United Kingdom
Sky fee flat in four-year renewal for the Open
Pay-television broadcaster Sky Sports agreed to a flat fee to maintain its golf dominance in the UK market and retain rights to the Open Championship for another four years.
UK Athletics secures vital FTA exposure with latest short-term BBC deal
UK Athletics has agreed a domestic media rights deal with public-service broadcaster the BBC for its 2024 major events series, providing much-needed exposure for the governing body as it seeks new investment from sponsors.
IMG recruits Sky’s Clement to lead studios tech, operations
The IMG agency has recruited James Clement from UK pay-television broadcaster Sky to lead technology and operations for its production studios business
Study: UK viewing time for women’s sports up 16 per cent
The average UK viewing time for women’s sport across free-to-air and pay-television rose by 16 per cent in 2023, driven in large part by the bumper audiences for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
BBC to show live Super League matches in landmark three-year deal
Super League, the top tier of rugby league in the UK, will receive live coverage on the BBC for the first time after the public-service broadcaster struck a new three-year deal with Rugby League Commercial, the league’s commercial rights-holder.
Rugby League Commercial unites with Endeavor Streaming for SuperLeague+
Rugby League Commercial (RLC), the joint venture between Super League and the Rugby Football League (RFL) that acts as commercial rights-holder, has unveiled a new global, direct-to-consumer streaming service for the sport’s top division in the UK.
Sky reasserts golf dominance with Open deal
Sky Sports has reaffirmed its unchallenged golf dominance in the UK market after retaining rights to the Open Championship for another four years
Van Rooyen exits Sky after 18 years, UK & Ireland unit to report into Strong
Stephen van Rooyen has announced he is to leave Sky, the pay-television giant where he is group chief commercial officer and chief executive of the UK and Ireland business, at the end of next month
TNT Sports secures BCCI rights to 2028 in nick of time
One week before the start of England’s five-Test tour of India, pay-television broadcaster TNT Sports has secured exclusive rights in the UK for the series in a deal that also covers all India home matches u…
Famed sports docuseries producers Box to Box raises £30m from Bruin
Global sports and entertainment investment company Bruin Capital has made a significant investment in Box to Box Films, the UK production company behind the array of popular Netflix sports docuseries
EXCLUSIVE: FA Cup domestic rights on the market with four-year term
The Football Association has issued its domestic media rights invitation to tender, inviting broadcasters to submit offers for four seasons, from 2025-26 to 2028-29, SportBusiness understands
World darts final secures Sky Sports’ best-ever non-football audience
Sky amassed a total of 4.8 million viewers for last night’s PDC World Darts Championship final featuring 16-year-old Luke Littler, making it the most-watched darts event ever on the pay-television broadcaster and its Now streaming service.
Littler-mania driving record darts audiences in UK, Germany
The final of the PDC World Darts Championship tonight (Wednesday) is set to break even more records in the UK for Sky with the performances of teenage sensation Luke Littler having brought viewers flooding…
EXCLUSIVE: IMG to lose long-held BBC snooker production contract
IMG is expected to lose its long-running production contract with the BBC for host broadcast coverage of the World Snooker Championship, UK Masters and UK Championship, SportBusiness understands
Sky snaps up US college sports rights at low cost
UK pay-television broadcaster Sky’s acquisition of US college football and basketball rights from ESPN will provide good exposure for American university sport through to the end of the 2024-25 season, but little in the way of remuneration.
ONE strikes breakthrough deal with Sky in UK
Combat sports promotion ONE Championship has taken another step towards greater exposure in Europe after striking a deal with UK pay-television broadcaster Sky
FA recruits Barclays’ Gray as new commercial director
The Football Association has appointed digital media executive James Gray as its new commercial director to replace Navin Singh who will soon take up a leading role with Six Nations Rugby
Sky drives Premier League’s marginal gains as competition fades away
The English Premier League’s first domestic media rights auction for almost six years has produced an overall uplift of just over three per cent, prompting sighs of relief across offices in Paddington, Isleworth and Chiswick.