Analysis

Basketball

Cricket: Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN Star Sports acquired the rights for Twenty20’s cricket’s Champions League.

Rugby Union

Italian state broadcaster Rai acquired the rights for Italy’s domestic rugby union league, the Super 10 after Sky Italia chose not to renew its three-year deal.

Football

The rights-exchange deal between Italian state broadcaster Rai and satellite operator Sky Italia covering the football World Cups of 2010 and 2014 and the Olympic Games of 2010 and 2012 is under threat.

Football

The Italian football league suffered a drop of more than 50 per cent in the value of its free-to-air highlights rights after failing to generate competition between broadcasters.

Basketball

Europe’s top club basketball competition, the Euroleague, secured a small rights-fee increase in its new four-year rights deal with broadcasters in Spain.

Football

Pan-regional broadcaster ESPN Star Sports increased rights fees five-fold to retain its hold on Formula One rights in Asia.

The IOC is likely to start the US sales process for the 2014 and 2016 rights with present rights-holder NBC’s Beijing success almost certain to guarantee a healthy rise in rights fees.

Boxing

UK pay-operator Setanta looks to hit ambitious subscriber targets.

Cricket

The latest commercial earthquake to hit a sport whose governance is in danger of being severely unbalanced by the explosion of Twenty20 cricket.

The phenomenal television-ratings success of last month’s Beijing Olympics will add considerable momentum to the International Olympic Committee’s broadcast rights negotiations in Europe and the US for the 2014 and 2016 Games.

Basketball

Basketball: Greek pay-operator NetMed acquired the rights for A1 league club PAOK in a three-year deal from 2008-09 to 2010-11
Football

Football: Greek commercial broadcaster Antenna acquired the rights for top Greek club Olympiacos’ home first round match in the Uefa Cup and its two home group stage matches, paying €1.605m (£1.25m)

Endemol Sport represents a hitherto untapped, lucrative market for content producer Endemol, famous for its Big Brother reality television formats.
Triathlon

The International Triathlon Union is hopeful that the partnership signed earlier this month with the Lagardère Sports agency will finally establish a strong, global profile for the sport.

Athletics

The International Association of Athletics Federations is confident of securing a television rights fee from the US as it starts the sales process for the 2011 and 2013 World Championships.
Football

Sky Italia, agreed a deal under which Rai will sub-license to Sky rights to football’s World Cup finals of 2010 and 2014 and Sky will sublicense to Rai rights for the Olympic Games of 2010 and 2012.
Cycling

The attempt by RCS Sport to boost the value of the event’s international rights failed because of the lack of competition in the domestic market.

Football

The Deutsche Fussball Liga cancelled the €3 billion (£2.4 billion), six-year deal it had agreed for its media rights with Leo Kirch’s Sirius group.