TV Rights and Sport: Legal Aspects

I feel very honoured to have been invited to contribute the Foreword to this book on sports TV rights. It is fair to say, I think, that our lives in the twenty-first century are, in many respects, dominated by the media and sport; and, when combined, they are a very powerful force and mix indeed. It has been well said that sport and the media are, metaphorically speaking, a marriage made in heaven. This book in the now well-established Asser Sports Law Series of Titles, the brainchild of the Director of the prestigious T. M. C. Asser Instituut International Sports Law Centre in The Hague, Dr Robert Siekmann, is most certainly both timely and welcome. I am particularly enthusiastic about the fact that a number of esteemed colleagues who are members of the EMR Media Network have been invited to contribute to this collection. The first part of the book consists of several contributions on the very important European Law aspects of sports broadcasting rights in the digital age as well as TV rights relating to major sports events which are both of particular professional interest to me. Without the commercial exploitation of those rights and the resulting spectacular revenues generated, I may add, many sports events would never see the light of day, much to the disappoi- ment of the general public.