February 22 – The UK sports broadcast landscape is changing with BT Sports channels changing their name to TNT Sports in July 2023 for the start of the new football season.
February 20 – LaLiga LaLiga has announced a partnership with Netflix to develop the streaming giant’s first sports documentary series in Spain.
February 3 – Sports streaming leaders DAZN and OneFootball have struck a distribution deal that will widen the reach of DAZN content in Germany and Austria via OneFootball’s network.
January 20 – Sports-streaming giant DAZN has agreed a deal with Prime Video to distribute its service in Amazon’s Prime Video Channels.
January 12 – Sports-streaming giant DAZN has reported an operating loss of $1.36 billion in 2021, taking the company’s total losses over the past three reported financial years to $5 billion.
December 30 – Real Madrid tops the table of broadcast revenue LaLiga is distributing to its clubs for the 2021/22 season at €160 million, marginally ahead of rivals Barcelona. Atletico Madrid rank third with €130 million.
December 15 – Major League Soccer has released detail of its expanded four-year ‘linear’ television agreements with FOX Sports and TelevisaUnivision in the US, plus TSN and RDS in Canada.
December 6 – Manchester United have increased the distribution of their broadcast channel making the MUTV app available on Samsung, LG and Android smart and connected TVs.
November 30 – BeIN Sports, the broadcast rights holder for the MENA region for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, is claiming more than 111 million viewers tuned in for the Opening Ceremony, while a cumulative total of more than 900 million watched the first 16 group stage games.
November 27 – With relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia seemingly having found a new level cordiality in polar opposite to the Saudi-led blockade of the country two years ago, a new dispute has arisen around broadcast rights that could threaten the detente.
November 9 – The next two European championships will remain free to the general public after UK public-service broadcaster the BBC and commercial broadcaster ITV agreed to continue to share the rights.
November 1 – Sky Sports UK has renewed its partnership with short-form mobile content platform Snapchat Discover.
By David Owen
October 30 – US media conglomerate Comcast has posted a third-quarter loss after including $8.6 billion of impairment charges related to Sky, its UK-centred media and telecommunications business with live rights to Premier League football.
October 28 – Broadcaster beIN Sports has said it has paid its latest instalment owed to La Liga following the Spanish league’s move to secure a court order following a dispute over payment rescheduling.
October 27 – Proof that all is love in the Qatari/Saudi Arabian media world has been shown again with the announcement that beIN Media Group has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Riyadh-based media sales group SMC.