BeIN Sports, the major international pay-TV broadcaster, has snapped up a swathe of exclusive European national team soccer rights across 24 countries the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in a short-term deal.
The agreement was announced yesterday (June 13) and covers action from three men’s competitions – the UEFA Nations League Finals, two match days from the 2024 European Championship qualifiers, and the European Under-21 Championship – over the next month.
It kicks off with coverage of this year’s Nations League Finals in the Netherlands, which begin today (June 14) and conclude on Sunday (June 18). The finals involve the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy, and Spain.
In addition, BeIN will show matchdays three and four from the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign and the Under-21 Euros in Romania and Georgia between June 21 and July 8.
The deal extends the already significant relationship between BeIN and UEFA across MENA, with the last similar deal to this covering the Nations League and Euro qualifiers unveiled in October 2018.
It builds on the existing deal that will see the broadcaster cover next year’s men's Euros from Germany, announced in May last year. BeIN covered the last edition of that tournament as well, in 2021.
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By GlobalDataThe Qatar-based heavyweight has also said it is “working towards a much more significant deal for national team competitions expected to be announced soon.”
Mohammed Al-Subaie, BeIN MENA’s chief executive, said: "We are delighted to extend our trusted, long-existing partnership with UEFA, which under the new agreement will now span more than two decades. BeIN has been the home of soccer for many years for millions of fans across MENA. Bringing hours of extensive multi-lingual coverage, expert analysis, and world-renowned punditry, BeIN is irrefutably the leading broadcaster in the region.”
BeIN also holds rights in MENA to UEFA’s men’s and women’s pan-continental top-tier club competitions, such as the Champions League and Women’s Champions League.
It variously covers top-tier European national competitions like England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga, and Spanish soccer’s LaLiga.
In April, it was reported that BeIN was looking to renew its deal with the Premier League across MENA until the end of the 2027-28 campaign.
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