Premier League at risk of losing Fox Sports Mexico TV contract worth £100m | first division
He first division is in danger of losing a £100m television contract after one of its Mexican rights holders, Fox Sports Mexico, defaulted on payments due for this season.
The Guardian has learned that the Premier League is considering its options, which include legal action, canceling the contract and taking live Fox Sports matches off the air in Mexico until payment is made.
Fox Sports has a four-year deal to broadcast live Premier League matches in Mexico, which runs until the end of the 2027-28 season, but is struggling to meet its commitments due to cash flow issues. The broadcaster has not paid other sports organizations whose television rights it owns, including Concacaf and the NFL.
The Premier League's deal with Fox Sports began this season after its contract with Paramount+ was cancelled. Under the terms of a joint deal with HBO Max worth around £50m a year, Fox Sports has the rights to show around 100 Premier League matches each season, 90 of which are broadcast on HBO.
The NFL ceased broadcasting its games on Fox Sports Mexico ahead of a scheduled NFC West clash between the LA Rams and the San Francisco 49ers last Thursday. Fox Sports did broadcast Bournemouth's 1-1 draw against West Ham on Monday despite the dispute, but the Premier League does not rule out following the NFL's example in the future.
Concacaf, the football confederation of North, Central America and the Caribbean, has filed a legal claim against Fox Sports for £20m over unpaid rights to the Champions Cup, the North American and Central American equivalent of the UEFA Champions League. . Sources with knowledge of that case told The Guardian that the legal action was a last resort by Concacaf, which has given Fox Sports multiple opportunities to restructure the terms of the agreement and refinance the company without receiving unpaid fees.
The protracted nature of that dispute does not bode well for the Premier League, which could be forced to put half of its Mexican rights back on the market.
The league's global television rights deals are the most lucrative in the world and the largest source of income for its clubs. Overseas broadcast deals are projected to generate clubs £6.5bn between 2025 and 2028, a 23% increase on the previous cycle, and significantly more each year than the £6.4bn value of the rights nationals between 2025 and 2029.
Despite this success, the potential collapse of a £100m deal in Mexico is a problem the league could do without, particularly at a time when some of its spending is coming under scrutiny. Several clubs have expressed concern about the significant increase in the league's legal costs in recent years, which reached £45m last season., with the bill divided equally between the 20 clubs.
Fox Sports' financial problems appear to be due to a delay in a proposed acquisition by Fox's parent company, Fox US, which it previously owned. The Mexican subsidiary is owned by Grupo Lauman, a global media conglomerate controlled by Mexican businessman Manuel Arroyo.
The separation of Fox Sports Mexico from the American company occurred five years ago as part of the Disney alliance Purchase of 21st Century Fox for £56bnand Lauman licensed the brand from Disney and bought international sports rights, including the Premier League, NFL and Formula One. This year, Lauman agreed to sell Fox Sports Mexico to Fox US and received regulatory approval, but the deal did not. has advanced.
The Premier League declined to comment. Fox Sports Mexico did not respond to requests for comment.
