Broadcast – Inside World Football

Viaplay adds EFL Championship to English football output

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:50:53 +0000

February 23 – Viaplay Group has secured full broadcast rights to the EFL Championship across all Nordic markets under a new multi-year agreement running through 2028.

Every Championship match will be shown live on Viaplay’s streaming platform in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland, with coverage spanning the entire regular season, the Play-Off Semi-Finals, and the Play-Off Final at Wembley Stadium.

English football has always been popular throughout the Nordic region,

Burnley Women to launch social media fly-on-the-wall docu-series with X

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 07:57:51 +0000

February 20 – Burnley FC have extended their commercial partnership with X to launch a new behind-the-scenes documentary series focused on Burnley FC Women.

The eight-part series, titled Limitless, will be distributed on X on a weekly basis through the rest of the 2025/26 season, alongside around 30 shorter-form clips designed for regular in-feed engagement.

Production is handled by VSP Studios and Ad Hoc Films, the same companies behind Keeping The Faith,

Aurenche becomes second senior LFP Media figure to leave

Andy Elliott — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 12:04:23 +0000

February 19 – For the second time in as many weeks, the French Professional Football League (LFP) has suffered the loss of a senior media executive, further destabilising an organisation already rocking from multiple media-rights crises.

The LFP has confirmed Martin Aurenche, senior director of media at its commercial arm LFP Media, has left the company. Aurenche played a central role in domestic and international media-rights sales and helped launch Ligue 1+,

BBC sub-licenses Serie A from DAZN for gaelic-language channel Alba

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:32:46 +0000

February 18 – The BBC has agreed to sub-license eight Serie A matches across the remainder of the 2025–26 season from DAZN.

The games will air live on BBC Alba, the corporation’s Scots Gaelic-language channel, and on the BBC’s own streaming plaform, BBC iPlayer, with DAZN retaining the English-language coverage.

As the BBC embarks on cost-cutting measures, rather than chasing full-season rights in an inflated market, it is adding live elite football at a fraction of the cost,

ESPN extends Premier League TV rights for South America and the Caribbean

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:20:11 +0000

February 17 – The Premier League has secured a 25% uplift on its broadcast deal in South America and the Caribbean after agreeing a new long-term extension with ESPN, understood to be worth around £450 million through to 2031, according to reports.

Clubs were briefed on the deal at last week’s shareholders’ meeting, alongside updates on other international rights packages soon heading to market. With the domestic rights somewhat plateauing,

Court orders NordVPN and Proton VPN to block pirate streamers in Spain

Paul Nicholson — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 01:30:36 +0000

February 18 – The on-going war on streaming pirates has again hit the courts, this time in Spain, with another victory for rights owners and their broadcast buyers.

LaLiga and its broadcast partner, Telefónica, have secured a court order forcing VPN providers NordVPN and Proton VPN to block access to 16 websites accused of illegally streaming LaLiga matches.

The ruling requires VPN services to immediately make the IP addresses of those sites inaccessible from within Spain.

BeIN Sports loses in court to LFP, but beats Ligue1+ to 2026 rights

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:14:52 +0000

February 13 – BeIN Sports France have, at the last minute, snatched the broadcast rights to the 2026 and 2030 FIFA World Cups away from LFP’s Ligue 1+ streaming channel.

Chief executive of LFP Media, Nicolas de Tavernost, had announced that they had secured the rights to all 104 matches from each tournament in a deal reportedly worth about €40 million. De Tavernost has now handed in his resignation.

Two weeks ago,

beIN Media Group purchases exclusive MENA broadcast rights to LA 2028 Olympics

Andy Elliott — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:42:03 +0000

February 12 – beIN Media Group has secured exclusive broadcast rights to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA).

The agreement grants beIN multi-platform rights across linear television and streaming, allowing coverage to run across its flagship beIN Sports channels and the TOD over the top (OTT) platform.

Football, as ever, will sit at the centre of regional interest. The Olympic men’s and women’s tournaments remain a blue-ribboned event in the wider football ecosystem.

DAZN and Rai roll the dice in Italy with World Cup rights bid

Paul Nicholson — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:23:42 +0000

February 13 – DAZN and public broadcaster Rai are closing in on an agreement to show the next World Cup in Italy, even as the Azzurri’s place at the tournament remains undecided.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side must first navigate a semi-final against Northern Ireland, before a winner-takes-all showdown with either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A deal between DAZN and Rai is expected to be signed by the end of February, before Italy’s fate is known.

Fox buys Bundesliga rights for Mexico and Central America

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 03:43:09 +0000

February 11 – US media giant, Fox, has locked in a new multi-year broadcast deal for the Bundesliga across Mexico and Central America, starting in the 2026–27 season and running through to 2030–31.

All 306 league matches plus the German Super Cup and the promotion-relegation playoffs. It’s wall-to-wall coverage and will be spread across FOX’s main linear channel, its Fox One OTT platform, and the free, ad-supported streamer Tubi, with both English and Spanish commentary.

