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(REUTERS) --- Amid a global economic environment plagued by debt, joblessness and recession fears, an unlikely haven has emerged for investors in the form of media companies that own sports rights.
It's been a long time since media companies were considered a good investment, but there's no doubt that the business of sports has so far been immune to most of the economic damage -- a theme likely to be prominent in the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York, London and Paris next week.
Although the media are often among the first to suffer in an economic downturn as companies cut discretionary spending on advertising, consumers have shown little inclination to cut back on sports entertainment, particularly in the United States.
Despite high unemployment and falling home values, they keep paying up to take costly TV packages, such as "Sunday Ticket," DirecTV's National Football League offering.
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BSkyB , Europe's biggest pay-TV operator -- of which News Corp owns 39 percent -- is also keeping customers glued to its offering of premium British soccer and other sports and movies.
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Indeed, BSkyB Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said last week he did not see the tough consumer environment hitting what he expects to be good profit and cash generation.
Advertisers, too, seem willing to pay top dollar for commercial time during key sports events. Some of the 30-second spots for the upcoming U.S. Super Bowl for instance cost upwards of $3.5 million.
That sort of environment has allowed TV networks to strike ever richer rights deals with the major sports leagues, without seriously hurting their own profitability.
Walt Disney Co's ESPN recently agreed to pay the NFL $1.9 billion a year for an eight-year TV rights deal, a 73 percent increase from its last NFL deal.
And the next contract talks for Major League Baseball -- which could start in the coming months -- are expected to yield a TV deal worth about $1 billion a year.
Executives from ESPN, the NFL and leading digital sports distributor Perform Group will be among those attending the Reuters Summit in New York, London and Paris next week.
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The outlook for media companies that don't own sports rights is, however, a bit murkier. Much depends on how consumers react to the latest bout of economic uncertainty.
If they hunker down in their living rooms, that could benefit companies whose business revolves around home entertainment such as movies and video games.
