BeIN Sports has warned that moving forward, it will adopt the same strategy to ensure that leagues and clubs also take measures to protect the rights it has sold to broadcasters.
Bein Sports has reinstated coverage of the Serie A matches on its platform after ensuring that the rights owners also took responsibility for ensuring that the platform’s rights exclusivity would be maintained.
Following a brief blackout, Serie A matches returned on beIN on July 27 starting with the Juventus vs Lecce match.
“We are delighted to announce the return of Serie A live and exclusive on our channels across 35 countries with immediate effect, starting with Juventus v Lecce tonight,” a spokesperson for beIN Media Group said on Saturday.
Issuing further clarification, beIN said in a statement: “The agreement reflects how beIN was sold exclusive rights but which have been non-exclusive due to piracy. A major precedent for the future of media rights / global sports industry has been set – other contracts will follow, all broadcasters (not just beIN) believe in this very strongly.”
In the statement, beIN alleged that it would hold rights holders equally accountable to protect the rights they had sold to the platform. It has always accused Saudi Arabia of favouring a pirate platform called Beoutq, an allegation the Kingdom has always denied.
“Football leagues will now bear the economic consequences of selling beIN exclusivity when none existed. Many rights-holders allowed an illegal Saudi pirate to rampage around the region (which was pirated across the whole world) on satellite and IPTV for years, destroying the value of their own rights.”
BeIN paid $500 million for exclusive broadcast rights to the Series A matches from 2018-2021 in 35 countries across the world – from France to Australia.