DAZN picks up streaming rights to 2026 World Cup in Spain

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 07:47:50 +0000

February 9 – Streaming giant DAZN’s increasing influence within the sports broadcasting industry has another mainstream step with the announcement that it will become Spain’s pay-television home of the World Cup in 2026.

Ever since partnering with FIFA on the Club World Cup, DAZN’s relationship with the governing body has grown significantly and will include the relaunch of FIFA’s own broadcast channel FIFA+ on the DAZN platform later this year.

Spanish public broadcaster RTVE will retain a free-to-air presence with one match per day,

CSB buys NWSL rights for OneSoccer channel

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 02:49:36 +0000

February 6 – Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) has acquired non-exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the National Women’s Soccer League, for its OneSoccer TV channel.

The agreement brings the NWSL under CSB’s umbrella at a time when it says that Canadian representation in the league is as strong as it has ever been.

More than 20 Canadian players are currently on NWSL rosters, including senior national team regulars and Olympic gold medallists such as Kailen Sheridan,

The post CSB buys NWSL rights for OneSoccer channel appeared first on Inside World Football.

Indian Super League links up with Fancode to broadcast 2025-26 season

Andy Elliott — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 11:25:38 +0000

February 5 – The Indian Super League (ISL) finally has a broadcaster with Fancode picking up the rights for the 2025-26 season.

Organisers had issued a snap tender for ISL media rights after failing to secure a new commercial partner in the previous bidding round and the Indian FA (AIFF) selected Fancode as broadcast partner. Owned by Dream Sports, the company had submitted two bids exceeding ₹8.5 crore each ($954,000), offering options both with and without production services.

ITV lands crucial World Cup blow against BBC with on-site coverage

Andy Elliott — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 08:54:00 +0000

February 5 – The battle between ITV and the BBC for viewers’ hearts, minds, and most importantly, eyes during major tournaments almost takes on more significance than what’s happening on the pitch, and this year’s World Cup will be no exception.

ITV may have just landed the opening blow, announcing that they’ll be on location with a studio in Brooklyn framed by the Manhattan skyline, but 15 miles and an hour’s drive away from Met Life Stadium,

Goalhanger secures minority investment from The Chernin Group

Andy Elliott — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 08:51:25 +0000

February 5 – Former England captain and renowned TV host Gary Lineker built a broadcasting career sitting in front of cameras with traditional media outlets, and now he is helping prove that footballers no longer need them.

Goalhanger, the production company co-founded by Lineker alongside Jack Davenport and Tony Pastor, has secured minority investment from The Chernin Group. Former Fox chief executive Peter Chernin will take a seat on Goalhanger’s board with the aim of helping scale what has quietly become one of sport’s most powerful independent media platforms.

Amazon lead way as broadcast streaming giants line up $14.2bn sports rights spend

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 10:30:21 +0000

February 2 – Amazon is set to become the world’s biggest streaming investor in sports rights in 2026 with new analysis from Ampere finding that streaming services will spend a combined $14.2 billion on sports rights this year, up 7% on 2025.

Amazon Prime Video alone will account for 27% of that total, investing an estimated $3.8 billion and overtaking DAZN for the first time since the latter emerged as a disruptor in the sports media market in 2018.

Ligue 1+ acquires streaming rights to 2026 World Cup

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 03:30:13 +0000

January 30 – Ligue 1+, the broadcast streaming channel owned by the league, is making its boldest and perhaps its riskiest move to date after securing French rights to the entire 2026 FIFA World Cup through a deal with FIFA.

The in-house streaming platform, owned by the LFP, will carry all 104 matches, marking its first major acquisition of external premium rights and a significant expansion beyond domestic league content.

Nicolas de Tavernost,

BBC’s iconic Match of the Day highlights show evolves with its digital audience

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 02:00:59 +0000

January 30 – The BBC’s Match of the Day, the world’s longest-running football highlights show, is experiencing a shift in how audiences consume the show with traditional TV viewing down, but digital engagement up as fan demographics show a move toward on-demand and mobile platforms.

This season, the programme has lost around 10% of its audience across the BBC’s two main television channels. As of last month, the combined average weekly audience stood at 6.88 million –

LFP claims court victory in dispute with beIN Sports

Andy Elliott — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:02:05 +0000

January 29 – The French Professional Football League (LFP), organiser of Ligue 1, has secured another courtroom victory over one of its broadcast partners with beIN Sports ordered to pay €14.13 million in withheld payments.

The Paris Commercial Court ordered the pay-TV platform to pay the sum that it had been refusing to pay LFP Media. The sum relates to portions of BeIN’s €18 million installments for its Ligue 1 rights,

Walmart Saturday Showdown to spotlight MLS’s biggest games of the week

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 02:25:26 +0000

January 28 – Major League Soccer (MLS) has unveiled Walmart Saturday Showdown, a new weekly broadcast designed to create appointment viewing and sharpen the league’s national narrative around its most marketable matchups. Think Monday Night Football, which has been a stable of the American sports market for decades and is now a national institution.

