beIN Sports ( ) is a global network of sports channels owned and operated by the Qatari media group

beIN Bein (German for ''leg'') is a German and Yiddish surname and may refer to: People * Alex Bein, Jewish scholar * Kazimierz Bein, Polish ophthalmologist, the founder and sometime director of the Warsaw Ophthalmic Institute * Uwe Bein, German footbal ...

. It has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is

Nasser Al-Khelaifi Nasser bin Ghanim Al-Khelaifi ( ar, ناصر بن غانم الخليفي; born 12 November 1973) is a Qatari businessman and the chairman of beIN Media Group, chairman of Qatar Sports Investments, president of Paris Saint-Germain and the Qatar ...

, and its CEO is Yousef Obaidly. beIN Sports is the dominant television sports channel in the

MENA MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or a ...

region. It also operates channels in France, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Hong Kong, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

History

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 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

matches from 2012 to 2016 for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

90 million a year. The deal makes them joint broadcasters of domestic top-flight football in France alongside long-term rights holders Canal+. The broadcaster also acquired the pay-TV rights to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

from 2012 to 2015,

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

and

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

in France. 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 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The name "beIN Sports" was first revealed in early 2012. According to

, 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." Former Canal+ executive Charles Bietry was hired by Al Jazeera to launch the channels. The channels will be available on all cable and

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, ...

providers and select satellite providers. CanalSat – owned by Canal+ Group – has declined to carry the channels as of March 2012. beIN Sports was officially launched on June 1, 2012, in time to broadcast Euro 2012. beIN Sports 2 commenced on July 27, 2012, in time to broadcast the French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

season, and before the start of the

2012–13 Ligue 1 The 2012–13 Ligue 1 was the 75th season since its establishment. Montpellier were the defending champions. The league schedule was announced in April 2012 and the fixtures were determined on 30 May. The season began on 10 August and ended on ...

season. In June 2015, it was announced that

had plans to create the beIN Sports channel on TV operators to cable in Brazil. beIN Sports Spain officially began broadcasting on 1 July 2015, the date on which

Gol Televisión GOL PLAY is a Spanish sports television network dedicated fully to football (from 2009) and other sports (from 2016). The channel, created by Mediapro in September 2008, is distributed through cable operators, Internet television, and from August ...

ceased broadcasting all football games, which during the summer were in place under the slogan "Change the game", "Cambia el juego" in Spanish. Thanks to an alliance between

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

and Mediapro, beIN Sports Spain offers

(2015–2018),

UEFA Europe League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

(2015–2018),

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

(2015–2017),

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

(2015–16 season only),

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

Jupiler Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

, DFB Pokal,

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

KNVB Beker The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

, Copa de Brasil, CONCACAF Gold Cup,

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

and

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

. beIN Sports Spain can be viewed over the Internet, smart TV ( LG and

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

), PC, laptops, tablets, Smartphones (iOS/Android), PS3/PS4,

Chromecast Chromecast is a line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The user can control playback with ...

, TV Operators ( Orange,

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

and

Telecable Telecable is a cable company that operates in Asturias (northern Spain) offering triple play services (telephone, Internet and television) as well as mobile phone services as an MVNO since 2007. The company started out as Telecable de Oviedo, Tel ...

) and online platforms (beIN Sports Connect, Total Channel and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

). On Wednesday August 19, due to the start of the playoffs of the UEFA Champions League,

beIN Sports (Spain) beIN Sports Spain was a Television in Spain, Spanish network of List of sports television channels, sports channels owned by Qatari Sports Investments (an affiliate of beIN Media Group) and operated by Mediapro. It is the Spanish version of the g ...

begins to emit beIN Sports MAX (up to 8 simultaneous channels) to broadcast all matches of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europe League.

offers customers

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.

developed a channel licensed for bars in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

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 The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

(eight games a day, always one of Real Madrid or FC Barcelona) and

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

. beIN Media Group acquired

Digiturk Digiturk is a Turkish satellite television provider founded in 1999, with services starting in mid-2000. They provide both national television channels and their own channels, national radio, and music streams of different genres. Digiturk is als ...

in July 2015. On November 1, 2017, beIN Sports created an Olympic Channel in the Middle East and North Africa region. 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 France, where beIN Sports was launched for the first time, it holds the rights to broadcast major

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournaments, including

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

and the

European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

. Along with Canal+, beIN Sports also holds the rights to broadcast all the Champions League matches from 2021 to 2024. In the United States and Canada, beIN Sports holds the rights to broadcast

, CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers,

and

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

matches and

Real Madrid TV Real Madrid TV is a free digital television channel, operated by Real Madrid specialising in the Spanish football club. The channel is available in Spanish and English. It is located at Ciudad Real Madrid in Valdebebas (Madrid), Real Madrid's tra ...

