in 2017 – from its domestic market. The

three other properties are: basketball’s NBA ($3.9bn

in global rights revenue), Major League Baseball

($3.4bn), and ice hockey’s NHL ($1.2bn), ranked

third, fourth and eighth, respectively.

As with the NFL, the MLB and NBA derive the

vast majority of revenue from their domestic

market.

The exception is the NHL, where the majority

of rights revenue comes from Canada and the US

accounts for 48 per cent.

Alongside the leagues’ nationwide rights

deals, individual teams in the MLB, NBA and NHL

have regional deals that generate large revenues

– approximately $1,7bn, $855m and $365m

respectively in the US in 2017.

The NFL’s only regional deals are for pre-

season games, comprising a small fraction of the

overall value. This is due to the relatively small

number of games in the competition – 267 regular

season games per year, compared to over 1,300

each for the NBA and NHL, and 2,400 for the MLB.

Nationwide broadcasters snap up the rights for all

NFL regular season and post-season games, but

only acquire rights to the most high-profile games

from the other leagues, leaving plenty of games for

regional operators.

In addition to the big four leagues, the US is

unique for the huge value of its university sport –

‘college sport’ – media rights, worth about $3bn in

2017.

Three other properties generate over $500m

per year in rights fees – the Olympics (annualised

figure), Nascar motor racing and PGA Tour golf.

The US sports rights market is driven by

competition between a relatively large number

2017 market value $21,222m

2017 market value per capita $65.39

Share of global market 45.2%

2016-17 growth 6.5%

2013-21 CAGR 6.7%

Most valuable property NFL ($7,221m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

34.0%

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of well-funded nationwide free-to-air and pay-

television broadcasters. Unlike many other

developed media markets, commercial free-to-air

broadcasters remain major sports broadcasters

thanks to the massive US television advertising

market. The four main players are ABC, CBS, Fox

and NBC, all of which are in some way aligned with

pay-television – either by owning their own pay-

television channels (e.g. NBC’s sports pay-television

channel NBCSN), or as sister companies in bigger

media groups (e.g. the Disney-ABC Television Group

owns ABC and ESPN, among other channels).

After decades of strong growth, the US sports

media rights market is entering a period of

uncertainty, driven by the rise of new digital media

services and changing media consumption habits.

The traditional pay-television market appears

to be at saturation point, or in decline. Nielsen

estimates that ESPN has lost 13 million subscribers

since 2011 (leaving it at 87 million households).

Increasing numbers of households are opting for

cheaper, OTT TV services or ‘skinny’ pay-TV bundles,

as opposed to the big, expensive channel bundles

that traditionally prevailed in the market. Younger

people are spending less time watching linear TV.

Against these headwinds, new players from the

internet and tech industries look set to enter the

market, potentially bringing inflationary pressure

on sports rights fees. To acquire NFL Thursday

Night Football digital rights in 2017, Amazon paid

five times what Twitter paid in 2016. Facebook and

Apple have announced plans to invest heavily in TV

content, although seem to be focusing mostly on

drama and entertainment for the moment.

This looming disruption is making the long-term

deals for major properties agreed by broadcasters

at the last points of sale look wise. The NFL has four

deals running to 2022-23. MLB nationwide deals

run until 2021. NBC’s NHL agreement lasts until

2020-21. Rights for Nascar, the Olympic Games and

the PGA Tour are also locked up in deals until the

2020s. It will be a number of years yet before new

players can get their hands on the crown jewels of

US sports TV.

Nevertheless, the US sports media landscape

is changing rapidly, and what will happen in the

coming years is harder to foresee than it has been

for some time.

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UK sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

7,000

6,000

5,000

4,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

2,830

3,201 3,467

4,238

4,844 4,946 5,082 5,156 5,204

2. UK

Growth in the UK market in recent years has been

mainly due to competition between pay-television

broadcasters Sky and BT Sport.

Market value is dominated by the English

Premier League, the second most valuable property

globally, which is worth more than £1.8bn per

season in the UK. The Premier League’s current

deals with BT and Sky expire at the end of the 2018-

19 season, and rights for its next cycle are expected

on the market late this year or early next year.

The Uefa Champions League is the second-most

valuable property in the country. BT holds these

rights exclusively in a three-season deal, from 2015-

16 to 2017-18, worth €362.5m per season. BT in

March this year extended its deal for three seasons,

from 2018-19 to 2020-21, for €456m per season.

The English Football League is currently the

third-most valuable property in the market. Sky’s

current deal finishes at the end of 2018-19. In July,

the EFL opted to take the rights to market early,

rather than trigger an extension with Sky covering

2019-20. In September it agreed a £600m, five-

season deal with Sky: an increase of 36 per cent.

After football, the biggest-earning sports are

cricket, Formula One, rugby union, and golf. The top

properties in these sports have steadily migrated

from free-to-air television to pay-television over the

last 20 years as Sky has grown, and as its rivals have

attempted to compete.

