What was in the Relevent pitch deck; Bach's $3bn farewell gift; Who's streaming who; MLS, Apple and other things we don't talk about much anymore; The Bundle Ten
The prep notes for The Bundle podcast, with Murray Barnett and Yannick Ramcke
Questions arising: The Bundle Ten
(aka, what happens when you run today’s episode through an LLM - answers at the bottom)
What is UC3, and what significance does Relevant Sports taking over global commercial rights from Team Marketing hold for the future of the UEFA Champions League?
According to the discussion, what were some potential reasons behind UEFA and the European Club Association's decision to move away from their long-standing partnership with Team Marketing?
What were the key components of the new long-term deal between Comcast/NBCUniversal and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and why was the timing of the announcement considered interesting?
Beyond just viewership numbers, what other strategic benefits do live sports like the Olympics offer to broadcasters like NBCUniversal in the current media landscape?
Describe the unique characteristics and appeal of events like the Sidemen Charity Match and the Baller League that differentiate them from traditional sports broadcasts.
How might an influencer like Cristiano Ronaldo broadcasting Premier Padel matches on his YouTube channel impact the reach and perception of the sport?
What does NASCAR debuting select races exclusively on Amazon Prime Video suggest about the current state of sports media consumption and the perceived reach of streaming platforms?
Why might a major streaming platform like Amazon consider distributing content, such as Bundesliga matches in Germany, through traditional linear television channels?
Initially exclusive to Apple TV, the MLS Season Pass is now available through other providers. What potential reasons were discussed for this shift in distribution strategy?
What potential fundamental challenges or flaws might exist within the MLS and Apple TV partnership, as suggested by the recent changes in distribution?
1. The Relevent pitch
Introduction
UEFA has entered exclusive negotiations with Relevent for the 2027-33 cycle of UEFA men’s club competitions
First negotiation overseen by UC3, the JV of UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA)
Covers sponsorship, broadcast, and licensing rights
Why it matters
Team have sold UEFA competitions for over 30 years
This is the first cycle under the UC3 JV
Relevent already held North America rights or UEFA having secured a $1.5bn 6 year agreement with Paramount/CBS
Conclusions
Perhaps – new organisation needed new partner – not more complex than that
ECA may have felt UEFA/Team relationship was too close
Relevent claim they will ‘do things differently’
Have plans for multiple offices around the world
European revenues tapped out so Relevent looking to other markets to generate increases
UCL final in the US?
Relevent already runs International Champions Cup
The Pull Quote:
Relevent has aggressively expanded its client portfolio, though primarily within the U.S. market, securing partnerships with LaLiga, Bundesliga, and the Premier League. With UEFA Champions League rights in the U.S. locked in through 2029/30, the key question is: what differentiated Relevent’s pitch enough to persuade UEFA and the ECA to part ways with Team Marketing? Several possibilities emerge. Was it Relevent’s proven success in the U.S. market? A global media or sponsorship partner already lined up? A more localized, market-specific team structure? A fundamentally more sales-driven approach with stronger execution? Or perhaps an equity stake in the agency itself? One thing seems certain—it wasn’t simply about financial guarantees. Whatever the decisive factor, Relevent clearly pressed the right levers with the right stakeholders.
2. NBC Olympic Renewal
https://www.ft.com/content/24d755a9-d4b7-4241-a7af-e608025c4e2e
https://www.sportico.com/business/media/2025/olympics-comcast-nbc-rights-extension-2036-games-1234842945/
Introduction
NBC parent – Comcast renews with IOC until 2036 - $3bn
2014-2032 valued at $7.75bn
Effectively a 4 year extension to include 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Games
2036 not yet determined but perhaps makes a Saudi or Indian Olympics less likely – both terrible time zones for US
Includes “new, innovative joint strategic initiatives and projects”
Comcast a ‘strategic partner’ not a media rights buyer
Why it matters
Single most important IOC commercial relationship
Live sports remain one of the few programming categories that consistently command massive, real-time audiences.