. It launched two channels in the United States (English and Spanish), in August 2012, followed by a full channel in Canada, on 31 January 2014. In Indonesia, beIN Sports holds the rights to broadcast

(2013–2016, return in 2018),

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

(2017–18 until 2021–22),

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

(starts 2017–18 season), FFA Cup (starts 2017 season), CAF World Cup Qualifiers,

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS), and more. In Malaysia, beIN Sports offers comprehensive coverage of European Football Leagues including La Liga, Ligue 1 and more. In Hong Kong, beIN Sports holds the rights to broadcast

(MLS),

(starts 2017–18 season), FFA Cup (starts 2017 season),

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and more. In Thailand, beIN Sports holds the rights to broadcast

, MLS,

(2017–18 until 2021–22),

(starts 2017–18 season), FFA Cup (starts 2017 season), 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. beIN Sports Australia holds the rights to broadcast

(2015–2018),

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, MLS,

and

RBS Six Nations The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. 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 Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...

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 An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms: the types of companies that traditionally act as controllers or distributors ...

(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 Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

(in 2017) and the

region.

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 The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. On 23 February 2020, BeIn Sports announced to broadcast special shows and dedicated programs for 1000 days until the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

. 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 Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

won the World Cup bid.

UEFA Euro

In 2012, the network held the rights to broadcast all

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

. In 2016, beIN Sports broadcast

matches on the French pay-TV platform while

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is par ...

and M6 have the

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

rights to select matches.

Champions League

In November 2019, Canal+ and beIN Sports won the rights to broadcast Champions League matches in France between 2021 and 2024.

Ligue 1

In France, beIN Sports holds one of five rights packages for

from 2012 to 2016 – the package consisting of Friday night and Sunday evening matches. The other four packages are held by Canal+. It also shows

matches. For the

, 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. It also owns the rights to all

matches including the final. Also in France, beIN Sports and Canal+ also share the rights to

and

matches. It also airs

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

and Brasileirao. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the network holds the rights package for

, FIFA World Cup qualification rounds in the Americas (

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...

and

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typese ...

), except for home matches by Mexico and the United States (which are both held by

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

). 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. 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.

Stars League

beIN Sports held the rights to broadcast the seasons of

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League ( ar, دوري نجوم قطر), or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotio ...

Süper Lig

In 2017, beIN Sports bought the broadcasting rights of the Turkish

until 2024.

SPFL

BeIN shows live Premiership games.

Rugby union

In France, beIN Sports broadcasts November test matches,

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

, English Premiership and Pro14.

Rugby league

beIN Sports will broadcast the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

including all home matches of French side Catalans Dragons. Other competitions include the Australian National Rugby League and State of Origin series. beIN Sports was awarded the rights to the

2013 Rugby League World Cup The 2013 Rugby League World Cup was the fourteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and took place in England, Wales, France and Ireland. between 26 October and 30 November 2013. It was the main event of the year's 2013 Festival of World ...

and broadcast all matches live.

Cricket

In 2017,

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

debuted on the channel. BeIN Sports has acquired the Cricket Australia and England and Wales Cricket Board rights for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and broadcast the

2017–18 Ashes series The 2017–18 Ashes series (named Magellan Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches contested between England and Australia for The Ashes. The series was played at five venues across Australia between 23 Novembe ...

and

2017–18 Big Bash League season The 2017–18 Big Bash League season or BBL, 07 was the seventh season of the KFC Big Bash League, the professional men's Twenty20 domestic cricket competition in Australia. The tournament started on 19 December 2017 and finished on 4 February ...

Indian Premier League

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 Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, reac ...

up to 2022.

Pakistan Super League

In early 2021, beIN Sports held the rights to broadcast the

2021 Pakistan Super League The 2021 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 6 or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2021) was the sixth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. It was i ...

Motorsports

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. beIN Sports also airs the FIA World Rallycross Championship in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. In 2016, beIN Sports began to broadcast two more Dorna-controlled motorcycle road racing series in the United States and Canada --

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

, 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.

Team handball

beIN Sports has acquired exclusive broadcast rights to the EHF Champions League (

Team Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

). 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 The 2013 World Men's Handball Championship was the 23rd World Men's Handball Championship, an international handball tournament that took place in Spain from 11 to 27 January 2013. This was the first time Spain hosted the World Men's Handball C ...

. beIN Sports USA aired live, delayed and pre-recorded HD games in the US, between January 11–27, 2013.

Tennis

In France, beIN Sports airs the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

, Fed Cup, ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP World Tour 500, ATP World Tour Finals, and some ATP World Tour 250 and

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

tournaments. beIN Sports will be the exclusive broadcaster of WTA Tour in the United States, Australia, the Middle East, and North Africa from 2017 to 2021.

Other sports

In France, beIN Sports aired the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

tennis, handball and basketball tournaments. In athletics, beIN Sports airs the

IAAF Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

and several international marathons and World Indoor Meetings. In cycling, it broadcasts some UCI World Tour road races, including the Giro d'Italia, as well as the UCI Road, Track, Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships ("Mountain Bike Mania," 2016-2018). The channel also airs the French Handball Championship, FIVB World League, EuroLeague ( top-tier European

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club competition),

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA),

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). On 25 May 2016, the U.S. beIN Sports announced that it had acquired partial rights to

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

college sports College athletics encompasses non-professional, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called the ''Union Nationale des É ...

