Media Rights Agreements

MARCH 18, 2021: The National Football League announced today that it has signed long-term contracts with its media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX and NBC for the distribution of NFL games, the industry`s most valuable content, TV and digital platforms, as well as additional media rights. Part 3 – Analysis of Rights Agreements by Multimarket Broadcasters [3] PwC: Sports media revenues will reach US$78.5 billion by 2021 | Using detailed data and analysis, we look at how TEAM Marketing (UEFA`s exclusive sales agent) sold the rights in the rights cycle from 18/19 to 20/21, creating the fifth most valuable media rights property in the world. Thanks to their global reach, streamers can allow any of their subscribers to easily access its content anywhere in the world. The only thing that stands in the way of that is the territory that they can negotiate in their licensing agreements. Similarly, broadcasts are often allowed for a specific language. But today, technology makes it easy for viewers to choose the type of commentary they want to hear. Streaming platforms will increasingly negotiate rights to all languages in all available countries for the global growth of their brands, even if this is a potential future goal. Various leagues and teams control the rights to broadcast their live sporting events and grant these rights to different television networks and, increasingly, streaming platforms. However, in addition to the dollar value and terms of these agreements, media rights transactions must also cover the scope of the rights to be licensed, whether the license is exclusive or not, the applicable territory, and often the marketing/sponsorship opportunities for the rights holder.

In the context of streaming platforms, each has its own legal considerations. CBS: With its new multi-platform agreement, CBS retains the rights to the American Football Conference (AFC) Sunday Afternoon game package. All games will be broadcast on the CBS television network and streamed live on Paramount+, ViacomCBS` flagship streaming service. CBS, the most watched U.S. network in the past 12 years, is the NFL`s longest-serving media partner, having begun televising NFL games in 1956. The most comprehensive survey of the sports media law landscape, based on our market-leading media rights data covering the world`s top 10 sports, the 20 largest properties and the top 10 markets. With the NFL`s brand new announcement that Thursday Night Football will air exclusively on Amazon Prime starting in 2023,[8] such a world is just around the corner, raising new legal questions regarding copyright, publicity rights, and possible defamation (after all, sports fans are notorious for losing control of some players). When the time comes, streaming platforms will want to review their terms of service to ensure they are protected from legal claims that include user-generated sports broadcasts. By making games available exclusively digitally, streamers have the opportunity to accelerate the trend in the way fans watch.

Of course, the leagues themselves are not as enthusiastic about cable`s decline and would prefer to be able to license TV and digital rights separately and, ideally, generate significant revenue from each stick of rights. But in all likelihood, tech companies will continue to bid for exclusive rights in the 2020s, meaning sports fans will stop switching channels and opening apps. [6] Premier League TV rights: Amazon will broadcast 20 matches per season from 2019 to 2022 – BBC Sport Over the next decade, technology platforms are expected to continue to invest in sports media rights. As Amazon continues to prove that sports can only be watched online, other titans such as Netflix and Apple could also decide to become competitors in the market. In any case, any company that wants to control sports streaming rights must carefully weigh the scope of the rights it licenses and weigh budget considerations exclusively. For international brands, the pressure should be for broadcasting rights in more languages and/or more territories. Finally, as technology platforms continue to innovate and change the way we view sports, they should ensure that their terms of use are complete and compliant with the terms of broadcast license agreements. It`s an exciting time to be a sports fan.

These new media deals give fans more opportunities to watch NFL games than ever before. Highlighted by the wide distribution on linear and digital platforms, these deals offer fans the following: With these deals, the NFL has expanded its digital footprint to reach a wider audience while maintaining its commitment to keeping all NFL games on live television. The new deals begin with the 2023 season and continue through the 2033 season.ESPN: ESPN will continue to be the NFL`s television partner for the most-watched cable series Monday Night Football. In addition, ABC acquired the broadcast rights to two Super Bowls as well as exclusive regular season games. ESPN+ subscribers can broadcast a game of the international series on an exclusive national basis each season, and the new agreement gives ESPN the ability to simulate all ABC and ESPN games on ESPN+. The new deal for ESPN spans 11 years, including a 10-year contract starting in 2023 and a one-year bridge contract in 2022. In-depth analysis of national and international media revenues. An overview of 17 different sports media markets, multi-territory deals, and information on how the league plans to increase revenue. But with the continued rise of streaming platforms, many of which have been launched in the past 18 months, live streaming rights to sporting events are becoming increasingly valuable. This article takes a look at the basics of sports media contracts and what rights holders and streaming platforms should consider in the new era of sports viewing. .