Germany

Television audiences of the drivers and manufacturers’ home markets reflect rise and fall

Formula One has signed long-term deals in four major markets – Italy, Brazil, Australia and Russia – securing rights-fee increases across the board.

The Fédération Internationale de Ski, the sport’s world governing body, will try to buy the television rights for each of the national associations

League appeals to competition authorities for permission to sell rights for five years

Deals made directly with broadcasters boost earnings

Football: French commercial broadcasters TF1 and M6 confirmed their joint acquisition of the rights for Euro 2008, in a €100m (£68m) deal brokered by the Sportfive agency. 

German ski association's rights fee income falls amid general decline in interest in skiing's big markets

The Bundesliga has created a complex request for tenders offering 233 options over 150 pages

Pay-operator Premiere, which plans to operate a free-to-air channel, says that it will most likely start its own channel from scratch

German football’s Bundesliga has created a television-rights tender-offer in such a way that it will reach its target of €400-million-a-year

Basketball: Polish pay-broadcaster Canal Plus acquired the live rights for the Euroleague in a three-year deal, from 2005-06 to 2007-08, with the Bonivest agency, which brokered the deal on behalf of Euroleague Basketball.

The established satellite operators are facing new competition from cable for domestic football rights

The German football league last week launched the sales process for the Bundesliga rights from 2006-07 to 2008-09

Private equity company Permira’s decision to all but pull out of German pay-broadcaster Premiere reflects a fear that the broadcaster may not grow its subscriber base much further

Baseball: US cable broadcaster ESPN renewed its long-term deal for Major League Baseball, paying $2.368bn (£1.3bn/€1.9bn) over eight years, from 2006 to 2013.

It was one of the crown jewels of German sport until recently