Rights-fee growth for pay-television

subscription-driving properties looks set to

continue thanks to the Sky-BT battle, although

there are signs this is cooling. Growth for free-to-

air properties like the Fifa World Cup and Uefa

European Championship has slowed or stalled,

because listed-events legislation prevents pay-

television broadcasters acquiring matches in either

competition on an exclusive basis.

Sky, launched by Rupert Murdoch in 1990, is the

leading sports broadcaster in the market. Rival BT

represents its toughest challenge to date. Before

BT, ESPN and Setanta Sports tried and failed to

establish rival UK pay-TV businesses.

2017 market value $4,844m

2017 market value per capita $73.21

Share of global market 10.3%

2016-17 growth 14.3%

2013-21 CAGR 7.9%

Most valuable property Premier League ($2,783m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

57.5%

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Extraordinary rights-fee growth spurred by

Sky vs. BT competition is only now, more than five

years after BT first acquired Premier League rights,

beginning to slow.

The Premier League earned a 63-per-cent

increase in February 2015 when it sold its rights in

the current 2016-17 to 2018-19 cycle, following a

similar increase in the previous rights cycle. These

were huge percentage increases for an established

and already highly-valuable property.

Formula One will receive a 140-percent uplift in

rights value from 2019 when it moves exclusively to

Sky, and this summer the England & Wales Cricket

Board secured a 129-per-cent fee increase in the

value of its media rights in a deal with Sky and

public-service broadcaster the BBC.

But the recent EFL deal suggests that the era

of huge increases is coming to a close. All eyes are

now on how the Premier League fares in its coming

auction.

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Italy sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,904 1,939 2,094

2,233 2,269 2,345 2,424 2,429

2,541

3. Italy

Italy is the second-largest market in Europe after

the UK, and the third-biggest in the world. The

value of the market is largely driven by competition

between leading pay-television broadcasters Sky

Italia and Mediaset Premium for rights to the

domestic football league, Serie A. Worth over

$1.3bn per season, the league’s rights accounted for

58 per cent of the total value of the market in 2017.

Outside Serie A, football continues to dominate

the list of most valuable rights. The Uefa Champions

League, the second most important pay-television

subscription-driver, is the second most valuable

property.

Serie A’s decision to make its rights available

to both Sky and Mediaset shifted the focus of the

rights battle to the Champions League. In 2017,

Sky won the rights to the competition back from

Mediaset – and retained the Europa League – giving

it a total grip on top European club football for the

period 2018-19 to 2021, in a deal worth €300m per

season.

Strong rights fees are also commanded by

national team football – including the Fifa World

Cup, Uefa European Championship, and national

team qualifiers and friendlies.

Outside football, the most valuable properties

are Formula One, the Olympics and MotoGP. Sky

has invested heavily in motorsport, agreeing deals

for Formula One and MotoGP worth $89m and

$24m per year respectively for 2016.

Since the launch of Sky (from the merger of

Telepiù and Stream) in 2003 and of Mediaset

Premium the following year, the underlying tectonic

plates of the market have been largely unchanged:

Sky and Mediaset compete for premium content,

especially top football, while Rai picks up events

which focus on national teams in various sports.

Rai has become increasingly reluctant to pay large

rights fees, even where Italian teams are involved.

In the period from mid-2016 to mid-2017, there

were signs that this could all be about to change.

In the last quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of

2018, the conditions exist for a radical shake-up of

the market through a combination of new players

2017 market value $2,269m

2017 market value per capita $38.22

Share of global market 4.8%

2016-17 growth 1.6%

2013-21 CAGR 3.7%

Most valuable property Serie A ($1,312m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

57.8%

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entering and existing players creating strategic

alliances or just becoming more aggressive, as live

sport becomes more valuable in a fragmenting

media landscape.

Significant developments include:

• the creation of a joint venture between Telecom

Italia and Vivendi-owned Canal Plus to create a

new sports and entertainment platform, Canale +.

• Discovery becoming more aggressive in the

market and going after second-tier rights

previously held by either Sky or sports channel

Fox, such as domestic and European basketball.

The combination of the Eurosport and DMAX

channels, and the Eurosport Player, provides a

combination of free/pay/OTT which is attractive

to rights-holders.

• Perform’s DAZN OTT service identifying Italy as

a key market for future expansion, and bidding –

unsuccessfully so far – for a range of properties

including Serie A and the Uefa Europa League.

• Andrea Radrizzani’s Eleven Sports operation

acquiring the Sportube OTT service and picking up

the rights to three live Serie A matches per week.

At the time of writing, the rights to the Fifa World

Cup and Uefa’s European Qualifiers and Nations

League packages were on the market, with strong

competition between Sky, Mediaset and Rai being

reported.

In the final months of 2017 or in early 2018, the

rights to Formula One and MotoGP and Serie B are

due to come to the market – all properties which

have been critical to Sky’s successful attempt to stem

subscriber losses over the last two to three years.

The real litmus test of the health of the market

will be the sale of the domestic rights to Serie A,

expected in November or December. The league

auctioned its domestic rights in June but had to

retreat with its tail between its legs after receiving

low bids from several players and no bid at all from

Mediaset Premium.

