On the latest episode of La Previa, hosts Asli Pelit and Boris Gartner discuss some of the week’s most important sports business stories, including the ongoing NBA broadcast rights negotiations and the new era of the UEFA Champions League next year.
The hosts start by discussing how the governing body of European soccer has been negotiating media rights for its top-tier club competitions. Historically, the organization negotiated its deals in periods of three years. For the last cycle, which wraps with the final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid on June 1 at London’s Wembley Stadium, the UEFA generated around $3.8 billion (3.5 billion euros).
Television rights of European club competitions are expected to jump more than 40% to $5 billion for the next cycle, according to Gartner, a rise linked to the expansion of UEFA’s flagship Champions League tournament from 32 to 36 teams, where more games are guaranteed.
Next, the hosts discussed the significance of the U.S. market for UEFA. The United States is a priority market for UEFA and its clubs, primarily due to its large audience size and status as the world’s largest commercial market. Last year, Gartner’s Relevent Sports brokered the sale of the Spanish language rights to broadcast UEFA club competitions in the U.S. for the 2024-27 cycle. It was the first time the governing body broke its exclusive deal with Team Marketing, which had been the home of UEFA for 30 years.
“They did it because they recognize the need for a strategic partner in the market,” Gartner said. “They were looking for a much more aggressive growth, which was achieved with 2.5x more the sale of the rights of the previous cycle.”
The agreement came on the heels of the six-year, $1.5 billion deal that UEFA signed with Paramount for the English-language rights in 2022.
Lastly, the hosts discuss the NBA’s multibillion-dollar media rights negotiations. Before the negotiations began, there were doubts about the NBA’s ability to significantly increase its current nine-year, $24 billion contract. However, the league could double its rights fees to more than $50 billion over 10 years, placing the value of its long-term rights second only to the NFL’s $110 billion.
The deals “will continue to bring a premium over the previous values,” Gartner said. Properties like the NFL, NBA and Champions League will continue to command a much higher value, because they have the power to convene people massively in front of the TV.
“Everything that is not premium will suffer a lot,” he said, emphasizing the enduring value of these marquee sports properties in the ever-evolving sports business landscape.
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