German public broadcaster ZDF has extended its deal with UEFA to have the free-to-air rights of the Champions League until 2018.

The deal gives ZDF the right to air 18 Champions League games per season free-to-air in Germany. The German pubweb will carry Wednesday matches as well as the Champions League final and the Supercup match.

The Champions League, the club tournament which pairs off the top soccer teams across Europe, is a guaranteed ratings winner in Germany. Wednesday’s first round match between German side Borussia Dortmund and France’s Olympique Marseille drew 8.29 million viewers on ZDF.

This year’s final, which for the first time featured two German sides in Dortmund and eventual champions Bayern Munich, scored a recorded 21.6 million viewers, an astounding 61.9 percent market share.

ZDF has been the free-TV broadcaster of Champions League games in Germany since 2011, when they snatched the rights away from commercial broadcaster Sat.1.

Agencies IGM and Vizeum have been successful in gaining the strategic media planning account for British Telecom’s (BT) sponsorship of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Vizeum will be responsible for BT’s media strategy, while sports specialist IMG will create sponsorship activation on the account. It is Vizeum’s first appointment to the BT roster.

BT is a first-tier domestic sponsor of the Games and the official communications partner in a deal worth just under US$120 million.

Media rights agency, sales MP & Silva, prostate has secured a number of rights to european club football matches over the winter break.

The exclusive package is highlighted by the Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid match on 2nd January to be played in Doha. Other matches include teams from German, buy Dutch, Belgium, Turkish, Ukrainian and Emirati top football leagues.  The following matches are scheduled for 7-15 January 2014:

– Wolfburg v Vitesse Arnhem (7 January);

– Wolfburg v Vitesse Arnhem (8 January),

– RSC Anderlecht v Wolfsburg (10 January), 

– Hamburger SV v Vitesse Arnhem (10 January),

– Besiktas Istanbul v FC Augsburg (10 January),

– Besiktas Istanbul v Borussia Monchengladbach (12 January) and

– Hamburger SV v Metalist Kharkiv (15 January).

Peter Hutton, Co-CEO, MP & Silva, said: “We are happy to provide international high quality football content to cover the mid-season break. It’s a time of the year where the clubs are gearing up for the second half of the season and the friendly matches are a good opportunity for the teams to be more creative while maintaining their competitive edge. It is also a great opportunity for broadcasters all over the world to get access to European clubs content during the winter break, and we are heartened by the strong response from our partners so far about the matches.”

“MP & Silva will soon announce more friendly matches for the summer of 2014. The summer package will feature European clubs friendlies and national teams friendlies”, he added.

Bayern Munich plan to extend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s contract as CEO until 2016, according to reports.

At a meeting of the club’s board of directors on Monday, at which president Uli Hoeness’ offer to resign was rejected, the three-year Rummenigge deal was approved, the Bild reports. Rummenigge was present alongside sporting director Matthias Sammer, deputy executive board member Andreas Jung and chief financial officer Jan-Christian Dreesen. 

Rummenigge, who played as a striker for Bayern, was sold to Inter Milan by Hoeness to pay off Bayern’s debts in 1984. 

He returned to his former club as vice-president in 1991, and in 2002 became the CEO of the newly founded Bayern Munich Aktiengesellschaft, which is comparable to a joint stock company.

Earlier Hoeness’ resignation was not accepted by Bayern.

“After intense discussion, the advisory board of FC Bayern Munich AG decided unanimously that Uli Hoeness should continue in his position of president,” said the club in a statement.

Hoeness recently made a self-denunciation to the German tax authorities that he had not declared taxes on an account he held in Switzerland.

He is currently being investigated on suspicion of tax evasion and had offered to resign from his position while the investigation took its course.

“Uli Hoeness expressed his regret at the incident and apologised,” continued the club statement, stating that the decision to turn down his offer to resign was made “in the interests of FC Bayern, who need to concentrate fully on reaching further sporting goals with the Champions League final on 25 May and the German Cup final on 1 June.”

Visa, unhealthy official FIFA and Olympic sponsor, has extended their support of the Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro on 24-28 November.

Visa has increased their involvement at the Convention for the third year running by sponsoring the Networking Café, which will now be known as the Visa Café. Situated at the core of the exhibition area, it has been the birth place for some of the biggest and most renowned deals in Soccerex history and Visa will be inviting all delegates to join them for informal networking and complimentary drinks at the close of each day during the Convention. With various themed networking activities taking place throughout the event, the Visa brand will be positioned at the heart of the Soccerex networking experience.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie commented: “We would like to thank Visa for their continued support of Soccerex. The commitment of this major international brand at this year’s Convention demonstrates the global magnitude and recognition of our event. We are proud to be able to work alongside Visa once more to assist them in fulfilling their objectives through the Soccerex network and global exposure our event offers.”

The Soccerex Global Convention is a five day business event consisting of a comprehensive seminar line-up, a number of networking opportunities, a two-day football festival and a packed exhibition.

Held in a purpose-built venue within the Forte de Copacabana, with panoramic views of both the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, the exhibition is a hub for business activity; as one of the main components of the convention it provides a platform for leading suppliers from around the world to showcase the latest industry products and services to delegates.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208742 7100 or visit www.soccerex.com/global.

