USA

US telecommunications companies Comcast and Verizon have become the latest companies linked with talks to acquire key assets of media group 21st Century Fox.

US-based multi-platform sports network Stadium has agreed a deal with social media platform Facebook to stream live coverage of US college basketball games.

The Association of Tennis Professionals, organising body of the men’s world tour, has today (Friday) confirmed a rights deal with Amazon for the UK and Ireland, along with a partnership with the internet company for the US market.

US media company Time has joined forces with internet company Amazon for a new OTT streaming service under the banner of its flagship magazine, Sports Illustrated, which will launch today (Thursday).

The IMG agency has secured a 10-year multimedia rights agreement with George Washington University’s athletics department.

A series of leading media companies paid bribes to secure multi-year rights deals for football matches, according to the testimony of a prosecution witness in the ongoing US football corruption trial of three of the sport’s former administrators.

Spanish-language sports broadcaster Telemundo Deportes has picked up rights in the United States to the 2017 Fifa Club World Cup and has agreed a deal to show the second leg of the Fifa World Cup play-off between Peru and New Zealand.

Daily fantasy sports company DraftKings has joined forces with MSG Networks, which owns and operates the MSG Network and MSG Plus US regional sports and entertainment channels, to set an apparent first with a fantasy sports-focused broadcast.

US sports broadcaster ESPN has broadened its partnership with Snap Inc, the parent company of social media platform Snapchat, by agreeing a new two-year deal themed around its news programme SportsCenter.

US OTT streaming service FuboTV has agreed a multi-year deal to carry programming from regional sports network NESN.

Superswiss, which provides pay-television channels in the US, has expanded its partnership with the DEL, the top division of ice hockey in Germany.

ESPN Plus will be the name of the international sports broadcaster’s new video-streaming service that will launch in spring 2018, Bob Iger, the chief executive of parent company Disney, confirmed yesterday (Thursday).

US pay-television broadcaster Univision Deportes has acquired rights for the Bundesliga, the top tier of German club football, through a sublicensing deal with the Fox Deportes division of the Fox network.

Chinese online streaming platform Tencent has acquired a 12 per cent stake in Snap Inc, the parent company of social media platform Snapchat.

The Turner Sports division of US cable-television broadcaster Turner Broadcasting System and technology company Intel have agreed a multi-year deal to jointly offer virtual reality (VR) coverage of North America’s NBA basketball league.

The CBS Sports division of US network CBS has signed a multi-year rights deal with Major League Rugby (MLR), a new rugby union competition in the US.