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beIN Sports

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beIN SPORTS
CountryMiddle East & North Africa
Qatar
France
United States (English & Spanish)
Indonesia
Canada
Hong Kong
Thailand
Russia
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Australia
HeadquartersParis (French channel)
Miami (North America)
Jakarta (Asia Channel)
Doha (Arabia Channel)
Sochi (Russia, Kazakhstan and CIS countries)
Programming
Language(s)Arabic
French
English
Spanish
Portuguese
Indonesian
Cantonese
Ownership
OwnerBeIN Media Group (Al Jazeera Media Network)

beIN SPORTS (commonly pronounced [beːn]) is a global network of sports channels jointly owned and operated by Qatari Sports Investments (an affiliate of beIN Media Group). It currently operates four channels in France – beIN Sports 1, beIN Sports 2,beIN Sports 3 and beIN Sports MAX – and launched two channels in the United States (English and Spanish) in August 2012.[5] It launched a live online streaming service in Canada in October 2013 which was followed by a full channel launch on January 31, 2014, after several years of delays due to the difficult regulatory environment in Canada.[citation needed]

In France, beIN SPORTS holds the rights to broadcast major association football tournaments on French television, including Ligue 1, Serie A, Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League and the European Football Championship.

In the United States and Canada, beIN SPORTS holds the rights to broadcast La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Copa del Rey, South American World Cup Qualifier and Football League Championship matches, in addition to Barca TV.[6]

In Indonesia, beIN SPORTS holds the rights to broadcast Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Major League Soccer (MLS), the Brazilian national leagues, and with MP & Silva partnership broadcasting Premier League for three seasons from 2013/14 to 2015/16.

In Hong Kong, beIN SPORTS holds the rights to broadcast Serie A, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer (MLS), Football League Championship, Football League Cup, TIM Cup, Coupe de la Ligue, in addition to Liverpool TV, Spurs TV, Milan TV.

The channel launched in Australia in late November 2014, following the acquisition of Setanta Sports Australia which rebranded as beIN SPORTS.[7] beIN Sports Australia holds the rights to broadcast Serie A.[8]

History

Al Jazeera Media Network entered the European television rights market in June 2011 when it purchased a package of live Ligue 1 matches from 2012 to 2016 for €90 million a year. The deal makes them joint broadcasters of domestic top-flight football in France alongside long-term rights holders Canal+.[9] The broadcaster also acquired the pay-TV rights to the UEFA Champions League, Europa League from 2012 to 2015, Euro 2012 and Euro 2016 in France.[10][11][12] France was targeted as Al Jazeera's first entry into Europe due to the fact that there were no dedicated sports channels, unlike in the United Kingdom.[13]

The name "beIN SPORT" was first revealed in early 2012. According to Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the director of Al Jazeera Sports, the name "symbolises the mind of two channels aiming at bringing live and exclusive broadcasting of the biggest events."[14] Former Canal+ executive Charles Bietry was hired by Al Jazeera to launch the channels.[15] The channels will be available on all cable and IPTV providers and select satellite providers.[16] CanalSat – owned by Canal+ Group – has declined to carry the channels as of March 2012.[17]

beIN Sport 1 launched on June 1, 2012 in time to broadcast Euro 2012.[18] beIN Sport 2 launched on July 27, 2012 in time to broadcast the French Ligue 2 season, and before the start of the 2012–13 Ligue 1 season.[18]

On January 1, 2014, Al Jazeera Sport Channel changed its name to be beIN Sports Arabia. Additionally, all channels named "Al Jazeera Sports" were retitled "beIN SPORTS" to ensure all channels have the same branding.

Programming

Association football

beIN SPORTS holds one of five rights packages for Ligue 1 from 2012 to 2016 in France – the package consisting of Friday night and Sunday evening games. The other four packages are held by Canal+.[9] For the UEFA Champions League, it has the rights to broadcast all matches except the 13 weekly first-choice picks (yet to be awarded to any broadcaster as of April 2012) from 2012 to 2015.[10] It also owns the rights to all UEFA Europa League matches including the final from 2012 to 2015.[11]

beIN SPORTS and Canal+ also share the rights to Serie A and Bundesliga matches in France.[19]

In France broadcast Argentine Primera División[20] and Brasileirao, in BeIN Sports MAX.

