By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Euroleague announced the new television deals in Spain and also in Greece and Israel. Those three markets are the most lucrative for the competition in terms of television rights and that was proven once again.
The numbers of the new deals are not announced, however according to sources close to the negotiations it’s estimated that the value of the Euroleague TV rights has at least tripled. While those three markets provided with the old deals a total of 7 m. euros to Euroleague per season, now thanks to the changes in the format and the demand for the rights, this number is expected to be over 20 m. euros per season.
As Euroleague announced: “During the 2015-16 season, Turkish Airlines EuroLeague games were covered with more than 25,000 hours of broadcasting time around the world last season and generated an accumulated TV audience of 2.4 billion, of which 750 million was digital viewership. All of those figures are expected to rise in the new season with an increase to 30 regular season games before the playoffs and Final Four”.
A new deal was also announced in the UK, which is not exactly a basketball-crazed country, with SkySports, an obvious example of how the joint venture with IMG can bear fruits in a relative short time.