In five days the 2026 season begins with the Uruguayan Super Cup between Nacional vs Peñarol and the signing of the contracts of the new trade agreements for the TV rights of Uruguayan football they are locked because the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) He hasn’t sent Tenfield yet two of the four documents that must be signed before the start of the activity.
As confirmed Referee with the AUF and with the Tenfield company, football sent the company only the texts of the contracts for two of the four lots that won in the tender: that of the rights of streaming (for which he paid US$ 17,500,000 per year) and that of sponsorship, advertising and merchandising (pays US$8,000,000 per year), but did not send until this Tuesday afternoon those of audiovisual production and commercial production.
From the Tenfield company they expressed their worry due to the situation, when in five days the official activity of 2026 begins, which was marketed in the tender, which will generate US$67,500,000 per year for football for TV rights.
From the AUF they explained that they have not yet sent the documents because they remain some technical aspects of the contracts that the consulting firm must resolve and that, in any case, AUF and Tenfield are in contact to move forward and will send it in the next few hours.
The consulting firm had already committed a grave error awarding to a company that had bid for a higher price in an item that was awarded at a lower price.
The other six contractsthe two from Tenfield that were designated for streaming and for advertising and those from the Torneos/Directv consortium for cable+TV, the Antel/Click Team/Team Sports Media consortium for international rights, the Mediapro Uruguay company for betting and the Flor/GMC/Conosur consortium for other AUF competitions, They have already been sent to the companies.
The only two that did not come out of the AUF are the production ones awarded to Tenfield.
A limit situation for the signing of TV rights contracts
What remains raised in this scenario is that the situation is at the limit and for that reason, as confirmed Refereelos Football and Tenfield lawyers will meet this Wednesday afternoon at the headquarters on Guayabos Street due to the urgency posed by the time remaining until the start of the 2026 season and the postponement of the delivery of the contracts.
Also, if you wanted it, Tenfield will have 30 days to sign the agreement with the AUF once you receive the document.
Why is the situation extreme? Because audiovisual production is responsible for putting the broadcast of the match on the screen of the devices.
Without the content to show, you will not be able to watch football on cables or via streaming from Sunday.
Can the AUF contract a service outside the bidding for audiovisual production until it signs the contracts? You may agree outside the contract for Sunday, but in that case you will be exposed to failing to comply with the agreements already established in the award and the issue may go to court.
Why might the AUF default? Tenfield understands that once it was awarded in the field of audiovisual production after committing to charge US$5,044,000 for the services it will provide in 732 soccer matches during the year 2026 and after paying the guarantee, it is the only one that can carry out that production for Uruguayan soccer.
So, if the AUF decided to contract the service of Tournaments (which forms the consortium with Directv), as it already did in the Qualifiers (it won it in a tender) and in the AUF League Cup whose final is played this Thursday, and which was direct competition from Tenfield in the bidding, football may be exposed to lawsuits.
The contract bomb: football will not be castable
This Wednesday’s meeting between the AUF and Tenfield lawyers will take place this Wednesday another hot topic: the contract that the AUF sent the company by streaming establishes, according to Tenfield, that those who purchase the product sold by Francisco Casal’s company are also obliged to purchase the cable (which was won by Torneos/Directv).
The cable arm wrestling vs streaming is installed and enters its hottest stage.
For the company, this obligation was not established in the bidding documents or in the questions (which were the basis for drafting the contracts) and it will be one of the issues that they will put on the table.
They understand in Tenfield that they committed to the obligation of sell to the entire public within its sector, but not to condition its clients that they must purchase the cable product.
For its part, the AUF played its card (and explodes a bomb) and established in the streaming rights contracts that Tenfield has until December 2029, that Uruguayan football will not be castableTherefore, those who purchase the product from Casal’s company They will not be able to watch the games on the television screen but exclusively on the phone.
Until December, when Tenfield had the two products (cable and streaming) exclusively, the streaming products could be cast to TV.
The issue will be on the negotiation table between the lawyers tomorrow.
On the field, football begins on Sunday at the 20th hour at the Centenario Stadium with the Uruguayan Super Cup and on Friday, February 6, the Apertura Tournament will begin.
