American Football

Jed York, chief executive of NFL American football franchise the San Francisco 49ers, has confirmed the league is investigating the possibility of expanding the number of games that are streamed live next season following the success of last month’s inaugural initiative with internet company Yahoo.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has extended its media rights deal with US sports broadcaster ESPN through to the end of the 2017-18 season.

The Pac-12 US college sports conference has expanded its rights partnership with Chinese internet company LeTV.

The Canadian Football League competition will stream live coverage of its end-of-season playoffs and Grey Cup finale via video-sharing platform YouTube.

The first global free-to-view live stream of a regular-season American football NFL game on Sunday attracted more than 15.2m unique viewers.

Internet company Yahoo has sold out its advertising inventory for the first ever free live global stream of a regular-season game from the NFL, with the American football league stating it will closely monitor the results of the initiative as it seeks to determine whether it will proceed with further deals.

Social networking service Twitter suspended the accounts of websites Deadspin and SB Nation on Monday evening after American football league the NFL filed notices relating to their use of copyrighted video highlights.

The Mid-American Conference US collegiate sports competition has struck a multi-year media rights deal with the Ohio-based Buckeye CableSystem Sports Network regional sports broadcaster.

The National Football League has endured mixed fortunes in its early deals in Europe, earning increases in Germany and France but seeing the value of its rights fall in the Netherlands.

The NFL Players’ Association has launched Athlete Content & Entertainment (Ace Media), a company that will identify and create programming opportunities for the American football league’s sportsmen.

International pay-television operator Eleven Sports Network has acquired rights in Poland and Belgium for the North American NFL American football league.

New Zealand public-service broadcaster TVNZ has acquired rights for the North American NFL American football league and expects to announce further coverage deals in the coming weeks, according to director of content Jeff Latch.

Caribbean cable-television broadcaster Flow has acquired broadcast rights in the region for the NFL American football league.

Online streaming website Spox.com, owned by digital sports media company Perform, has acquired rights to the NFL in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, while pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports will broadcast the American football league in the Netherlands.

Fewer NFL American football matches will be shown free-to-air in the UK in the 2015 season, but the league has secured deals which it believes will still reach a wide audience.

American football league the NFL has launched a new subscription streaming service designed as the latest accompaniment to the sport’s traditional television coverage.