La Jornada – Lauman Group buys Fox Sports Mexico for $ 300 million

The Lauman Group, chaired by businessman Manuel Arroyo, acquired Fox Sports México from The Walt Disney Company, a process the Federal Institute of Communications (IFT) imposed on the entertainment company two years ago to avoid a monopoly on sports content.

The deal, which included $ 300 million, has yet to be approved by the regulator.

The acquisition of Fox Sports comes after a series of extensions granted to Disney, after IFT decided in 2019 that if the sports channel remained in that company’s hands, the audience’s focus in offering sports content signals and licenses to push digital systems and platforms would reach 80 percent.

This is due to the fact that Disney owns ESPN, so upon acquisition of Fox Sports it will have a dominance in the sector, which implies charging consumers for digital platforms, but also for pay TV systems.

For Lauman, the acquisition means sending in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, CONCACAF Champions League and Formula 1 football teams and broadcast rights for the football teams Santos, Queretaro and Pachuca, as well as Formula 1, NFL, UFC and WWE, among others.

On May 7, the last extension allowed by the regulatory body plenary session expired, which rejected the request submitted to the US consortium to give more time for the liquidation to begin.

“From the analysis conducted, the institute is of the view that the conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which at that time affected the process of disintegration, are different today.”

He pointed to the resumption of economic activities at the present time, such as sports, as there is no justification for extending the extension period.

In the United States, the entertainment company had a total purchase of $ 71.3 billion, but Disney had to sell 22 regional Fox sports networks. In Mexico, the Federal Economic Competition Commission gave the green light in January two years ago.