TV rights 2: African Nations Cup football, handball and more

·   Football: African broadcasters acquired the rights for the African Cup of Nations in a series of last-minute deals with the LC2 agency.  In Ghana, state broadcaster GTV acquired the rights for €1m (£686,000).  Zimbabwe public-service broadcaster Zimbabwe TV acquired the rights for €790,000.

Kenyan state broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation also a agreed a deal.  Botswana Television acquired the rights paying a reported Pula2.5m (£268,000/€391,000).  In Uganda and Zambia, public-service broadcasters failed to raise the €500,000 fee.

·   Football: Pan-European cable and satellite broadcaster Eurosport acquired the rights for the African Cup of Nations in a deal worth $1m (£567,000/€827,000) with the Sportfive agency.  It will broadcast 28 of the 32 matches on its main Eurosport channel, with the four clashing final pool matches on Eurosport 2.  French commercial broadcaster TF1 will also broadcast the final in France.

·   Football: Middle East broadcaster Al Jazeera Sport acquired the non-exclusive pay-television rights in the Middle East and North Africa for the 2006 African Cup of Nations, in a sublicensing deal with rival broadcaster Arab Radio and Television.  ART had bought the rights to four Cups, from 2002 to 2008, in a $10m (£5.7m/€8.3m) deal with the Groupe Jean-Claude Darmon agency some years ago.

·   Handball: The Sportfive agency acquired the rights for the 2007 and 2009 World Handball Championships, beating off competition from rival agencies TWI and Infront as well as the European Broadcasting Union.  The deal, worth around SFr30m (£13.3m/€19.3m) covers both men’s and women’s championships.

·   Rugby union: ABC Asia Pacific, Australian public-service broadcaster ABC’s international television service, acquired non-exclusive rights for Super 14 and Test rugby in 41 countries in the Asia-Pacific region in a deal with rights holder Sanzar, the umbrella body representing the South African, New Zealand and Australian rugby football unions.  It will share rights with Fiji TV throughout the Pacific and with J-Sports in Japan.  Sanzar is close to deals in France and Italy.

 ·   Basketball: US cable and satellite broadcasters ESPN and College Sports TV acquired the rights for US college basketball’s Atlantic 10 Conference.  ESPN will broadcast the Atlantic 10 men’s and women’s Championship finals in a four-year deal from 2006-07 to 2009-10.  CSTV acquired the television, radio, video-on-demand, internet, broadband, and wireless rights for all Atlantic 10 matches in a five-year deal from 2006-07 to 2010-11.