, including a package of selected

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

matches. The deal marks the first

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

-related contract the U.S. network has acquired. On 20 April 2018,

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

debuted on the channel with the premiere of Major League Wrestling's weekly series, '' MLW Fusion'', on beIN Sports USA. Andrew Kerr, presenter beIN Sports, Jan 2014

Andrew Kerr, presenter beIN Sports, Jan 2014

Football broadcasters

The channel's football coverage is notably fronted by

Richard Keys Richard Keys (born 23 April 1957) is an English sports presenter who has worked for BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Talksport, Al Jazeera, Fox Sports, ESPN Star Sports , BeIN Sports; and has presented many top-level football matches. Career His ca ...

and Andy Gray.

Football coverage

Basketball coverage

Tennis coverage

Handball coverage

Rugby coverage

Distribution

Indonesia & Philippines

Current channels

beIN Sports 1 HD will focus on year-round live football with the

(2013–2019) being prominent as well as content from Arsenal, Liverpool, and Spurs club channels in

streaming media Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

. Other live coverage will come from the

(2013–2021 exclude 2016–2018),

(MLS), the Brazilian national leagues (Paulistao & Brasileirão) (2013–2015), as well as major cup tournaments such as the

(2013–2024),

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

(2013 and 2014), and the

. 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 Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

, the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

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.

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 websit
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. 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. The channel was officially launched on 31 January 2014 via MTS and NEXTV. beIN Sports HD is available on Shaw Cable on channel 234, Rogers Cable on channel 391, on Bell Satellite & Fibe on channel 1412, 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. 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.

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. At the

2017 World Men's Handball Championship The 2017 IHF World Men's Handball Championship was the 25th event hosted by the International Handball Federation. The event was held in France from 11 to 29 January 2017. France, in a clean sweep, defended their title by defeating Norway 33–26 ...

, 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. The

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

were also left without domestic television coverage in four MENA region 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. 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. The following March, beIN's rights to the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

(AFC) were stripped in Saudi Arabia to "cancel" its monopoly on the sport, due to the "illegality of BeIN Sport 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. 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

for non-domestic events, as the channel's prioritisation of football in its scheduling, narrower carriage than its previous broadcaster

Tennis Channel Tennis Channel is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Sinclair Television Group subsidiary of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It is devoted to events and other programming related to the game of ...

, 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. In April 2020, amidst claims of

Saudi Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is c ...

PIF taking over Premier League club

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, 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 A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

protected content and demanded

to block the deal. “Given the crippling economic effect that

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

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.

Piracy

Premier League rights

In 2014, the

restricted beIN Sports in the MENA region to airing one match per-week with a 3:00 p.m. UK time kickoff on television only. As these matches may not be broadcast within the United Kingdom due to domestic rights restrictions, the Premier League showed concerns that beIN was not taking adequate steps to prevent its streaming broadcasts from being used for unauthorized retransmissions, especially into the United Kingdom. In November 2014, the Premier League reinstated beIN's full access to 3 p.m. fixtures. The company recently wrote to Premier League clubs to warn them against agreeing to a takeover deal with a Saudi-led consortium for Newcastle United. The Premier League board is currently deciding on whether to allow the deal to go through.

beoutQ

Due to the then-ongoing

diplomatic crisis {{Refimprove, date=December 2011 An international incident (or diplomatic incident) is a seemingly relatively small or limited action, incident or clash that results in a wider dispute between two or more nation-states. International incidents can ...

between Qatar and other Arab countries, beIN was restricted from doing business in Saudi Arabia and the UAE since June 2017. The UAE un-banned the MENA network a month later, with no progress from Saudi Arabia reported. 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, which has faced criticism from beIN and rightsholders over its "industrial-scale"

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

. 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. 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 The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

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. 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.

Italian football coverage rights

In November 2019, beIN Sports announced that it was reviewing its partnership with

and considering cancelling all of its agreements in Italian football, following the league's decision to play a

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

match between

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

and

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

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. 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

’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 Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

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. beIN paid $500 million to broadcast

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.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Association football on television BeIN Media Group Sports television networks Mass media companies established in 2012 2012 establishments in France Television stations in Indonesia Television channels and stations established in 2012 Sports divisions of TV channels Television stations in Thailand

History

Early career

Programming

Football

FIFA World Cup

UEFA Euro

Champions League

Ligue 1

Stars League

Süper Lig

SPFL

Rugby union

Rugby league

Cricket

Indian Premier League

Pakistan Super League

Motorsports

Team handball

Tennis

Other sports

Football broadcasters

Football coverage

Basketball coverage

Tennis coverage

Handball coverage

Rugby coverage

Distribution

Indonesia & Philippines

Current channels

Former channel

Canada

France

Controversies

Market position

Piracy

Premier League rights

beoutQ

Italian football coverage rights

See also

References

External links