Cricket

The launch of Australia’s first-ever free-to-air sports channel, One, is an unprecedented challenge to leading pay sports broadcaster Fox Sports.

The Premier League may offer overseas broadcasters a ready-made Premier League channel in the next three-year rights cycle, as it looks to maintain the steep increase in its international rights revenue in a softening market.

Forthcoming negotiations for the domestic rights for English rugby union’s Guinness Premiership will act as an interesting barometer of the state of the UK sports rights market, three months before the start of football’s Premier League rights talks.

Cricket: Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN Star Sports acquired the rights for Twenty20’s cricket’s Champions League.

The latest commercial earthquake to hit a sport whose governance is in danger of being severely unbalanced by the explosion of Twenty20 cricket.

Cricket: UK pay-broadcaster BSkyB extended its deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board for a further four years, from 2010 to 2013, paying about £260m (€330m). 

ECB tough negotiations with public-service broadcaster the BBC for radio rights.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has been fiercely criticised by broadcasters for its handling of negotiations for its next television rights deal.

Olympics: Spanish media group Telefónica’s Latin American digital media arm Terra acquired the internet and mobile platform rights to the 2008 Olympic Games.

Neither DirecTV or Echostar make offers for Australian and New Zealand cricket

Basketball: German commercial broadcaster DSF acquired the live, delayed and highlights rights for the 2009 and 2011 FIBA European Championship and the 2010 FIBA World Championship from the Fédération Internationale de Basketball.

Sir Allen Stanford’s Twenty20 cricket matches have brought together the marketing and production team from the former Octagon CSI agency.

The final of cricket’s inaugural India Premier League Twenty20 competition attracted the highest sports audience of the year in India.

Ice hockey: Canadian cable sports broadcaster TSN extended its television rights deal with the National Hockey League for a further six years, through to 2013-14, in a contract worth at least C$200m (£101m/€127m). 

Motorsport: Spanish commercial broadcaster Telecinco acquired Formula One rights in Spain in a two-year deal covering the 2004 and 2005 seasons

The rugby World Cup and the cricket World Cup account for 11 of the Top 20 most popular televised sports events on Australian television in 2003