beIN Sports (/ˈbiːɪn/BEE-in) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its CEO is Yousef Obaidly.[1]
beIN Sports is the dominant television sports channel in the MENA region. It also operates channels in France, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.
History
Reporter Thomas Ferro Villechaize Bein Sport
Early career
Al Jazeera Media Network entered the European television rights market in June 2011 when it purchased a package of live French football 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+.[2] 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.[3][4][5] 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.[6]
The name "beIN Sports" 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."[7] Former Canal+ executive Charles Bietry was hired by Al Jazeera to launch the channels.[8] The channels will be available on all cable and IPTV providers and select satellite providers.[9]CanalSat – owned by Canal+ Group – has declined to carry the channels as of March 2012.[10] beIN Sports was officially launched on June 1, 2012, in time to broadcast Euro 2012.[11] beIN Sports 2 commenced on July 27, 2012, in time to broadcast the French Ligue 2 season, and before the start of the 2012–13 Ligue 1 season.[11] In June 2015, it was announced that Nasser Al-Khelaifi had plans to create the beIN Sports channel on TV operators to cable in Brazil.[12]
beIN Sports (Spain) offers customers Gol Televisión lost up to 30 June 2015 an exclusive promotion to watch beIN Sports through beIN Sports CONNECT, and through the app "TotalChannel". It also offers channels like FOX, AXN, TNT, and the best entertainment channels in HD for €5/month for two months, then from the third month onwards €9.99/month. beIN Sports (Spain) developed a channel licensed for bars in Spain called "beIN Sports BAR". The channel stopped transmission on 9 August 2018.
For the 2016–2017 season and onwards, beIN Sports Spain has the television rights to La Liga (eight games a day, always one of Real Madrid or FC Barcelona) and Copa del Rey.
On November 1, 2017, beIN Sports created an Olympic Channel in the Middle East and North Africa region.[13]
On 19 April 2016, beIN Sports launched on Starhub TV Channel 213.
On 1 August 2016, beIN Sports launched on Astro on Channel 837 until moved to Channel 818 on 1 August 2019.
On 19 October 2018, beIN Sports MAX launched on Singtel TV on Channel 110.
On 4 December 2018, beIN Sports MAX launched on Astro on Channel 841 until moved to Channel 819 on 1 August 2019.
On 6 August 2019, beIN Sports launched on Singtel TV on Channel 109 and it ceased transmission on 2 October 2021. However, beIN Sports made its return on Singtel TV on 11 March 2022 on Channel 109/126 and launch beIN Sports 2 on Channel 117 and 127 on the same date. From 27 June 2022, beIN Sports, beIN Sports 2 and beIN Sports 3 channels are only available on Channel 126, 127 and 128 on Singtel TV.
On 7 January 2022, beIN Sports Max was rebranded to beIN Sports 3 in Malaysia and Singapore.
On 1 May 2022, beIN Sports and beIN Sports 3 launched on Unifi TV.
On 1 August 2022, beIN Sports 4 launched on Unifi TV.
In Indonesia, beIN Sports holds the rights to broadcast La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A (2013–2016, return in 2018), Süper Lig (2017–18 until 2021–22), A-League (starts 2017–18 season), FFA Cup (starts 2017 season), CAF World Cup Qualifiers, Major League Soccer (MLS), and more. In Malaysia, beIN Sports offers comprehensive coverage of European Football Leagues including La Liga, Ligue 1 and more.
In Australia, the channel was launched in late November 2014, following the acquisition of Setanta Sports Australia which was rebranded as beIN Sports.[16] beIN Sports Australia holds the rights to broadcast UEFA Champions League (2015–2018),[17]UEFA Europa League (2015–2018), EFL Cup, La Liga, Serie A,[18]Ligue 1, Bundesliga, MLS, Copa Libertadores and RBS Six Nations. On 14 March 2016, beIN Sports Australia expanded from one to three channels, all in HD, and as of 15 May 2016 has been made available to all Foxtel sport pack subscribers, rather than the original add-on cost for a single SD channel. Fetch subscribers still only have access to beIN Sports 1, which is an add-on cost each month.
