Europe

Golf

UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has defended its decision not to show the first six hours of play at golf’s Open Championship on Monday.

Ice Hockey

Modern Times Group, the multi-territory commercial and pay-television broadcaster, has signed a five-year extension to its rights deal in the Nordic region for North America’s NHL ice hockey league, while it has also acquired rights to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey national team event.

Polish pay-television operator Polsat has applied for national broadcasting licences for two new sports channels.

Ofcom has rejected a call from telecommunications company BT to include a full investigation into the country’s pay-television market as part of the UK media regulator’s ongoing digital communications review.

Cycling

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has agreed a five-year strategic partnership with Belgian pay-television broadcaster Telenet for its principal cyclo-cross events.

Football

Dutch pay-television broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights for the Spanish Liga, while pay-television broadcaster Fox has reportedly won the tender in Italy for coverage of the top division of football in Spain.

New international pay-television sports broadcaster Eleven Sports Network has agreed a carriage deal with Belgian operator Proximus.

Football

Pay-television broadcaster NTV Plus has extended its domestic rights deal for the Russian Premier League, the top division of football in the country.

Basketball

Lega Basket, which operates the top division of basketball in Italy, will begin private discussions with two bidders for the competition’s rights.

Football

The Mediaset Premium pay-television service of Italian commercial broadcaster Mediaset has acquired rights to the International Champions Cup pre-season club football friendly tournament.

Volleyball

French digital-terrestrial television channel L'Équipe 21 has agreed a three-season deal with the French Volleyball League, the Ligue Nationale de Volley.

Handball

The beIN Media Group has acquired rights for a number of competitions operated by the European Handball Federation.

Rugby Union

UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has reached a five-year agreement with the Rugby Football Union to show highlights from all of England’s autumn international Test matches.

The beIN Media Group has completed a deal to take over Turkish pay-television broadcaster Digiturk.

Olympics

Germany’s federal cartel office, the Bundeskartellamt, has given the green light to media company ProSiebenSat.1’s acquisition of a majority stake in the DOSB New Media arm of the German Olympic Committee (DOSB).

Football

Dutch public-service broadcaster NOS’s bid in the current cycle for highlights rights to the Eredivisie, football’s top division in the country, was competitive, according to national media regulator the CvdM.

Tennis

All England Lawn Tennis Club chief executive Richard Lewis has indicated that UK public-service broadcaster the BBC is likely to retain the rights to the Wimbledon championships when its current contract expires.

Football

LaLiga, the new brand name for the Spanish Football League, is set to launch a new tender process in October or November for the domestic media rights to club football from the 2016-17 season, as further details emerged over the terms of its deal with telecommunications company Telefónica for the forthcoming campaign.