BeIN Sports

History

Al Jazeera Media Network entered the European television rights market in June 2011 when it purchased a package of live French football Ligue 1 matches from 2012 to 2016 for €90 million a year. The deal makes them joint broadcasters of domestic top-flight football in France alongside long-term rights holders Canal+. The broadcaster also acquired the pay-TV rights to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League from 2012 to 2015, Euro 2012 and Euro 2016 in France. France was targeted as Al Jazeera's first entry into Europe due to the fact that there were no dedicated sports channels, unlike in the United Kingdom.

The name "beIN Sports" was first revealed in early 2012. According to Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the director of Al Jazeera Sports, the name "symbolises the mind of two channels aiming at bringing live and exclusive broadcasting of the biggest events." Former Canal+ executive Charles Bietry was hired by Al Jazeera to launch the channels. The channels will be available on all cable and IPTV providers and select satellite providers. CanalSat – owned by Canal+ Group – has declined to carry the channels as of March 2012.

beIN Sports 1 launched on June 1, 2012 in time to broadcast Euro 2012. beIN Sports 2 launched on July 27, 2012 in time to broadcast the French Ligue 2 season, and before the start of the 2012–13 Ligue 1 season.

On 31 December 2013, Al Jazeera Sport was spun off from Al Jazeera Media Network and also rebranded as beIN Sports. The company is a private institution established by the Emir of Qatar in 2013.

In June 2015, it was announced that Nasser Al-Khelaifi had plans to launch the beIN Sports channel on TV operators to cable in Brazil

beIN Sports Spain officially began broadcasting on July 1, 2015, the date on which Gol Televisión ceased broadcasting all football games, which during the summer were in place under the slogan "Change the game", "Cambia el juego" in Spanish. Thanks to an alliance between Al Jazeera and Mediapro, beIN Sports Spain offers UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europe League, UEFA Super Cup, Premier League, Serie A, Primeira Liga, Jupiler Pro League, Ligue 1, DFB Pokal, Coupe de la Ligue, KNVB Beker, Johan Cruijff Shield, Copa de Brasil, CONCACAF Gold Cup, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. beIN Sports Spain can be viewed over the Internet, smart TV (LG and Samsung), PC, laptops, tablets, Smartphones (iOS/Android), PS3/PS4, Chromecast, TV Operators (Orange, Vodafone and Telecable) and online platforms (beIN Sports Connect, Total Channel and YouTube). On Wednesday August 19, due to the start of the playoffs of the UEFA Champions League, beIN Sports (Spain) begins to emit beIN Sports MAX (up to 8 simultaneous channels) to broadcast all matches of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europe League.

beIN Sports (Spain) offers customers Gol Televisión lost up to June 30, 2015 an exclusive promotion to watch beIN Sports through beIN Sports CONNECT, and through the app "TotalChannel". In addition, it also offer channels like FOX, AXN, TNT, and the best entertainment channels in HD for just €5/month for two months, then from the third month onwards €9.99/month. beIN Sports (Spain) launched a channel licensed for bars in Spain called "beIN Sports BAR".

From the 2016/2017 season. beIN Sports Spain has acquired the television rights to La Liga (Eight games by day, always one of Real Madrid or FC Barcelona) and Copa del Rey.

beIN Media Group acquired Digiturk in July 2015.

Football

In France, beIN Sports holds one of five rights packages for Ligue 1 from 2012 to 2016 – the package consisting of Friday night and Sunday evening matches. The other four packages are held by Canal+. It also shows Ligue 2 matches. For the UEFA Champions League, it has the rights to broadcast all matches except the 13 weekly first-choice picks (yet to be awarded to any broadcaster as of April 2012) from 2012 to 2015. It also owns the rights to all UEFA Europa League matches including the final from 2012 to 2015.

Also in France, beIN Sports and Canal+ also share the rights to Serie A and Bundesliga matches. It also airs FA Cup, Football League Championship, La Liga, Argentine Primera División and Brasileirao.

The network holds the rights to broadcast all UEFA Euro 2012 and Euro 2016 matches on the French pay-TV platform while TF1 and M6 have the free-to-air rights to select matches. The channel also holds rights for the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup, and 2015 Copa América.

In the United States, the network holds the rights package for Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A, Russian Football Premier League, Football League Championship, EFL Cup, Coppa Italia, Ecuadorian Serie A, Copa del Rey (except the final), K-League Classic, Copa América, and FIFA World Cup qualification rounds in America (CONMEBOL and CONCACAF), except for home matches by Mexico and the United States (which are both held by Univision and ESPN).

BeIN Sports bought the broadcasting rights of Turkish Süper Lig.

The channel's football coverage is notably fronted by Richard Keys and Andy Gray, who moved to Doha after they were sacked from Sky Sports. The pair's trademark easy banter has proved popular with viewers of beIN's English language services.

Their appointment saw the Monday Night Football brand, regarded as revolutionary when it was devised by the presenters in the 1990s, take a place in the channel's schedule.

Keys and Gray also present an eponymous magazine style show on Friday evenings, and have attracted praise for the variety and quality of proper football men featured on the show.

Rugby league

beIN Sports will broadcast the Super League including all home matches of French side Catalans Dragons. Other competitions include the Australian National Rugby League and State of Origin series.

beIN Sports was awarded the rights to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and broadcast all matches live.

