Top > Sport > 2005 > September > 2005-09-15

Using Broadcast Rights to Drive Up Service Prices

Research and Markets has announced the addition of "European Programme Rights: Sport" to their offerings. The second report in a series of three on European Programme Rights this report provides a detailed assessment of the market for sports rights. Key areas of consideration are the relationship between sports and Pay TV, the delivery of sports content by mobile telephony and IPTV, the rising cost of key sports rights and a detailed look and individual sports. The report is over 80 pages long and includes 66 tables and charts.

The report looks at 16 European markets and covers the following 14 major sports: Football, Athletics, Basketball, Boxing, Cycling, Golf, Handball, Horse Racing, Ice Hockey, Motor Sports, Olympic Games, Rugby Union, Skiing and Tennis. Some of the areas covered and questions answered in the report are: What are the considerations for rights holders? Which sports have a value for pay TV operators? The impact of listed event legislation? The sports rights deals struck by new entrants

Key Findings: With access to high-bandwidth broadband services on the increase, the Internet is beginning to deliver a potential new revenue stream for rights holders. Also, for some broadcasters, major sports are too expensive to be viable acquisitions and less reliable in ratings than other forms of programming. The cost inflation of some sporting events has made sport a much less viable programming investment for some broadcasters. It was also found as well that broadband operators in Belgium and the Netherlands are using football league rights to drive take up of their services, just as satellite pay TV operators have in the past