In 2024, - NBC’s Olympic coverage:
An average of 67mn total viewers per day
Q3 earnings report in October,
$1.432 billion in ad sales
$474 million in distribution revenue
Could have knock-on consequences for Olympic Channel
Conclusions
Olympics is important for Peacock
NBC looking to spin off some of its linear assets
Important for both parties
2026 LA Olympics already on course to be the most commercially successful
Thomas Bach successor to be announced next month
NBC/Comcast Commercial expertise may assist Olympic TOPS programme which has been struggling
Pull Quote:
NBC’s decision to extend its media rights agreement with the IOC — despite significant per-cycle price increases — reflects a strategic bet on top-tier sports programming as a proven driver of subscriber acquisition. This move suggests growing confidence in Peacock’s ability to retain users long-term through a diverse content strategy that extends beyond live sports. Beyond subscriptions, and equally important, the Olympics remain a powerhouse for advertising. The Games offer brands a unique opportunity to align with positive image transfers, emotionally resonant, brand-safe environments, and communal viewing experiences at scale — an increasingly rare asset in today’s fragmented media landscape. Additionally, marquee sporting events serve a dual purpose for media companies: For NBC, they are as much corporate networking platforms as they are spectator events, playing a crucial role in hospitality initiatives for advertisers and offering high-level perks for key decision-makers.
3. Personality-streamers upending traditional sports broadcasting
Introduction
Ronaldo live streamed Premier Padel’s Riyadh final to his 74 million YouTube followers on 17th February
Over 620,000 viewers tuned in
Baller League announced a 1 year non-exclusive agreement with Sky Sports and Sky Now to show every game live the league’s inaugural UK season
JJ ‘KSI’ Olatunji is its president. Team managers include social media influencers such as Miniminter and Sharky, as well as soccer legends Luis Figo, Ian Wright and Gary Lineker
It takes place over 11 consecutive weeks with six half-hour games, all played at London’s Copper Box Arena.
The sixth edition of the Sidemen Charity Match drew 90,000 spectators at Wembley and more than14 million YouTube views
The last Sidemen Charity Match in 2023 peaked at over 2.5 million concurrent viewers on YouTube.
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson was one of the participants - 371 million subscribers
Carabao Cup final traditionally gets circa 4.5m max viewers.
Why it matters
Ronaldo was not paid to do this although he is a promoter of Saudi Arabia and a close friend of Premier Padel chairman Nasser al-Khelaïfi.
Baller is big – It secured US$25 million in funding, with the investment led by EQT Ventures. Sports-focused investment firm Apex Capital also took part in the financing round, with the likes of Liverpool ace Diogo Jota and Manchester United’s Mason Mount investing in the competition.
Conclusions
Social media coming of age
Primary use of social media channels
Sports as entertainment
Creative media mix to engage different audiences
‘old media’ recognising the need to capitalise on social media and digital media to keep relevancy
Experimenting
Interesting inflection point – old media needs demo of social media and social media recognises the legitimacy old media gives it (Sky home of EPL)
Increasing blurring of traditional sports and entertainment (Baller League involvement of SM stars and traditional sports people).
Increasingly influencers such as iShowSpeed appearing on main stream football shows (Sky Sports, CBS Champions League, etc)
The Pull Quote:
This further underscores the value of built-in audiences and earned distribution. Whether media companies, athletes, or influencers, those who can capture consumer attention and command engagement hold significant leverage in today’s digital media economy—reach and access is their currency, and it’s highly monetizable as competition for time and wallet share intensifies. However, while there are valuable lessons to take from these cases, they shouldn’t be mistaken for a shortcut to solving the deeper structural challenges of the sports broadcasting industry. Influencer-led broadcasts don’t seamlessly translate to traditional, premium live sports programming, but they do offer insights worth considering.
4. NASCAR and Amazon, the company we keep
Introduction
NASCAR debuts on Amazon in May
Start of 7 year agreement
Prime’s 5 events will mark the first time that NASCAR’s premier events will exclusively be streamed digitally
Why it matters
NASCAR expects to get similar viewership on the Prime Video platform as it generates on cable TV – 2m HH’s
Races will be Nielsen rated
Relatively small package 5 races of 38
Expectation Amazon will do things differently
Amazon (non-linear) can create a bigger window for each race allowing better viewing experience and increase monetisation potential
Conclusions
Amazon increasingly a player in the US Sports market
NASCAR like they are alongside NFL and NBA
Can Amazon retain existing audiences and attract new one.
