Infront

A group of Italian MPs from the coalition government has submitted an amendment to the Melandri Law which would require one live Serie A match per week to be shown on free-to-air television.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has been working with advertising giant WPP to source sponsors for its free-to-air 2016 Olympics Games feed in sub-Saharan Africa, TV Sports Markets understands.

The Infront Sports & Media and TV Media Sport agencies have agreed a host of broadcast deals in sub-Saharan Africa for this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has brokered long-term rights deals with broadcasters in Canada, Denmark and Germany for a number of leading ice hockey events.

Claude Ruibal has been appointed as the executive director of the Infront Sports & Media agency’s new digital, production and sport solutions business unit.

Union Cycliste Internationale president Brian Cookson said it sold its rights to the European Broadcasting Union as the EBU was “the best player in the market to place our events on free-to-air broadcasters across Europe”.

The investigation by Italy’s antitrust authority into the sale of Serie A rights, which led to €66m ($75m) in fines being handed down this month, centred on negotiations in a four-day period in June 2014 after bids had been made.

Italy’s antitrust authority, l’Autorità Garante del Mercato e della Concorrenza, has issued fines totalling €66m ($75.3m) in the case surrounding the 2014 sale of rights to Serie A, the top division of domestic football.

Germany’s football federation is set to earn about 35 per cent more from domestic media rights to its knockout cup competition, with deals to be announced in the coming weeks.

Infront Sports & Media’s Italian football business activities are facing a three-pronged attack which could have major long-term repercussions for the agency’s revenues and undermine its behind-the-scenes influence in the country.

Italy’s antitrust authority has notified Lega Serie A, Infront Sports & Media, Mediaset and Sky Italia that their behaviour during the auction process for Serie A media rights constituted a breach of European competition law.

The Chinese government has intervened in the sale of media rights to the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups in the country, ensuring a deal will eventually be struck with state broadcaster CCTV.

Markus Waldner, the men’s alpine race director at the International Ski Federation (FIS), has said that the governing body will ban the use of drones at events until further notice after a machine carrying a camera nearly hit an athlete during a World Cup event in Italy.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has agreed a three-year deal to become the international media rights partner of annual invitational ice hockey competition the Spengler Cup.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has extended its media production deal with the International Ski Mountaineering Federation for the 2015-16 season.

Norwegian public-service broadcaster NRK renewed two vital skiing rights deals last month, agreeing to pay decent increases for both.