USA

The CBS Sports division of US network CBS has acquired rights from pay-television broadcaster ESPN for the American Athletic Conference college sports competition.

The CBS Sports division of US network CBS has acquired rights for the Mountain West Conference college sports competition’s American football championship game.

Private equity company Forstmann Little has begun formally soliciting buyers for the IMG agency and is distributing financial information to potential suitors, according to the Wall Street Journal newspaper.

Randy Freer, chief operating officer and co-president of the Fox Sports division of US network Fox, has said that the broadcaster would be interested in bidding for Thursday night NFL American football rights.

The US Tennis Association has begun talks on alternative broadcast plans for the US Open tournament if CBS remains off the air in the New York area due to the network’s ongoing dispute with cable-television operator Time Warner Cable.

US regional television broadcaster WBBZ-TV has acquired rights to American football games from college sport’s Atlantic Coast Conference ahead of the 2013 season.

NBC Sports Network, the cable-television sports channel of US network NBC, will use its coverage of English Premier League football to promote its NBCSN rebranding.

Showtime will not be able to provide coverage of mixed martial arts again until 2014, according to the US pay-per-view broadcaster’s executive vice-president Stephen Espinoza.

Fox Sports 1, the new US pay-television channel from the Fox Sports division of the Fox network, remains in talks to seal carriage deals with pay-television operators Time Warner Cable, DirecTV and Dish ahead of its launch on August 17, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

US cable-television channel Fuel TV has confirmed it will be rebranded as Fox Sports 2 on August 17 to coincide with the launch of Fox Sports 1, the new pay-television channel from the Fox Sports division of the Fox network.

US horse racing organisation the Jockey Club has agreed a multi-year rights deal with the Fox Sports division of the Fox network.

The United States Golf Association has agreed a 12-year deal with the Fox Sports division of US network Fox for the broadcast rights to the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open Championships.

Premiership Rugby, the commercial rights-holder and organiser of the World Club 7s rugby union tournament, has agreed two new broadcast deals for the inaugural edition of the event.

NFL American football franchise the Cleveland Browns have agreed a new multi-year television deal with local cable television partner SportsTime Ohio.

The Learfield Sports agency has agreed a seven-year deal with US college South Methodist University for the multimedia rights to its Mustang athletics teams.

The Fox Sports division of US network Fox has extended and expanded its multi-platform rights agreement with the Nascar motor-racing series for two additional seasons beyond 2022.