Global Sports Partnerships Month-by-Month Recap of Last Year

January

• Honk Kong based game software company Animoca Brands reached US$5 billion valuation after raising US$358 million led by Liberty City Ventures.
• Tom Brady’s NFT company Autograph generated US$170 million in series B funding by VC firms – Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins .

Savvy Gaming Group (SGG) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) paid US$1.5 billion to acquire esports organization naming and gaming platform Facelt. TikTok became the title sponsor of the Women’s Six Nations and the official partner of the men’s competition. Tiktok also agreed deals covering the European Handball Federation (EHF) men’s Euro 2022 championship and the Africa Cup of NationsUS Women’s Open prize money doubles to US$10million with United States Golf Association (USGA) partnering with ProMedica .

Indian Premier League India partners with Tata Group as the new title sponsor. 纽约时报 acquires The Athletic for US$550 million Real Salt Lake (MLS team) acquired by David Blitzer and Ryan Smith for US$400 million, with Blitzer becoming the team's governor and Smith Entertainment Group (SEG) holding the Qualtrics co-founder’s share and serving as alternate governor.

February

• New Zealand Rugby (NZR) accepted a US$134 million offer from private equity firm Silver Lake for a minority stake. WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) received a US$75 million investment, becoming the largest ever capital raise for a women’s sports property. Red Bull Racing & Red Bull Technology partnered with 甲骨文 as their new title sponsor in a five – year deal worth US$300 million. Red Bull Racing & Red Bull Technology also entered a three-year partnership with Bybit Fintech Limited for US$150 million, claiming to be the largest single per annum cryptocurrency sponsorship in international sport.Licensed merchandise giant Fanatics partners with Jay-Z to acquire 75 per cent of Michell & Ness for US$250 million from a private equity firm Juggernaut Capital Partners . Sacrens' (top-tier English Rugby Union Club) takeover by #KimonoHouseLtd . (consortium of investors) for US$43.6 million.
• Miami Based investment firm 777 Partners takeover Vasco Da Gama (Brazilian second tier football club) for US$137million.

March

苹果 enters the live sports broadcasting space by picking up Friday night live package for Major League Baseball (MLB) (numbers not reported) cross US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the UK. ? FC Barcelona entered a four-year partnership with Spotify , worth US$73.4 million per season, along with sponsorship inventory including front-of-shirt branding for men’s and women’s team and naming rights for the #CampNou (stadium).Clubs of French premier Ligue 1 (French football league) agreed to CVC (Luxemberg based private equity firm) taking a 13 per cent stake worth US$1.6 billion in the Professional Football League’s (LFP) new commercial company, which will handle selling broadcast rights for Ligue 1. U.S. Soccer Federation sings an eight-year partnership deal worth up to US$236 million with WarnerMedia - owned broadcaster Turner (Turner Broadcasting System, Inc) Sports. Capital One becomes Major League Baseball (MLB) ’s (MLB) official bank and credit card partner in a deal worth US$125 million.Sports streaming service DAZN and telecommunications giant Telefónica entered into a sublicensing agreement worth US$1.5 billion with for domestic rights to LALIGA .

April

OneFootball raised US$300 million to fuel plans for #Web3 .0 based products including #NFTs .Australian state #Victoria named as host of the #2026CommonwealthGames .

cbc extended its #Olympic rights deal until 2032. National Football League (NFL) further invests US$320 million into the licensed sports merchandise giant Fanatics . Major League Baseball (MLB) and #nbc enter a deal of US$30 million a year for #PeackockTV (streaming service of NBC) 亚马逊 takes up exclusive #ONEChampion (Singapore based MMA) rights in the US and Canada

?

May

• BT sports and Warner Bros. Discovery merged their sports broadcasting operations in the UK and Ireland, challenging SKY Sports . The combined entity have rights to EUFA, Premier League, Olympic Games, cycling grand tours and tennis Grand Slams. The deal was worth US$771 million.
• #USA landed hosting duties for the #Rugby World Cup 2031 men’s and 2033 women’s tournaments.
• History was made when #USsoccer singed a new collective bargaining agreements (BCAs) with the players associations for its men’s and women’s national teams to be given equal pay for all competitions including #FIFA World Cups, until 2028.
• Todd Boehly led US consortium completed its takeover of English football giants Chealsea FC for US$5.35 billion.