Despite having taken a grip on European club

football, Sky needs to hold on to Serie A. Having

lost the Champions League, Mediaset cannot afford

to also lose Serie A. Eurosport and DAZN are likely

to bid. The big digital players such as Amazon and

Facebook are likely to evaluate a bid. The critical

question, however, is what Canale + does.

At the time of writing, it was unclear whether

the joint venture would compete head on with the

struggling Mediaset Premium or seek to merge with

it. If the latter, it would create a powerful rival to

Sky. If the former, it could push Sky and Mediaset

back to the table to renew failed merger talks.

Either way, the Vivendi-Telecom axis looks like

bringing a dynamism to the rights market which has

been missing for three to four years.

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France sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,765 1,844 1,927

2,099 2,234 2,348 2,457

2,594

2,758

4. France

France is an extremely dynamic sports media

market with five main players – public-service

broadcaster France Télévisions, commercial

broadcaster TF1, and pay-television broadcasters

beIN Sports, Canal Plus and SFR Sport.

The most popular sports in the country are

football and rugby union. The domestic football

league, Ligue 1, is by far the most valuable media

rights property at €738m per season, almost four

times the current value of the second-placed Uefa

Champions League, worth €148m per season.

There is also strong interest and rights value in

two blue-riband events hosted in the country – the

French Open tennis grand slam and the Tour de

France cycle race.

Canal Plus has been the dominant sports

broadcaster in France for many years, although in

recent years it has come under increasing pressure:

firstly from Qatari-owned broadcaster beIN Sports,

and more recently from SFR Sport, owned by telco

Altice.

In response to losing properties to beIN Sports,

which launched in 2011, Canal Plus switched its

focus to premium domestic properties such as Ligue

1 and the Top 14 domestic club rugby union league.

Canal Plus and beIN Sports currently share

rights to the two most important pay-television

subscription-driving properties – Ligue 1 and the

Champions League – in deals running until the end

of 2019-20 and 2017-18, respectively.

In May SFR Sport rocked the market by acquiring

exclusive Uefa Champions League and Europa

League rights from 2019-20 in a deal worth a

combined €350m per season – more than double

the current value of the rights.

This followed SFR Sport’s acquisition of English

Premier League rights in November 2015, also for

about double the previous value. Until the current

2016-19 Premier League cycle, the rights had been

a mainstay of Canal Plus’s offering.

Also in May, Canal Plus held on to Formula One

rights, agreeing to pay an uplift of 50 per cent on the

$40m per year it paid from 2013 to 2017. The new

deal will run from 2018 to 2020, but Canal Plus’s

2017 market value $2,234m

2017 market value per capita $34.39

Share of global market 4.8%

2016-17 growth 6.4%

2013-21 CAGR 5.7%

Most valuable property Ligue 1 ($1,003m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

44.9%

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rights will not be fully exclusive. TF1 has agreed a

deal with Formula One Management to show four

grands prix live each year over the same period. It

was the first time FOM had carved out a separate

package of free-to-air rights in the country.

BeIN Sports holds most other football rights,

including the Fifa World Cup, Germany’s Bundesliga,

Italy’s Serie A, and Spain’s LaLiga. It also holds

rights to Champions Cup and Challenge Cup rugby

union, the French handball league, ATP Tour and

Wimbledon tennis.

On free-to-air, France Télévisions traditionally

shows marquee events such as the Olympic Games,

rugby union’s Six Nations, the Tour de France and

the French Open. The broadcaster has retained its

major properties despite cuts to its sports-rights

budget.

TF1 is France Télévisions’ main competitor for

free-to-air rights. Its acquisition strategy is focused

on acquiring rights to major events, rather than

season-long properties. It shows French national

team football matches, it holds some men’s Fifa

World Cup rights, and will have exclusive coverage

of the women’s Fifa World Cup in 2019. It showed

22 matches from Euro 2016, held in France, and

showed the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

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Germany sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,409

1,5911,626 1,640

1,883

2,154 2,192 2,195

2,453

5. Germany

Despite having Europe’s biggest economy,

Germany’s sports-rights market for years lagged far

behind the UK, Italy and France due to a relatively

weak pay-television industry. This changed

substantially in the past year.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has for

years dominated the market. But following the launch

of OTT service DAZN by digital media company

Perform in August last year, the market has become

significantly more active as Sky faces competition.

As in other major European markets, football

dominates in Germany. The German league, the

Bundesliga, commands domestic rights fees of

€1.16bn per season from multiple deals (covering

the first and second divisions). Sky holds exclusive

live rights to most matches, and sports broadcaster

Eurosport shows 45 live matches per season.

The Champions League comes in some way

behind the Bundesliga in second. Rights in the

current cycle, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, are worth

about €128m per season. Sky holds rights to all

matches, while public-service broadcaster ZDF

shows marquee matches. From 2018-19 onward,

the competition will move fully to pay-television

following an exclusive deal with Sky, which

subsequently sublicensed matches to DAZN. This

helped Uefa to an increase of about 48 per cent.

