Media
Infront defends Flanders Classics deal amid RTBF challenge
Infront has rejected competition claims raised by French-language Belgian public broadcaster RTBF over the agency’s sale of Flanders Classics rights to commercial network RTL.
Tennis Channel goes OTT with cable-free service
Tennis Channel has announced a direct-to-consumer product, marking the first time in its 21-year history that viewers do not need a cable subscription to access content
Rights hit market in host nation for 2027 Fifa WWC
Fifa has begun the sales process in the host country of Brazil for media rights to the 2027 Women's World Cup, in what is expected to be a highly competitive auction
CWI gets multi-year media rights security via ESPN
Cricket West Indies has struck a domestic media rights agreement with ESPN until 2030, providing the governing body with the long-term broadcast deal it has craved
DHB sticks with Sportfive through 2030
The Sportfive agency has renewed one of its longest-standing commercial deals, reupping its agreement with the German Handball Federation (DHB) until 2030
Premiership Rugby set to make French TV return
Premiership Rugby, the top tier of rugby union in England, is to have its matches shown in France again after an absence of over two seasons via a deal with beIN Sports
Women’s football set for Channel 4 return in FA deal
Channel 4 has been identified as the winning bidder for free-to-air rights to the Women’s FA Cup from 2025-26 to 2027-28, SportBusiness understands.
Sportradar nets €37m profit despite rights uplift
Sportradar overcame a €14m ($18m) jump in third-quarter financing costs on the back of new rights deals with the ATP Tour, Bundesliga and NBA to report profit of €37m in the third quarter.
Pull of Olympics drives Endeavor Q3 revenues
Hospitality sales related to the Paris 2024 Olympics helped boost revenues at Endeavor, where sports were the biggest driver of growth across the group in an otherwise mixed third quarter.
Paris 2024 effect boosts WBD financials
Warner Bros. Discovery has registered a $135m net profit in Q3, despite total revenues falling four per cent, aided by a record growth in DTC subscribers amid the Olympic Games
Shapiro KOs White’s boxing plans… for now
Boxing remains a vertical of interest to TKO but there will be no immediate move into the sport described "at its best as confused and fragmented, at its worst as broken" by president Mark Shapiro.
RiksTV, Viaplay strike 11th hour carriage deal
Viaplay Group's new tougher stance on business-to-business negotiations has paid off, after a carriage deal with RiksTV, the Norwegian pay-television operator, was extended after an intense round of talks
Former ESPN exec Fagan heads EBU’s OTT platform
Alan Fagan, previously a leading European rights executive at ESPN, has been hired by the EBU as managing director of its new sports streaming platform, replacing Jean-Baptiste Casta.
Amazon adds Edelston to European rights team
Former Premier League media rights executive Michael Edelston has quit his role at Formula E to join the sports department at Amazon Prime Video
BBC nets more Premier League radio exclusivity
The BBC has secured a wider package of Premier League radio rights after picking up exclusive rights to the Saturday 3pm matches for the new cycle, running from 2025-26 to 2028-29
Sportdigital ‘closes in’ on Sport1 pay-TV channels
Germany’s Sportdigital is closing in on an agreement to acquire the pay-television channels of Sport1 as the broadcaster now jointly owned by Turkey’s Acunmedya trims its sports content offering.
LFP, CVC offices searched over investment deal
A series of raids have been undertaken in Paris this morning in relation to the conditions of CVC Capital Partners’ €1.5bn ($1.6bn) investment deal with France’s Professional Football League (LFP).
WTA Finals back on CCTV for first time since 2021
The WTA Finals, the season-ending WTA Tour tournament, has returned to Chinese linear television for the first time since the Peng Shuai controversy in November 2021