Pay-television broadcaster beIN Media Group has followed up its recent Uefa club competitions renewal in the Middle East and North Africa with a seven-territory deal across Southeast Asia, including Thailand.
The broadcaster has today (Wednesday) announced an agreement for the Uefa Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League and Uefa Youth League rights spanning the next three seasons.
Along with the addition of rights in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, beIN has retained the rights in Malaysia and Brunei, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Qatar-backed broadcaster said that the new deal will see beIN “showcase more matches, clubs and talent at more levels and age groups than ever before”.
The Team Marketing agency kicked off the sales process in six of the seven territories in the middle of April, setting a first-round bid deadline of May 17. The sales process in Hong Kong followed later in April.
DAZN, the subscription OTT broadcaster, acquired the Champions League rights in various Southeast Asian territories from 2018-19 to 2020-21. However, DAZN looked to terminate its agreements with Uefa last year amid a step back from the region (and a focus instead on its boxing-focused global streaming platform).
The OTT subscription broadcaster sublicensed non-exclusive rights in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore to beIN, which also held rights to the Uefa club competitions in Hong Kong during the 2018-21 cycle.
Last season, the Champions League and Europa League competitions were streamed in the Thailand, Laos and Cambodia on Uefa’s own Uefa.tv platform. Previously, they had been streamed on the Goal.com website, which was formerly owned by DAZN.
BeIN’s exclusive deal in the Mena region, which was announced on June 10, also included rights to the Uefa Women’s Champions League. Rights were secured in Arabic, English and French across all 24 countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, where there was a higher bid lodged from the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund.
The deal in the Mena region is understood to be worth in the region of $200m (€167m) per year, reflective of a drop believed to be in the region of 25 per cent compared to beIN’s 2018-21 agreement (and including the additional inventory of the Women’s Champions League).
BeIN said today: “The new Mena and Asia deals further strengthen and extend the existing 12-year relationship between Uefa and beIN. The two partners will also continue their close partnership and alliance on anti-piracy measures in countries and regions all around the world.”
Mike Kerr, managing director at beIN Asia Pacific, remarked: “beIN is delighted to renew our valued relationship with Uefa as their club competitions broadcast partner in Asia, complementing our existing rights portfolio of a wide range of premium sports. As the leading pan-regional sports broadcaster in the region, we aim to work alongside our key affiliate partners to grow audiences and provide a compelling sports experience across all screens.”
Meanwhile, beIN also announced today that it has become the first broadcaster in the Mena region to broadcast in Dolby Atmos audio technology during live sports events.
The beIN Sports channels are broadcasting the knockout matches from Uefa Euro 2020 in Dolby Atmos and in 4K ultra high-definition format.
Israel Esteban Mart, chief technology officer at beIN Media Group, said: “We are always eager to find new ways of providing our subscribers with the very best sporting and entertainment experience possible. This exciting collaboration with Dolby Atmos will allow our 4K subscribers to watch the Uefa Euro 2020 knockout matches like never before in the Mena region. Incorporating this immersive sound technology is just the beginning of even more innovative viewing capabilities from beIN.”