DAZN has quickly built a decent sports-rights

portfolio. It holds rights to: England’s Premier

League, France’s Ligue 1, Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s

LaLiga, and the four major US sports leagues (MLB,

NBA, NFL and NHL). It also operates in Austria and

Switzerland.

Unsurprisingly for the current football world

champions, rights for the Fifa World Cup and Uefa

European Championship are also highly valuable,

as is the domestic club cup.

Outside football, Formula One is the biggest

property, with $70m revenue in 2016 and 2017 from

deals with Sky and commercial broadcaster RTL.

Although much less valuable than the top sports,

several Olympic sports generate their biggest rights

fees worldwide in Germany, often via deals with

the European Broadcasting Union, the consortium

2017 market value $1,883m

2017 market value per capita $22.96

Share of global market 4.0%

2016-17 growth 14.9%

2013-21 CAGR 7.2%

Most valuable property Bundesliga 1 ($855m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

45.4%

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of public-service broadcasters. As the strongest

members of the consortium financially, ARD and ZDF

are frequently the biggest guarantors of EBU deals.

Handball and winter sports properties –

particularly Alpine and Nordic skiing, ski jumping

and biathlon – can earn fees in the millions of euros

per year, especially when German athletes are

doing well. Germany is thought to account for about

30 per cent of the global value of Alpine and Nordic

World Ski Championships media rights.

ARD and ZDF dominate free-to-air sports

broadcasting in Germany, helped by licence fee

revenues of around €8bn per year. Commercial

broadcasters RTL and ProSiebenSat.1 have

traditionally provided competition for ARD and ZDF.

RTL remains interested in sport – its rights

include German national football team matches

and Formula One, which it has broadcast

since 1991. Sat.1 has focused increasingly on

entertainment programming in recent years but has

some sports rights, including the NFL.

Germany has several other lower-tier sports

broadcasters, including basic-tier and pay-television

broadcasters such as Sport1 and Sportdigital.

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Spain sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

2,600

2,400

2,200

2,000

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

1,270 1,290 1,289

1,521

1,735 1,812

2,190

2,493 2,548

6. Spain

Spain’s domestic football league, LaLiga, is the most

valuable property in the market, followed by the

Uefa Champions League. LaLiga is worth just over

€1bn per season.

In 2015, LaLiga began selling its media rights

on a collective basis – previously, they were sold

individually by clubs. Telco Telefónica paid €625m

for centralised rights in the 2015-16 season,

before the increase to over €1bn per season for

the 2016-17 to 2018-19 cycle when pay-television

broadcaster beIN Sports supplanted Telefónica as

the league’s main broadcast partner.

In July, beIN Sports, together with its agency

partner Mediapro, acquired exclusive Champions

League and Europa League rights in the next cycle,

from 2018-19 to 2020-21, for about €350m per

season. This represented an increase of about 77

per cent on the value of the rights in the current

cycle. Mediapro/beIN faced strong competition

from Telefónica.

Outside football, the most valuable sports are

motorsport and tennis. Spain is one of Formula

One’s most valuable markets, while MotoGP is also

strong in the country. Tennis rights values in Spain

have been lifted by the success of local star Rafael

Nadal.

The Spanish sports-rights market has undergone

major changes in recent years. The economic

downturn had a profound impact on the industry,

but after contracting in 2012 and 2013, the sports-

rights market underwent a recovery. This was due

to a change in strategy at Telefónica, the strategic

partnership between Mediapro and beIN Sports,

and the emergence of telcos Orange and Vodafone

as rights buyers.

In 2014, Telefónica acquired pay-television

platform Canal Plus, buying the stake owned by

Italian media group Mediaset and publisher Prisa.

In approving the merger, Spain’s competition

regulator required Telefónica to share 50 per cent

of its premium content, including movies and sport,

with its rivals.

In January 2016, Telefónica agreed a €2.4bn

deal to carry the beIN Sports LaLiga channels on

2017 market value $1,735m

2017 market value per capita $37.38

Share of global market 3.7%

2016-17 growth 14.1%

2013-21 CAGR 9.1%

Most valuable property LaLiga ($1,071m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

61.7%

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an exclusive basis for three seasons, from 2016-17

to 2018-19. BeIN launched in Spain in August 2015.

However, the exclusivity was lost after complaints

by Orange and Vodafone to the CNMC. The two

telcos have since agreed carriage deals for beIN

Sports LaLiga.

Commercial broadcaster Mediaset’s main

content is Fiba basketball. Commercial rival

Atresmedia’s only major sports property is the

Champions League, which it will lose when it moves

exclusively to pay-television from 2018-19.

Budget cuts have reduced TVE’s investment

in sports rights but the public-service broadcaster

is still able to acquire a substantial amount of

sports content, including major events, through

its membership of the European Broadcasting

Union, the consortium of Europe’s public-service

broadcasters. Its biggest deal is for Spain national

team football matches in Uefa events. It also shows

the Vuelta a España cycle race.

The Spanish branch of sports broadcaster

Eurosport, meanwhile, holds rights to the Australian,

French, and US Open tennis grand slams, and is

currently seeking to sublicense free-to-air rights to

the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games.

