Carlos Slim kicks off soccer battle with TV rivals
MEXICO CITY, Sept 9, 2012 (AFP) - After buying stakes in two soccer teams, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has teamed up with US-based television networks to broadcast games and tackle Mexico's two dominant channels on their turf.
The world's richest man opened a new front in his feud with Televisa and TV Azteca after his mobile phone firm America Movil bought 30 percent stakes in Mexican first division teams Pachuca and Club Leon last month.
On Thursday, the telecommunications mogul inked a broadcast deal with Fox Sports to televise Leon's games in Mexico while US Spanish-language network Telemundo will show games in the United States. “This is part of a full-frontal war between Slim and the two television channels,” Miguel Angel Lara, a media expert at Mexico's Iberoamericana University, told AFP.
The two sides have been fighting to break into each other's businesses in order to offer customers bundled packages that include TV, Internet and phone services.
The tactics in this battle have been more offensive than defensive, with the TV and telecom titans trading accusations of monopolistic practices. Slim's telecom company Telmex withdrew advertisements from the two TV channels, and the broadcasters counter-attacked with ads claiming that Telmex overcharged customers.
Slim dominates the telecom market in Mexico. His company Telmex holds around 80 percent of the fixed-line market while Telcel, a unit of America Movil, has 70 percent of the mobile market.
The world's richest man opened a new front in his feud with Televisa and TV Azteca