USA
Disney channels back on DirecTV in new carriage deal
Monday Night Football, ESPN's weekly showpiece NFL game, will be available to DirecTV's 11 million customers tonight (Monday) after the carriage dispute with Disney was finally resolved.
Pac-12 embarks on costly rebuild
A year on from dropping to just two member universities that threatened its very existence, the Pac-12 Conference has announced the addition of four schools from the Mountain West from 2026-27.
WBD, Charter go early on renewal with streaming offer
Max and Discovery+, Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming platforms, are to be made available to basic-tier customers of US cable giant Charter at no extra charge, as part of a landmark carriage deal unveiled today.
DirecTV lodges Disney complaint, hikes pricing
DirecTV has accused Disney of negotiating in bad faith, as their carriage dispute enters a second week and intensifies ahead of the return of the NFL's Monday Night Football
Long-serving Tennis Channel CEO Solomon ‘sacked’
Tennis Channel's long-serving chief executive and chairman Ken Solomon has reportedly been ousted by parent company Sinclair for time spent on non-work activities
XE axes remaining 2024 hosts, eyes new locations
Extreme E (XE), the electric off-road racing series, has scrapped the remaining races on the 2024 calendar, including a planned debut in the United States, and is evaluating how best to complete its final…
Two steps forward, one back for Diamond in bankruptcy case
Major League Baseball has piled the pressure on Diamond Sports Group, claiming it will consider "more drastic" legal action should the firm's emergence from bankruptcy not be accelerated
Comcast carriage row hits Big Ten entrants
Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington have seen the start of their era as Big Ten Conference schools blacked out to Comcast customers in their home markets, as the latter’s Big Ten Network carriage row rumbled into the start of the new season.
ESPN goes dark on DirecTV amid carriage, antitrust disputes
Disney and DirecTV failed to agree on a licensing deal, leading to Disney-owned channels — including ESPN and ABC — going dark Sunday night in the middle of US Open broadcasting and just before a marquee col…
ESPN lands US Open renewal, cedes host broadcast
ESPN has renewed its rights to the US Open in a long-term 12-year deal that will run to 2037 but sees the United States Tennis Association assume host broadcast duties.
Streaming to fore in NBA motion to dismiss WBD case
The National Basketball Association has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit lodged by Warner Bros. Discovery over its rejection of a matching rights proposal
Relevent appoints Bratches as chairman
Former ESPN and Formula 1 executive Sean Bratches has landed a new role as chairman of US-based sports marketing agency Relevent Sports.
In Focus: US college sports
SportBusiness Media takes a deep dive into the numbers driving the commercial success of US college sports.
Late twist in Paramount saga as FuboTV chair makes bid
The future of Paramount Global is not yet set in stone, after veteran US media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr submitted a late $4.3bn (€3.9bn) takeover bid.
Venu Sports faces roadblock as judge delays launch
The much-anticipated launch of Venu Sports, the joint sports streaming venture from Walt Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, has been delayed following a ruling by a US District judge
Genius expands ESPN data insights agreement
Genius Sports has struck a new data insights deal with one of its main broadcaster clients in a long-term extension with US sports broadcaster ESPN
NBCU Olympic viewership soars with expanded streaming
Viewership of NBCUniversal’s coverage of Paris 2024 was up considerably on Tokyo 2020 as the US broadcaster provided its most extensive Olympic coverage to date.
WBD faces ‘uphill battle’ in lawsuit against NBA
WBD is seeking a jury trial over the NBA's rejection of its matching rights proposal, but sports law experts believe the media giant may struggle to prove it has truly matched Amazon’s bid in terms of distribution reach and financial structure.