Middle East

The Sports Channel has renewed a host of rights in recent weeks as it seeks to solidify its position in the Israeli broadcast market.

BeIN Media Group has agreed a deal for Vox Cinemas to screen live coverage of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of this year’s Uefa Euro 2016 national team football tournament in its outlets across the Middle East and North Africa.

Fight Network, a multi-platform channel dedicated to combat sports, has acquired rights for events operated by New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Middle Eastern pay-television operator OSN has named Martin Stewart, the chief financial officer of the English Football Association national governing body, as its new chief executive.

Extreme Sports Channel, a pay-television service, has sealed a rights deal in Europe, the Middle East and Africa to show coverage of events operated by the International MMA Federation, which organises mixed martial arts contests.

Cellcom Israel has expanded its sports offering on its Cellcom TV pay-television platform in the country.

BeIN Media Group has acquired rights for the Wimbledon Championships in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Fox Networks Group division of media company 21st Century Fox has acquired exclusive rights to broadcast all racing from sailing’s 35th America’s Cup in the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Israel.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has secured new broadcast rights deals for the Champions Hockey League in Latin America, Israel, Latvia and France ahead of the finale of the second season of the pan-European club ice hockey competition.

The Sporty Solutionz agency has broadened the reach of the Masters Champions League for the debut season of the Twenty20 cricket competition by striking rights deals covering the Middle East, Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean.

The threat of an OTT player entering the local television market helped Israel’s Premier League to a 198-per-cent increase in the value of its media rights last month.

Pay-television broadcaster the Sports Channel has extended an exclusive rights deal in Israel with North American basketball league the NBA.

Racecourse Media Group, the holding company responsible for a range of media and data rights involving 34 of the UK’s premier racecourses, has secured a deal to simulcast live coverage of the Dubai World Cup Carnival horse racing series in the Caribbean, as well as North, Central and South America.

Israeli pay-television broadcaster Charlton has secured rights to the Premier League, the top division of football in the country, after reportedly paying a significantly increased sum for all three packages on offer.

The Sporty Solutionz agency has acquired exclusive worldwide distribution rights for the new Masters Champions League cricket tournament.

Israeli pay-television broadcaster Charlton has agreed a three-season extension to its rights deal for the English Premier League club football competition.