Nine European leagues join forces in television rights bid
Madrid, Jun 18 (EFE).- Nine European leagues will join forces for television rights in a pioneering initiative, sources from European Leagues and Spain’s LaLiga told Efe.
The project, which involves competitions in Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Iceland, Latvia and Kazakhstan, will market and sell the competitions as a single entity in the international market.
Together, the nine competitions play 1,500 matches per season.
The package will offer an additional novelty by including leagues that compete from autumn to spring – Denmark, Switzerland, Poland, Northern Ireland and Slovakia – and those that compete in summer – Norway, Iceland, Latvia and Kazakhstan.
This will offer a full year of non-stop football, which would be a great opportunity for fans to follow players even if they change competitions, according to head of business development at European Leagues Chris Gerstle.
The initiative will generate a higher value for the leagues’ rights compared to when they market themselves individually, Gerstle said.
The complete package – which would be sold for three seasons between 2021 and 2024 – could be worth from $5 million to $20 million, according to sports magazine Sportico.
The move is a test for what might become more common in the future, and allows the leagues to access markets that they wouldn’t have accessed individually, according to LaLiga president Javier Tebas. EFE
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