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Brazil sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

992

1,017 1,099

1,224 1,227 1,325

1,184 1,193

1,200

7. Brazil

Brazil is by far the most valuable market in Latin

America. Rights are often sold across the rest of the

region in single, pan-regional deals.

Rights fees in Brazil have increased in recent

years despite economic difficulties, although

the prolonged nature of those difficulties could

eventually hit home. The market will dip in value

in 2019 because of the weakening of the Brazilian

currency and the effect of that on the dollar

value of the most valuable property, the domestic

football league, compared to the last time it was

sold (we convert deals in local currencies into

dollars at the date the deal is announced).

The domestic football league, the Campeonato

Brasileiro Série A, is worth about $536m in 2017,

in individually-agreed deals by its clubs. There are

also several high-value regional competitions, such

as the Campeonato Paulista.

The Olympics is highly valuable, and its value

was enhanced by Rio de Janeiro hosting the 2016

Summer Games. In January 2016, TV Globo acquired

rights to the next eight Olympic games, covering the

2018 winter games onwards. The deal, which covers

all platforms, is worth about $600m, or $150m plus

airtime for each two-Games cycle.

There are four major competing sports

broadcasters: free-to-air Globo and its pay-

television arm Globosat, free-to-air and pay-

television Esporte Interativo, and purely pay-

television ESPN and Fox Sports. They sometimes

form partnerships in rights auctions, which stop

rights fees going through the roof, although

competition in the market is generally strong.

Globo, the biggest media group in Brazil, is

dominant. However its grip on domestic football

rights has been weakened by Esporte, which has

acquired the rights of some smaller Série A clubs,

plus popular Sao Paulo club Palmeiras, for the 2019

to 2024 cycle. Globo holds both free-to-air and pay-

television rights to all Série A clubs until the end of

the 2018 season.

International football rights, for properties

such as the Uefa Champions League and European

domestic leagues, are another major battleground

for Globo, Esporte, ESPN and Fox.

2017 market value $1,227m

2017 market value per capita $5.87

Share of global market 2.6%

2016-17 growth 0.3%

2013-21 CAGR 2.4%

Most valuable property Série A ($536m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

43.7%

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THE TOP 10 MARKETS

Australia sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

915 9371,011 1,043 1,112

1,212 1,233 1,253 1,271

8. Australia

All figures in US dollars unless stated otherwise.

Australia has several highly-popular sports,

unlike many markets around the world which are

dominated by one or two. Australian rules football,

cricket and rugby league are the most valuable in

media rights terms, with football, the Olympics and

rugby union making up a second tier.

Pay-television broadcasters are restricted by

Australia’s stringent anti-siphoning list, which

prevents certain sporting events from being taken

completely off free-to-air television. This list

includes: both the summer and winter Olympic

Games, all international cricket matches played by

the Australian national team in Australia, all Ashes

series, the Australian Open tennis grand slam, and

the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, among

other properties.

The government is considering several

alterations to the list, including the removal of:

Fifa World Cup matches not involving Australia,

rugby league international test matches involving

Australia played in the UK, international rugby

union test matches involving Australia that are

played in South Africa or Europe, and the latter

stages of tennis grand slams Wimbledon and the US

Open.

Australia’s two most valuable properties – the

National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian

Football League (AFL) – saw major rights fee

increases under new deals announced in 2015.

The NRL’s pay-television, digital and free-to-air

deals for the 2018 to 2022 cycle will deliver $309m

per year.

In August 2015, the AFL agreed a six-year

extension, from 2017 to 2022, with incumbent

commercial broadcaster Seven, as well as Foxtel (for

its Fox Sports channels) and telco Telstra. The deals

are worth a record $1.84bn, or $306m per year. It

was a per-year increase of 67 per cent on the AFL’s

previous contracts running from 2012 to 2016.

Cricket Australia rights are the third-most

valuable property, earning $112m per year in deals

from 2013-14 to 2017-18 with Nine and commercial

2017 market value $1,112m

2017 market value per capita $45.51

Share of global market 2.4%

2016-17 growth 6.6%

2013-21 CAGR 4.2%

Most valuable property AFL ($306m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

27.5%

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broadcaster Ten. The rights cover national team

and domestic Twenty20 cricket. This was a fee

increase of over 100 per cent compared to the last

cycle.

Fox is the leading sports broadcaster.

Commercial broadcasters Seven, Nine and Ten

have traditionally been its key competitors for

sports rights. However in recent years, several new

pay-television operators have emerged to also

challenge Fox.

The telco Optus, a subsidiary of Singapore’s

Singtel, in November 2015 acquired the rights to

the English Premier League for 2016-17 to 2018-19,

paying a 213-per-cent increase on what Foxtel paid

in the 2013-14 to 2015-16 cycle. Foxtel had been the

Premier League’s sole broadcaster since 1997 and

the rights value had increased just 3 per cent in the

previous cycle as it faced minimal competition.

International sports broadcaster BeIN Media

Group has three channels in the market, which

Foxtel carries on its platform. ESPN also operates

in Australia and holds rights to the National

Basketball Association and US Open tennis.

