Europe
Sky Deutschland maintains Mayweather connection for Berto fight
German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland has acquired rights to Floyd Mayweather Jr’s fight against Andre Berto.
Discovery strikes distribution deal for Eurosport in Russia
US media and entertainment company Discovery Communications has struck a deal with Russia’s National Media Group to form a new company that will allow it to distribute pan-regional sports broadcaster Eurosport in the country.
BT pouches Ashes rights
UK pay-television broadcaster BT Sport this week blindsided its main rival Sky by picking up Ashes cricket rights, paying a rights-fee increase of about 20 per cent.
Lega Basket gets Rai-Sky boost
Italy’s top basketball league, Lega Basket Serie A, is satisfied with the outcome of its recent domes-tic rights negotiations, even though total fees remain well below the level of five years ago.
FOM leaves money on table in latest German deals
Formula One’s broadcast rights value in Germany will fall by about seven per cent when the latest renewals, agreed last week, kick in from 2016.
MTG renews NHL but misses out on IIHF rights in Sweden
Multi-territory broadcaster Modern Times Group renewed National Hockey League rights across the Nordics late last month, but missed out on the sport’s World Championship rights in Sweden.
Altice signals sport intent with deal for Premiership Rugby
French telco Altice signalled its intent to bid aggressively for sports rights late last month, teaming up with RDA TV to buy international Premiership Rugby rights.
Russian coverage secured for Rugby World Cup
Federal television channel Peretz has acquired rights in Russia to the 2015 Rugby World Cup national team tournament.
Watching Brief (Vol.107) Special Focus: Cycling – Tour de France
Mike Kiernan, analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences for the 2015 Tour de France
Polsat to launch new sports channels
Polish pay-television operator Polsat will launch two new sports channels next year as part of a wider rollout.
NTV Plus continues NFL association
Russian pay-television broadcaster NTV Plus has acquired rights to the 2015-16 season of American football league the NFL.
Sunset+Vine seals 2017 IAAF Worlds production rights
UK sports production and media company Sunset+Vine has been awarded the production rights for the 2017 World Athletics Championships by the UK Athletics governing body, according to the Guardian newspaper.
TV4 to cover Swedish round of America’s Cup World Series
Swedish commercial and pay-television broadcaster TV4 has acquired rights to broadcast the forthcoming America's Cup World Series sailing event in Gothenburg.
Netherlands set for new sports channel – report
Dutch cable operator Ziggo and pay-television broadcaster Sport1 will join forces to launch a new sports channel, according to the AD.nl website.
One World Sports extends licensing deal with Arsenal
North American pay-television broadcaster One World Sports has signed a multi-year extension to its licensing agreement with English Premier League football club Arsenal.
NC Plus and Eurosport net Europa League rights in Poland
Pay-television broadcaster NC Plus and pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport have acquired rights in Poland to the Uefa Europa League club football tournament.
GAA president hits out at RTE’s ‘tiresome’ coverage
Gaelic Athletic Association president Aogán Ó Fearghail has labelled coverage from Irish public-service broadcaster RTÉ as “tiresome” and “consistent in its negativity”, adding it could be a factor when it comes to negotiating a new rights deal.
Sky enhances NFL coverage with Sunday Night Football deal
UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has expanded its coverage of the NFL American football league by agreeing a two-year deal for its Sunday Night Football package.