Europe

German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has appointed Hans Gabbe to the position of senior vice-president of sports rights ahead of the impending domestic tender process for the Bundesliga, the top division of German football.

The Discovery Networks Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) division of international media company Discovery Communications has appointed Sascha Kojic, formerly of the MP & Silva agency, to the newly created role of vice-president of sports for the CEEMEA region.

French basic-tier sports broadcaster Ma Chaîne Sport has acquired rights for the Concacaf Champions League club football tournament in the Americas.

German production company Wige Media has agreed a strategic partnership with the Alibaba Sports division of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.

International sports broadcaster Eleven Sports Network has further expanded its distribution in Poland by signing an agreement with telecommunications company Orange Polska to broadcast its Eleven and Eleven Sports channels.

Belgian pay-television operator Proximus TV has sealed a rights deal with the country’s Pro League that will coincide with a restructuring and renaming of the football league’s second-tier championship.

Pay-television broadcaster Sky Italia has acquired rights for this year’s Copa América Centenario national team football tournament.

Italian media company Mediaset has denied reports that it is in talks with Vivendi over a possible deal to sell its pay-television division to the French media company.

UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has agreed a digital streaming rights deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts series.

Public-service broadcaster France Télévisions has confirmed it will show more than 100 hours of live coverage of the 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

International sports broadcaster Eleven Sports Network has completed its collection of Poland’s largest cable television operators by agreeing a carriage deal with Vectra.

Germany’s football federation is set to earn about 35 per cent more from domestic media rights to its knockout cup competition, with deals to be announced in the coming weeks.

Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has positioned itself as the home of tennis in the Netherlands following deals for ATP and WTA rights in recent weeks.

Servus TV’s acquisition of rights to motorcycling series MotoGP last month has come at a high cost as the commercial broadcaster will share coverage in Austria with Eurosport.

Canal Plus has confirmed that it has agreed a five-year deal, from 2016 to 2020, to become the exclusive carriage partner in France for rival pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports’ channels.

Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, the director general of Rai, has said the Italian state broadcaster has agreed a deal for rights to the Uefa Euro 2016 national team football tournament.