Commercial broadcaster Ten looks to have been

weakened after entering voluntary administration

in June. However, it is set to be acquired by US

media company CBS, its largest creditor, for a

reported A$205m.

Public-service broadcasters ABC and SBS play

a relatively small role in sports broadcasting,

although SBS has several strong second-tier

properties, including the Fifa World Cup.

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Canada sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

1,000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

515

737

924 932 940 943 950 956 961

9. Canada

Ice hockey’s NHL dominates the market in Canada.

The current central league deal is worth $417m per

year, and regional deals by the seven Canadian NHL

teams are worth a further $190m. Combined, the

NHL accounts for 65 per cent of the total value of

the market.

The centrally-sold NHL rights are held by

telco Rogers Communications in a 12-season

deal from 2014-15 to 2025-26. Regional rights to

each Canadian team’s games are held by regional

subsidiaries of either Rogers or rival media group

Bell Media.

Outside ice hockey, the most valuable properties

include the National Football League at about

$40m per year in 2017, the Canadian Football

League (Canadian football is similar to American

football) at $36m per year in 2017; Major League

Baseball team the Toronto Blue Jays, whose

regional deal with Rogers is worth $40m per year;

and the Olympics with public-service broadcaster

the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at $21m

per year.

Rights for the CFL will be held by Bell Media

until 2021 as a result of a May 2015 agreement

which extended an existing deal by three years. The

broadcaster has been a partner of the competition

since the 1980s.

Two pay-television networks dominate sports

broadcasting in Canada – TSN, owned by Bell

Media, and Rogers Sportsnet, owned by Rogers

Communications. Rogers’ NHL deal tilted the

balance of power in its favour – TSN was the former

rights-holder.

As Canada has both English- and French-

speaking regions, most rights-holders strike

separate deals for English- and French-language

rights. Audiences for most sports are split 75:25

between English speakers and French speakers.

The two main French-language sports

broadcasters have partnerships with Rogers and

TSN – RDS is owned by Bell, so teams with TSN, and

TVA has an agreement with Rogers.

Public-service broadcaster CBC was formerly a

major sports broadcaster, but announced in April

2017 market value $940m

2017 market value per capita $25.66

Share of global market 2.0%

2016-17 growth 0.8%

2013-21 CAGR 8.1%

Most valuable property NHL ($607m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

64.6%

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2014 that it would no longer bid for rights to sports

events that do not have national significance, due

to budget cuts.

CBC was able to renew its rights for the Olympic

Games in November 2014, to cover the 2018 and

2020 Olympics, for an increase thought to be

less than 5 per cent. The seller, the International

Olympic Committee, was effectively confronted

with a buying cartel after CBC pre-agreed

sublicensing deals with both Rogers and Bell,

leaving no competition in the market. CBC also had

rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympics.

The public-service broadcaster suffered a heavy

blow in the previous cycle when Rogers and Bell

jointly bought the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games,

along with London 2012.

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Indian subcontinent sports media rights market value 2013-21 ($m)

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: TV Sports Markets

675689 712 774 782

1,226 1,247 1,2631,264

10. Indian subcontinent

Sports media rights are usually sold on a pan-Indian

subcontinent basis, taking in Pakistan, Bangladesh

and several smaller countries as well as India. India-

based pay-television broadcasters such as Star and

Sony Pictures Networks India tend to acquire the

most valuable rights.

The major players in the sports rights market are

all pay-television broadcasters: Star, Sony, Neo and

DSport. Star, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s

21st Century Fox, and Sony are the strongest of the

four.

Ten Sports was another pay-television

competitor, until Sony acquired its channels from

Zee Entertainment Enterprises in a deal worth

$385m that completed in September 2017. Ten’s

channels have been rebranded as Sony Ten.

Discovery Communications-owned DSport is the

newest player, having launched in February 2017.

So far it has focused on smaller properties – its most

significant acquisitions have been golf majors the

US Open, the Open Championship and the US PGA

Championship.

Rights fees have generally been growing in

India, although not as spectacularly as in some

other developing markets. Pay-television, the main

driver of rights-fee increases in many markets, is

held back by weak infrastructure. Broadcasters rely

on subscriber fees from regional cable-television

platforms, and under-reporting of subscriber

numbers and piracy are rampant.

Rights fees are also affected by listed-events

legislation which dictates that rights for sports

events of national importance must be shared with

Doordarshan, the public-service broadcaster.

Cricket utterly dominates the market and

provides the top three properties: the Indian

Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition;

domestic matches of the Indian national team;

and the rights of the International Cricket Council,

which include the one-day and Twenty20 World

Cups.

Star has taken pole position in the market by

acquiring global IPL rights for five years, from

2017 market value $782m

2017 market value per capita $0.45

Share of global market 1.7%

2016-17 growth 1.1%

2013-21 CAGR 8.2%

Most valuable property ICC ($192m in 2017)

Most valuable property’s share of market

24.5%

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THE TOP 10 MARKETS

2018 to 2022, in a deal worth a total of $2.55bn, an

average of $510m per year. This is an increase of

456 per cent on the last IPL global rights deal, when

the World Sport Group agency bought the rights for

$91.8m per year in 2008, though this deal was later

terminated. Sony then paid $77.5m per year for the

rights in the Indian subcontinent only from 2008 to

2017.