Brian Herbst NASCAR EVP, Chief Media & Revenue Officer – “We have been an anchor property for cable and linear TV for a really, really long time, but as content creation consumption patterns started to change, we needed to make sure that we put our product in front of some of those new audiences.”
See also: Amazon goes linear in Germany
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2025/02/26/amazon-to-launch-linear-tv-channel-prime-in-germany/
The new general entertainment channel, named Prime, will launch on 17 April 2025, exclusively for Prime Video members in Germany and Austria.
Will carry Champions League and Wimbledon
Limited advertising and Amazon will provide rating info
Why it matters
Recognising that the sheer variety of content can sometimes be overwhelming for viewers, the new linear channel Prime aims to serve as a curated window into Amazon’s expansive catalogue.
Conclusions
Recognises the need for Curation and Discovery, reaching / addressing / monetizing the entirety of the market (laggards).
The Pull Quote:
The traditional reach-versus-revenue trade-off between linear (paid) cable TV and streaming may no longer apply. As linear TV shrinks and streaming expands, their reach expectations have converged. Prime Video, already at the upper limit of digital reach, in particular, has become more and more of a destination for U.S. sports fans as its live sports programming around NFL, NBA, NASCAR reaches critical mass—technical reach was always there, but audience ratings are now catching up. However, linear broadcast TV remains the highest-reach platform, and rights owners still accept a discount on reach when opting for digital-only distribution instead of NBC, ABC, FOX, or CBS.
Linear-to-streaming is not a one-way transition but flows both ways. Despite Prime Video’s exclusive first-pick UEFA Champions League rights in Germany for over three years, some addressable audiences have yet to sign up digitally — and may never do so. By packaging and pricing its premium content into linear channels and distributing them via satellite, cable, and IPTV providers, Prime Video can reach, engage, and monetize the full addressable market, including late adopters. DAZN has successfully operated its linear channels DAZN 1 and DAZN 2 in Germany for years, proving the model’s incrementality and viability. Additionally, traditional linear TV still offers value by delivering a curated, lean-back experience, whereas OTT streaming requires more active purchasing and viewing decisions compared to linear pay-TV bundle.
5. The shadow of World Cup 2026 impacting MLS and Apple
https://www.johnwallstreet.com/p/season-pass-pivot-reflects-reality-premature-for-top-tier-rights-owners-to-be-primarily-ott
Introduction
MLS Season Pass on Apple TV will no longer be exclusive to Apple
Season Pass will also be available for purchase (and viewing) through both Comcast’s Xfinity TV service and DirecTV
T-Mobile subscribers will also receive complimentary access to MLS’ all-inclusive offering, as they did in ’23.
MLS’ 10-year, $2.5 billion tie-up with Apple, first announced in June 2022, gave the league a single global partner with direct touchpoints across billions of computing devices. However, Season Pass’s growth was also predicated on getting fans to consume games in a new way, without the full suite of promotional opportunities and typical weekly narrative buildup that comes with more traditional TV deals.
Why it matters
Concerns that organic reach received via Apple will not be enough for it to effectively capitalize on any momentum generated from the 2026 World Cup.
The change in Season Pass distribution strategy reflects the reality –and challenges– of the moment.
Rights owners know they must begin migrating to the ‘new’ digital world.
The tech platforms are increasingly necessary for them to fully maximize their media rights’ value.
Apple reportedly has the ability to opt out of the contract after the fifth season (2027),
Conclusions
Placing Season Pass on platforms other than Apple TV expands its potential market, and Saturday Night Soccer (in front of MLS paywall on Apple) serves as direct marketing for the season package.
It seems unlikely that making the product available for purchase across platforms with larger circulation is going to dramatically move the viewership needle.
While streaming may now command ~35% of all viewership minutes consumed, digital eyeballs are siloed and spread out across more than a dozen services; and Apple TV is near the bottom of the chart in terms of minutes consumed making meaningful organic discovery unlikely.
Expect most top tier rights owners to return to the pay TV bundle, in some capacity, during their next round of rights negotiations.
