Piracy: "We will pay less for TV rights in the future, some in particular" (T. Keaveny, beIN MENA)

"A rights holder’s stance on beoutQ’s piracy - in other words whether they’re taking legal action, making a public stand, and doing everything within their power to combat the industrial-scale theft of their rights - is a critical factor that we’re now considering when bidding. We pay enormous amounts for media rights, but the natural consequence of Saudi Arabia’s piracy is that those rights cannot be protected so we will pay less for those rights in the future - in particular to the rights holders who pay only lip service to combating beoutQ," said Tom Keaveny, managing director of beIN MENA.

The media and communication group Liberty Media Corporation, the parent company of Formula One Group, is the first rights holder concerned by these statements since beIN MENA has decided not to extend its rights to broadcast Formula 1 after the end of the season 2019. beIN MENA pays an estimated $30m to $40m (between €27m and €36m) per year for these rights, or nearly 7% of the total amount of audiovisual rights in Formula 1, according to the British consulting and studies firm Ampere…