US media company Turner Broadcasting has won exclusive rights to broadcast Chilean soccer matches, edging out competitor Fox Sports for the 15-year contract, the local soccer association said late on Friday. Fox had been the favorite to win the contract, estimated at around $1.3 billion by local media, in the soccer-loving nation of Chile. But its ongoing negotiations with Walt Disney Co , which owns competing sports broadcaster ESPN, raised the specter of regulatory complications and led Chilean soccer officials to opt for Turner instead, the association said.
Disney struck a deal earlier this week to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc for $52.4 billion in stock, but US antitrust authorities will still need to review the terms. "Without a doubt, the negotiations between Disney and Fox were also an element that influenced (the decision)," said Juan Tagle, a spokesman for the Chilean soccer commission that evaluated proposals for the broadcasting rights.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.