Mediapro, a Spanish based media company, has acquired a suite of Canadian soccer rights in a landmark ten year deal with Canadian Soccer Business (CSB). This includes rights to the Canadian Premier League (CPL) which is set to launch in April 2019.
Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) is pleased to announce a ten-year “Official Media Partnership” with MEDIAPRO, one of the largest global soccer rights holders and content creators in the world, with 56 offices on four continents. As per the agreement, the landmark partnership has MEDIAPRO acquiring, in its entirety, all the media rights under CSB management for the next ten years including the global and domestic rights to the Canadian Premier League, Canada’s new professional men’s soccer league launching in April 2019.
The suite of rights includes the global and domestic media rights to the Canadian Championship, which in 2019 will expand to feature 13 teams from coast to coast competing for the right to play in the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League. The rights also include all media rights for all home games of Canada Soccer’s Men’s and Women’s National Teams. MEDIAPRO will also acquire the media rights to all League1 Ontario matches as it looks to expand the footprint of soccer in Canada.
As part of the agreement, the leading global content producer will be in charge of the production of all matches and will launch a diverse and versatile channel that will be available for all platforms and devices entirely devoted to delivering world-class dedicated Canadian soccer coverage and content. (including a soccer streaming channel (OTT ).
The offering, that includes thousands of matches over the ten-year agreement, complemented by unique soccer shoulder programming including magazine shows, documentaries and other Canadian soccer programming. ThePostGame, a leading digital sports content and marketing agency, were responsible as the exclusive representation of the global media rights for CSB, the commercial representative of the Canadian Premier League (CPL). MEDIAPRO will continue to work with CSB to contemplate all distribution opportunities, partnerships and platforms that ensure the future success of CSB’s media assets.
The MEDIAPRO Group, which recorded annual revenue of €1.649 billion ($ 2.469 Canadian billion dollars) in 2017, is a leader in the European audiovisual sector. With a fleet of 70 High Definition and 4K Outside Broadcast mobile units, the Group produces more than 6,000 events around the world each year. With its entry into the Canadian market, MEDIAPRO is expanding its international footprint and will be opening an office in Canada that will also provide significant employment opportunities for Canadians in the creation, production and transmission of domestic soccer content.
MEDIAPRO is the perfect fit with what the CSB set out to achieve in a media partnership in terms of unparalleled production quality and digital distribution expertise, bringing a best-in-class product to Canadians. The deal will provide soccer fans with never-before-seen Canadian soccer coverage across all current and future CSB assets to continue building on the unprecedented momentum the sport is currently experiencing in Canada.
About Canadian Soccer Business
Canadian Soccer Business (CSB) represents a suite of top-tier national assets that are core to the sport of soccer in Canada. This includes representation for all corporate partnerships and media rights related to Canada Soccer’s core assets including its national teams, along with all rights associated with the Canadian Premier League – Canada’s professional men’s soccer league set to debut coast-to-coast in April 2019.
