Europe

French digital-terrestrial television channel L’Équipe has bolstered its rugby union portfolio by acquiring rights to three international games.

Spanish public-service broadcaster TVE has agreed a two-season rights deal for English club football’s FA Cup, according to the El Confidencial Digital website.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights to two futsal games between Germany and England, encounters that mark Germany’s first-ever internationals in football’s small-sided format.

Manchester City has made its in-house media platform CityTV available through Fire TV, the streaming service of internet company Amazon – a move it claims is a first for an English Premier League football club.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has introduced a new, free service to make highlights clips of English Premier League football on its mobile application more widely accessible.

The Bonnier media group has appointed Rickard Segeborn as the new chief operating officer for sport across two of its channels.

Swiss public-service broadcaster SRG SSR has extended a rights deal for the annual Spengler Cup ice hockey competition for five years, from 2017 to 2021.

The Rugby Football Union has said it will provide free live streaming of the forthcoming Championship game between London Irish and Yorkshire Carnegie.

Polish public-service broadcaster TVP has abandoned plans to launch a second sports channel, according to president Jacek Kurski.

Ireland’s Gaelic Athletic Association is set to strike a five-year extension to its rights deals with public-service broadcaster RTÉ and pay-television broadcaster Sky, according to the Irish Independent.

French pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has extended a rights deal for the NBA North American basketball league, while Dish Network has become the first pay-television operator to unbundle the NBA Team Pass service, allowing subscribers to follow a single team.

French telecommunications company SFR has bolstered the rugby union portfolio of its SFR Sport television platform by acquiring rights to England’s autumn internationals.

Europe-wide Pakistani channel Prime TV has secured rights in the UK to the 2016 Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 club cricket competition.

Fédération Française d’Athlétisme, the governing body of athletics in France, has awarded exclusive rights to Altice and the telecommunications company’s subsidiary, SFR.

England’s Football Association has confirmed international media-rights deals with the IMG and Pitch International agencies covering the FA Cup domestic knockout tournament.

The Professional Squash Association (PSA) has extended rights partnerships with BT Sport in the UK and fellow pay-television operators Fox Sports Australia and Sky New Zealand.

Fina, the global governing body of aquatic sports, has extended its rights partnership with the European Broadcasting Union consortium of public-service broadcasters.

Premiership Rugby, the governing body of the top division of English rugby union, has extended and expanded its partnership with digital sports media group Perform.