The relationship between sports bodies and broadcasters and their respective interests in protecting the audio-visual transmission of sport to fans and consumers has therefore been growing closer, in particular over the past decade with the development of digital transmission technologies and platforms, from satellite, DTT, cable to internet and mobile.
Sports rights owners commonly grant rights on a platform neutral basis encouraging use of rights by media partners and the viewing of their sports by fans using all available technological platforms. Increasingly as well, the transmission of a sporting event is being made on one technological platform and carried and/or retransmitted on multiple other platforms (whether simultaneously or on an asynchronous basis).