North America

US network CBS has been awarded the rights for a new Thursday night package of NFL American football games.

The parent company of financially-troubled Comcast SportsNet Houston, the exclusive local media-rights holder of Houston Rockets NBA basketball and Houston Astros MLB baseball games, has been placed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Learfield Sports has strengthened its US college sports multimedia rights portfolio by acquiring rival agency Nelligan Sports Marketing.

The Rogers Communications telecommunications company has confirmed that it will show 500 regular-season NHL games across 13 different channels in Canada during the 2014-15 season as part of a new 12-year rights deal with the North American ice hockey league.

Canadian pay-television sports broadcaster TSN has acquired media rights for Major League Baseball’s marquee Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday night games.

US network Fox said that its coverage of the Super Bowl NFL American football championship game on Sunday attracted an average of 111.5 million viewers to set a new all-time audience record for a television programme in the country.

The IMG agency has acquired a minority stake in video technology company LiveClips, which delivers real-time highlights of sporting events to mobile devices.

American football’s NFL is to launch a new online service called NFL Now that will allow fans to tailor content, including highlights of games, to focus on their favourite teams and players.

The Fox Sports division of US network Fox has expanded its partnership with social media website Facebook for its live coverage of the NFL American football Super Bowl game on Sunday.

Canadian NHL ice hockey franchise the Ottawa Senators has agreed a regional media rights deal with telecommunications company Bell Media.

The Octapixx Live agency has been awarded global media rights for events operated by the Professional Bowlers Association, the main sanctioning body for ten-pin bowling in the US.

Australian commercial broadcaster Seven Network has acquired media rights for the US Masters golf event, according to the Australian newspaper.

US sports broadcaster Universal Sports Network, a subsidiary of the NBC network, has entered into a multi-year rights deal with Fina, the global governing body of aquatic sports.

Media company 21st Century Fox has confirmed a deal to increase its stake in US regional pay-television sports broadcaster Yes Network to a controlling 80-per-cent stake.

Digital sports video agency SendtoNews and golf’s US PGA Tour have signed an exclusive multi-year rights agreement to distribute digital video content to local news sites throughout the United States.

Regional US broadcaster NBC Bay Area, operated by the NBCUniversal media company, has agreed to show at least 400 hours of programming per year dedicated to the San Francisco 49ers as part of a broad agreement with the NFL American football franchise.