FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, and Mediaset España have reached an agreement for Mediaset to broadcast the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup to be staged in Spain, as well as the EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia and the EuroBasket 2015 in Ukraine. 

This agreement gives Spanish fans the opportunity to see their national team compete in the world’s biggest basketball tournaments over the next three years.

As the two-time reigning European champions, the Spanish national team is qualified for EuroBasket 2013 and will aim to win a third consecutive continental title in September.

As hosts of the first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup, Spain are automatically qualified for FIBA’s flagship event in 2014. The Olympic and World champions USA are the only other team to have already booked a place for this competition.

“Mediaset Sport is excited about bringing these great basketball tournaments into the Spanish homes. Basketball is a sport with a large following and a great future potential in Spain. This is the first time that Mediaset España includes national team basketball in its Sports offer and we are proud of doing it now, when the national team is at its best. The FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain will be the major sports event and a huge basketball celebration throughout the country,” said Ghislain Barrois, Head of Rights Acquisition of Mediaset España.

FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Patrick Baumann endorsed the partnership with Mediaset España.

“It is a great pleasure for us to announce this signed agreement with Mediaset España – a leading broadcaster in Spain – especially in view of the fact that the first-ever FIBA Basketball World Cup will be played in Spain in 2014,” he said.

“This will enable all Spaniards to follow the performance of their national basketball team, which has already given them so many reasons to celebrate in recent years.

“This broadcast agreement also complements the strong results achieved on the joint sponsorship programme between FIBA and FEB.”

UEFA have revealed today the distribution of their payout to clubs both in the Champions League and Europa League League 

A total of €754.1m ($923m) was distributed to clubs participating in the UEFA Champions League last season. The two teams which competed in the final in Munich, Chelsea FC and FC Bayern München, received the highest amounts.

The 56 teams that participated in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League received payments worth more than €150m ($184m) as a result of UEFA’s revenue distribution system.

Chelsea FC, who won the title after a penalty shoot-out at the Fußball Arena München in May, received €59.935m ($73m) in payments from UEFA. This sum consisted of €29.9m ($36.7m) in participation, match and performance bonuses in the group and knockout stages, including the final, as well as €30.035m ($37m) from the television market pool. Bayern earned a total of €41.730m ($51m): €26.9m ($33m) in participation, match and performance payments, and €14.830m ($18.1m) from the TV market pool.

In addition, €9m ($11m) went to Chelsea for their success in the final, while Bayern earned €5.6m ($6.86m) as runners-up. Other clubs to earn substantial amounts from the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League were FC Barcelona (€40.550m/$49.5m), AC Milan (€39.864m/ $48.78m), Real Madrid CF (€38.434m/$47.03m), Manchester United FC (€35.182m/ $43m) and FC Internazionale Milano (€31.569m/$$38.62m).

The €754.1m prize money allotted to the 32 teams who figured from the group stage onwards consisted of €413m ($505m) in fixed amounts plus €341.1m ($417m) from the market pool. All of the 32 participating clubs received a minimum €7.2m ($8.8m) in accordance with the distribution system, comprising a participation bonus of €3.9m ($4.7m) and €3.3m ($4m) from the six €550,000 ($673,346) match bonuses given per group game.

Additionally, performance bonuses were paid in the group stage: sides received €800,000 ($979,412) for every win and €400,000 ($489,693) for every draw, with Madrid the only club to net the maximum €4.8m ($5.8m). The 16 clubs that reached the round of 16 were each assigned an additional €3m ($3.6m), the eight quarter-finalists an extra €3.3m ($4m), and the four semi-finalists a bonus of €4.2m ($5.1m).

The 56 teams that participated in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League received payments worth more than €150m ($184m) as a result of UEFA’s revenue distribution system.

Club Atlético de Madrid, winners of the competition, earned themselves just over €10.5m ($12.8m) after coming through the group and knockout stages to clinch the trophy with a fine 3-0 win over fellow Spanish outfit Athletic Club in Bucharest in May. Athletic Club received around €9.5m ($11.6m) for their own splendid run.

Each of the 48 clubs in the group stage earned a participation bonus of €640,000 ($736,376), plus a bonus of €60,000 ($73,421) per group game played, which meant that every club received €1m ($1.22m), irrespective of their results. Performance bonuses amounted to €140,000 ($171,328) per win and €70,000 ($85,664) per draw for each club in the group stage. RSC Anderlecht were the only club to receive the full amount of €840,000 ($1bn) for a 100% record in their group programme.

Each participant in the round of 32 received an extra €200,000 ($244,783), with further progress being rewarded by payments of €300,000 ($367,098) for advancing to the round of 16, €400,000 ($489,446) for the quarter-finals and €700,000 ($856,469) for the semi-finals.

Sale Sharks Rugby Club have appointed Steve Diamond as their new chief executive officer following Mick Hogan‘s decision to leave the club and continue their rise back to the forefront of Rugby in the north of England.

Current chief executive Mick Hogan has confirmed that he will be leaving the club at the end of January in order to take up a post with Rugby 2015, the organising body of the 2015 Rugby World Cup and Diamond looks set to replace him.

At present, Diamond is Sale’s executive director of sport and has been instrumental in helping the Sharks rise up the table with some shrewd signings in the off-season and tactical nous.

