China

Online streaming company PPTV has acquired rights in China for football’s English Premier League.

Australian A-League football club Adelaide United has struck a partnership with CubeGoal, the mobile application created by pre-match information platform Cubee Technology.

Aggressive Chinese OTT operator LeSports has cash-flow problems, resulting in delays to payments for many of its deals.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has moved to reorganise its entertainment assets by forming a new digital media group, along with unveiling plans for a 10 billion yuan (€1.35bn/$1.48bn) fund for new projects.

The Ali Sports division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has agreed a rights partnership with the Chinese Basketball Association, while international sports broadcaster Eleven Sports Network has acquired the rights in Taiwan.

The Ali Sports division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has struck a deal to become the exclusive global internet business development partner of the China Table Tennis Super League.

The English Premier League has launched an early tender in China in order to reap the benefits of the country’s buoyant media-rights market.

English Championship football club Wolverhampton Wanderers has agreed a landmark rights deal with Chinese internet company LeSports.

The North American NBA basketball league has extended and expanded rights partnerships with Chinese IPTV provider BesTV and Italian pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia.

Live coverage of the Australian National Basketball League will be available in China after media companies Ali Sports and Sina Sports agreed rights deals for the competition.

Red Star Kunlun’s entry as the first Chinese team in the Kontinental Hockey League has helped the league massively increase its exposure, but is yet to have any impact on its bottom line.

China Arena Football League, the country’s first professional American football league, has struck a rights partnership with online video platform iQIYI ahead of its debut season.

LeSports, which is operated by Chinese internet company LeEco, has appointed Zhang Zhiyong as its president, according to the Yutang Sports website.

The International Paralympic Committee has entered into a strategic partnership with the Sina Sports division of Chinese internet operator Sina ahead of the start of the 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro tomorrow (Wednesday).

Chinese online company Sina Sports has created a new feature page to house expanded coverage of the 2016 US Open tournament under a deal with the US Tennis Association.

DouyuTV, an online entertainment company that broadcasts live esports events in China, has now raised more than RMB2bn (€265.4m/$300.6m) in funding in 2016 alone following a Series C financing round.