North America
Study: 4.6-per-cent media-rights growth to drive North American sports market
Professional services group PwC has released its annual Sports Outlook report, which forecasts that the North American sports market will grow at a compound annual rate of 3.2 per cent, from $71.1bn (€64.2
NBC races off with US Ski & Snowboard rights renewal
NBC Sports Group has retained media rights in the US market to events that fall under the auspices of US Ski & Snowboard in a renewal that runs until the end of the 2021-22 season
NBC’s Olympics production chief Bell to exit
Jim Bell has announced he will leave his role as president of the NBC Olympics Production and Programming division of NBCUniversal less than a year before the US media company prepares to cover the 2020…
Bundesliga CEO ‘disappointed’ by Fox Sports coverage in US
Following the Bundesliga's new media-rights deal with ESPN in the United States, which begins in 2020, the German league's chief executive Christian Seifert has revealed he was disappointed by the league's…
WBSC adds Facebook to Premier12 media roster
Facebook is exclusively live streaming in the US all 32 games from the World Baseball Softball Confederation's 2019 Premier12 national team baseball tournament, which started on Saturday in Mexico
Barry Frank, iconic US Olympic TV rights negotiator, dies aged 87
Barry Frank, a leading US television executive and negotiator of Olympic broadcast deals in the US market for the IMG agency, has died aged 87
Ski Classics lands beIN coverage in North America and Australia
International pay-TV broadcaster beIN Media Group has agreed a multi-year rights deal covering the USA, Canada and Australia with the Ski Classics series of long-distance skiing events.
NFL adds content to music streaming platforms
The National Football League has announced it will add its content to a variety of music streaming platforms including Pandora, TuneIn, Tidal, Spotify and SoundCloud in its attempts to expand its digital footprint.
DAZN joins forces with Snapchat to promote boxing content
OTT sports streaming service DAZN has agreed a partnership in the US with social media platform Snapchat designed to promote its boxing content
World Series Game 1 barely avoids record-low TV rating
Major League Baseball and Fox Sports narrowly avoided setting a record for the least-watched World Series opener ever on US television
ABC to broadcast inaugural XFL game, schedule released
ABC will broadcast the first game of the rebooted XFL, between the DC Defenders and Seattle Dragons, at Audi Field in Washington, DC, on Saturday, February 8, at 2pm ET.
Octagon expects strong competition from US broadcasters for NWSL rights
The Octagon agency will prioritise domestic and global media-rights deals as it seeks to maximise the reach and revenue of the National Women’s Soccer League, the top US women’s football league, from 202…
NFL Network to broadcast NFLPA Collegiate Bowl through 2024
The National Football League Players Association and NFL Media have agreed to a multi-year deal to broadcast the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl live on NFL Network through 2024
Bundesliga agrees big fee rise in US with ESPN, but takes exposure gamble
The Bundesliga is taking a calculated gamble in its new US media-rights deal, with ESPN, as despite the huge increase in the rights fee the deal involves a significant reduction in linear television exposure.
NBC Sports to grant broadcast showcase for Nascar esports series
North American stock-car racing series Nascar has struck an agreement with US commercial and pay-television broadcaster NBC Sports to deliver live coverage of its esports championship for the first time
Pirates extend local rights deal with AT&T SportsNet
Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates have signed a multi-year extension of their local TV rights deal with AT&T SportsNet, the second such team to do so with the network in the past week.
PGA Tour to livestream every shot at 2020 Players Championship
In a first for golf, the PGA Tour will livestream every shot from every player over all four rounds from the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, on March 12-15, 2020.
Dish and Fox reach long-term carriage deal as dispute ends
After a 10-day impasse, Fox and Dish Network ended their carriage dispute at the weekend which had prevented millions of the satellite provider's subscribers from watching Thursday Night Football as well …