France

Football: Philippines commercial broadcaster ABS-CBN acquired the rights for the 2010 World Cup in a $1m (€750,000) deal with the Football Media Services agency.

Telecinco’s deal for Uefa’s second-tier competition, the Europa League, is its biggest-ever investment in football rights, showing that even advertising-funded broadcasters are still willing to back sport despite the market slowdown.

The court date set for this month that was to rule, once and for all, on the ownership of television rights to Spain’s football Liga has been postponed by at least six months, to next June or July.

The economic downturn has finally had an impact on the Team Marketing agency’s Champions League football rights sales.

Baseball: US sports network ESPN extended a deal with Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media arm for inter-active television and other digital media rights through to 2013.

Football: Bulgarian free-to-air broadcaster TV2 acquired the rights for Bulgaria’s domestic top-tier A league in a five-year deal, from 2009-10 to 2013-14, worth a reported €30m (£23m). Fo

The Deutsche Fussball Liga has generated about €30 million (£23.5 million) through last week’s sale of three territory-based packages of international Bundesliga rights.

Globo said that it was in talks with the Team Marketing agency about the possibility of acquiring rights for European football’s Champions League competition from 2009-10 to 2011-12.

Forthcoming negotiations for the domestic rights for English rugby union’s Guinness Premiership will act as an interesting barometer of the state of the UK sports rights market, three months before the start of football’s Premier League rights talks.

Athletics: The Shanghai Media Group acquired the rights in China for the World Athletic Series in a four-year deal from 2010 to 2013

English football’s Premier League has blocked its Greek licensee Nova from showing its Saturday 3pm matches.

Commercial channels across Europe are challenging state broadcasters’ acquisition of major sports rights, as part of wider lobbying for stricter controls and limits on the financing of the public-service sector.

Cricket: Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN Star Sports acquired the rights for Twenty20’s cricket’s Champions League.

Basketball: Greek pay-operator NetMed acquired the rights for A1 league club PAOK in a three-year deal from 2008-09 to 2010-11

News in Brief

Cricket: UK pay-broadcaster BSkyB extended its deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board for a further four years, from 2010 to 2013, paying about £260m (€330m).