Media

RFEF ordered to pay Mediapro €12.3m in Copa del Rey rights case

Published

1 year ago

July 12, 2023

A court has ordered the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to pay €12.3m ($13.6m) in compensation to Mediapro for planning to exclude the agency and broadcast production group from a tender for media rights to the Copa del Rey.

In a statement, Mediapro said that RFEF president Luis Rubiales (pictured) “intended to exclude” the company from the tender, which covered media rights to the Copa del Rey from 2019-20 to 2021-22.

According to Mediapro, the RFEF withdrew the tender, thus preventing the awarding of the rights to the agency. Mediapro said that the Provincial Court of Madrid has declared that the RFEF incurred actions contrary to Article 2 of the Spanish Antitrust Act and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

The RFEF was sentenced to compensate the Mediapro for loss of profit derived from not having been awarded the contract to manage the media rights in Spain, Europe and internationally. The RFEF has been ordered to compensate Mediapro for loss of profit up to a maximum of €12.3m. The RFEF is also required to pay the costs involved in the proceedings.

The decision comes on the back of a judgement in January last year, when the RFEF was ordered to pay compensation to Mediapro after a court ruled that it unlawfully excluded the agency from the process of awarding the domestic and international broadcast rights to the Copa Del Rey across the 2019-22 cycle.

The latest development comes after the RFEF earlier this week cancelled an invitation to tender for its video assistant referee (VAR) services amid the ongoing legal process between the federation and Mediapro.

In March, the RFEF launched the tender process for its VAR services across a four-year contract, spanning 2023-24 to 2026-27. The following month, however, the process was suspended after the latest legal action taken against the RFEF by Mediapro.

The suspension came after the Commercial Court No.2 of Madrid issued an order granting a precautionary measure requested by Mediapro in relation to the tender.

Earlier this year, Mediapro claimed a legal win over the RFEF following the latter’s refusal to allow coverage of the 2019 Copa de la Reina final. Mediapro requested €242,000, plus interest, in compensation from the RFEF, a proposal that Mediapro said the Provincial Court of Madrid had accepted in full.

It marked the fourth time in a year that that the courts had sided with Mediapro, which has previously condemned the “erratic and personality-driven management” of Rubiales.

In May last year, Mediapro won a ruling against the RFEF after the Mercantile Court No.12 of Madrid decided that the governing body abused its position by not including Mediapro in the tender process for media rights to the final of the 2019 Copa del Rey.

The RFEF had previously been ordered to pay almost €1.25m in compensation to Mediapro following a court case relating to the award of video assistant referees (VAR) services to sports technology company Hawk-Eye back in 2019.

Following the latest ruling, Mediapro said: “Luis Rubiales’ obsession to inflict damage on Grup Mediapro and the repetition of illicit behaviour, subsequently sanctioned by the courts, only undermines the prestige of the institution, and reduces its economic resources due to compensation payments it must face.”

Author

Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

Published

2 months ago

September 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

An online streaming service has exclusive rights to the big Champions League match – but it’s easy to watch it for free.

Liverpool will be returning to the Champions League on Tuesday night, hoping to get back to winning ways on the opening night of the new campaign, facing old foes AC Milan.

The side, who previously faced Milan in the 2005 and 2007, suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, so they will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week.

However, Milan have also had a tumultuous ride so far, with the team currently in 9th after four games, despite a solid 4-0 win over Venezia at the weekend.

It’s shaping up to be a thrilling match, then, with both teams having plenty to prove, and you can watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga has unveiled state-run China Media Group (CMG) as its official broadcast partner in the country.

Through a deal announced today, CMG returns as a Chinese broadcaster of the 20-team Spanish league.

The tie-up has come with the 2024-25 campaign already four matchdays in and follows a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in late July.

Last season (2023-24), LaLiga action was shown in China by the Migu streaming service, while rights for 2024-25 have also been snapped up by the iQiyi digital broadcaster.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, has said: “China remains a key market for LaLiga, and we are thrilled to bring our league’s unique passion and excitement to Chinese fans through one of the most influential media platforms in the country.”

Over the last few weeks, LaLiga has been scrambling to add more partners to its stable of broadcasters for this season.

Earlier this month, a significant deal across numerous African markets was unveiled with SportyTV, while mid-August saw BeIN Sports extend its exclusive rights deals across the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Domestically, DAZN and Movistar are the main rights-holders through deals running between 2022 and 2027.

Sportcal

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Belgium’s Pro League Launches Five-Season Domestic Rights Tender

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League has gone to market with a domestic media rights tender for the five seasons between 2025 and 2030.

The tender was launched recently (September 9), and the Pro League is being strategically supported by the heavyweight IMG agency – through a deal unveiled last October – during the process.

The deadline for prospective rights-holders to submit bids is October 16, with a Pro League general assembly to then evaluate the bids on October 18.

Interested parties can obtain the tender documents by contacting tender2025@proleague.be.

The 16-team Pro League’s domestic and international rights are currently held by global sports streaming service DAZN – which acquired previous rights-holder Eleven Sports in 2023 – in a five-year deal running through the 2024-25 season. Eleven tapped sports agency Mediapro to distribute international rights in partnership with the league.

In total, eight rights packages are available for purchase – three specifically for the Pro League (others cover the second-tier Challenger Pro League and various domestic cup competitions).

A new development in this tender is that the packages are platform-neutral, meaning they cover both linear and streaming rights.

In terms of kick-off times for games across the five seasons covered by the tender, meanwhile, the Pro League has said these “remain virtually unchanged.”

IMG, meanwhile, also has a contract in place to collect and commercialize the Pro League’s fastpath data in a five-year agreement with European Leagues running from 2022-23 to 2027-28.