What are Keyhole Rights?

Keyhole Rights are narrowly-scoped live sports rights inside a specific audience, market, or moment, rather than a blanket territorial deal. They let leagues monetize audiences existing rights deals do not reach without disturbing the underlying TV agreement.

Why do Keyhole Rights exist?

Most live sports rights are sold as broad territorial deals to a single broadcaster. Those deals do not contemplate creator-distributed broadcasting to specific demos or platforms. Keyhole Rights exist as a structured category that sits inside or alongside the broader rights deal without conflicting with it.

How do Keyhole Rights compare to traditional broadcast rights?

Traditional broadcast rights cover a full territory through a single distribution partner. Keyhole Rights cover a specific narrow scope, such as a particular audience demographic, a particular platform, or a particular live moment, with the rest of the rights staying with the existing broadcaster.

Will Keyhole Rights conflict with our TV deal?

Generally no. Keyhole Rights are designed specifically to be carved into spaces the existing TV deal does not serve, such as the 18-34 audience on creator platforms. CSN structures every keyhole deal with the existing broadcast partners in mind.

What is an example of a Keyhole Right?

A common example: a league has a US TV deal that covers traditional broadcast and streaming. A keyhole-scoped right could be cut for live distribution to the 18-34 audience on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch through CSN's creator network. The TV deal continues unchanged. The keyhole reaches the audience the TV deal does not serve.

Who buys Keyhole Rights from CSN?

Brands buying integrated sponsorship against the live broadcast indirectly fund the keyhole structure. The league licenses the keyhole to CSN, CSN distributes through the creator network and sells brand integration against it, and the league captures rights fee plus revenue share.

How are Keyhole Rights priced?

Pricing varies by sport, audience, and the scope of the keyhole. Most deals combine an upfront rights fee with revenue share against brand integrations sold against the live broadcast distribution.

How are Keyhole Rights different from Creator Rights and Athlete Rights?

Creator Rights cover individual creator broadcasting of licensed live sport. Athlete Rights cover athlete and team distribution of their own live events. Keyhole Rights are the rights structure that defines the narrow scope of what is being licensed in the first place. The three categories work together inside the CSN Playbook.

Keyhole
Rights

Keyhole Rights are narrowly-scoped live sports rights inside a specific audience, market, or moment. They let leagues monetize creator-distributed audiences without disturbing the existing TV deal.

The problem Keyhole Rights solve

Every major league has the same friction point: the existing broadcast deal pays the bills, and the existing broadcast deal cannot reach the 18-34 audience on creator platforms. Renegotiating the broadcast deal to add creator distribution risks the underlying revenue. Doing nothing risks the audience cycle that determines the next deal.

Keyhole Rights are the structural answer. Cut a narrowly-scoped right that does not overlap with the existing broadcast deal, license it separately to CSN, distribute through the creator network, monetize the audience the broadcast deal cannot serve. The TV deal stays intact. The keyhole reaches what the deal cannot.

"Carve out the audience the TV deal cannot reach. License only that. Disturb nothing else."

How Keyhole Rights are scoped

Most keyhole structures are scoped along one or more of three axes:

Audience. A specific demographic, like 18-34 viewers on creator platforms, that the existing broadcast partner does not deliver.
Platform. A specific distribution surface, like YouTube and TikTok and Twitch, that the existing broadcast deal does not cover.
Moment. A specific live moment or windowed event that sits outside the broadcast schedule the existing deal contemplates.

Most keyhole deals combine two of these axes. The keyhole is narrow enough to avoid friction with the existing deal, broad enough to deliver a meaningful audience and revenue share.

A worked example

A football league has a US broadcast deal with a major TV partner. The deal covers traditional TV broadcast and the network's streaming app. The 18-34 audience watching live sport on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch is not reached by either of those distribution surfaces.

A keyhole right is cut to license live distribution to the 18-34 audience on creator platforms only, scoped to specific games or windows. CSN distributes the live broadcast across a curated creator network. Brand integration is sold against the live broadcast. The league captures rights fee plus revenue share. The TV partner is untouched. The audience the league needed to reach is now reachable.

What Keyhole Rights are not

Not a sublicense. The TV broadcaster is not in the chain. CSN holds the keyhole directly from the league.
Not derivative content. The live signal is delivered natively, not via watch-along or reaction format.
Not a wholesale rights fragmentation. Keyhole Rights are surgical. The bulk of the rights stays where it already is.

Common questions about Keyhole Rights

Who structures the keyhole?

CSN structures the keyhole jointly with the league or rights holder, with explicit attention to the existing broadcast deal so there is no friction or carve-in that disturbs that revenue.

Do existing broadcasters need to consent?

Depends on the deal. Some broadcast deals contemplate or permit narrowly-scoped non-overlapping distributions. Others require notification or consent. CSN works through the diligence with the league before any keyhole is finalized.

Can a keyhole be cut for a single live event as a pilot?

Yes. Most CSN league relationships start with a single-event keyhole as a pilot before scaling to broader keyhole deals or multi-event windows.

Can multiple keyholes coexist on the same property?

Yes. A league can run several keyhole deals against the same property, each scoped to a different audience or platform, as long as the scopes don't overlap with each other or with the existing broadcast rights.

How long do typical keyhole deals run?

Pilot keyholes can be a single event. Standing keyholes typically run a season or a multi-season window aligned to the existing broadcast deal cycle so renewal logic stays clean.

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