Analysis

Skiing

The EBU won the rights for World Cup skiing events in Austria despite offering less than its main rival and the previous incumbent, the Infront Sports and Media agency.

Football

Globo said that it was in talks with the Team Marketing agency about the possibility of acquiring rights for European football’s Champions League competition from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

Boxing

Fast Track is facing tough talks with broadcasters for the 2010 Commonwealth Games rights

Cricket

Forthcoming negotiations for the domestic rights for English rugby union’s Guinness Premiership will act as an interesting barometer of the state of the UK sports rights market, three months before the start of football’s Premier League rights talks.

Scant evidence of the credit crunch affecting the sports rights industry at this week’s Sportel trade fair in Monaco, which attracted record numbers of participants.

Rugby Union

The IRB secured a massive increase in television rights fees in Australia as pay broadcaster Fox Sports fought off a major challenge from free-to-air network Ten to win the rights for the 2011 and 2015 rugby union World Cups.

The IOC took the first step in its new European broadcast rights sales strategy this week with a deal with Sky Italia for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games.
Athletics

Athletics: The Shanghai Media Group acquired the rights in China for the World Athletic Series in a four-year deal from 2010 to 2013
Football

Football: Pan-Scandinavian broadcaster Modern Times Group acquired the rights in Denmark, Sweden and Norway for the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Super Cup in a three-year deal from 2009-10 to 2011-12
Football

Sky set to become Italy’s biggest broadcaster.
Volleyball

The FIVB’s new four-year deal with the IMG agency is part of a more clearly-defined global approach in its commercial rights strategy.
Tennis

The centralisation of media rights for the new ATP 500 series is set to generate significant increases in exposure and television rights income.

Globo robustly denied reports that it would not be renewing television rights deals with Olympic sports after rival Rede Record grabbed the rights to the 2011 Pan American Games.
Football

Televisa’s long-term partnership with the Mexican giant is all but over.
Cycling

English football’s Premier League has blocked its Greek licensee Nova from showing its Saturday 3pm matches.
Football

Eurosport has given the Deutsch Fussball Liga an excellent start to its international rights sales for Germany’s top-tier Bundesliga.
Football

Top sports rights-holders Uefa and Formula One Management have achieved good rights-fee increases in Scandinavia.

Commercial channels across Europe are challenging state broadcasters’ acquisition of major sports rights, as part of wider lobbying for stricter controls and limits on the financing of the public-service sector.