Rugby union

In France, beIN Sports airs November test matches, European Rugby Champions Cup, European Rugby Challenge Cup, English Premiership and Pro 12.

Motorsports

On 23 February 2013, as part of Al-Jazeera's increasing footprint in the Superbike World Championship, which they hold rights in the Middle East, and the transitional shutdown of Fox Sports motorsport operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, beIN Sports acquired the rights to the Superbike World Championship in the United States, which also includes live coverage of the races and also the support classes, which had never been televised in the United States in the past.

beIN Sports also airs the FIA World Rallycross Championship in the United States, Middle East and North Africa.

In 2016, beIN Sports began to air two more Dorna controlled motorcycle road racing series in the United States and Canada -- MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship and MotoAmerica, giving them control of motorcycle road racing television in North America.

Team handball

beIN Sports has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to the EHF Champions League (Team Handball). The EHF Champions League is the most important club competition for men's and women's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations.

In January 2013, beIN Sports also acquired the broadcast rights to the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship. beIN Sports USA aired live, delayed and pre-recorded HD games in the US, between January 11–27, 2013.

Tennis

In France, beIN Sports airs the Wimbledon Championships, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500, ATP World Tour Finals, and some ATP World Tour 250 and WTA Tour tournaments.

beIN Sports will be the exclusive broadcaster of WTA Tour in the United States, Spain, Australia and across Middle East and North Africa from 2017 to 2021.

Other sports

In France, beIN Sports aired the 2012 Summer Olympics tennis, handball and basketball tournaments. In athletics, beIN Sports airs the IAAF Diamond League and several international marathons and World Indoor Meetings meetings. In cycling, it airs some UCI World Tour road races, including the Giro d'Italia, as well as the UCI Road, Track, Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships. The channel also airs French Handball Championship, FIVB World League, Euroleague, NBA, National Football League, Major League Baseball.

On May 25, 2016, the U.S. beIN Sports announced that it had acquired partial rights to Conference USA college sports, including a package of selected college football, basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer matches. The deal marks the first American football-related contract the U.S. network has acquired.

Football coverage

A list of on-air football personalities on beIN Sports France and beIN Sports Spain:

Distribution

The channels will be dominated by football coverage. beIN Sports 1 HD will focus on year-round live football with the Premier League being prominent as well as content from Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs club channels. Other live coverage will come from the Serie A, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer (MLS), the Brazilian national leagues (Paulistao & Brasileirão), as well as major cup tournaments such as the FA Cup, Coppa Italia, and the Coupe de la Ligue. beIN Sports 2 HD will also feature live football but will have a wider sports remit. beIN Sports Premier League HD will be a 24-hour Premier League-dedicated channel in Indonesia broadcasting nearly 1,600 hours of live programming each season. This includes all 380 Premier League matches per season, weekly magazine show Premier League World, as well as pre-match coverage and post-game analysis in addition to weekly preview and review shows and highlights.

Canada

Despite most of its North American broadcast rights contracts covering both the United States and Canada, beIN Sports initially was not authorized to broadcast in Canada nor had it sub-licensed any of its programming to Canadian broadcasters. The channel had a difficult time finding a Canadian broadcaster willing to partner up with it to launch its services in Canada. Due to the regulatory environment in Canada, the only way to launch beIN Sports in Canada is by launching a Canadian version of the channel via a partnership with a Canadian broadcaster. In October 2013, beIN Sports launched an online streaming service in Canada through their website www.beINsportsplay.ca. The live service was available at no charge for registered users until February 1, 2014; since then, users can access the streams for 19.99 CAD/month. On-demand coverage is not available through beIN Sports Play Canada.

On December 18, 2013, beIN Sports announced they had reached a deal with Ethnic Channels Group, a local ethnic broadcaster, to launch their services in Canada. The channel officially launched on January 31, 2014 via MTS and NEXTV.

beIN Sports HD is available on Rogers Cable on channel 391, on Bell Satellite & Fibe on channel 1412, and on Videotron on channel 797.

Sport events broadcasting rights and related controversies

beIN Sports has acquired broadcasting rights of many major sport events, including the agreement with the International Olympic Committee on the exclusivity to broadcast Olympic Games between 2018 and 2024 for Middle East and North Africa and agreement on global rights for tennis events with the International Tennis Federation.

There were also several disputes and conflicts regarding rights owned by beIN Sports. French radio stations decided to decline deal with beIN on radio rights for the 2017 World Handball Championships as beIN Sports wanted them to pay administrative fees about five times higher than the real technical cost, constituting hidden radio rights which are prohibited by French law for this case. North Africa's television companies were unable to make deal with beIN Sports on 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in football. Four of the region's countries, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt, had their teams qualified for the tournament. Non-existent deal prevented broadcasting the teams' matches in their countries on free-to-air TV channels.

In 2014, beIN Sports had a conflict with English Premier League over the mutual agreement on broadcasting rights as beIN Sports was accused of piracy broadcasting and its rights were restricted.

In 2016, French free market watchdog rejected the rights distribution deal between beIN Sports and Canal+. According to the authority, the deal would leave 80 percent of the rights in country in the hands of both organizations creating a thread of free market competition.