EPL video rights battles in the U.S. and Canada

Get ready for two massive battles for the video rights to the Barclay's English Premier League (EPL) for August 2013-May 2016 in both the U.S. and Canada.

Canada

Incumbent: Rogers Media is partnered with sublicensees Bell Media and Quebecor Media. Rogers owns Sportsnet regional networks, Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet World. Bell owns TSN, TSN2, ESPN Classic Canada, RDS, RDS2, and RDS Info (with ESPN Inc. holding 33% equity.) Quebecor owns TVA Sports.

Challenger: I now expect beIN SPORT LLC to partner with TeleLatino to rebrand EuroWorld Sport into beIN SPORT 1 Canada for re-launch in August 2012.


USA

Incumbent: FOX Sports Media Group is partnered with current sublicensee ESPN, Inc. and 3rd partner Univision Communications.

Challenger: I continue to expect beIN SPORT LLC to partner with NBC Sports Group. I no longer believe that Telemundo will be involved as I have been told by a source that Deportes Telemundo is not friendly to time-buy arrangements due to issues with branding and promotion.

And will continue to be carried only by Rogers in Ontario.

MTS in Winnipeg also offers EWS.

Ok.. this one is more believable..and something in line with what my "source" at AlJazeera news desk is telling me..

BeInSport will not bid for broadcast rights this cycle.. but WILL BE INTERESTED in the ONLINE rights to the Barclays Premiership.... again their flagship stations are in their infancy.. using new talent that has yet to be honed.. but the online model will be based on the same one they have in the middle east and BeIn will be looking to add this league to their online offering. The streaming model will be at the forefront for the next 3years until they get all the carriage agreements in place. This one may be the battle... If you have ever seen their online offering in the middle east .. it is pretty impressive... and from what I hear the US streaming model is cutting edge.. to eclipse the ESPN one.

we shall see...

Cantona---

Complete B.S., as usual, from your "source" in "Washington" (if you actually have one.)

Rights in the U.S. for EPL are sold on a CROSS-PLATFORM basis. TV rights are NOT sold separately from online rights.

Again, if you want to find out what is going on, you need to have sources in Miami, not your "source" at "Al Jazeera English News" in Washington, who is making up B.S. after B.S. (cricket, FIFA Basketball, etc.)

If you want to keep making up stuff, at least make up stuff that is believable. Your latest attempt didn't even close close.

im glad you responded the way you did...

again.. this SHOWS me exactly what you DO and DONT know.. like i said before.. TIME will show you as the ultimate idiot and phoney on this board.. with NO CREDIBILITY whatsoever..

what this space

Cantona---

The Invitation-To-Tender (ITT) for U.S. rights to EPL for August 2013-May 2016 will take place in September, after everyone is back from the Olympics and vacation/holiday.

The 1st round of bids should all be in by no later than October 5, before Barcelona-Real Madrid on October 6.

Canadian rights are no longer bundled with U.S. rights.

Information has a way of getting back to me.

I was able to independently obtain some information from industry sources which may match with what you have from your "source" at Al Jazeera English news.

(By doing the independent research, I will not violate the NDA I have signed.)

One potential scenario I am aware of is for ESPN, Inc. to backstab FOX Sports Media Group and partner with beIN SPORT LLC instead to bid on the U.S. rights to EPL for 2013-2016.

In that scenario, the ESPN-beIN Sport alliance would blow away FOX, and ESPN2 would end up with most of the good EPL matches on TV, leaving the overflow matches on beIN SPORT 1USA and beINsport.tv

--

In any case, I have established the following with 100% certainty after speaking with various industry sources.

If beIN SPORT LLC were to bid on U.S. rights to EPL on its own, FAPL Ltd. (i.e. Richard Scudamore) will disqualify the bid regarding of the amount.

Enough with the speculation....

We will know in matter of few days.....Logic says that ESPN is going to be the dominant player vs. Fox...FOX has already committed millions to World Cup, and the UEFA Champions League....

My take....ESPN will retain the rights and with more games...(The $400 million or so bid for World Cup failed). They have the money to allocate those resources in keeping EPL. FOX cannot be the lead anymore due to their financial commitment toward future World Cups and spending millions to build the infrastructure for the games.