The concept launches on Matchday 1 with the two most marketable clubs in the country featuring the defending MLS Cup champions Inter Miami CF led by global icons Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez visiting LAFC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday,

UEFA looks to go Dutch with Ziggo club competition rights for next cycle

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 01:06:38 +0000

January 28 – UEFA has formally launched its tender process in the Netherlands for the 2027-28 to 2030-31 broadcast cycle, placing the UEFA Champions League back on the market alongside the Super Cup and UEFA Youth League.

An ‘invitation to submit offer’ (ISO) was issued this week for the three-season package, with a separate tender released simultaneously for the Europa League and Conference League. The bid process is being overseen by UC3, UEFA’s commercial joint venture,

Lionsgate agree Man Utd deal to dramatise club history

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:30:58 +0000

January 23 – Manchester United are exploring how to monetise their storied history, without handing control of the present to a documentary crew with too much access and not enough mercy.

According to The Athletic, United have agreed a deal with Hollywood production company, Lionsgate, to develop a scripted television series based on the club’s history. This would be a dramatisation rather than a fly-on-the-wall documentary, with comparisons drawn to the drama series,

LaLiga back on free TV in Spain with RTVE sub-licensing one match a week from DAZN

Paul Nicholson — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 04:08:13 +0000

January 19 – LaLiga is heading back to free-to-air television in Spain, a move that feels almost nostalgic in a market where top-level football has largely disappeared behind pay walls.

Public broadcaster RTVE has agreed a sub-licensing deal with DAZN that will see one live match per game week shown on Teledeporte for the rest of the 2025–26 season.

DAZN retains the core domestic rights, holding five matches per round, including the league’s mandatory free fixture.

FIFA mixes old with new for Women’s Champions Cup finals TV deal

Paul Nicholson — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 04:39:14 +0000

January 16 – FIFA has confirmed a broadcast plan for the final stage of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2026, ensuring the first edition of the tournament will be widely available to fans through a mix of free streaming and established broadcast partners.

Unsurprisingly, FIFA’s newest streaming partner DAZN is involved. The platform will live-stream the decisive matches of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup free to view in almost every territory worldwide, with the exception of the home markets of the semi-finalists and China PR.

Italy’s anti-trust regulators cut DAZN fine in half

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 01:15:22 +0000

January 14 – Italy’s competition authority has reduced a fine handed to DAZN in a long-running Serie A antitrust case, cutting the penalty from €7.24 million to €3.67 million.

The decision follows a review by Italy’s Council of State, which accepted part of DAZN’s appeal around how the original fine was calculated. Telecom Italia (TIM), the other party involved, saw its penalty left unchanged at €760,777.

The case dates back to the 2021–24 Serie A domestic rights cycle,

Sky Deutschland expands partnership with WSC Sports to enhance broadcasts

Andy Elliott — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:02:39 +0000

January 13 – Sky Deutschland has deepened its use of automated content production after renewing and expanding its partnership with WSC Sports, extending the deal by a further two years and widening its scope into Austria.

The agreement keeps in place the AI-driven workflow that underpins much of Sky Sport’s digital output in Germany, while formally bringing Sky Austria into the same operational framework. For Sky, the focus is less on experimentation and more on scale: producing more short-form content and distributing it across an increasingly fragmented set of platforms.

FIFA partners with Lenovo to power technological advances using AI

Andy Elliott — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 10:59:46 +0000

January 8 – FIFA has unveiled a suite of new technologies developed in partnership with Lenovo that are designed to touch officiating, performance analysis and broadcast presentation within football.

The announcements were made in Las Vegas at Lenovo Tech World 2026, held alongside CES, and form part of FIFA’s broader digital strategy for the 2023–27 cycle. Lenovo, which is FIFA’s official technology partner for both the 2026 men’s World Cup and the 2027 women’s edition,

ArtMotion buys UEFA club competition TV rights for Albania and Kosovo

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 03:45:58 +0000

January 7 – UEFA has locked in its broadcast partners for Albania and Kosovo through to the end of the decade, handing ArtMotion the rights to its flagship club competitions for the next four seasons.

Under deals announced this week, ArtMotion will show the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League exclusively in both markets from the 2027–28 season through to 2030–31. The agreement also includes the UEFA Super Cup and the UEFA Youth League,

Neville sells majority stake in The Overlap to Global

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 03:45:50 +0000

January 7 – Gary Neville’s ‘The Overlap’ – the YouTube-first football media business he co-founded – has sold a majority stake to Global, one of Europe’s largest commercial radio groups.

Global, which owns brands such as LBC and has built a fast-growing podcast portfolio including The News Agents, has acquired a majority stake in Neville’s free-to-watch football show, which was launched by the former Manchester United and England fullback alongside Scott Melvin in 2021.

Lineker’s Goalhanger expands with launch of ‘Greats’ show driven by PL archive footage

Paul Nicholson — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 03:24:51 +0000

January 7 – Gary Lineker’s Goalhanger podcast production company is pushing deeper into rights-backed football content with the launch of a new Premier League series titled ‘Premier League Greats: The Moments That Made Them’.

Following on from its acquisition of worldwide rights to use match footage from every Premier League season since its launch in 1992, this mark the first real utilisation of those rights.

The weekly ‘vodcast’ will be built around individual player stories rather than highlights packages.