The network holds the rights to broadcast all UEFA Euro 2012 and Euro 2016 matches on the pay-TV platform while TF1 and M6 have the free-to-air rights to select matches.[12]

In the United States, the network holds the rights package for Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A, Russian Football Premier League,[21] Football League Championship, Football League Cup, TIM Cup, Copa del Rey (except the final), Copa America, and 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds in the Americas (CONMEBOL and CONCACAF), except for home games by Mexico and the United States (which are both held by Univision and ESPN).[22]

Rugby league

beIN SPORTS will broadcast the Super League including all home matches of French side Catalans Dragons.[23] Other competitions include the Australian National Rugby League and State of Origin series.[23]

beIN SPORTS has been awarded the rights to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup and will broadcast all matches live.[24]

Superbike World Championship

On 23 February 2013, as part of Al-Jazeera's increasing footprint in the Superbike World Championship, which they hold rights in the Middle East, and the transitional shutdown of Fox Sports' motorsport operations in Charlotte, North Carolina, beIN SPORTS acquired the rights to the Superbike World Championship in the United States, which also includes live coverage of the races and also the support classes, which had never been televised in the United States in the past.[25]

Team handball

beIN SPORTS has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to the EHF Champions League (Team Handball). The EHF Champions League is the most important club competition for men's and women's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations.

In January 2013, beIN SPORTS also acquired the broadcast rights to the 2013 World Men's Handball Championship. beIN SPORTS USA aired live, delayed and pre-recorded HD games in the US, between January 11–27, 2013.

Football coverage

A list of on-air football personalities on beIN Sports:

Name Role Additional Info
Darren Tulett Presenter Host of Sports Night
Jean-Pierre Papin Pundit Le Club pundit
Robert Pires Pundit Le Club pundit
Patrick Vieira Pundit Le Club pundit
Luis Fernandez Pundit Le Club pundit
Sonny Anderson Pundit Le Club pundit
Ludovic Giuly Pundit Le Club pundit
Éric Di Meco Commentator Ligue 1 and UEFA Champions League co-commentator
Patrice Ferri Commentator Ligue 1, FA Cup, Football League Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League co-commentator
Bruno Cheyrou Commentator Ligue 1, Serie A, Coppa Italia, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League co-commentator
Omar Da Fonseca Commentator La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League co-commentator
Jean-Alain Boumsong Commentator Ligue 1, Ligue 2, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League co-commentator
Brahim Thiam Commentator Ligue 1 and UEFA Europa League co-commentator
Gernot Rohr Commentator Bundesliga co-commentator
Ray Hudson Commentator La Liga color commentator
Terri Leigh Presenter Host of The Express

Basketball coverage

Name Role Additional Info
Éric Micoud Commentator NBA and Euroleague co-commentator

Tennis coverage

Name Role Additional Info
Fabrice Santoro Commentator Wimbledon, ATP World Tour Finals, Masters 1000 and 500 series co-commentator
Tatiana Golovin Commentator Wimbledon, ATP World Tour Finals, Masters 1000 and 500 series co-commentator
Sébastien Grosjean Commentator Wimbledon, ATP World Tour Finals, Masters 1000 and 500 series co-commentator

Handball coverage

Name Role Additional Info
Olivier Girault Commentator EHF Champions League co-commentator
Véronique Pecqueux-Rolland Commentator EHF Women's Champions League co-commentator

Rugby coverage

Name Role Additional Info
Éric Bonneval Commentator Test match, English Premiership and Pro12 co-commentator
Dimitri Yachvili Commentator Test match co-commentator
Benjamin Boyet Commentator Test match co-commentator

Distribution

The channels will be dominated by football coverage. beIN Sports 1 HD will focus on year-round live football with the Premier League beINg prominent as well as content from Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs club channels. Other live coverage will come from the Serie A, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer (MLS), the Brazilian national leagues (Paulistao & Brasileirão), as well as major cup tournaments such as the FA Cup, Coppa Italia, and the Coupe de la Ligue. beIN Sports 2 HD will also feature live football but will have a wider sports remit. beIN Sports Premier League HD will be a 24-hour Premier League-dedicated channel in Indonesia broadcasting nearly 1,600 hours of live programming each season. This includes all 380 Premier League matches per season, weekly magazine show Premier League World, as well as pre-match coverage and post-game analysis in addition to weekly preview and review shows and highlights.[26]

