This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| MP & Silva | |
|---|---|
| Name | MP & Silva |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Sports broadcasting rights |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Founder | Matteo Meneghelli; Riccardo Silva; Marco Pallotta |
| Fate | Entered administration (2018) |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Products | Media rights distribution |
MP & Silva
MP & Silva was an international sports media rights agency that acquired, aggregated and distributed audiovisual rights for sporting competitions and events. Founded by Matteo Meneghelli, Riccardo Silva and Marco Pallotta, the company rapidly expanded across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, negotiating deals for football, rugby, cricket, motor racing and boxing. It operated as an intermediary between federations, leagues and broadcasters, establishing partnerships with television networks, streaming platforms and commercial sponsors.
MP & Silva was established in 2004 by Matteo Meneghelli, Riccardo Silva and Marco Pallotta in London, following earlier careers linked to Serie A, AC Milan and international football administration. Early deals included rights for Serie A and secondary agreements involving UEFA competition feeds. Expansion during the 2000s included acquisitions of packages for FIFA youth tournaments, CONMEBOL competitions, and television rights for La Liga matches in select markets. The company opened offices in Milan, Singapore, New York, São Paulo, and Dubai, recruiting executives from Sky UK, Canal+, ITV, Eurosport and Fox Sports. By the 2010s MP & Silva had secured rights across multiple continents, working with organizations such as International Cricket Council, World Rugby, Formula One, European Rugby Champions Cup and tournament owners including the Asian Football Confederation.
MP & Silva operated as a rights broker, buying exclusive or non-exclusive territorial packages from event owners and sublicensing them to broadcasters including Sky Sports, BT Sport, beIN Sports, ESPN, Star India, Ten Network Holdings, Canal+ Afrique and national public broadcasters such as RAI, TF1 and ZDF. Revenue channels included sublicensing fees, advertising sales, sponsorship placement with brands like Emirates, Adidas, Nike and distribution of digital content via platforms including YouTube, Dailymotion and bespoke OTT services used by carriers like Telefonica and Vodafone. The company combined long-term carriage agreements with short-term event packages and pursued vertical integration by offering production, playout and transmission services leveraging partnerships with vendors such as NEP Group and Eutelsat.
MP & Silva’s portfolio featured rights for high-profile competitions and seasons: packages for UEFA Europa League matches in select territories, club competition rights for AC Milan friendlies, international fixtures involving Brazil national football team, bilateral deals with Argentina national football team and packages for La Liga sublicenses. The firm negotiated broadcast distribution for the Indian Premier League and bilateral cricket series sanctioned by Board of Control for Cricket in India and Cricket Australia. Motor sport and combat sport deals included rights related to MotoGP, FIA World Endurance Championship, World Boxing Council events and regional agreements for Superbike World Championship. Partnerships extended to broadcasters and platform operators including Sky Italia, Mediapro, SBS (Australian broadcaster), RTP (Portugal), BEIN Media Group and rights intermediaries like Infront Sports & Media.
By the mid-2010s MP & Silva experienced liquidity and cashflow pressures after rapid expansion and aggressive rights amortization. Missed payments to event owners and partners prompted disputes with bodies such as UEFA, CONCACAF and national leagues including Serie A TIM. In 2018 the company entered administration in the United Kingdom under the oversight of insolvency practitioners following creditor actions from banks, broadcasters and rights holders such as Broadcasting Commission entities and private lenders. Creditors included major broadcasters and financial institutions; administrators sought buyers for regional portfolios and sublicensing commitments. The collapse affected broadcasters in markets including United Kingdom, Italy, China, India and Thailand, disrupting carriage of competitions during renegotiations.
Legal disputes involved non-payment claims, termination of contracts and allegations concerning corporate governance. Rights holders and partners initiated arbitration and litigation in jurisdictions including London Court of International Arbitration, Court of Milan and commercial tribunals under FIFA and UEFA regulatory frameworks. High-profile claimants included European Club Association, national federations and broadcasters such as BT Group and beIN Media Group. Controversies also concerned transparency in bidding for media rights and the role of intermediaries in redistributing rights to third-party platforms including DAZN and Global Sports Media. Investigations and creditor inquiries examined deal structures, related-party transactions and the company’s balance sheet treatment of long-term contracts.
MP & Silva’s rise and collapse influenced how federations, leagues and broadcasters assess counterparty risk and structure rights agreements. The episode prompted rights owners like UEFA, FIFA and national leagues to diversify distribution strategies, including direct-to-consumer services such as LaLigaTV, regional OTT platforms and partnerships with global distributors like Amazon Prime Video Sports and Amazon MGM Studios. Industry practices evolved with greater emphasis on parental guarantees, escrow arrangements, phased payments and stricter due diligence used by broadcasters including Sky plc, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery. The MP & Silva case remains a reference in studies of media rights commerce alongside precedent events involving Infront Sports & Media restructurings and the consolidation trends that produced groups such as DAZN Group and Perform Group.
Category:Sports television Category:Companies established in 2004 Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom