Qatar’s beIN Media renews UEFA broadcast rights deal for MENA

Qatar’s beIN Media Group said on Thursday that it has struck a three-year renewal deal that will see its flagship sports network, beIN Sports, retain exclusive broadcast rights to UEFA’s premium club football competitions across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The deal includes broadcast rights to three Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) contests – the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the UEFA Europa Conference League – as well as new rights to UEFA’s premium women’s football competition, the UEFA Women’s Champions League.

“This is another major rights deal for UEFA securing significant funds for the European football pyramid,” Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA’s marketing director, said in a news release.

“We are delighted to extend our trusted partnership with beIN MEDIA GROUP, whose sports network in MENA is second-to-none in its quality of programming and broadcasting innovation. We are also delighted for the UEFA Women’s Champions League to have such an important platform of exposure,” Epstein added.

Under the deal, beIN will exclusively broadcast the UEFA competitions in Arabic, English and French across all 24 countries in Middle East and North Africa.

The agreement extends UEFA and beIN’s 12-year partnership in the region. Already, beIN is the exclusive broadcaster of UEFA’s national team football tournaments, including Euro 2020, Euro 2024, the Nations League and all European qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2022.

“European football excites and inspires fans like no other sport across the MENA region – and there is simply no better broadcaster in the world to bring UEFA’s content to fans, families and households across the Arab world,” Richard Verow, chief sports officer of beIN Media Group, said in a press statement.

“We look forward to continuing to provide the very best of world sport to our valued subscribers across this region, starting with the incredible spectacle of UEFA EURO 2020 starting next week,” Verow added.

The acquisition of UEFA Women’s Champions League rights by beIN will anchor its beInspired broadcast portfolio and corporate commitment to give a global platform to talent and voices that have been historically underexposed by major media.

The beIN Media Group distributes and produces myriad sport, entertainment and major international events across five continents, 43 countries and in 11 different languages spanning Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and the MENA region.

The company’s flagship sports network, beIN Sports, holds the single largest portfolio of sports rights of any global broadcaster, while its film studio MIRAMAX holds an extensive library of Hollywood blockbusters. Al Jazeera