SportBusiness.com

TV RIGHTS TENDER FOR EURO 2008

UEFA says the public invitation to tender for TV rights to soccer’s European Championship 2008 will begin from October 18.

Interested and qualified parties (such as broadcasters, agencies and representative bodies experienced in the distribution of such rights) should request invitation to tender documents directly from UEFA as of Monday, October 18 either via e-mail on marketing@uefa.ch or fax on +4122-994 3726.

EURO 2004 dominated European prime time in June and early July, with 50 per cent to 90 per cent market shares across major television markets for live match coverage.

The UK, Germany and Italy all produced audiences in excess of 20 million for live matches.

There was also significant interest from the Far East, with live audiences in Japan reaching more than seven million for the early kick-offs, despite being screened at 1am in Japan.

The tournament provided the highest audiences of the year so far across many of the major European markets, claiming the top audience in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

The top six audiences in Germany, the top five in France, the top three in the UK, the top two in Italy and the top one in Spain were all for EURO 2004 broadcasts.