A Sports League Maximizes Revenue from Media Rights

The traditional pay TV industry is undergoing significant shifts, redefining the value of live sports as one of the most prized assets. With global sports media rights in the US approaching $30bn in 2024^[1], TV networks face mounting pressure to secure rights that captivate audiences and sustain advertising revenue amidst declining ratings.

As consumers and media companies shift towards streaming platforms, competition from technology giants is reshaping industry valuations. A continued surge in pricing for upcoming renewals of U.S. properties is anticipated.

However, in Europe, the landscape is different. Top-tier domestic soccer renewals face uncertainty amid declines in regional Pay TV and reduced focus on content acquisition. The growth prospects for European leagues hinge upon enticing bids from "big tech," expanding the availability of live games and negotiating longer-term deals. Yet, one contentious development looms large: leagues that are exploring the sale of TV rights to private equity firms. This move, while potentially ensuring short-term financial stability, signifies lower growth expectations and a potential relinquishment of control over the game.

Despite these challenges, sports content remains dominant on linear TV, accounting for over 95% of the most-watched programs in 2023 in the U.S. Live sports programming strength grows as networks compete with streaming services for valuable media rights. Additionally, sports content continues to be vital for broadcasters as audiences tune in for live games despite alternative entertainment options.

In the U.S., local rights are shifting from regional sports networks to local broadcast stations and new sports-centric streaming services that target broader audiences.

Pain Points

Members of the commercial analytics team had several pain points in their workflow associated with renewal of media rights. The workflow consisted of: assessing the financial capacity and strategic considerations of potential bidders, evaluating the health and appetite of the local media market, analyzing the streaming transition, benchmarking and assessing upcoming carriage renewals to gauge the future vulnerability of channel groups.

In the complex landscape of media rights negotiations, understanding the financial capacity of potential bidders is crucial. Without accurate data on the financial health of these entities, the ability to make informed decisions about partnership viability is severely hindered.  Furthermore, lacking insights into the strategic considerations at the conglomerate level of the buyer could result in a proposition misalignment.

Without a comprehensive understanding of market dynamics, including audience preferences, competitor strategies and regulatory environments, the company was vulnerable to making decisions based on incomplete or outdated information. The commercial analytics team wanted:

• Deep sector insights on TV network economics for relevant channels to understand the financial capacity of potential bidders.
• Transcripts and filing documents, including earnings articles on a conglomerate-level providing insights into a group's overall strategy.
• Multichannel/Pay TV subscriber and advertising spend forecasts to aid in understanding the health of a specific market.
• Sports customer data supporting consumer frequency, service, device and league sentiment responses to  understand the appetite for a product proposition in a local market.
• Online streaming subscriber data and insights to understand the magnitude and outlook of the transition to streaming.
• Expenditure on sports rights deals using historical data to benchmark deals for peer leagues in specific regions.
• TV network affiliate fees to assess the future vulnerability of channel groups.

The Solution

Specialists at S&P Global Market Intelligence understand the dynamic challenges and opportunities shaping the sports media industry. A comprehensive suite of solutions available via S&P Capital IQ Pro, a powerful desktop platform, empowers users to effectively navigate these developments and seize new opportunities for growth and innovation. The solutions would enable the commercial analytics team to:

	Assess the economics of TV networks on a group and asset-level basis	Economics of TV networks can be understood with: The Kagan Annual Sports Report. The Global Sports Rights Database with historical deal values. 600 TV network P&L models, including U.S. regional sports networks.
	Obtain details on conference call transcripts and filing documents	Transcripts & Filings provides global coverage of 14,600+ companies across 100+ countries with events from 15 years ago.[2] Coverage includes: Earnings calls, special calls, shareholder/analyst calls, M&A calls, operating results calls and interim management statement calls. Analyst/investor data, company conference presentations and details on annual general meetings.
	Understand Pay TV subscribers and advertising spend forecasts	Data includes 65+ country subscriber forecasts, including Pay TV, broadband, mobile and online video. Coverage includes: Global  advertising forecasts by medium, including cinema, internet (desktop, mobile, search and social) magazine, newspaper, outdoor, radio and TV. 1,200+ U.S. network/operator carriage relationships. 800+ U.S. broadband and video operators with subscriber and network estimates by geography (zip, county and DMA).
	See sports customer surveys	Consumer/demographic profiles for apps are produced by major sports leagues. Coverage includes: 8,000+ sports survey data points supporting consumer frequency, service, device and league sentiment responses. Geographical details for mainland China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, the UK and the U.S.
	Obtain online streaming subscriber data	Streaming data includes: 130+ online video service subscriber estimates across 35+ countries. 65+ online video country subscriber forecasts (five year) across 65+ countries. 2,000+ OTT service/virtual multichannel and market relationships supporting model, archive, libraries and device data.
	View expenditures on sports rights	International sports rights database covers deals throughout Europe and APAC, including Premier League, UEFA and Bundesliga with: 80+ U.S., 150+ RSN and 325+ non-U.S. team/league network sports rights transactions, including deal value, term length and more.

Key Benefits

Members of the commercial analytics team quickly saw the value in having S&P Capital IQ Pro with Kagan research. They subscribed to the information that was discussed and had several direct engagements with the analyst team to discuss specific data, trends and insights. Kagan also helped develop an Excel template to monitor key affiliate renewals in select markets to assess future vulnerability of channel groups. Today, team members are benefiting from having: 

• Ready access to valuable information that provides a comprehensive picture of the market landscape that saves time and is cost effective.
• More clarity about addressable demand by location to evaluate market dynamics.
• Details on technology deal trends, comparables and proprietary 451 estimates, valuable as a benchmark when assessing investments.
• Ongoing market monitoring to gain deep insights into the risks and opportunities presented by disruptive technologies and new market participants.
• Granular financial data at a country level that includes small private firms in addition to the larger players.
• Easy-to-use analytical tools to screen and value facilities.
• An extensive selection of prebuilt model templates, reports and charts to streamline workflows.
• Strong ongoing support from seasoned professionals.