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IMG Locks Multiple International Broadcast Deals For Saudi Pro League

Melanie Goodfellow
·3 min read

UPDATED, 8:15 AM: IMG has locked a series of international broadcast deals for the Saudi Pro League’s (SPL) 2023/24 season.

The confirmed deals span over 130 territories, including what has been described as a “landmark deal” with DAZN in multiple territories (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the UK) as well as Sport TV (Portugal), La 7 (Italy), Marca.com (Spain), and Canal+ (France). Starting from this season, IMG will also produce the live world feed, including graphics and English commentary.

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The full list of broadcast deals set for the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League are: A1 Bulgaria / Max Sport (Bulgaria), Canal+ (France & French overseas territories), Cosmote (Greece), DAZN (UK, Germany, Austria, Canada, Belgium), La 7 (Italy), Marca.com (Spain), Prima Sports (Romania), Setanta (Commonwealth of Independent States, Baltics & Ukraine), Sport TV (Portugal), and Supersport (Albania & Kosovo).

Outside of Europe, rights were picked up by Sony/culver (Indian Sub-continent), Azteca (Central America & Mexico), SPO TV (South East Asia, Korea & Japan), Sporty TV (Nigeria & Ghana), Azam (East Africa), Band Group (Brazil), Bilibili (China), GOAT (Brazil), Kball (China), Migu (China), Network Ten (Australia), StartTimes (Sub-Saharan Africa incl. South Africa), Tencent (China), ZAP (Angola & Mozambique), and Zhibo8 (China).

“These agreements come at a time of genuine growth for Saudi Arabian football, with growing interest in the Roshn Saudi league from football fans all around the world,” said Saad Allazeez, Saudi Pro League interim CEO. “The watching world can now enjoy front-row seats as Saudi football transforms, and thanks to the Saudi Pro League strategy, football fans around the world will be able to watch promising young talent from the Kingdom competing and playing with some of the biggest names in world football.”

PREVIOUSLY, 4:23 AM: French pay-TV giant Canal+ has acquired French and African rights for the Saudi Pro League for the coming two seasons.

The announcement for the deal late Tuesday came just days ahead of the kick-off for the 2023-24 season on Friday (August 11), which will feature 18 clubs and run until May 2024.

Canal+ will air two matches a week while highlights will also be featured in its wider sports programs such as Canal Football Club.

The accord comes amid growing buzz around the Saudi soccer league following a flurry of high-profile international signings topped by Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Riyadh-based Al Nassr at the end of 2022.

IMG, which was brought into sell international rights for the remainder of the 2022-23 season following Ronaldo’s arrival, is also handling deals for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 season.

The new French deal marks a step up from an agreement struck with Altice France’s RMC Sport channel midway through the 2022-23 season for select matches featuring Ronaldo.

The Saudi Pro League’s upcoming season is likely to spark particularly strong interest in France thanks to the raft of French players in its ranks.

Former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema and Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kanté are with current champions Jeddah-based Al-Ittihad.

French-Ivorian player Seko Fofana, who has played for both national teams, and Senegal’s Sadio Mané play alongside Ronaldo at Al Nassr.

Other players in the league with a strong French following include Senegal’s Kalidou Koulibaly, Serbia’s Sergej Milinković-Savić and Portugal’s Ruben Neves, who all play for Riyadh-based Al Hilal.

The latter club is reported to have courted PSG’s Kylian Mbappé earlier this summer, but without success for now, while there were reports this week that teammate Neymar could be mulling a move to the club.

“We are very happy to be able to offer this brand new football championship exclusively for CANAL+ subscribers,” commented Canal+ Director Of Sports Thomas Sénécal.

The Canal+ soccer offering also includes the UEFA Champions League, the UK’s Premier League, the D1 Arkema French women’s football league and France’s Ligue 1.

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