Europe

Advanced TV Network, a bankrupt online streaming provider, has been ordered by a Swedish court to pay nearly SEK210m (€20.5m/$24m) in damages after illegally distributing content in the country, including football’s English Premier League.

DAZN, the OTT service operated by digital sports media company Perform, has named Veronica Diquattro as executive vice-president, revenue of its Italian division.

Irish-language free-to-air broadcaster TG4 has struck a four-year extension to its broadcast rights and sponsorship agreement with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, on the back of a record year for the organisation.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has extended its rights deal in France for American football league the NFL.

Greek pay-television broadcaster Cosmote TV has sealed a multi-year extension of its rights deal for North American basketball league the NBA.

Digital media company Play Sports Network has launched its first non-English language channel as part of what it states will be a major internationalisation plan.

Italian pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia has overhauled its sports offering by relaunching its channel portfolio, with a channel dedicated to Serie A, the top division of domestic football, introduced for the first time.

International sports broadcaster ESPN has said it will provide live and on demand coverage of the forthcoming World Lacrosse Championships in Europe, the Middle East and Africa via ESPN Player, its direct-to-consumer service.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, organising body of Wimbledon, has renewed deals for the grand slam tournament with broadcast partners in France, Spain, Japan and the Middle East and North Africa.

DAZN, the OTT service operated by digital sports media company Perform, has acquired rights for Serie B, the second division of Italian football.

Viasat, the Norwegian pay-television operator run by Swedish media company Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), has staved off the threat of a blackout of Fifa World Cup matches by agreeing a new carriage deal with commercial and pay-television broadcaster TV2.

Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, has been elected as the new president of the European Broadcasting Union, the consortium of European public-service broadcasters.

Spanish telco Telefónica has sealed an agreement with the Mediapro agency to acquire rights for the Uefa Champions League and Europa League club football tournaments.

Telco Virgin Media has said it will launch a new sports channel in Ireland as rebranding plans for commercial broadcaster TV3 were confirmed.

UK racecourse owner and operator Arena Racing Company, and Greek firm Vermantia, a leading provider of multi-channel content solutions for lotteries, gaming and betting operators, have launched the European Racing Channel, claiming it will provide the most complete offering of its kind worldwide for the betting market.