Europe

Cricket

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky will offer a free Sky Sports Day Pass for its online streaming service Now TV to coincide with the opening day of the 2015 Ashes cricket series between England and Australia.

French media group Vivendi has agreed to acquire 80 per cent of video-sharing website Dailymotion from telecommunications company Orange for €217m ($243m).

Boxing

Belfast fighter Carl Frampton’s International Boxing Federation world super bantamweight title defence against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. will be shown by commercial broadcasters ITV and UTV in the UK and Ireland, respectively.

Tennis

Russian pay-television broadcaster NTV Plus has confirmed a rights deal to show the Wimbledon tennis championships.

Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK has been instructed by President Vladimir Putin to hand over the frequency utilised by its Russia 2 channel to Gazprom Media Holding by August 1, ahead of the launch a new state-backed sports broadcaster one month later.

Football

Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica has submitted an offer to acquire the collective international rights for LaLiga, the new brand name for the Spanish Football League.

Football

Austrian public-service broadcaster ORF has welcomed the decision of the country’s media regulator, Medienbehörde KommAustria, to reject a complaint from commercial broadcaster Puls 4 over its rights deal for the Uefa Champions League club football competition.

Subscribers to Spanish pay-television operator Canal Plus will be able to access Formula One and MotoGP content provided by Movistar TV from next month, according to multiple reports.

Olympics

US media and entertainment company Discovery Communications and its pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport have acquired television and multi-platform rights in a host of European markets for four editions of the Olympic Games, from 2018 to 2024, in a deal valued at €1.3bn ($1.46bn).

Olympics

The 7NXT division of German media company ProSiebenSat.1 is set to acquire a majority stake in the DOSB New Media arm of the German Olympic Committee (DOSB), according to New Business.

Volleyball

The Saran Media agency has expanded its broadcast rights partnership with the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) to take in eight new markets.

Football

Polish pay-television operator NC Plus has agreed a four-season extension to its rights deal with Ekstraklasa SA, the governing body of the top division of domestic football, with pan-European broadcaster Eurosport sealing a sublicensing partnership.

UK pay-television operator Virgin Media has confirmed that it is to carry a new channel from pay-television broadcaster BT Sport.

Football

Polish pay-television operator NC Plus secured live rights to the Ekstraklasa for the next four seasons after submitting a surprisingly high bid for the league’s international rights.

Football

Spanish football’s ongoing rights shake-up continued during a fortnight in which collective selling was brought forward by the league and Mediapro was appointed its international marketing partner.

Rugby League

UK public-service broadcaster the BBC has acquired rights for the New Zealand national rugby league team’s tour of England later this year.

Football

John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence, examines television audiences for this year's Uefa Champions League.

Ingrid Deltenre has secured another term as the director general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) consortium of free-to-air broadcasters.