ESPN will become the Primary carrier for EPL in the US (ESPN2/ESPN will showcase the games)
FOX will become a secondary outlet for EPL via Sub license agreement with ESPN.
And finally, beIN will not be a major player in this round...As for Comcast/NBC, we haven't heard anything from them...The last time I read something, it only showed ESPN, FOX Sports as the major bidders for EPL in the US market...beIN doesn't have the leverage and history yet in the US market. But, yes I wouldn't rule out the idea that they are actively entertaining the idea for bidding for EPL rights in the US market via a joint collaboration.

Enough with the speculation....

We will know in matter of few days.....Logic says that ESPN is going to be the dominant player vs. Fox...FOX has already committed millions to World Cup, and the UEFA Champions League....

My take....ESPN will retain the rights and with more games...(The $400 million or so bid for World Cup failed). They have the money to allocate those resources in keeping EPL. FOX cannot be the lead anymore due to their financial commitment toward future World Cups and spending millions to build the infrastructure for the games.

ESPN will become the Primary carrier for EPL in the US (ESPN2/ESPN will showcase the games)
FOX will become a secondary outlet for EPL via Sub license agreement with ESPN.
And finally, beIN will not be a major player in this round...As for Comcast/NBC, we haven't heard anything from them...The last time I read something, it only showed ESPN, FOX Sports as the major bidders for EPL in the US market...beIN doesn't have the leverage and history yet in the US market. But, yes I wouldn't rule out the idea that they are actively entertaining the idea for bidding for EPL rights in the US market via a joint collaboration.

You CANNOT rule out a NBC Sports Group-beIN SPORT LLC partnership, just as you can't really rule out ANYTHING until you actually see something reported.

If beIN SPORT LLC were partnered with ESPN, Inc. in the U.S. to bid on the rights to EPL, then the battle is over.

There will only be a single legitimate bidder in the marketplace with a chance to win: ESPN-beIN SPORT

FOX Sports Media Group would have no chance.

NBC Sports Group would have no chance.

Univision Deportes would have no chance.

disagree

Please explain why you disagree.

Oliver...Based on your assertions, then you have changed your initial assertion which was beIN and NBCSports/Comcast....You were very persuasive and passionate about that assertion...

All along, I have said that there is no way ESPN is going to let go EPL. They have lost the rights to UEFA Champions League, and the WC rights... They need a premium property like EPL to stay relevant in international Football, and be part of continuous growth for soccer in this country. Otherwise, as you know, they will only have Euro2016. They need something to compliment that tournament (especially, after WC 2014)....I'm also a big believer in the notion that ESPN is going to retain MLS in some form and fashion (either as a Tier 1 platform/or a Tier 2 platform)...MLS rights are still cheap, and undervalued in terms of TV rights for sports. I really think MLS is going to see some major traction (in terms of TV ratings) after WC2014 and beyond- call it the 3rd phase of the MLS (new contracts, 20 teams, and almost everyone playing in their own stadium)...

I received new information from a reliable industry source on Monday morning (July 16, 2012) that neither beIN SPORT LLC (i.e. Youssef) nor Imagina U.S. (i.e. VP of Programming and Affiliate Distribution Antonio Briceño) have contacted any decision maker (i.e. Jonathan Miller, Mark Lazarus) at NBC Sports Group within the past 3 weeks.

Knowing that Youssef has demonstrated that he is a good listener, I have every reason to believe that Youssef took the "college sports on beIN SPORT 1 after 7pm ET" idea from me (and possibly others) and took it to the highest level possible by meeting with ESPN, Inc. programming officials (and possibly John Skipper.)

beIN SPORT LLC appears to me to have chosen to partner with ESPN, Inc., not with NBC Sports Group, to bid for the U.S. rights to EPL for August 2013-2016.

Revision to above, based on new information received on July 16, 2012.

Bidding for video rights to Barclay's English Premier League for August 2013-May 2016

USA

Incumbent: FOX Sports Media Group (but without ESPN, Inc. as a sublicense partner.)