Real Madrid C.F. club entered a US$381 million, 20-year deal with investment firm Sixth Street and existing partner Legends around hosting entertainment events at the #SantiagoBernabéu Stadium.The Professional Fighters League (PFL) raised US$30 million in a Series E equity funding round led by Waverly Capital .

?

June

Indian Premier League India (IPL) media rights were sold for US$6.2 billion for the cycle running from 2023 – 2027 to Disney+ Hotstar . Major League Soccer (MLS) global media rights were sold for US2.5 billion for ten years to 苹果 . AC Milan was sold to RedBird Capital Partners for US$1.8 billion. National Football League (NFL) ’s (NFL) Denver Broncos Football Club was taken over by an investment group led by 沃尔玛 heir #Rob Walton for US$4.65 billion. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) acquired International Creative Management (ICM) for US$750 million, giving the merger a valuation of US$5 billion. ? Paris Saint-Germain and Qatar Airways upgraded their shirt deal for men’s and women’s team worth as much as 7 million euros a year.Tour de France Femme - elite women’s race gets NTT – powered innovations as part of a technology deal.

?

July

FC Barcelona sold an additional 15 per cent domestic TV rights revenue over the next 25 years to US investment firm Sixth Street worth US$306.9 million. Nordic Media firm Viaplay Group completed US$37.2 million acquisition of pay -TV service Premier Sports to expand into the UK market.? Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL team) signed a 15-year naming rights deal with digital insurance brand Acrisure for US$20 million. Fiume Capital and Juggernaut Capital Partners acquired action sports and entertainment company Thrill One Sports & Entertainment worth US$300 million. EA SPORTS , video game developer added women’s club football teams to FIFA video games for the first time starting this season. England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) extended its SKY Sports broadcast rights partnership by four years, running until 2028, continuing to fuel US$260 million per year.? 亚马逊 secured UK broadcast rights of the UEFA Champions League in a deal worth US$1.8 billion.

?

August

• #TheBigTen college sports conference in the US entered into a new US$7 billion domestic media rights agreement with FOX Sports , CBS and #NBC for 2023-2029/30 season.
• Play Magnus Group (chess) accepted an offer worth US$83 million from #Chess .com to acquire the operator of the virtual #ChampionChessTour . Disney+ Hotstar entered a deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC) worth US$3 billion for the media rights to all editions of the 50-over and T20 Cricket World Cups until 2027.The Saudi Pro League (SPL) renamed #Roshn Saudi League in a title sponsorship deal worth US$127.5 million with real estate developer ROSHN Real Estate Group .#Cincinati Bengals (NFL team) and Paycor strike stadium naming rights deal worth US$12 million a year for the next 16 years.
• #Western and #SouthernOpen (Tennis) acquired by Beemok Capital (financial services firm) from the (USTA) United States Tennis Association (USTA).

September

DAZN acquired rival ELEVEN SPORTS HQ and Group Businesses. AFL - Australian Football League (AFL) renewed its domestic broadcast deals with #Foxtel , #SevenNetwork and #Telstra worth US$3.05 billion for seven years: 2025-2031. 苹果 became the new sponsor of the #NFL’s #SuperBowl halftime show for US$50 million annually over a five-year period. Major League Baseball (MLB) singed a five-year media rights deal with BBC .The Australian Rugby League Development (NRL) announced a five-year extension worth US$61.17 million of its longstanding naming rights partnership with Australian telecommunications company Telstra .

Formula 1 announced a multi-year extension of its multi-territory partnership with SKY Sports gaining greater exclusivity in #Germany and #Italy .

