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Changes to the “crown jewel” sports events amid UK broadcasting review: An updated analysis of the UK’s Listed Events Regime

Following on from the growing popularity and success of the Women’s Super League and the great form of the England’s Women’s Team, there is a real sense of anticipation and excitement ahead of the UEFA Women’s European Championship finals, to be kicked off this Wednesday by England’s Lionesses versus Austria. In late April, the UK … Continue Reading

‘Is Football the Same Without Fans?’: Valuable lessons when negotiating broadcasting agreements

Last month, it was reported that the value of the overseas broadcasting deals entered into by the English Premier League (‘EPL‘) nudged past the £5 billion threshold for the 2022-25 rights cycle, whilst also surpassing the value of domestic deals for the same cycle for the first time. Given these substantial investments, it is no … Continue Reading

European Parliament proposes new regime to combat piracy of live sports content

Scale of the piracy problem The threats posed to the funding of sport by media rights piracy is nothing new.  However, as recognised by the European Parliament in its resolution published 19 May 2021, developments in digital technology and the proliferation of access to digital content (in particular through IPTV) have, in turn, increased the … Continue Reading

Five Stars to the NBA: A Successful Bubble

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers who won their 17th NBA championship on Sunday night after beating the Miami Heat 4-2 in an entertaining series. After an incredibly challenging and unprecedented season, the LA Lakers were crowned champions. The NBA, and Commissioner Adam Silver, have pulled off a meticulously executed project, which has been an … Continue Reading

K-League 1 strikes record broadcasting rights deals following league restart

Last week, Sports Shorts reported on how the top European football leagues were dealing with the completion of their 2019/2020 seasons as a result of Covid-19. Since then we have seen the much anticipated return of Germany’s Bundesliga (over the weekend just passed), which benefited from record viewership. The K-League 1 (the “K-League”), South Korea’s … Continue Reading

Shall we go Dutch? Belgian Pro League clubs mull over merger with Dutch Eredivisie

Last year, Sports Shorts reported on proposals for a combined Dutch and Belgian football league – a so-called ‘BeneLiga’. Talks of a merger appear to be gathering pace in the early part of this year, with Inside World Football reporting that a meeting recently took place between the Belgian and Dutch footballing authorities, alongside eleven … Continue Reading

A slam-dunk? Sweeping and dramatic changes may be coming to the NBA

Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe dropped, what is known as a Woj Bomb, last week as they announced that the NBA is in high level discussions with the NBPA (the National Basketball Players Association) and broadcasting partners concerning “sweeping and dramatic changes to the league calendar that include a reseeding of the four conference finalists, … Continue Reading

NO TRY – World Rugby’s Nations Championship proposal is ruled out

World Rugby has abandoned its plans to launch a new Nations Championship competition after failing to get the necessary support for the project. World Rugby required unanimous backing from the ten nations who comprise the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship by 19 June 2019, however this was never achieved. Sports Shorts previously discussed the … Continue Reading

Infringers walk the plank as the Premier League’s anti-piracy campaign scores big success

Between 2016 and 2019 the Premier League was paid a record breaking £5 billion for UK rights by broadcasters for 168 games a season. A new deal, effective from 2019 to 2022, will see the Premier League make at least £4.46 billion from the UK rights to broadcast matches (with one broadcaster not disclosing how … Continue Reading

Unexpected win for English football enthusiasts around the EU and heavy defeat for rights holders’ wallets

As part of a continuous attempt to move away from geoblocking and towards a Digital Single Market (“DSM”), the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council agreed, last 13 December 2018, to facilitate access to sports radio content within the new EU broadcasting rules, a move which the Premier League has criticised.  This … Continue Reading

Avant Garde by name, avant-garde by nature: French Football Federation ruling threatens to stop real-life fantasy team

When French sixth-tier side Avant Garde Caennaise (“AG Caen”) were founded in 1902, even the most forward-thinking supporters could not have imagined that the club would become the pioneers that they are today. The Project Two thousand fans currently manage the team, making decisions such as the team’s line up and substitutions, via a third … Continue Reading

The $365 million man: Canelo lands bumper deal in changing sports broadcasting market

“The richest athlete contract in sports history”. That is how ESPN described the deal between boxer Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and streaming service DAZN, which is worth a reported $365 million for 11 fights. The agreement with Canelo sits alongside a broader “exclusive” partnership between DAZN and Canelo’s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, which is due to … Continue Reading

Eleven Sports challenges football ‘Blackout’ by broadcasting La Liga games

Eleven Sports, the global sports provider, has contravened UEFA rules, which prohibit live coverage of football in the UK between 14:45 and 17:15 on Saturdays by broadcasting Barcelona’s La Liga fixture against Athletic Bilbao. This period on a Saturday afternoon is commonly referred to as the football “blackout” as the UK does not broadcast any matches during … Continue Reading

UEFA follows in Premier League’s footsteps by securing live blocking injunction

Last year, Sports Shorts covered the emergence of the first “live blocking injunctions”, which were obtained by the Premier League both in respect of the final portion of the 2016/17 season (in a test case before the High Court in March 2017) and subsequently in respect of the entire 2017/18 season. The blocking injunctions require … Continue Reading

Loi Évin: How Law Makers in France Have Forced a Divide Between Alcohol & Sport

Recently, rugby legend Dan Carter made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. After being pulled over by the police on Avenue des Champs-Élysées for speeding, police discovered that he was over the alcohol limit. He was subsequently dropped by his sponsor Land Rover for what seems to be a breach of a morality clause, … Continue Reading

Pubs, football, and satellite decoder cards: the latest instalment

The Court of Appeal has recently handed down judgment in the latest in a line of cases relating to the showing of Premier League football matches in UK pubs using foreign satellite decoder cards. The Court of Appeal found in favour of the Premier League, confirming that unauthorised use of a decoder card licensed for … Continue Reading

The Saturday afternoon football blackout: an analysis

English fans of Spanish football may have been disappointed this weekend not to find El Clásico, the match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, in their TV guides.  The match kicked off at 3:15pm UK time and finished 1 – 1, with honours even, but was not shown on English television. While El Clásico represents one … Continue Reading

Digital Single Market update: Council confirms approach to EU geoblocking ban will not apply to sports broadcasts

On Monday (28 November), the European Council announced that it has agreed a general approach to a draft regulation to prohibit “unjustified geoblocking” between member states, including confirmation that the regulation should not apply to sports broadcasts.  The draft regulation formed part of the proposals adopted by the Commission earlier this year on the Digital … Continue Reading
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