Eleven Sports, the broadcaster owned by Leeds United's Andrea Radrizzani, 'considering closing its UK arm after just four months'

Sources close to Leeds indicated tonight that the prospect of Eleven Sports shutting its domestic service just four months after launching it would have no material impact on the day-to-day running of the club after claims that Eleven is in talks to free itself of newly-acquired sports rights packages.

The Daily Telegraph revealed today that the mixed martial arts brand UFC had used an exit clause to pull out of a contract agreed with Eleven Sports in September after Eleven failed to agree deals to secure coverage on major TV networks like Sky Sports and BT Sport.

Eleven and Radrizzani have snapped up a raft of TV rights in 2018, committing millions of pounds to taking Serie A coverage from BT Sport and La Liga coverage from Sky.

A Eleven Sports spokesman, however, told the Telegraph that the “current market dynamics in the UK and Ireland are very hostile for new entrants.”

The spokesperson added that the firm was trying to “restructure our existing agreements” for Serie A and La Liga matches. Eleven currently charges subscribers £5.99 a month to stream coverage online.

Radrizzani made his money from sports TV rights, founding MP & Silva before establishing Eleven in 2015.

The Italian became Leeds United’s outright owner in May 2017 and controls a stake of just under 90 per cent in the club having sold shares to the investment arm of NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers at the end of last season.

Leeds operate at an annual loss in the Championship, a deficit which Radrizzani covers, and sources at Elland Road insist the potential closure of Eleven’s UK network will not affect the club. Eleven holds contracts in a number of other countries across the world.

In an interview with the YEP in August, Radrizzani admitted that he was not willing to run Leeds in the Championship indefinitely. The club have a strong chance of promotion to the Premier League this season, though, and sit second in the table after 21 games.

Speaking in August, Radrizzani said: “If I don’t go up after a few years then I’ll sell because it means my cycle is done and someone else should do it. It’s a loss-making league and it’s not fun to put money every year into a business that loses money.”