Star also holds global rights to International

Cricket Council events, paying $2.1bn over the eight

years from 2015-16 to 2022-23, and has the rights

to Board of Control for Cricket in India events,

including the Indian national team’s home matches,

in a seven-year deal from 2012 to 2018.

One of the more interesting aspects of the

recent IPL auction was that Facebook bid around

$600m for (although did not win) digital rights in

the Indian subcontinent, the company’s biggest

reported move to date for sports rights.

Football’s English Premier League is the most

valuable non-cricket property. Star is paying $100m

for the rights between 2016-17 and 2018-19, a

33-per-cent decrease on the previous fee. The

decrease reflected weaker competition than at

the previous auction, and a relatively undeveloped

audience for the property in India.

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WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN 2018

What to look out for in 2018

Seven big sports media rights stories to look out for

next year.

Internet giants ramp up activityThe industry has been awaiting the entrance of

Silicon Valley’s giants for years, and it seems to be

finally happening, albeit slowly.

NFL Thursday Night Football digital rights in the

US increased in value five-fold as Amazon outbid

incumbent Twitter for the 2017 season. Amazon

acquired exclusive ATP tennis rights in the UK, and

will take the package over from dominant local

sports broadcaster Sky. Facebook made a $600m

bid for five years of domestic digital rights for

Indian Premier League cricket. There have been

rumours of other, bigger plays, but as yet no ‘big

bang’ deal to really usher in the era of the tech

giants.

The money spent so far is small fry, and the

companies appear to be testing the water. It is not

yet clear what the winning sports video business

models for them will look like. What is clear is the

growth in their interest in this content, and in TV

content in general, and we can expect more deals

in 2018.

Impact of Qatar blockade on beIN SportsFall-out from the Saudi Arabia-led blockade of

Qatar continues to affect Qatari-owned beIN Sports,

the most important sports broadcaster in the

Middle East and a significant player in several other

markets, particularly France.

BeIN told TV Sports Markets earlier this year

that it was ‘business as usual’ under the blockade.

A big deal in August to renew Uefa Champions

League rights in the Middle East – which trebled the

property’s previous fee – suggests beIN is in a strong

position yet.

But the broadcaster is undoubtedly under

pressure. Its big fee for the Champions League

was at least partly driven by this. Its rivals wanted

Uefa to bring the property to the market early to

see if they could exploit weakness at beIN. There

were rumours prior to the auction that a Saudi-

backed broadcaster would make a competitive

bid, although this never emerged. Elsewhere,

beIN’s production crews and reporters have been

obstructed in their efforts to cover sports events

in the Middle East, and shunned by some athletes

and team managers. A pirate internet stream called

‘boutQ’ – an obvious play on ‘beIN’ – has made

beIN’s premium sports coverage available for free

in Saudi Arabia.

With Saudi Arabia putting Qatar under

extraordinary pressure – including demanding the

shutting down of the Al Jazeera news network –

rights-holders will be crossing their fingers that

beIN is able to weather the storm. Its pursuit of

sports broadcasting dominance in the region has

massively increased the value of media rights there

in the last decade.

Change at Formula One in the Liberty Media eraThe world’s biggest motorsports series is now

owned by one of the world’s biggest television

and media companies, which has promised to

modernise the property’s approach to media,

particularly digital media. In 2018, we will find out

more about what this actually translates into.

A direct-to-consumer OTT offering is on the

cards, but not straight away. Chase Carey, the

hugely experienced TV executive now leading

Formula One for Liberty Media, said in August they

were still figuring out the best configuration of

media coverage, and acknowledged the conflicting

demands of different models. “In terms of the

television arena that we deal with, I guess the way

to describe it is that there are three or even four

potential arenas that we are engaged with,” he

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told the media earlier this year. “Traditional free,

pay, digital and then our own probably more direct

over-the-top product. To some degree what you

have is conflicting goals across them. Probably the

economic premium paid gets higher as you go up

the ladder, but the reach gets less.

“We’re trying to balance what is the right mix of

reach and direct economic value. Clearly there are

impacts on other partners we have – for sponsors

the fan engagement is obviously very important.

“For us, the goal is to maximise long-term

growth, not to find a short-term pop.”

Factoring all this in, he indicated that the

traditional approach of media rights deals with

major broadcasters would be central to the

property’s media strategy for some time to come:

“It’s more and more heading to various forms of

digital platforms – I don’t think it will happen as fast

as some people think. Some habits die hard, and

there is a value in volume and choice.

“On the programming side, there’s still value in

reach. It’s going there [digital], but it will take time.”

This acknowledgement of the importance of

reach will be welcomed by Formula One’s free-to-

air broadcasters. In recent years, the property had

been moving away from its reliance on free-to-air in

its biggest markets, and doing more exclusive pay-

television deals.