Munich’s bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics will not be affected by a surprise rejection by the Greens, the country’s third biggest political force, Germany’s top sports official said Monday.

The Greens, in opposition but rising in opinion polls, narrowly voted at the weekend for a motion that called the Munich plans “anything but ecologically exemplary.”

Munich’s candidacy, which is up against South Korea’s Pyeongchang and France’s Annecy, has already received the official backing of the German government ahead of the International Olympic Committee vote in July next year.

“The chances of Munich 2018 victory will not suffer from this negative attitude shown by a narrow majority of an opposition party,” German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) chief Thomas Bach said in a statement.

“Internationally it is recognized that this concept is ‘the best, and ecologically most sustainable concept, that has ever existed’, as Winfried Hermann, sports spokesperson of the Green Party put it in his speech at the convention,” said Bach, who is also an IOC Vice President.

The DOSB is the country’s umbrella sports organization.

“The time and process of the debate on this comprehensive and complex project, which was scheduled for only a few minutes, clearly show that this was not a democratic debate or consideration of factual issues; instead it appears to be a rejection based on political motives,” said Bach.

The Greens reacted strongly to Bach’s statement, saying his comments were outrageous.

“These comments for a decision of the party against the 2018 bid are more than outrageous and show a lack of understanding for democratic procedures,” said Dieter Janecek, the chairman of the Greens in Bavaria.

“And it is the head of an opaque organization (DOSB) that bristles with commercial interweaving who questions the decisions of a democratically organized party,” he said.

Munich’s bid to become the first city to host summer and winter Olympics has stumbled repeatedly in the past few months following the resignation of bid leader Willy Bogner, a land row with residents of Garmisch-Partenkirchen — site of the skiing events — and an Interior Ministry report questioning the candidacy’s financial numbers.

The other two bids have faced their own problems recently with Pyeongchang receiving an IOC warning over two sponsorship deals involving South Korean companies and France’s Annecy forced to rework their project after getting low marks in an IOC technical report in June.

(Source: Reuters)

SPORT1 have secured the media rights to the 2014 European Handball Federation (EHF) Euro after a deal with Infront Sports & Media, media and marketing partner of the EHF.

The German sports channel is to broadcast at least 22 games of the upcoming EHF EURO live on free TV – including the semi-finals and the final. The Men’s EHF EURO 2014 will be held in Denmark (Aalborg, Arhus, Herning and Copenhagen) from 12 to 26 January.

Besides the exclusive coverage, SPORT1 will also broadcast through its online platform SPORT1.de via live stream as well as through the SPORT1 app. This will be complemented with a full range of news, background material and commentary across the SPORT1 news formats and the digital sports radio SPORT1.fm.

Olaf Schroeder, SPORT1 Managing Director, said: “2014 will showcase a series of superb sports events. SPORT1 will begin the sporting year with the Men’s European Handball Championships as the first great highlight! After the 2013 IHF Women’s World Championship, which we broadcast on free TV until 22 December, as the number one sports channel, we will then provide fans the next high-level event – all on top of our live broadcasts from the German Handball-Bundesliga.”

Stephan Herth, Executive Director Summer Sports of Infront, added: “Handball is the most popular indoor sport in Germany. With its long tradition and strong national league, the country is one of the most important handball markets in the world. Thanks to the partnership with SPORT1 for the EHF EURO, we are guaranteeing the fans extensive free TV coverage of this major handball event.”

According to reports, erectile ten clubs are considering a breakaway from the Scottish Football League.

A letter signed by the 10 clubs is to be sent to the Scottish Premier League ahead of their meeting next week according to BBC Scotland.

The clubs involved make up the current First Division, with the exception of promoted Partick Thistle and relegated Airdrie United.

But Dundee, who appear certain to be relegated from the SPL, and Second Division winners Queen of the South have both signed up to the changes.

The development comes after a meeting at New Douglas Park on Thursday, when the clubs decided they would try and force a restructuring of Scottish football.

For any breakaway to succeed, SPL clubs would need to approve the plan with an 11-1 majority required.

Durham have announced today that their management structure ahead of a busy 2013 season that includes the club’s first Ashes Test.

David Harker, who announced last month that he would step down as Durham’s chief executive in May, will now take on the new role of group chief executive, guiding the next steps in the continuing redevelopment of Emirates Durham ICG.

Richard Dowson, previously operations director, becomes the club’s chief operating officer, while Rebecca Graham is promoted to finance director.

Scott Sherrard, a long-time advisor to Durham, takes on the position of commercial director and Rachel Harwood is the club’s new operations and events director.

Durham chairman Clive Leach said: “This is an enviable team to have put together as we embark on this exciting year. I am especially delighted that it is a combination of home-grown talent and wider industry experience and one that will continue to build on the momentum that has taken the club so far in only 21 years.

“Last month we revealed David Harker’s intention to move in time to a non-executive role to permit him time to pursue additional interests. I am delighted however that this new role will permit these to be pursued while continuing to provide the executive leadership for our ambitious plans for growth, supported by a strengthened and focused management team.”