The next logical evolution might be for MLS and Apple to explore reconnecting with regional sports networks via simulcast rights – similar to how Fox Sports currently has a national agreement to simulcast 34 games per regular season -- to make up for that lack of on-the-ground presence.
The Pull Quote:
After two seasons of fully-exclusive availability within the Apple TV ecosystem, and with the unexpected arrival of Lionel Messi halfway through the first season, Apple TV has now signed up the die-hard MLS audience willing to navigate its walled garden. To expand beyond this limited core base and attract casual football fans, Apple will have to lower consumption barriers and intensify cross-platform promotion. Every content owner prefers direct-to-consumer relationships, but even a brand powerhouse with 2.35 billion active devices must leverage third-party storefronts (Google, Amazon, Roku) and traditional pay-TV distributors (DirecTV, Comcast) to reach and convert the total addressable market, to maximize reach and subscriber growth.
Answers to The Bundle Ten (as we’re determined to keep calling it)
UC3 is a joint venture vehicle of UEFA and the European Clubs Association created to sell the rights for UEFA club competitions. Relevant Sports taking over global commercial rights is significant as it represents a major shift away from the long-dominant Team Marketing and potentially signals a new approach to commercializing these properties, possibly with a more global and innovative strategy driven by a North American-based entity.
Potential reasons include a desire for something completely new and a "new broom" approach to rights sales after UC3 was formed. There might have been a perception that Team Marketing had become too comfortable and wasn't innovating sufficiently, despite their track record of revenue growth. The involvement of the European Club Association in UC3 also suggests a desire for clubs to have a more central role in the commercialization process.
The deal is a $7.65 billion agreement extending NBCUniversal's rights to broadcast the Olympics through 2032, with a separate $3 billion deal for the 2034 and 2036 Games. It also includes technical and advertising support. The timing was interesting due to the impending selection of a new IOC president, potentially representing Thomas Bach's final major deal.
Beyond viewership, live sports offer significant value for subscriber acquisition and retention for streaming services. They are also unique in today's fragmented media landscape for delivering large, live audiences at scale, which is highly attractive to advertisers. Additionally, these events serve as valuable corporate hospitality opportunities.
These events prioritize entertainment with sport as a backdrop, often featuring personalities with large social media followings rather than solely focusing on elite-level competition. Their appeal lies in the engagement with familiar online figures and a less traditional, more entertainment-driven approach to sports-related content.
Broadcasting on Ronaldo's popular YouTube channel, even without direct payment, can significantly increase the visibility of paddle tennis to a massive and potentially new audience. It leverages Ronaldo's personal brand and reach to introduce the sport to fans who might not typically seek out paddle tennis content, potentially driving broader awareness and interest.
NASCAR debuting on Amazon Prime suggests a growing acceptance and reliance on streaming platforms as legitimate and potentially equal avenues for reaching audiences compared to traditional linear television. It indicates a possible "tipping point" where rights holders are confident in streaming's reach and are willing to offer premier events exclusively on digital platforms.
Amazon might consider linear distribution in Germany to reach consumers who have not yet adopted streaming services or subscribed to Prime Video. This allows them to tap into a still significant audience segment and potentially recoup more of their investment by making the content accessible through more traditional means. It can also serve as a discovery tool for their streaming platform.
The shift in distribution strategy for MLS Season Pass suggests that the initial exclusivity may have limited its reach and overall success. By expanding availability to Comcast's Xfinity and DirecTV, as well as continuing the T-Mobile partnership, MLS and Apple are aiming to broaden the audience for the product and increase its visibility beyond the Apple ecosystem.
Potential flaws include a misalignment in the vertically integrated nature of Apple versus MLS's responsibility for the entire media product, potentially leading to tensions over investment and production quality. The exclusivity might have hindered reach, and there may be questions about Apple's long-term investment and strategic goals in the sports rights market beyond this experiment.
If you’ve got this far, you might be interested in something we’re building around The Bundle.
We’re looking for early volunteers.
It’s a closed Large Language Model that contains all the podcast transcripts, the notes from each episode and other interesting material that we think would help build a useful source for Bundle subscribers.
Reply to this newsletter below and I’ll send a link. Let’s see if something interesting comes from it.
Ta very much.
UP
Interested - thanks Richard