Will sports rights holders "on-demand" even more from broadcasters and how may contracts evolve?
With Virgin Media's announcement at the start of July of the UK's first sports television season ticket1, there is yet more choice for British sports fans on how they consume their sporting content. But what does this mean for rights holders?
You would have had to have gone into hiding when Andrea Pirlo's extraordinary chip kick penalty led to England's exit of Euro 2012 and not come out again until Mario Balotelli's header sent England to their second successive Italian tournament defeat at World Cup Brazil 2014, to not know that the UK sports television market has seen unprecedented change in recent years. Now, unlike ever before, channel providers are in a battle over rights to premium sporting content.
Traditionally, those providers paid rights holders a lump sum for content for a certain limited period and simply carried it on their linear channels. Over time, however, premium sporting content has become used by the main UK platforms as part of a fight to win more customers for their fibre optic broadband packages and to generate profits in increasingly innovative ways. In recent years we have seen:
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- Tags: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil | Broadcasting | Contract Law | Football | Premier League | World Cup
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Written by
Alex Henderson
Alex is a commercial lawyer at Dentons with a particular emphasis on the media and sport sector. Alex has worked on media rights related matters for a number of clients including, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Chelsea Football Club as well on various commercial arrangements in sports such as football, cricket and formula 1.
Alex Haffner
Alex is a Partner in the Commercial, Sports and IP Team at Fladgate LLP, specialising in the sports, technology and media sectors.
