North America
USA Gymnastics strikes rights deals for top championships
USA Gymnastics has awarded media rights to NBC Sports Group, part of US media company NBCUniversal, and pay-television broadcaster Universal Sports Network, for the governing body’s events.
FC Dallas renews terms with local broadcast partner
Major League Soccer club FC Dallas has agreed one-year extensions to its local rights deals with cable-television operator Time Warner Cable Sports and the TXA21 channel, which is owned by the CBS network.
Fox completes Yes Network deal
Media company 21st Century Fox has completed a deal to increase its interest in US regional pay-television sports broadcaster Yes Network to a controlling 80-per-cent stake.
MLB confirms greater access for online subscribers
Subscribers to Major League Baseball’s online streaming service, MLB.TV, will be able to access live coverage of the World Series for the first time, the North American league has announced.
Eurosport boosts exposure ex-Asia
Eurosport deal helps international table tennis federation in push beyond Asian heartland
NBC Sports Group extends Kentucky Derby deal
The NBC Sports Group, part of US media company NBCUniversal, has renewed an exclusive rights deal for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks horse racing events.
Nine to show free-to-air coverage of Australia’s MLB event
Australian commercial broadcaster Nine has acquired media rights for the US Major League Baseball season-opening games in Australia between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Chicago Fire extends local TV rights deal
Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire has signed a one-year extension to its local television rights partnership with WPWR My50 Chicago covering the 2014 MLS season.
Tennis Channel suffers new blow in Comcast dispute
The US Supreme Court has rejected pay-television broadcaster the Tennis Channel’s complaint against pay-television provider Comcast’s decision to carry the network on a premium sports tier in the latest development of long-running dispute between the two parties.
DirecTV and NFL extend negotiating window for Sunday Ticket rights
DirecTV and American football league the NFL have extended their exclusive negotiating period to renew the US satellite television provider’s exclusive rights to the Sunday Ticket package of programming, according to the company’s chairman and chief executive Mike White.
Dish to scale back WWE PPVs as platform launch looms
US pay-television provider Dish Network has said it will scale back its offering of pay-per-view (PPV) events staged by the WWE wrestling organisation, which will launch its own 24-hour pay-television streaming channel on Monday.
Time teams up with major leagues to launch live streaming platform
US media group Time has teamed up with several major sports leagues to announce the launch of a new live streaming service.
Sportsnet seals 12-year Canadian Hockey League deal
Canadian pay-television broadcaster Rogers Sportsnet has renewed a media rights deal for ice hockey’s Canadian Hockey League.
WWE seeks rights bids as NBCU window ends
The WWE wrestling organisation is seeking bids for the broadcast rights to key properties such as Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown after its exclusive negotiating window with current rights-holder, US media company NBCUniversal, expired without the agreement of a new deal.
NBC Sports bolsters commitment to US truck racing series
NBC Sports Group, a division of US media company NBCUniversal, has signed a multi-year extension to its broadcast rights deal with US motor racing series TORC: The Off-Road Championship.
KHL secures coverage in North America with One World Sports deal
US cable television channel One World Sports has acquired exclusive, multiplatform rights in North America to the Kontinental Hockey League, the top division of ice hockey in Russia.
Global Rallycross series gains NBC partnership
NBC Sports Group, a division of US media company NBCUniversal, has acquired broadcast rights for the Global Rallycross motor racing series under a multi-year deal effective from its 2014 season.