FOX Sports Secures Multiplatform Rights for Top LatAm Soccer Games

BUENOS AIRES: Through an agreement with CONMEBOL, FOX Sports will maintain exclusive cross-platform broadcasting rights for the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamerica and the Recopa Sudamericana until 2018.

The three major soccer championships will continue to broadcast live and exclusive in Latin America through FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2, the network’s Premium and HD versions, and its digital platform, FOX Play. FOX Sports will distribute the rights outside Latin America.

Besides those tournaments, FOX Sports becomes the official broadcaster of four additional games: Copa Libertadores U-20, Women’s Copa Libertadores, Futsal Copa Libertadores and Beach Soccer Copa Libertadores.

“We’re very pleased to have expanded our media partnership with CONMEBOL for the broadcasting rights to the Copa Libertadores, the Copa Sudamericana and the Recopa Sudamericana, the most prestigious soccer tournaments in Latin America,” said Hernan López, the president of FOX International Channels. “We will continue to focus our efforts in producing the matches in the highest quality possible, as we have been doing for several years now, making them available to all pay-TV subscribers in Latin America.”

“CONMEBOL’s Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana—along with CONCACAF’s Champions League—are undoubtedly the Latin American club soccer tournaments more widely distributed in the region, reaching more than 60 million households across Latin America through our sports portfolio and FOX Play,” said Carlos Martinez, the president of FOX International Channels Latin America. “We are proud to have been chosen to broadcast these championships. We share CONMEBOL’s long-term vision and reinforce our commitment to continue bringing them to practically every pay-TV household in the region, a reach very difficult to be surpassed by any other network.”

CONMEBOL’s president, Juan Angel Napout, added: “CONMEBOL is pleased to be able to deliver to the clubs greater economic value as a result of our expanded relationship with FOX. The Copas have an incredible history. The passion and the stories cannot be invented. They are fantastic things. The Libertadores is irreplaceable, and the Sudamericana is getting stronger every year. We have been working hard to make the tournaments even more exciting, putting in place club rankings based on ten years’ performance. At the same time, we will now be able to give the clubs greater value for their participation. Our agreement with Fox will promote the development of clubs’ tournaments for women, under 20s, futsal and beach soccer. All of these efforts go hand in hand with the governance reforms that we in the Executive Committee are committed to. These measures will guarantee transparency and accountability, for the benefit of all of CONMEBOL’s member associations and the clubs.”