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Lucrative deal worth billions

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South America's soccer governing body, Conmebol, has extended its lucrative partnership with sports and media heavyweight agency IMG through 2030. The deal will see IMG's FC Diez Media arm continue to manage the media rights, sponsorship, and overall commercial rights for Conmebol’s slate of continental club competitions.

The partnership between Conmebol and IMG began in 2019 when FC Diez Media became the exclusive commercial agency for all of Conmebol's club competitions. This includes prestigious tournaments such as the men’s elite Copa Libertadores, secondary Copa Sudamericana, the annual Recopa super cup, women’s Copa Libertadores Femenina, U-20 Libertadores youth category tournament as well as other disciplines like beach soccer, futsal and esports.

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FC Diez Media was established in 2018 as a joint venture between IMG and digital sports media group Perform. In 2020 Perform took full control after securing a wide array of rights from Conembol in 2017 to cover the cycle from 2019 to 2022.

The initial partnership was reportedly worth up to $1.4 billion which could have increased further after two successful rights cycles. According to reports by GlobalData Sport analysts estimate that new major sponsors such as Coca-Cola are contributing around $10 million per year.

Conmebol claims that under this partnership with IMG there has been a growth in revenue generated from club competitions by an impressive rate of about 43% from its first cycle to its second one.

Conmebol, commercial director Juan Emilio Roa, said:

“The association with IMG has been a success for the growth of South American football. The results are visible, with alliances with world-renowned brands and record numbers in reach and audience.”

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FC Diez Media, general manager Diego Alfieri, said:

“Momentum for Conmebol’s club competitions has never been stronger, following another record-breaking year across distribution, sponsorship, and digital, and going into this year’s Conmebol Libertadores 65th anniversary celebrations. We will continue working hand-in-hand with our partners at Conmebol to build upon this success and drive even more growth for South America’s iconic competitions.”

Most recently FC Diez Media aided Conmebol in selling some of their rights for Libertadores', Copa Sudamericana', and Recopa' matches in Brazil to CazeTV - a Brazilian sports streaming platform run by the LiveMode agency and streamer Casimiro Miguel.

This deal will allow CazeTV to create a live program in a reactionary format, where presenters will showcase clips of all the decisive moments from each game across those competitions, with only a three-minute delay after they occur in real-time. Full highlights from each match will be available after the final whistle. The 2025 Copa Libertadores kicked off on February 4 with the first stage of qualifying. The group stage is set to take place across April and May, while knockout rounds will run through to the final in late November.

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Conmebol has stated that this partnership extension underscores its commitment to finding innovative ways to reach young audiences through new technologies and communication methods. This move is seen as an effort by Conmebol to keep up with changing viewer habits and preferences, particularly among younger fans who are increasingly consuming sports content online.

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