Mediapro Canada, an arm of the Spanish sports rights agency, has settled its legal dispute from earlier this year with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB), the commercial arm of governing body Canada Soccer and the top-tier Canadian Premier League (CPL).
In a statement issued yesterday (June 18), Mediapro Canada said that through this settlement, it has transferred all “OneSoccer online service, intellectual property, and all associated rights” to Timeless, which owns the One Soccer TV channel.
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As part of the agreement between Mediapro Canada and CSB, Mediapro will remain a TV production and technical support partner for One Soccer – through a contract with Timeless (which now owns OneSoccer) – for the rest of 2024. After that, however, the agreement will finish.
Mediapro launched One Soccer, a dedicated streaming platform, as a specific home for Canadian soccer coverage after striking a 10-year deal with CSB in 2019. That agreement covered exclusive global rights to the CPL, and home games of the Canadian men’s and women’s national teams, and the Canadian Championship.
However, in late January, CSB took back broadcast rights to all of its properties from Mediapro Canada, as the two sides headed to the Ontario Superior Court – over Mediapro “failing to meet significant contractual obligations, including defaulting on the majority of its rights fees due for 2023,” as CSB alleged.
A major sticking point of the dispute had been Mediapro’s inability to get Canada Soccer’s properties on mainstream media outlets other than Canadian telecoms firm Telus, with cable providers so far unwilling to host its OneSoccer platform on their services.
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By GlobalDataMediapro, meanwhile, refuted allegations that it was in breach of contract and instead said: “Despite the huge passion Canadians have for soccer, it has become clear that CSB has been and will be unable to fulfill its side of our commercial agreement.
“We have made best efforts to work with the CSB on a constructive path forward but have come to a position where we have no choice but to seek to terminate our agreement.”
Now, however, that legal dispute – which for a short period left Canada Soccer with no significant domestic broadcast partner – has been resolved.
Martijn Bakx, Madiapro Canada’s chief executive, has now said: “By creating the OneScocer ecosystem, Mediapro has given soccer fans a home in Canada and in doing so, we have shown our full commitment to developing the game in a territory where soccer was, and still is, in dire need of recognition.
“We are confident that Timeless and CSB will continue to build on these strong foundations and remain committed to growing the sport in all corners of the world.”
Scott Mitchell, owner of Timeless (and also chair of the CSB and the CPL), added: “We appreciate what Mediapro has done to bring the OneSoccer service to life for the benefit of Canadian soccer fans … We intend to take what Mediapro started and continue building OneSoccer into the premier destination for fans throughout Canada.”
At the time of its original deal, Mediapro said it would invest $200 million into the project throughout its contract, with Mitchell calling it “the single-largest commitment any company has ever made in terms of soccer in Canada.”