English Premier League to agree new domestic dealsIn the coming months, the English Premier League

will return to the UK market seeking new domestic

rights deals for the three seasons from 2019-20 to

2021-22. A tender is likely to be issued late this year

or early next.

The league earns a total of £5.136bn

(€6.805bn/$7.719bn) in the current three-season

cycle, from 2016-17 to 2018-19, or £1.712bn per

season, from deals with pay-television broadcasters

Sky and BT Sport. Sky is paying £1.392bn per

season and BT is paying £320m per season. This

represented an increase of 69 per cent on the value

of the previous deal.

In the current cycle, 168 of the 380 matches per

season are broadcast live by either Sky or BT. From

2018-19 onward, the league is likely to sell live rights

to at least 190 matches per season. The increased

content will almost certainly guarantee the league

more revenue, but it is still not expected to secure

such a big uplift in fees as last time, unless a major

new bidder emerges to challenge BT and Sky.

Both Sky’s and BT’s businesses are facing

headwinds, including declining profitability which

in Sky’s case is strongly linked to the high cost of

Premier League rights.

One potential source of new competition is

American internet firms such as Amazon, Facebook

and Twitter. Long-expected to enter the sports TV

industry, they appear to be ramping up their activity

in the sector, including in the UK where Amazon

made its first move this August by acquiring ATP

tennis from 2019 to 2023.

However, none of the tech giants have yet

acquired a really premium property like Premier

League domestic rights, in any market. Even for

companies as cash rich as they are, acquiring a

significant portion of exclusive live Premier League

domestic rights would involve considerable outlay

and risk.

The likelihood is that BT and Sky will be the only

two big bidders in the upcoming auction, which will

make it difficult for the league to secure a similar

percentage increase as last time.

Uefa to exceed club competition revenue targetUefa, football’s European governing body, is almost

certain to exceed its income target of €3.2bn

($3.43bn) per season for media and marketing

rights to the Champions League and Europa League

competitions in its next cycle, from 2018-19 to 2020-

21. This target is 28 per cent more than the €2.5bn

per season Uefa is earning from the same set of

rights in the 2015-16 to 2017-18 cycle.

The governing body has made an excellent start

to the new cycle, securing solid increases in each

of the big five European markets, earning more

than half of its target from these territories alone. It

secured increases of:

• About 103 per cent in France, as telco Altice

claimed rights to both competitions.

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• About 77 per cent in Spain, as pay-television

broadcaster beIN Sports and agency Mediapro

retained rights to both competitions.

• About 45 per cent in Germany, as the Champions

League moved exclusively to pay-television.

• Just over 27 per cent in the UK, as telco BT

retained its rights.

• About 15 per cent from a difficult Italian market.

Uefa has also secured large fees from a deal with

OTT service DAZN in Japan; a renewal with beIN

Sports in the Middle East and North Africa; a deal

in Scandinavia with multi-territory commercial and

pay-television broadcaster Modern Times Group;

and in the US from deals with Turner Broadcasting

and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision.

Israeli pay-television broadcaster the Sports

Channel has paid the biggest increase thus far in

the new cycle, paying 440 per cent more to retain

Champions League rights, albeit from a lower base

than the aforementioned territories.

Discovery’s Olympics rights sublicensing milestonesOne of the most ambitious rights acquisitions of

recent years – Discovery’s of rights in Europe for

the Olympics in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 – faces

major milestones in the next few months.

Discovery will broadcast the Olympics across

the continent on its Eurosport channels. But under

International Olympic Committee rules it also had

to sublicense a portion of the rights to free-to-air

broadcasters. Having outbid these broadcasters to

win the rights in the first place, Discovery faced a

challenging task of agreeing sublicenses that gave

both sides value, and would make its landmark

deal worth it.

At the time of writing, Discovery had struck deals

with 20 of the biggest free-to-air broadcasters in

Europe. But it was yet to agree deals for the 2018

Games – which start February 9th in Pyeongchang,

South Korea – in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and

Israel. It hoped to agree deals in these territories

before the end of the year.

Speaking to TV Sports Markets earlier this year,

Eurosport chief executive Peter Hutton said: “I think

it’s fair to say we are on target. There are some big

ones to go. We have to do Italy and Spain, and 2022

and 2024 in France. We are ahead of where we

hoped we would be at this stage.

“There are a lot of variables to work on and

there is a lot of work still to do, but in sublicensing

numbers and free-to-air projections we are ahead.”

UFC goes to market in USThe UFC has been one of the biggest growth stories

in world sport in recent years. A measure of just how

great its progress has been will be provided when it

goes to market next year with its rights in the US.

Current rights-holder Fox, whose deal runs out at

the end of next year, is reported to be paying about

$115m per year. The property’s owner, the sports

and entertainment giant WME-IMG, is reported to

be seeking four times that – up to $450m per year –

in the next period.

The UFC is expected to seek to continue running

pay-per-view events itself, outside the rights deal,

although any rights-holding broadcaster is likely to

want at least a say in the match-ups that take place

in those events.

The rights are hitting the market after an

exclusive negotiating window for Fox expired

without a deal being agreed.

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