Turner and FOX acquire Argentine Primera Division rights

Turner Sports and FOX Sports have teamed up in South America to acquire the rights to the Primera Division, according to a report by Reuters.

Media in Argentina is reporting that FOX Sports Latin America and Turner Broadcasting System Latin America will pay $206 million per year for the rights to the league over a period of five years. The new deal will begin when the 2017-18 Primera Division season begins in August.

It’s understood that the rights deal is for Argentina only and does not include other regions such as North America.

According to a spokeswoman with Turner Latin America, the organization does not have anything to confirm at this time.

With the recent news that Turner Sports has acquired the US media rights to the UEFA Champions League beginning with the 2018-19 season after bidding substantially more than FOX Sports, it’s interesting that both sports broadcasters decided to team up in Latin America to defeat ESPN and MediaPro in the race for the Argentine Primera Division rights.

Previously, the rights to the Argentine Primera Division in Argentina had been in the hands of the government who had made the games available for free to the public via the Futbol Para Todos that began in 2009. The new government in charge in Argentina has rescinded the contract.

According to a report, Turner Sports and FOX Sports in Latin America plan on offering the Primera Division to residents in Argentina via a subscription over-the-top streaming service that will be available in late 2017 or early 2018.