Relevent

Relevent
Company typePrivate
IndustrySports marketing
Media rights
Founded2012 (2012)
FounderStephen M. Ross, Daniel Sillman, Matt Higgins
HeadquartersNew York City
Area served
Global
Key people
Daniel Sillman (CEO)
Stephen M. Ross (Chairman)
Boris Gartner (President)
WebsiteRelevent.com

Relevent, formerly known as Relevent Sports Group (RSG), is a global sports and media rights organization. It is best known for representing commercial rights to European football leagues, including UEFA's men's club competitions such as UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League men's competitions globally,[1][2] English Football League (EFL) in the Americas,[3] La Liga across North America,[4][5] and Bundesliga in North, Central, and South America.[6]

Having secured more than $4 billion in media rights and sponsorship agreements on behalf of its partners, Relevent is considered one of the most influential companies promoting football globally.[7][8][9] It operates the Premier League Summer Series throughout the United States.[10] The company was founded in 2012 by RSE Ventures,[11] and is owned by Stephen M. Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins.[12][13]

History

Relevent was founded in 2012 by RSE Ventures as a sports media company and promoter of sporting events.[11] Due to Relevent's work, European soccer clubs, including Germany's FC Bayern Munich, France's Lyon, UK's Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund, have become regular guests in the USA.

In 2018, Relevent began its transition from a live events company to a media rights commercial agency and internationalization platform for clubs, federations, and leagues looking to expand internationally.[14]

Media Rights

In August 2018, Relevent signed a 15-year joint venture deal with La Liga,[15] called La Liga North America, which promotes soccer in Canada and the US.[16] In 2021, it was announced that partnership would extend for an additional five years in Central America. Relevent went on to negotiate La Liga's media rights deal with ESPN in 2021, which marked the largest football media rights deal ever in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the sale of La Liga's rights in Mexico and Central America to Televisa Sky Sports that same year.[4][5]

In 2022, Relevent secured UEFA's men's club competitions media rights for the United States for the 2024-2027 cycle[17] and sold the UEFA rights to Paramount Network/CBS Sports for a six year-term for $1.5 billion.[18][19] In 2023, Relevent brokered the sale of UEFA broadcasting rights in the U.S. to TelevisaUnivision for a three-year deal worth $225 million.[19]

In early 2024, Relevent landed exclusive English Football League (EFL) fixture distribution rights throughout North, Central, and South America.[3] The company went on to negotiate the sale of the EFL's rights in the United States to CBS Sports.[20] Later that year, the organization struck a 17-year deal to represent the Bundesliga in the sale of its media rights in North, Central, and South America.[6]

In March 2025, Relevent announced that it had officially won a landmark mandate to represent the UEFA men's club competitions global media and sponsorship rights for the 2027-2033 cycle. The deal is UEFA's first commercial rights sales partnership since the formation of the UC3, a joint venture between UEFA and the ECA, and is the first change in global agency representation since the creation of the Champions League over 30 years ago.[1][2]

International Champions Cup

In 2013, the company launched the International Champions Cup,[8][21] a pre-season tournament in which European soccer teams play in the United States, Europe, and Asia.[13]

In 2017, the Men's ICC included the first pre-season El Clásico, a soccer match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, to the US for the first time and outside of Spain for the second time in 100 years.[11][16][22] The following year, Relevent launched the Women's ICC,[23] as well as an international youth tournament, the ICC Futures.[24]

League Matches

In April 2019, Relevent sued the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and FIFA in the Supreme Court of New York, accusing the organizations of having a conflict of interest in sanctioning professional games and conspiring to block Relevent from bringing regular-season games to North America from overseas leagues. The lawsuit stated that the Federation was threatening Relevent's soccer promotion business after it denied two of the company's proposals to have foreign league and cup matches at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.[8][7][12] In September 2020, the United States Department of Justice entered the dispute,[25] warning FIFA that banning popular soccer games in the US could be a breach of US anti-trust laws.[26] In 2024, it was announced that FIFA and Relevent had settled its lawsuit, allowing for international league matches to be played in the US.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b "Champions League global promotion rights handed to US agency". Financial Times. March 14, 2025. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Matt Slater (March 14, 2025). "UEFA confirms deal with Relevent Sports: What this means for Champions League games in the U.S." New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Jacob Feldman (March 5, 2024). "Relevent Acquires EFL Rights Amid Wrexham-Driven Intrigue". Sportico. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Anthony Crupi (May 13, 2021). "Disney Swaps Ronaldo for Messi in $1.4 Billion LaLiga Pact". Sportico. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Rory Jones (November 11, 2021). "LaLiga inks 'US$70m a year' Televisa extension for Mexico and Central America". Sports Pro. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Adam Crafton (September 19, 2024). "German football bidding to crack the U.S. market by signing up with media group Relevent". NY Times. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Draper, Kevin (April 22, 2019). "Relevent Sports Sues U.S. Soccer, Escalating Fight Over Sanctioning". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  8. ^ a b c Cáceres, Javier (December 19, 2020). "Ungebrochenes Interesse". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  9. ^ "Relevent Sports, the billionaire's media group selling football to America". Financial Times. August 20, 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  10. ^ Panja, Tariq (January 21, 2020). "Envisioning a Champions League on Tour, a Soccer Investor Demands More for His Money". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Thomas, Ian (October 1, 2018). "Daniel Sillman, Relevent's 29-year-old CEO, has bold plans". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  12. ^ a b Kaufman, Michelle (April 22, 2019). "This is why the Dolphins owner's soccer promotion company sued U.S. Soccer Federation". Miami Herals. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  13. ^ a b Shea, Bill. "'It's crazy': ICC founder Stephen Ross, stymied in soccer business effort, doesn't mince words for US Soccer, MLS". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  14. ^ "Leaders Under 40 2023". Leaders in Sport. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  15. ^ Draper, Kevin (August 16, 2018). "La Liga Will Bring Regular-Season Matches to America". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Daniel Sillman: "El valor en TV de LaLiga en EEUU ha subido un 45%"". EXPANSION (in Spanish). February 27, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  17. ^ Tariq Panja (February 3, 2022). "Rare Champions League Rights Sale Produces Two Winners". NYT. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  18. ^ Chuck Booth (August 19, 2022). "UEFA and CBS Sports/Paramount reach six-year deal to air Champions League, Europa and Conference League". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  19. ^ a b Asli Pelit (May 16, 2023). "Univision Wins UEFA U.S. Spanish Media Rights in $225M Deal". Sportico. Retrieved March 6, 2025.
  20. ^ Adam Crafton (July 18, 2024). "CBS beats ESPN to claim U.S. TV rights to EFL – and has bold plan to tap into 'the drama'". NY Times. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  21. ^ Furones, David (April 18, 2018). "Major international soccer coming back to Hard Rock Stadium this summer". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  22. ^ Jeff Haden (May 30, 2019). "Why One of the Most Successful CEOs (and Entrepreneurs) You've Never Heard of Still Thinks He Has a Lot to Learn". Inc. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  23. ^ "Relevent Sports Sees Growth Ahead For Women's ICC Tournament". Front Office Sports. August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  24. ^ "2019 International Champions Cup Futures Tournament". IMG Academy. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  25. ^ "US Justice Department Warns FIFA on International Ban". The New York Times. Associated Press. September 1, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  26. ^ Panja, Tariq (September 1, 2020). "FIFA Is Warned That Banning Top Games in U.S. May Breach Antitrust Laws". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  27. ^ "FIFA reaches agreement in lawsuit seeking to allow domestic club games in foreign countries". NYT. April 8, 2024. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.