NYON, Switzerland -- UEFA says United States-backed agency CAA Eleven has bought exclusive commercial rights to all its European Championship and World Cup qualifying matches, plus the Euro 2016 tournament.
UEFA confirmed the scale, though not the exact value, of a likely multi-billion dollar deal Tuesday, one day after announcing it linked up with the agency.
CAA Eleven was created in June as a division of entertainment industry giant Creative Artists Agency.
UEFA had been searching for a partner to sell recently centralized broadcast rights to Euro 2016 qualifiers and European preliminaries for the 2018 World Cup.
Industry watchers predicted difficulties for UEFA due to Europe's economic downturn and promised revenue payments to its 53 national members.
UEFA says the finalized deal, including Euro 2016 in France, packages exclusive "broadcasting, sponsorship and licensing rights."