Telefonica has secured the rights to show the Champions League and the Europe League. It has acquired the rights of Mediapro for the next three seasons (2018/2021) for 1.08 billion euros.
Moreover, it will share with the producer the publicity incomes from the new channels which will be set up in the next few weeks under the Movistar brand.
Combined with the acquisition of the rights for the League, also for three seasons, this means that Telefonica has guaranteed itself 100% of the rights to pay football in the residential market. Together, the estimated net cost of these rights for both tournaments has risen 5% over the last season of the previous cycle. This means some 40 million euros in the first season of the new cycle. From the second season the cost remains stable.
Telefonica claims that this increase will be financed by savings from efficiency programmers. This type of acquisition confirms Telefonica’s strategic turn towards the distribution of contents, products and services from third parties.
We value positively this change of focus, which accords with the demands of users, and will allow the company to value from its network capacity and customers.
