ESPN

American Football

US pay-television sports broadcaster ESPN has expanded its long-term partnership with Mountain West by acquiring the rights to the US college sports conference’s annual American football championship game.

American Football

US network ABC will broadcast its first NFL American football game in 10 years next season, with sports broadcaster ESPN agreeing to a simulcast deal for the Wild Card Weekend on January 9-10.

Rugby Union

World Rugby, rugby union’s global governing body, has earned a strong increase in the value of its Rugby World Cup media rights in Latin America.

US sports broadcaster ESPN has stepped up its battle with Verizon over its new ‘Custom TV’ programming package by suing the telecommunications company, which has signed pay-television broadcaster CBS Sports Network as a new partner for the service.

The Fox Sports division of the Fox network and NBC Sports division of media company NBCUniversal have joined sports broadcaster ESPN in disputing US telecommunications company Verizon’s new ‘Custom TV’ service.

Football

Sports broadcaster ESPN has launched a dedicated North American Soccer League channel on its digital streaming service ESPN Player.

ESPN is objecting to telecommunications company Verizon’s new payment planning structure for its FiOS TV pay-television service, while long-time executive Sean Bratches has announced he will leave the US sports broadcaster at the end of the year.

US telecommunications company Verizon is to launch a new mobile over-the-top service that will offer customers access to live coverage of college sports.

Football

Major League Soccer will enjoy a substantial increase in exposure in Brazil in the 2015 season, which got under way at the end of March.

Basketball

US pay-television network ESPN will expand its coverage of the National Basketball Association’s Development League in North America.

Football

Sports broadcaster ESPN has extended its global rights agreement with the North American Soccer League for the 2015 season.

Mixed Martial Arts

Sports broadcaster ESPN has agreed to provide live coverage of British Association of Mixed Martial Arts events in Europe through its digital streaming service ESPN Player.

Mixed Martial Arts

Sports broadcaster ESPN has launched a new channel dedicated to the Extreme Fighting Championship mixed martial arts series on its ESPN Player live and on-demand sports streaming service.

Sports broadcaster ESPN will show live and on-demand coverage of the 2015 IndyCar motor racing series in Europe, the Middle East and Africa via a new channel on its digital subscription service ESPN Player.

Boxing

US pay-television sports broadcaster ESPN and the ABC network has acquired rights for the Premier Boxing Champions series.

Football

Fifa avoided the prospect of going back into a US court by agreeing to extend its World Cup rights deal with Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Sports last month. But getting off the legal hook comes at a price, in terms of questions about Fifa’s governance and also, possibly, in having sold the rights at well below market value.

Ice Hockey

The NHL North American ice hockey league and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) has confirmed the award of media rights to US pay-television sports broadcaster ESPN and Canadian media company Rogers Communications for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Basketball

US pay-television network ESPN has acquired rights for the 2015 edition of the Basketball Tournament, an amateur, single-elimination competition in the country.