Analysis
IMG and Team on rugby shortlist
The International Rugby Board has whittled down the five agencies it invited to bid for the commercial rights for rugby union’s 2007 World Cup to two.
Israeli TV finally signs football and basketball deals
JCS Sports, which owns Israel’s two sports channels, has acquired the rights for top Israeli football and basketball matches
Forget TV fees, for now, hockey wants coverage
The revival of the India-Pakistan hockey test series after an interval of five years has attracted high television interest.
Big three French clubs pose threat to league deal
Three of biggest clubs are threatening to undermine the tender process with demands for a bigger share of television rights fees.
Rugby league cup final viewing falls for third year
Rugby league’s Challenge Cup final, in which St Helens beat Wigan 32-16, drew 1.66 million viewers and a 25-per-cent audience share to BBC1.
Where Norway’s football money goes
Norges Fotballforbund, the national football association, agreed a four-year deal for the live and highlights rights for all major football competitions in Norwegian football
How one country took a risk on Premier League
Telesport hopes that its acquisition of English Premier League football will be the key content it has been striving for since it first tried to launch four years ago.
Basketball calls it a day with Rai
The rocky marriage of Italian club basketball and state broadcaster Rai is to end in divorce.
Sportfive wins top Italian clubs, but must fight for rest
The Sportfive agency looks to be in a strong position to take the international rights of the rest of the Serie A clubs.
Rai Trade quits foreign rights sales
Rai Trade, commercial arm of state broadcaster Rai, is to quit the selling of sports rights on the international market.
New bidder forced Sky Italia to raise fees for top clubs
Sky Italia’s expensive and quickly-negotiated deals with Italy’s top three football clubs were to at least a large extent the result of a rival bid from a newly-formed group of top sports executives and bankers.
EBU won’t get its cartel exemption, but will it matter?
The EBU is unlikely to be awarded a fresh exemption from competition law to buy sports rights collectively on behalf of its members.
Sky gives BBC sharp reminder of satellite risk
The Premier League and British Sky Broadcasting have given the BBC a sharp reminder of the risks inherent in its decision to transmit its programmes via satellite unencrypted.
We were naïve in our Sky dealings, says Brussels
The European Commission admitted that it was “naïve” in its attempt to break up BSkyB's monopoly over the Premier League’s television rights.
Warren faces US TV pressure
There is considerable pressure on UK boxing promoter Frank Warren and his biggest fight asset, Ricky Hatton, to come up with a top-ranking US opponent in the next few months.
Premier League’s strong TV hit by too-quick Arsenal
The 66 Premier League matches broadcast by British Sky Broadcasting in the season just ended attracted an average audience of 1.356 million.
League’s fight to sell rights likely to end in courts
Ownership row continues after the publication of an independent report by the country’s national competition authority.
Uefa restrictions will hit regional bid fees by agencies
The flexibility which an agency would have in selling on Euro 2008 television rights will be limited