beIN Connect, also known as beIN Sports Connect, is a subsidiary over-the-top content (OTT) service started in 2014. It allows users to watch live and on-demand video content from a Mac, Windows PC, mobile phone, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 via a broadband or Wi-Fi internet connection. On-demand content comprises sports highlights, movies, and TV shows. beIN CONNECT is available as a paid service in France, Spain, United States, Canada, Turkey (in 2017), Asia-Pacific (in 2017) and the MENA region.[19]
Programming
Football
FIFA World Cup
In 2014, beIN Sports held the rights to broadcast the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In 2018, beIN Sports broadcast the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 23 February 2020, beIN Sports announced to broadcast special shows and dedicated programs for 1000 days until the 2022 FIFA World Cup. To be broadcast from February 25 on its free-to-air and HD1 channel, the programs were supposed to include historic matches, highlights from the international best players, history of Qatari football and special clips of the day Qatar won the World Cup bid.[20]
UEFA Euro
In 2012, the network held the rights to broadcast all UEFA Euro 2012. In 2016, beIN Sports broadcast Euro 2016 matches on the French pay-TV platform while TF1 and M6 have the free-to-air rights to select matches.[5]
Champions League
In November 2019, Canal+ and beIN Sports won the rights to broadcast Champions League matches in France between 2021 and 2024.[21]
Ligue 1
In France, beIN Sports holds one of five rights packages for Ligue 1 from 2012 to 2016 – the package consisting of Friday night and Sunday evening matches. The other four packages are held by Canal+.[2] It also shows Ligue 2 matches. 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.[3] It also owns the rights to all UEFA Europa League matches including the final.[4]
Also in France, beIN Sports and Canal+ also share the rights to Serie A and Bundesliga matches.[22] It also airs FA Cup, Football League Championship, La Liga, Argentine Primera División[23] and Brasileirao. In the United States, the network holds the rights package for Ligue 1, La Liga, FIFA World Cup qualification rounds in the Americas (CONMEBOL and CONCACAF), except for home matches by Mexico and the United States (which are both held by Univision and ESPN).[24] In April 2020, beIN Sports announced that it will broadcast a month-long online football gaming tournament organized by Paris Saint-Germain to entertain people stuck at home, due to Coronavirus.[25] On 13 February 2021, beIN Sports secured exclusive domestic broadcast rights from Canal+ for the remaining matches of Ligue 2's 2020/21 season. BeIN already had the rights to broadcast two live matches per match week under its existing €30 million per season deal with the French Professional Football League (LFP) for the 2020-24 cycle. With this sublicensing deal, beIN can air the remaining eight live matches per week until the end of 2020-21 season.[26]
Stars League
beIN Sports held the rights to broadcast the seasons of Qatar Stars League.
Süper Lig
In 2017, beIN Sports bought the broadcasting rights of the Turkish Süper Lig until 2027.[27]
SPFL
BeIN shows live Premiership games.
J1 League
In 2024, beIN Sports bought the broadcasting rights of the J1 League until 2030.
YBC Levain Cup
In 2024, beIN Sports bought the broadcasting rights of the YBC Levain Cup until 2030.
Emperor's Cup
In 2024, beIN Sports bought the broadcasting rights of the Emperor's Cup until 2030.
BeIN Sports also acquired the Indian Premier League (IPL) rights in April 2018 for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in a five-year deal with Star India up to 2022.
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.[30]
In 2016, beIN Sports began to broadcast two more Dorna-controlled motorcycle road racing series in the United States and Canada -- MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship, giving them control of FIM road racing on North American television. The deal ended after the 2019. The channel also aired MotoAmerica from 2016 to 2018.
Formula One
In early 2023, beIN Sports got the rights to broadcast the Formula One in Southeast Asia from 2023 to 2028.[31] Previously, they had broadcast rights for the MENA region from 2014 to 2018.[32]
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.
beIN Sports 1 HD will focus on year-round live football with the Premier League (2013–2019) being prominent as well as content from Arsenal, Liverpool, and Spurs club channels in streaming media. Other live coverage will come from the Serie A (2013–2021 exclude 2016–2018), Ligue 1, Major League Soccer (MLS), the Brazilian national leagues (Paulistao & Brasileirão) (2013–2015), as well as major cup tournaments such as the FA Cup (2013–2024), Coppa Italia (2013 and 2014), and the Coupe de la Ligue. Since 2014, beIN Sports was removed from First Media or "Defunct" BiGTV caused by Contractual problem.
