soccer

The first English-language television broadcast of the U.S. men’s soccer team in its new media contract was seen by 416,000 viewers on TNT. Last Saturday’s 0-0 exhibition draw against Colombia, which started at 7:37 p.m. EST, was seen by 540,000 in its Spanish-language broadcast on Telemundo for a combined audience of 956,000, according to Nielsen.

Two former executives are accused of paying bribes to obtain broadcast rights, including for the World Cup. Testimony could reveal what the company knew.

While the U.S. national men’s team and Major League Soccer have struggled to gain a regular foothold on domestic television, their English and European counterparts have managed to carve out powerful niches here in the States in the meantime. As new streaming platforms Peacock and Paramount+ bolster their platforms with exclusive league rights, U.S. billionaires buy legacy clubs outright, Americans have become more (literally) invested in international men’s football as both an irresistible narrative and an incredible business opportunity.

Fox has created a modular 2110 system that ties into U.S. operations for its upcoming World Cup coverage. Both Fox and Telemundo, which has U.S. Spanish-language rights to the tournament, will see a series of firsts when the Cup launches in Qatar next week.

Charter Communications is conducting a soccer trick-shot content, with the winner appearing in a spot that will air during the World Cup promoting the Spectrum Mobile Wireless service. The promotion is part of a partnership with Comcast’s Telemundo and Peacock Premium promoting the Spanish-language coverage of the World Cup.

The NWSL Championship is finally moving to primetime on CBS. On Tuesday, the league, CBS and Ally Financial announced this season’s final will be played in Washington at Audi Field on Oct. 29. Best of all, the match will move from its originally planned time of noon ET to 8 p.m., “following a recent collaborative effort by Ally, CBS and the league,” according to the official news release.

The value of soccer in America is getting its next big test. The Union of European Football Associations will began soliciting bids for the U.S. TV rights to its Champions League matches this week and offers are expected to top $2 billion for a six-year deal, more than double what UEFA gets every year under current agreements, according to people familiar with the organization’s thinking.

In a huge coup for Amazon Prime Video, the streamer has scored rights to the Champions League in the U.K. for the first time, shared with BT (British Telecommunications). From the 2024-25 season, Amazon will show the big games on a Tuesday night through to the semifinals, amounting to around 20 games in total. BT, which has held the rights since 2015 when it took over from ITV and Sky, will continue showing both the Champions League and the smaller European football competitions, the Europa League and Europa Conference League.

HBO Max, TNT and TBS will air U.S. Women’s and Men’s National Team matches beginning in 2023 in an eight-year deal. About half of the matches will stream on HBO Max and air on TV, with the rest exclusive to the streaming platform.

The Premier League announced the deal on Thursday. NBC will pay more than $2.7 billion to continue showing the world’s richest soccer competition. A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press it almost triples the value of the U.S. English- and Spanish-language broadcast rights.

The English Premier League is nearing the sale of its U.S. television rights for about $2 billion, setting a new overseas record, the Financial Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The multibillion-dollar market for sports broadcasting rights is wreaking havoc in Europe, where soccer teams are suffering heavy losses due to pandemic-shuttered stadiums as new media players enter the field. In Italy, billionaire Leonard Blavatnik’s live sports streaming service DAZN, with backing from local telco streamer Telecom Italia, plunked down more than $1 billion per season for a three-year contract for the bulk of Italian Serie A soccer rights, displacing Comcast-owned pay TV operator Sky. The deal marked the first time a streamer has nabbed exclusive rights to a major domestic league in its native territory.

The network said Tuesday it had reached a six-year agreement with the South American governing body CONMEBOL for English-language U.S. rights that include this year’s tournament in Colombia and Argentina from June 13 to July 10 and the 2024 tournament, likely to be played in Ecuador.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham throughout Tuesday evening deserted the proposal to launch a largely-closed midweek competition amid an escalating backlash from their supporters and warnings from the British government that legislation could be introduced to thwart it.

The Super League may not yet be a stone cold reality, but the proposal to band together 20 of the top European soccer clubs could generate billions of dollars in rights fees for football clubs across the pond, potentially attracting several major cable networks and broadcasters to compete for TV rights to the games.

Twelve European clubs planning to start a breakaway Super League have told the leaders of FIFA and UEFA that they have begun legal action aimed at fending off threats to block the competition.

The most-watched sports league in the world will return, pending a sign off from health authorities, but will play in stadiums without fans and with stringent health protocols.