Facebook and Amazon are also going to grab power in the sports market? All of this is not a fantasy.
Although the 2017-18 Premier League season has just started for two months, the business world behind it has already been undercurrent, and the industrial structure in the next year or even a few years has begun to show signs. By February 2018, all local and overseas copyright sales for the Premier League 2019-2022 season will be settled.
is somewhat unexpected. The first to be promoted to the competition for local copyrights in the Premier League was neither Sky Sports nor British Telecom, but Facebook, which had previously had a scandal with Tottenham Hotspur. More than half a month ago, when New York Stock Exchange was talking to several bank shareholders, Manchester United Club executive vice chairman Woodward disclosed for the first time: Facebook and Amazon expressed their strong interest as early as the Premier League sold the copyright for the 2016-19 season, but in the end, Sky Sports and BT still got what they wanted for 5.1 billion pounds - even though the price paid by both sides was 2 billion pounds higher than the previous cycle, the growth rate reached 70%.
Woodward said: "I believe Facebook and Amazon will join the battle. I heard that they are interested in the copyright of the Premier League and European competitions, and of course we are very welcome to this."
In fact, these two global giants favor sports more than intentions. Over the past period of time, they have spent real money on multiple projects: two months ago, Amazon presented a higher offer than Sky Sports, and took over the ATP Tour's interest in the UK for 10 million pounds a year; and in April this year, Amazon also reached a cooperation agreement with the NFL to start broadcasting the competition every Thursday night; if we include the Bundesliga live broadcasts launched in Germany, Amazon's sports industry layout has slowly expanded. Similar situations in
also occur here on Facebook. Seeing Twitter continue to make efforts in the NHL, NFL and MLS, Facebook is focusing on the emerging football market in the United States. In February this year, " Facebook " reached an agreement with Liga MX to broadcast 46 Mexico top events online; and after the opening of the American Women's Football League in August last year, Facebook brought the men's football matches of the American Professional League (MLS) to a social platform. It is reported that Facebook's live broadcast game award for MLS in the 2017 season reached 22, and this number also has the opportunity to continue to rise in the next few years. With 670,000 users watching the Golf PGA Tour through their own platform, Facebook's sports ambitions naturally go beyond that.
It is obvious that Facebook and Amazon are no longer satisfied with the rights of some live broadcasts. Not long ago, they had extended their tentacles to the Indian cricket league with great commercial value. According to the Times, Facebook regretfully failed to win the bid for overseas copyrights, with their bid of about £442 million.
Interestingly, just after Woodward pushed Facebook and Amazon to the forefront, Dan Reed, the global head of the sports cooperation department of Facebook, did not refute any rumors. In contrast, he left a meaningful statement: "There is no doubt that the Premier League has always been our important partner. Everyone works together to help the league gain more ratings and audiences. It is too early to discuss any specific plan, but the cooperation between the Premier League and us is crucial, and both parties will work hard to maintain this relationship." There is no denial or clarification, Dan Reed's tight words seem to confirm that Facebook will never stand idly in the new round of Premier League copyright sales.
For the Premier League, which currently has copyright fees of 8.3 billion pounds (local 5.1 billion, overseas 3.2 billion), the copyright revenue in the 2019-2022 season will only continue to rise. These rumors about Facebook, Amazon, Google and Microsoft also further verifies the quality of this golden sign. Some British media speculated that in the next two to three cycles, the overseas copyright of the Premier League will remain stable at 40%. By the time 2029 comes, the revenue brought by the overseas market will reach 11 billion pounds, completely overwhelming local copyrights and becoming the most relied on by the Premier League.
Of course, it is not only the media that can foresee such a trend. In the past week, the six major clubs in the Premier League have publicly expressed their wishes: since the overseas copyright fees have risen, they also hope to get more dividends.
As we all know, over the past 25 years, the overseas copyright dividends of the Premier League have been distributed evenly by all teams. Specifically for the 2016-19 season cycle, each team's single-season dividend was 39 million pounds - whether it is champion or relegated. However, relying on its own reputation and influence, the giant league composed of Manchester United , Manchester City , Liverpool , Chelsea , Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have already proposed to the Premier League, hoping to implement a new overseas copyright dividend plan in the future - 35% of them are divided according to the league rankings, and the remaining 65% will continue to be distributed evenly.
However, the alliance between the rich did not achieve a overnight effect. At the meeting held by the Premier League three days ago, the proposal was temporarily shelved and will be discussed again in three weeks. Obviously, such a distribution plan is difficult to be favored by mid- and downstream teams, and the income loss of nearly 10 million pounds is a result that these small teams are never willing to face.
It can be foreseen that in order to get the huge amount of money sent by the Chinese and American markets, the six major families would rack their brains to propose various plans. This scenario is so similar to the history 25 years ago. At that time, it was precisely because traditional strong teams expressed dissatisfaction with the distribution of business and broadcasting income that they directly promoted various reforms until the establishment of the English Premier League. This time, in an era where interests are more respected, what will the "rebellion" of the six major wealthy families end?
