Qatar's beIN Sports picks Saudi firm as exclusive advertising partner (updated)

SMC

26/10/2022 14:56

(Adds details, political background)
       DOHA, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Qatar-based beIN, a sports
broadcaster that was banned in Saudi Arabia until last year,
said on Wednesday it had chosen a Saudi firm as its exclusive
advertising partner in the Middle East and North Africa in a
deal that a source put at some $150 million.
    BeIN Sports said in a statement it had signed an agreement
with Riyadh-based media representation firm SMC MC for all its
channels and including coverage of the soccer World Cup, of
which Qatar is the 2022 host.
    "The deal is in the region of $150 million," a source
familiar with beIN told Reuters.
        The deal comes nearly two years after Saudi Arabia and
three other Arab states announced an end to a dispute with Qatar
that had seen the four nations sever political, trade and travel
ties with Doha.
        The row played out at the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), where Qatar filed a complaint against Saudi Arabia for
blocking beIN from broadcasting in the kingdom and refusing to
take effective action against alleged piracy of beIN's content,
which Riyadh denied.
    The two countries in January notified the WTO that they were
mutually suspending remaining requests before its dispute
resolution body.
    In a sign of further strengthening of Qatari-Saudi ties, the
source told Reuters that Saudi equity firms and U.S. investors
were considering an investment in beIN. Bloomberg earlier this
month reported that Saudi wealth fund PIF had shown interest in
beIN.
    BeIN Sports is the official broadcaster of the 2022 soccer
World Cup in most countries in the Middle East and North Africa,
 and also in France.
    Last year, Saudi Arabia lifted its ban on beIN, removing a
key obstacle in the way of the PIF's takeover of English Premier
League soccer club Newcastle United.
    Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition had, in
2020, cancelled the licence of the broadcaster, which had been
barred in the kingdom since mid-2017 when the Gulf dispute
erupted. It was resolved in January 2021.
    The Saudi national team is set to play in the World Cup,
which kicks off Nov. 20 in Doha. Tens of thousands of Saudi fans
are expected to visit Qatar during the month-long tournament. 
 (Reporting by Andrew Mills  Writing by Andrew Mills and Lina
Najem
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((Lina.Najem@thomsonreuters.com;))