The story started more than a month ago. March 11th, Claudio “Chiqui” TapiaPresident of AFAhe met with Victor Santa Maria (media entrepreneur and general secretary of the building managers’ union) and Paul IacovelloCEO of Amazon Prime Video for Latin America. The meeting served for the AFA to sign a contract for a documentary of the Argentine national team that would report close to $5,000,000. At the end of that talk, another topic crept in: the Argentine football television rights. AFA reminded the giant of the streaming which is still in negotiations with TNT Sports for the triennium from mid-2027 to mid-2030, a period for which Disneythe other member of the football pack, has already paid 45.000.000. Amazon was interested. And the door was opened for a new bid.
Days later, another message arrived at the Viamonte street building, which went one step further. Amazon looked favorably on broadcasting the football matches of the first A, something confirmed to this newspaper by three independent sources aware of the negotiation. The press agency that manages the account of the US company did not respond to calls from THE NATION. “Make an offer,” retorted AFA. Until the last hour of this Thursday, the giant of the streaming He had not made any specific offer. Tapia used that letter to pressure TNT Sports and ingratiate himself with the club leaderswho always have a smile saved for when they are offered more money.
“We have a meeting scheduled with Quique Sacco to resolve the issue of TNT Sports. In addition, we have a new interest in broadcasting, which is Amazon Prime Video”, whitened the top manager of national football at the last meeting of the executive committee of the Professional Leagueheld on the third floor of the Viamonte 1366 building. It was the first in which Tapia officiated as president, after Justice will entrust him with the administration of the Professional League for 90 daysin which he must conduct the electoral process to determine Marcelo Tinelli’s successor.
“It was to wake them up”granted a source from the AFA about Amazon’s interest and the impact it can have on TNT Sports, whose negotiation has been dragging on since last year, without resolution. “They have to come with an offer similar to that of Disney”, they added from the entity. TNT knows about the AFA-Amazon meetings. And they also know very well how American companies are run: they understand that the company of streaming it will not advance on a right that has already been sold (although the 2022-2027 renewal has not even been signed, even though the company has already notified AFA of its intention to continue). In any case, the Association’s recent history includes early breaches of contracts and lawsuits such as the one initiated by Codified Satellite Television (TSC) after the unilateral rescission of the agreement, which occurred in August 2009. That decision by the executive committee, chaired by Julio Humberto Grondona, gave birth to Soccer for All.
“Of course, this situation suits the AFA”, says another informant. The meeting between Sacco and Tapia is scheduled for this Friday. For the first time in at least ten months, The company will make a firm proposal to extend the current contract until 2030, the same extension as Disney. Of course, as the country’s economic conditions changed, the number, and especially the form of payment, will not be identical to those proposed at the time by the company that owns ESPN and Fox Sports. TNT prepares an offer that includes part in cash and part in installments. AFA wants 45 million dollars. And the sooner the better.
The timing de Tapia could not have been better. At AFA they know that football is vital to the strategy of TNT, a company that has just been bought by Discovery on a global level. “The impact in Argentina of this acquisition will only be seen in two years. For now, nothing will change,” said a source close to the company. “Do whatever it takes, but don’t lose Argentine soccer,” the local subsidiary received as a message. What’s more, TNT gave up bidding for the Copa Libertadores in Brazil, whose rights auction ended yesterday at Conmebol. Soccer, strictly speaking, is not a mega-business: it remains stable at around two million subscribers. The seasonality due to the classics can raise the number to 2.2 million. Not much more.
Amazon Prime Video approached national soccer via River and Argentinos
On the other hand, both TNT and Disney know that an eventual arrival of Amazon would turn the current business model upside down. “That they want to buy half of the games and that they go through Amazon Prime while the other 50% go through cable is an impossible scenario,” they reason in both companies. “Nobody is going to subscribe because they have half”, they add. TNT, in fact, did a market study to assess what would happen if its matches (50% of the total for each date) were exclusive to HBO Max, the platform online for your contents. The result was negative. The company gave up on the idea.
The AFA-TNT relationship shorted from the negotiation for the three extra years of contract that Disney did pay. The arrival of Sacco, romantically involved with the opposition national deputy María Eugenia Vidal, inflamed the Government, which in informal meetings even opened the door of the soccer pack to another foreign company, Media Pro. “In the Casa Rosada there are those who read a yellow company on TNT”, points out a connoisseur of the interior. Yellow is the color of Pro, the political force of Mauricio Macri and Patricia Bullrich. If Tapia manages to get that company out of the way, he will get even closer to the Executive Power. After all, Balcarce 50 saved his skin: the General Inspectorate of Justice approved his re-election until 2025, after two clubs (Nueva Chicago and San Martín, from Tucumán) challenged the 2020 assembly in which he was extended. the mandate. Favor with favor it’s paid.
