Middle East

Pay-television broadcaster OSN has struck a deal to distribute WWE Network, the pay-television channel operated by the WWE wrestling organisation, to subscribers in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Rugby league’s Super League, which comprises clubs from England and France, has agreed new broadcast deals in Australia, New Zealand, France, North America and the Middle East.

The IEC in Sports agency has agreed a four-year deal to distribute the global media rights for the Dubai Marathon on an exclusive basis with immediate effect.

British Eurosport, the UK division of pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport, and UK free-to-air channel Quest will broadcast live coverage of the 2014 Dubai Challenge Cup one-off exhibition football match.

Sports content company Aurora Media Worldwide has signed a two-year agreement with the Falcon and Associates agency to support host broadcaster, state-owned Dubai Sports, in its coverage of badminton’s World Superseries Finals event, which will be held in Dubai next month.

All UAE-based sports broadcasters have united to boycott the acquisition of rights to the forthcoming 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations national team football tournament amid a dispute over the sales process, according to the Gulf News website.

Yousuf Al Sarkal, the president of the UAE Football Association, has criticised the media rights-sales process for the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations and called for a committee to be established to avoid future difficulties in relation to the national team football tournament.

The operators of the International Premier Tennis League have announced that the inaugural 2014 edition of the tournament will be shown in more than 125 countries worldwide.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports will resume full live coverage in the Middle East and North Africa of English Premier League football matches that kick off at 15.00 on Saturdays in the UK.

The North American NBA basketball league has signed up a host of regional partners for its new NBA Sundays localised broadcast initiative.

Pay-television operator OSN has secured the exclusive broadcasting rights in the Middle East and North Africa region for all 18 International Cricket Council tournaments and qualifiers under the global governing body’s 2015 to 2023 rights cycle.

Saudi telecommunications company STC has expanded its partnership with MUTV to broadcast the in-house television channel of English Premier League football club Manchester United throughout the Middle East.

Lega Serie A, the governing body of the top division of Italian football, and its strategic media rights advisor, the Infront Sports & Media agency, have launched a tender for the international broadcast rights to Serie A.

Qatari pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports is in advanced negotiations to secure the rights to the German Bundesliga in the Middle East and North Africa, TV Sports Markets understands.

The Discovery Networks Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) division of US media and entertainment company Discovery Communications is to merge its distribution team with that of pan-regional sports broadcaster Eurosport.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has agreed a sublicence deal with state-owned broadcaster Dubai Sports Channels to broadcast the 2014-15 season of football’s German Bundesliga on an exclusive basis in the Middle East and North Africa region.