October

International Cricket Council (ICC) announced a global partnership with Saudi Arabian energy company #Aramco , to cover major events until the end of 2023. Aramco also took over the naming rights for the ICC player of the match awards.Polish football’s top club Ekstraklasa SA inked a four-year extension with its domestic broadcast rights partnership with pay-TV network #Canal + in a deal worth US$294 million until the end of 2026/27. 奥迪 acquired a stake in #Sauber ahead of the #2026Formula1 with the aim to supply Sauber with engines from the new engine regulation period, which will centre on 100 per cent #sustainable fuels.Disney’s ESPN sold a majority stake in the X Games to a New York based private equity firm MSP Sports Capital , where MSP will control X Games daily business operations while ESPN will have a minority, non-controlling stake. MSP also has in its portfolio a 15% stake in McLaren F1 constructor. Real Madrid C.F. renewed its partnership in a four-year deal with Emirates as the main shirt sponsor until 2026 worth US$68.28 million annually.#HassF1 announced MoneyGram International (Digital P2P payments provider) as their new title sponsor for the start of the 2023 season. The deal was approximately US$40 million annually. Now called MoneyGram Haas F1 Team .

Paris Saint-Germain ’s forward, #Lionel #Messi partnered with the Singapore headquartered cryptocurrency platform #Bidget with the aim to provide Messi fans the opportunity to explore Web 3.0 and the potential of trading #crypto .

November

• Global sports, music and entertainment agency Wasserman acquired Spanish based #BSE Media Group to strengthen talent marketing and branding services. BSE firm’s client base includes football, Olympics, and action sports athletes.
• Major League Pickleball (MLP) and VIBE Pickleball League agreed to a merger joining forces. The leagues drew significant investment from LeBron James and Tom Brady . Mark Cuban also was announced as the first team owner of The #VibePickleballLeague .#Netball Australia inked a five-year partnership deal with state tourism board Visit Victoria worth US$9.67 million along with logo placement on national team uniforms.#Tennis Australia revealed a five-year domestic broadcast rights extension for the Australian open with the commercial network Nine until 2029 worth US$283 million, making it the biggest deal in the history of #TennisAustralia .

Major League Baseball (MLB) ’s (MLB) Boston Red Sox entered a ten-year partnership with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, MassMutual , becoming the team’s first jersey patch on sleeve sponsor from 2023 season. Overtime Elite (youth basketball league) singed a new broadcast partnership deal with 亚马逊 for the next three-seasons, showcasing 20 games per season along with an unscripted docu-series following #OvertimeElite’s first season in 2023. Warner Bros. Discovery singed a multi-year broadcast rights agreement with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) covering all International Biathlon Union (IBU) Events in 44 countries across Europe and Asia Pacific region (#APAC ).18-year-old US tennis star, #Coco Gauff sings a long-term endorsement renewal with Boston based sportswear brand 新百伦 .

December

• US Open (Tennis) media rights returned to SKY Sports in a five-year deal for UK and Ireland starting 2023, reclaiming its rights from Amazon Prime Video. 亚马逊 secured a three-year extension to its UEFA Champions League rights deal in #Germany starting 2024/25 season, ensuring that 17 matches will be shown live and exclusively each year on Amazon Prime Video. Dyn Media GmbH , a sports streaming platform set up by former #Bundesliga (German football league) chief executive #Christian Seifert, secured exclusive rights to the Basketball Champions League (BCL) in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland until the end of 2025/26 season.US businessman #Bill Foley, managing general partner of the #BlackKnightFC , acquired 100 per cent stake of the English football club AFC Bournemouth in a deal worth US$147.6 million. XFL (US-based professional American football minor league) sings a deal with Baltimore-based sportswear brand Under Armour , exclusively supplying all eight teams’ on-field jerseys, base layers, and training kits for the upcoming 2023 season starting 18th February, after the 2023 NFL Super Bowl. Formula 1 and Fox Sports Mexico Distribution LLC sign a three-year extension deal of their broadcast rights agreement until 2025 season. The renewal comes after F1 announced that Mexico would remain on its calendar until 2025.#Cricket Australia signed a three-year extension of its longstanding partnership deal with the fast-food giant KFC , that will see KFC as the title sponsor of the Big Bash Sports League (BBL) franchise #Twenty20 competitions.US sports broadcasting giant ESPN unwilling to pay huge fee for non-exlusive Major League Soccer (MLS) games, leaving #Fox Sports as the North American competition’s sole domestic linear TV broadcaster.

Source: https://www.sportspromedia.com/analysis/2022-sport-sponsorship-tv-rights-deals-dazn-eleven-barcelona-spotify-apple-ipl/?zephr_sso_ott=HIQNwP