Europe

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has agreed a long-term extension to its rights deal for the European Volleyball Confederation’s (CEV) showpiece national team events.

Italian state broadcaster Rai and international sports broadcaster Eurosport have been awarded rights for Lega Basket, the top division of basketball in Italy.

UK viewing data for the week between Monday 26th June and Sunday 2nd July, including audiences for the first weekend of the 2017 Tour de France and the New Zealand v British and Irish Lions 2nd Test.

Swiss telecommunications company UPC will press ahead with plans to launch new sports broadcast platform MySports on September 8 after the Swiss Competition Commission (COMCO) decided against precautionary measures concerning the broadcasting of ice hockey on the new channel.

UKTV, the UK multi-channel broadcaster, has struck a rights deal with Hayemaker Ringstar, the joint venture between heavyweight boxer David Haye and promoter Richard Schaefer.

The Dutch competition authority, Autoriteit Consument & Markt, has approved the takeover of commercial broadcaster SBS by Talpa Holding.

The International World Games Association has said the 2017 edition of its showpiece event will receive record levels of exposure across the world.

State-owned sports broadcaster Match TV has acquired rights in Russia for the 2017 Uefa Women’s Euro, according to the Sports.ru news website.

Dutch competition authority the Autoriteit Consument en Markt has dropped a preliminary investigation into the dedicated Eredivisie football channel operated by pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports Netherlands.

Football-focused digital video platform Copa90 has said it will commence broadcasting live games after acquiring rights to an initial three matches.

English Premier League football club Manchester United has made its in-house television channel, MUTV, available to all supporters in the UK and Ireland through a new streaming service at mutv.com.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has confirmed details of its revamped sports offering, with 10 channels to be made available from July 18.

Swiss public-service broadcaster SRG SSR has extended a rights deal for club competitions operated by Uefa, football’s European governing body.

French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has announced an extension of its rights deal for the Bundesliga, the top division of club football in Germany.

Strong competition was the primary reason for the value of Champions League and Europa League rights in Spain increasing by about 77 per cent late last month.

The England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) enjoyed the best of both worlds in agreeing its new domestic deals last week – it has grown media-rights revenue by almost 180 per cent and secured significant free-to-air coverage on UK public-service broadcaster the BBC.