Rugby Union
Rai enjoying solo run as cut-price deal caps positive year
Heineken Cup drinks to pay-TV rivalry
European club competition the Heineken Cup last week became the third rugby union rights property in the last month to secure a healthy rise in rights fees from the UK television market.
FASTRACK
TV Rights Deals 2: England rugby, swimming, hockey and more
Olympics: Turkish commercial network Fox Turkey acquired the rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games.
Ten goes Fox hunting with free-to-air sports channel
The launch of Australia’s first-ever free-to-air sports channel, One, is an unprecedented challenge to leading pay sports broadcaster Fox Sports.
BSkyB grabs RFU to leave Premiership, Sanzar in a fix
UK pay-operator BSkyB’s new five-year deal with the Rugby Football Union was a classic smash-and-grab move that will strengthen its position in the ongoing negotiations for English rugby union’s top-tier domestic league.
TV Rights Deals 2: Major League Baseball, Formula One, Skiiing and more
SPORTEL NEWS 2
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.
Fox-Ten rivalry drives rugby fees before credit crunch bites
The IRB secured a massive increase in television rights fees in Australia as pay broadcaster Fox Sports fought off a major challenge from free-to-air network Ten to win the rights for the 2011 and 2015 rugby union World Cups.
TV Rights Deals 1: Formula One, Serie A and more
Cricket: Pan-Asian broadcaster ESPN Star Sports acquired the rights for Twenty20’s cricket’s Champions League.
Rugby back on free-TV after Sky goes cold
Italian state broadcaster Rai acquired the rights for Italy’s domestic rugby union league, the Super 10 after Sky Italia chose not to renew its three-year deal.