beIN Sport loses Saudi Licence

The authorities in Saudi Arabi have revoked the licence of premium sports channel beIN Sport.

The General Authority for Competition said it was also fining the broadcaster SR10 million for alleged breaches of local competition laws.

“The GAC clarified it has received many complaints from citizens and participants against beIN Sport since March 2016 for violating competition rules in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Authority said in a statement.

It says in the run up to the 2016 European Championships, the broadcaster forced fans to purchase other non-sports channels as part of a larger bundle.

In January, Egypt fined beIN Sport $22 million for anti-competitiveness. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE have also banned the sale of Bein Sport receivers, smart cards and subscriptions in their markets.

Switzerland: Teleclub renews Ligue 1 and Serie A

The Swiss pay-TV bouquet Teleclub has just renewed the rights of Ligue 1 and Serie A for several seasons.

Teleclub publishes the pay channel Teleclub Sports and Teleclub Sports Live channels 1 to 20, as well as the brand new free channel Teleclub Zoom. Ligue 1 is renewed for 3 seasons, from 2018 to 2021. The contract also includes the Coupe de la Ligue. Up to 5 Ligue 1 games will be broadcast every day, including a free match on Teleclub Zoom . For reasons of rights, the matches are broadcast with the original comments of the international signal in English.

Teleclub has also renewed Serie A. Teleclub Sports will offer all the games of the season with comments in Italian, as well as a selection of commented games in French. Teleclub Zoom will offer a free match on Monday night. The duration of the contract has not been disclosed, but should be 3 seasons, like other international contracts.

Teleclub also signed the Belgian (Pro League) and Dutch (Eredivisie) leagues. The entire Pro League will be offered in English, with some games commented in French. A match per Eredivise Day will be broadcast and commented in French.

Teleclub also has full rights to the Champions League and Europa League for 3 seasons. Teleclub also broadcasts RMC Sport Access 1 to 3 channels, offering its subscribers the Premier League.

Teleclub is available mainly through the Swisscom operator. It is one of the oldest pay TV operators in Europe. Owned 100% by Swisscom, Teleclub is the leading pay TV broadcaster in Switzerland. In addition to the public group (RTS in French), the only competitor of Teleclub is the recent MySports package, launched by UPC, another major telecom operator in Switzerland.

Latin America: Facebook pockets the rights of the Champions League unencrypted

The social network Facebook last week signed the rights to some Champions League games for free distribution in Latin America.

This is not a tidal wave, but a small revolution in the world of sports broadcasters: Facebook has acquired some rights of Champions League in Latin America. Admittedly, the deal covers only 32 games per season, from 2018 to 2021, including the Champions League final and the Supercup. 30 group and final phase games. The distribution or the choice of the matches have not been communicated.

These rights are exclusive, for free distribution in Spanish-speaking countries (excluding Brazil). The matches will be available on the Champions League Facebook page, with a geographical block. Wednesday night summaries and additional programs will also be available on the Facebook page. The amount of the rights has not been disclosed.

Facebook has made  a big hit by offering free matches of the most prestigious football championship in the world, very popular in Latin America. This is the second major football acquisition, after La Liga in Asia, when the group hired Peter Hutton, former CEO of Eurosport, at the beginning of the year to oversee the purchase of sports rights. The ambitions of  Facebook are great in sports programs, especially live, and we should see new acquisitions this year again.

In March, Facebook signed an agreement with MLB to broadcast baseball games on its Facebook Watch platform in the United States (exclusive streaming rights for an afternoon game every week). These games are visible outside the US in territories where rights are not available elsewhere.

Fox Sports and ESPN are the pay-TV broadcasters for the Champions League, Europa League and Supercup in Latin America for the period 2018-2021. In the previous cycle (2015-2018), a package of free rights was awarded to the Mexican group Televisa.

Asia: Facebook will broadcast free La Liga for 3 seasons

Facebook announced last week an agreement with the LFP, organizer of La Liga, to broadcast live and free the entire championship from 2018 to 2021.

Another major acquisition of football for one of the digital giants, after the incursion of Amazon in the United Kingdom with the Premier League. Facebook announced last week that it will be the official broadcaster of La Liga in eight Asian countries: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Afghanistan. The 380 matches of each season will be available free of charge on the La Liga Facebook page, as well as the club pages.

For big games, such as Clasico, a special device will be produced by Ten Sports and SonySix, via an interactive studio, with consultants Michel Salgado (Real Madrid) and Luis Garcia (Atlético Madrid), presumably in English. Sony Pictures Network is the big loser, the international group held the rights for the previous cycle (2014-2018). He would have paid $ 32 million over four years. A source close to the record mentions the sum of 10 to 20 million dollars per season for the new contract with Facebook.

This part of Asia is important for the development of La Liga, including India and its 270 million Facebook users. For La Liga, this is a new era in the distribution of sport, bringing fans of the league and its flagship league via social networks. La Liga has an important presence on Facebook, thanks to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Peter Hutton, director of sports acquisitions for Facebook, talks about a small deal "that will not change the world of TV broadcasters. And even though the broadcast is free, he confesses to think about maybe integrating advertising in the near future.

Peter Hutton, former CEO of Eurosport, was hired earlier this year by Facebook to manage overall purchases of sports rights.

TV rights: beIN SPORTS keeps the Serie A

The sports channel will still broadcast the championship next season.

It was the last major right to secure this summer for beIN SPORTS. The current contract comes to an end, it is with the agency IMG, new holder of the international rights of Italian calcio that the negotiations took place.

As confirmed by the channel, the Serie A will still be present at the start of beIN SPORTS. If no duration is mentioned, the contract is a priori of 3 years, until 2021, in accordance with the cycle of media rights set up by the organizer. No amount has been disclosed.

Many football rights remain unclear for next fall. This is the case for the Italian Cup, the Spanish Cup or the FA Cup. On the other hand, the channel has already announced the renewal of the Spanish Liga. In the autumn, RMC Sport, broadcaster of the European Cups, will put the rights of the Premier League back into play in the period 2019-2022.

Belgium: still no Ligue 1 on Eleven Sports

The Eleven Sports Belgium channel has still not found an agreement with the LFP to broadcast Ligue 1, as the second day of the championship ends.

Still no Ligue 1 for Eleven Sports Belgium. At the end of the 2nd day of the championship, Belgian subscribers are deprived of PSG, Marseille or Monaco matches. To the different requests of users on the Twitter account of the channel, the answer remains the same: "the negotiations are still in progress. "

Eleven Sports Belgium broadcast Ligue 1 during the previous rights period (2015 - 2018), with 5 live games per day, on average. Eleven Sports Belgium owns the rights to the Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga for the next 3 seasons (2018 - 2021).