Japan: Perform Group acquires domestic TV rights to the J-League (2017-2026, €179m per year)

Perform Group, who specialise in the production and distribution of sports content on digital platforms, acquired the domestic broadcasting rights to the first three Japanese divisions (Meiji Yasuda J1 League, Meiji Yasuda J2 League, and Meiji Yasuda J3 League) and the play-offs between the different divisions of the Japanese Professional Football League (J-League) for 10 years (2017-2026), announced the group on 20/07/2016.

These rights are valued at 210bn yen (€1.79bn) for the period. They are valid on all platforms and are not exclusive. With this new agreement, the J-League has quadrupled the amount for its audiovisual rights. They were receiving 5bn yen (€42.3m) per year over the 2012-2016 period from the Sky Perfect JSAT Corp group, who notably continue to broadcast the Japanese championship abroad: the group owns these rights for the 2015-2019 period.

The broadcasting of Japanese leagues will be reserved for DAZN, a sports OTT platform of the Perform Group, launched on 16/06/2016 and available in Japan from August 2016.

The agreement also provides that Perform Group and…