From 2016, this channel also broadcast not only football but other sporting events, such as: Tennis, Motor-racing, Handball, and many more.
beIN Sports 2 HD will also feature live football but will have another sports remit. Starting January 2022, beIN Sports 2 will begin airing tennis coverages as the latter acquired broadcast rights of the Australian Open, the French Open and the ATP tours.
beIN Sports 3 HD same as the beIN Sports 2 HD. This channel has been launched since August 2016, replacing the Premier League channel.
Former channel
Premier League HD will be a 24-hour Premier League-dedicated channel in Indonesia broadcasting nearly 1,600 hours of live programming from 2013–14 to 2015–16 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 in interviews.[35]
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 the country nor had it sub-licensed any of its programmings to local broadcasters. The channel had a difficult time finding a broadcaster willing to partner up with it to launch its services. 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 1 February 2014; since then, users can access the streams for CAD$19.99 per month. On-demand coverage is not available through beIN Sports Play Canada.[36]
On 18 December 2013, beIN Sports announced they had reached a deal with Ethnic Channels Group, a local ethnic broadcaster, to launch their services in Canada.[37] The channel was officially launched on 31 January 2014 via MTS and NEXTV.
beIN Sports HD is available on Shaw Cable on channel 234,[38] Rogers Cable on channel 391,[39] on Bell Satellite & Fibe on channel 1412,[40] on Videotron on channel 797 and through OTT broadcaster DAZN.
France
In July 2018, beIN Sports struck a multi-million rights deal with French sports agency, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), granting it the sole rights in MENA to broadcast all its major events until 2023. But in April 2019, ASO confirmed that one its major event, Dakar Rally would be held in Saudi Arabia from 2020 under a multi-year accord. Following which, beIN said that ASO was trying to exit its MENA deal and instead making a transition towards Saudi broadcaster.[41] However, in October 2019, the president of the Nanterre Commercial Court in France ruled that ASO must continue to maintain its five-year exclusive rights agreement with beIN.[42]
Controversies
Market position
beIN Sports' market positions in some regions have led to concerns over the network's dominance. In 2016, French authorities blocked a deal by beIN Sports France to sub-license its sports properties to Canal+ Sport, as it would have given the partnership control of 80% of French sports media rights.[43][44] At the 2017 World Men's Handball Championship, whose international media rights were owned by beIN Sports, French radio stations declined to air the tournament as beIN Sports wanted them to pay administrative fees about five times higher than technical cost, in violation of French law.[45] The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations were also left without domestic television coverage in four countries participating in the tournament – Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia – due to exorbitant sublicensing fees being demanded from free-to-air broadcasters by beIN as the region's rightsholder.[46]
In August 2018, beIN Sports was fined, and subsequently banned from operating in Saudi Arabia, with the government citing its forced bundling of the networks with unrelated services. beIN criticised the actions as being politically-motivated.[47][48] The following March, beIN's rights to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) were stripped in Saudi Arabia to "cancel" its monopoly on the sport, due to the "illegality of BeIN Sport [sic] to transmit in the Kingdom due to the grave violations of the laws and regulations BeIN Sport has committed", and "its inability to obtain the required licenses necessary for it to fulfil its commitments in transmitting AFC's competitions to the viewers and followers in the Kingdom". beIN threatened legal action, accusing the AFC of colluding with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to breach its contract.[49][50]
By contrast, beIN Sports' relatively niche position in the United States (where it focuses particularly on international sports not picked up by other networks) led to criticism of its broadcasting deal with the WTA Tour for non-domestic events, as the channel's prioritisation of football in its scheduling, narrower carriage than its previous broadcaster Tennis Channel, as well as being dropped by several major cable providers in 2018, limited the availability of its coverage. These issues led to concerns that the limited coverage would give women's tennis little exposure outside of majors and domestic tour events. beIN Sports U.S. dropped the WTA Tour after the 2018 season, and it subsequently signed a new contract to return to Tennis Channel in the 2019 season.[51][52][53][54]
In April 2020, amidst claims of Saudi PIF taking over Premier League club Newcastle United, beIN Sports wrote a letter to league's chief executive Richard Masters and issued a notice to 19 clubs, except Newcastle. In its letter, the broadcaster claimed that Saudi Arabian pay TV network beoutQ, has been illicitly regulating its copyright protected content and demanded Premier League to block the deal. "Given the crippling economic effect that coronavirus is having on the sports industry, this is all happening at a time when football clubs need to protect their broadcast revenue the most," BeIN chief executive Yousef al-Obaidly wrote.[55]
beIN has unveiled its new streaming service for the MENA region.[56]
In 2020, the company wrote to Premier League clubs to warn them against agreeing to a takeover deal with a Saudi-led consortium for Newcastle United, because of Saudi backing for the "theft" of BeIN transmissions by the Saidi broadcaster beoutQ. The Premier League board is currently allowed the deal to go through.