Canada

Despite most of its North American broadcast rights contracts covering both the United States and Canada, beIN Sports initially was not authorized to broadcast in Canada nor had it sub-licensed any of its programming to Canadian broadcasters. The channel had a difficult time finding a Canadian broadcaster willing to partner up with it to launch its services in Canada. Due to the regulatory environment in Canada, the only way to launch beIN Sports in Canada is by launching a Canadian version of the channel via a partnership with a Canadian broadcaster. In October 2013, beIN Sports launched an online streaming service in Canada through their website www.beINsportsplay.ca. The live service was available at no charge for registered users until February 1, 2014; since then, users can access the streams for 19.99 CAD/month. On-demand coverage is not available through beIN Sports Play Canada.[27]

On December 18, 2013, beIN Sports announced they had reached a deal with Ethnic Channels Group, a local ethnic broadcaster, to launch their services in Canada.[28] The channel officially launched on January 31, 2014 via MTS and NEXTV.

beIN Sport HD is available on Rogers Cable on channel 391,[29] on Bell Satellite & Fibe on channel 1412,[30] and on Videotron on channel 680.

See also

References

  1. ^ On August 15 four exciting channels will be available in eye-popping HD! DirecTV press release, August 15, 2012
  2. ^ a b c How to Watch beIN SPORTS Indonesia. Retrieved 4 August 2013
  3. ^ Digital First Media Jakarta Channel Line Up FirstMedia. Retrieved 4 August 2013
  4. ^ NexMedia Channel Line Up. Retrieved 4 August 2013
  5. ^ Al Jazeera to Kick Off Pair of Soccer Channels in U.S. this August Bleacher Report, June 2, 2012
  6. ^ http://beINsports.tv/
  7. ^ Hilliard, Mark (14 August 2014). "Setanta Sports Australia set to be sold to Al Jazeera". The Irish Times. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  8. ^ Perry, Kevin (18 October 2013). "Exclusive - A New Rival for Fox Sports in 2014". Nelbie. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  9. ^ a b Harris, Harry (2011-06-23). "Al Jazeera make move into Ligue 1". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  10. ^ a b "al-Jazeera Sport awarded media rights in France". UEFA.com. 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  11. ^ a b "2012–15 UEFA Europa League media rights deal announced in France". UEFA.com. 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  12. ^ a b "EURO 2012 and 2016 rights awarded in France". UEFA.com. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  13. ^ Abboud, Leila; Barzic, Gwenaelle (2012-05-24). "Al Jazeera seeks to build global brand in sports". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  14. ^ "Al Jazeera officially introduces 'beIN SPORTS'". mediaME.com. 2012-03-28. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  15. ^ Abboud, Leila; Barzic, Gwénaëlle (2012-04-02). "Al Jazeera sees sporting chance of global media brand". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  16. ^ Paoli-Lebailly, Pascale (2012-05-25). "beIN SPORTS 1 & 2 to be delivered to 14M potential households". Rapid TV News. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  17. ^ Gonzalès, Paul; Renault, Enguérand (2012-03-14). "Al-Jezira Sport s'appuie sur l'Espagnol Mediapro". Le Figaro. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  18. ^ a b Moatti, Etienne (2012-04-10). "beINSport 1 démarre le 1er juin". L'Equipe. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  19. ^ "Droits du foot : Canal+ et Al Jazeera enterrent (provisoirement) la hache de guerre". Télé Satellite et Numérique. 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  20. ^ "BeIn Sports nets Argentinian soccer rights".
  21. ^ "Russian Premier League 101". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  22. ^ "Get beIN Sport on your television!". Retrieved 19 July 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ a b "Charles Biétry : "15 joueurs par équipe, ça fait beaucoup"". L'Indépendant. 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  24. ^ http://www.beINsports.fr/news/article/184xh4lrfr0qv1tp49za3wchgu
  25. ^ "World Superbike in US by beIN". Dorna. 2013-02-23. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  26. ^ beIN Sport debuts with three channels in Indonesia Inside World Football 2013-06-21. Retrieved 4 August 2013
  27. ^ http://www.beINsportsplay.ca. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ^ "beIN Sport partners with Ethnic Channels Group for distribution in Canada".
  29. ^ https://twitter.com/beINSPORTSUSA/status/441697088968351745. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. ^ https://twitter.com/beINSPORTSUSA/status/441655428657971200. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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