Mediapro enters running for AFA rights as Consor drops out

The Mediapro agency has emerged as a late entrant into the competition for Argentinian Football Association rights as the auction kicked off yesterday (Monday) with three bidding parties.

Intellectual asset management company Consor, which was originally said to have submitted an offer that was significantly above those of international sports broadcaster ESPN and a joint proposal by US media companies Fox and Turner, has dropped out of the bidding, according to reports.

The AFA will consider the bids from ESPN, Fox/Turner and Mediapro before announcing the winning bid on Friday.

The contract is likely to run for five years with the option to renew for a further five years.

The rights – which will cover the domestic Primera División – will replace the former government-backed Fútbol para Todos initiative, which reserved coverage of games for free-to-air broadcasters.

Also on Friday, the AFA is set to vote on a new Superliga competition that is set to replace the Primera División in August.