beoutQ
Due to the then-ongoing diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other Arab countries, beIN has been restricted from doing business in Saudi Arabia and the UAE since June 2017.[61][62] The UAE un-banned the MENA network a month later, with no progress from Saudi Arabia reported.[63][64] Months later in August 2018, it was revealed the Saudi pirate broadcaster, beoutQ, has been pirating the networks' programming in the region for over a year,[65][66] which has faced criticism from beIN and rightsholders over its "industrial-scale" copyright infringement.[67][68][69][70] However, no law firm in Saudi Arabia was reportedly willing to represent the rightsholders in Saudi courts. Nor was the Saudi-majority owned ArabSat reported of responding to takedown pleas against beoutQ. In August 2019, the operations were eventually taken off-air. However, in November of same year, beIN Media alerted that despite ceasing satellite transmissions in mid-August, pirate broadcast operation, beoutQ, was still distributing its copyrighted content via the IPTV function of set-top boxes.[71] beIN Media's licence in Saudi Arabia was permanently revoked by Saudi authorities in July 2020 under the charges of antitrust practices following the World Trade Organization ruling the prior month concluding that Saudi Arabia didn't take any noticeable action in stopping beoutQ, and to the contrary, harboured and sponsored its operations.[72][73] beIN Media says that even after the signing of al-'Ula Declaration in early January 2021, Saudi Arabia is yet to reverse its decision to ban its operations in the national market.
However, on 6 October 2021, beIN media group said in a statement that Saudi Arabia will soon lift a four year ban on the channel and close its pirate websites, only beIN holds the rights to broadcast the Premier League across the Middle East.[74]
Italian football coverage rights
In November 2019, beIN Sports announced that it was reviewing its partnership with Serie A and considering cancelling all of its agreements in Italian football, following the league's decision to play a Supercoppa Italiana match between Juventus and Lazio in Saudi Arabia, despite piracy concerns. "It is remarkable what Serie A is seemingly prepared to jeopardize, not only all the financial revenues from one of its biggest broadcaster partners, but also the exposure beIN gives to the league in markets all around the world," a statement from the television network read.[75]
beIN Sports normally shows top-tier Italian football matches in 35 countries but on Saturday night, anyone tuning in to watch Torino take on Parma in Serie A's return would have been disappointed.
In matchweek 27 of 2019–20 season, other countries (exc. NZ), viewers were treated instead to a Turkish Süper Lig match between Denizlispor and Besiktas. And a late-night trawl through beIN Sports website for all of Saturday's results suggested there weren't any games played in Italy—just England, Spain, France and Germany. For the record, Torino and Parma drew 1-1.
But in matchweek 28, beIN Sports social medias apologizes to all global viewers and announced the comeback coverage.[76]
beIN paid $500 million to broadcast Serie A from 2018-2021, an agreement that has been beset by snags. It claims strong backing from competitions including England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga and the Wimbledon tennis championships, as part of a long-running campaign against its sports rights being pirated in Saudi Arabia.[77]
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