Challenger: beIN SPORT LLC (USA) partnering with ESPN, Inc.

ESPN, Inc. appears to me to have SWITCHED SIDES in this battle.

Is there any reason to believe anything you say anymore?

Then cultivate your own sources and come up with something more believable.

You can attack all you want, but your talk is cheap if you can't come up with something better.

Something related to Qatar...WC2022 and WC2018 (Russia)

A new investigation is looming over FIFA....

http://espn.go.com/sports/conversations/_/id/8170654/fifa-appoint-corruption-prosecutor

It is pretty clear that we are going to find some more embarrassing acts of corruption and bribery in regards to those winning bids...I wouldn't be surprised to see the bidding(s) retracted and rebooted...

Perhaps, after all, we might see the WC 2022 return to the US...

Chris Broussard is that you??

ESPN doesn't want that much EPL. They have College GameDay and NFL Countdown chewing up big chunks of the TV schedule (with Sports Center leading into them) in Sep-Nov and the first weekend of Dec. Those shows average more than 2M viewers. The EPL pulled in 300K on average.

What's kind of funny is the the MLS on ESPN/ESPN2 is pulling in 300K on average. Granted, they are better time slots, but also more competitive times slots and ones that the EPL will never be in.

Folks: don't overestimate the value of the EPL to ESPN. They wouldn't mind have a cut, but they don't want all of it, or even half of it. That's from a content standpoint (they've got plenty of content), and a cost standpoint (the EPL doesn't bring them in enough money to justify overpaying for it in anyway).

Respectfully, I have to disagree with most of your statements...EPL and International Soccer is the hottest Sport's property in the US Market....The key demos are very attractive to advertisers...This is a total fallacy to state that ESPN doesn't care about Football. International Football is another key vehicle for ESPN in attracting younger viewers to many of it's platforms including the digital world.

EPL averaged over 330K or so this past season on ESPN2 (the 2nd season)....This coming season expect the ratings to increase....Remember, the first 3 years was sort of a testing ground for ESPN. So far, EPL ratings have been satisfactory and exceeded ESPN's expectations....I wouldn't be surprised to see this average go up to around 375k for this season...Remember, these are solid numbers numbers for early Saturday morning and without too much marketing....Due to the success of Euro2012, ESPN might allocate more resources towards EPL.

International Football is becoming an important property...The median age tends to be younger, educated, and affluent. ESPN's ratings will rise dramatically for the Key games involving the big names...

In the next TV cycle, I Expect ESPN to put more emphasis and resources towards EPL. We could see some games on ESPN and the majority on ESPN2. The rights will be more expensive....Therefore, ESPN is not just going to pay for EPL as a filler...It is the King of the crop when it comes to International Club Football, and sports in general...EPL has more upside in the coming seasons, and the averages will keep going higher. Most other sports are capped (although with more viewers currently). EPL is still in the developmental stage, and with more upside in the coming seasons.

During the fall season, most of the games will be shown on ESPN2. As January approaches, I assume some games will be shifted towards ESPN for the rest of the season (especially the marque matches)...I expect ESPN to even show some Sunday games later in the season...

To suffice, I think we can put this fallacy to rest...ESPN is very much committed to International Football, and it will continue to look for opportunities to maximize the demand for Top notch soccer games...The Euro2012 showed us again that the US market is no longer foreign to European Football and championship. Even without the US, Mexican, and other Latin American teams, the tournament pulled strong numbers throughout the tournament with great Demo.

That's why ESPN won't bid on U.S. rights to EPL on its own, but as a "front" for beIN SPORT LLC, as long as beIN SPORT LLC were willing to sublicense "3rd pick" college basketball M-Th & Sat after 7pm ET or "4th pick" college football on Saturdays after 7pm ET.

Pieces of the puzzle are falling into place for anyone to understand what is going on. Even you will admit that beIN SPORT-ESPN makes sense for EPL and college sports.

Who the hell watches college football anyway? Just make their matches local for Texas and Oklahoma if the Boomer Sooners are facing off Dallas or something. That'll save a slot for boring ol' baseball.