Having slid down the pecking order after the glory days of the early to mid-2000’s in which the club won European Challenge Cup titles in 2002 and 2005 and the Premiership in 2006, Sale found themselves struggling to stave off relegation.

Seemingly back on the rise, Sale are looking to make the most of the plight of neighbours Newcastle and Leeds and make themselves the biggest club in the region.

“What we will be doing in the new year with this club is promoting it to seize Manchester and take the North West,” Diamond told the Daily Telegraph.

“We’ve got grand plans, we are embryonic in what we are doing but we are proving that with a bit of direction and enthusiasm and not a lot of money – because we are spending far less than we have ever spent – we can go places.

“The owners are asking me, ‘how do we create a super northern club?’ and I am saying, ‘let’s get the foundations in place for the next year or so’.”

Sale are believed to be in advanced talks with rugby league side Salford City Reds about a groundshare deal for their recently-completed £26million, 12,000-capacity stadium at Barton.

Read what Mick Hogan has to say about Sale Sharks in his exclusive iSportconnect featured profile

Related discussion: Can Steve Diamond create a northern super club?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today launched the bid process for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020. National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have been invited to submit the name of one city within their jurisdiction as an applicant to host the Games in a little under nine years’ time.

The NOCs have until 1 September 2011 to submit the name of an Applicant City, try and these cities will then be required to submit their application files and guarantee letters to the IOC by 15 February 2012. The election of the Host City for the 2020 Olympic Games will take place on 7 September 2013 during the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, symptoms Argentina.

The key phases and dates of the procedure are as follows:

Pre-registration – For the first time, a number of prerequisite criteria for NOCs/ cities wishing to bid for the Olympic Games have been put in place.

Phase I – Known as the Candidature Acceptance Procedure, this involves a thorough review by the IOC of each city’s potential to organise the 2020 Olympic Games. Cities will be asked to reply to a questionnaire. Their answers will be studied by the IOC in order to help the IOC Executive Board select the cities that will become Candidate Cities and therefore move on to Phase II.

Phase II – Known as the Candidature Procedure.  Candidate Cities will be requested to submit their Candidature File, which is an in-depth description of their Olympic project, and prepare for the visit by the IOC Evaluation Commission. The Evaluation Commission will make a detailed technical assessment of each candidature and publish a report at least one month before the election of the host city for IOC members to review.

The New York Cosmos will be a professional sport team again after they agreed to join the second division North American Soccer League (NASL).

The American club that once featured Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, clinic are returning to competitive action next year after a 28 year absence.

The original Cosmos folded in 1985 after a short but high-profile existence in the original NASL but were brought back to life in 2010.

Since then the franchise has focused on merchandising and youth football projects and has undergone a change of ownership while rumours have circulated about a return to the professional game through the top-flight Major League Soccer (MLS).

But while MLS has said it intends to create a franchise in New York City and is searching out possible venues, prostate the Cosmos ownership group turned to the second tier league. The New York Red Bulls of MLS play in New Jersey.

“As we continue to expand the league and help grow professional football in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, the Cosmos brand and their strong ownership group are a perfect fit with us,” NASL Commissioner David Downs said on Thursday.

The Cosmos, who won five championships in the old NASL, will play against some familiar names from the past with the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Fort Lauderdale Strikers both featuring in the league which was created in 2009 taking the name of the old competition which ran from 1968 to 1984.

The Cosmos said they expect to announce in the near future where they will play their home games and who will coach and play for the club.

Indianapolis Colts team owner Jim Irsay has fired team vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, Chris, the Colts’ general manager on Monday as the team looks to bounce back from a horrific season.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a year in the NFL where a team went 2-14 and there’s not been changes,” defensive captain Gary Brackett said Monday, less than 24 hours after a season-ending loss at Jacksonville.

The elder Polian had constructed Super Bowl teams in Buffalo and Indy, and an NFC title contender at Carolina.

But troubling signs emerged this season as the Colts lost time and time again — 13 straight at one point — with franchise qurterback Peyton Manning sidelined to recover from Sept. 8 neck surgery. And it was Manning who suggested he and Bill Polian were not on the same page.

“Just less than two years ago [we were] getting ready to play in the Super Bowl and go to Miami,” Irsay said in a news conference to announce the firings. “Less than two years ago, cleaning off the confetti from the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s been a very sharp decline.

“Even last year when we were getting ready to play our playoff game at 10-6 and division champs, if someone had said in this room, ‘You’re going to be having the No. 1 pick in the draft, and you’re going to lose 13 games in a row and be 2-14,’ no one could have possibly believed it.”

But without four-time most valuable player Peyton Manning, the Colts were a shell of the team that had so much success with the Polians running the front office. In 14 seasons with Bill Polian running the club, first as general manager and eventually as vice chairman, the Colts went 141-67 with 11 seasons of 10 or more victories. They made it to the playoffs 11 times during his tenure, twice advancing to the Super Bowl and winning the Lombardi Trophy in February 2007 with a victory over Chicago.

Chris Polian had various personnel duties with the team before being promoted to general manager in 2009 and ultimately to team president.

Irsay called the choice to fire the Polians “an intuitive decision” and said, “It was time.”

He said, however, that he will continue to evaluate Caldwell and indicated the coach might remain for a fourth season.

Sergei Cheban, denture the Executive Director of the Russian Premier League, clinic has confirmed as a speaker for the Inside World Football Moscow Forum. Cheban joins a list of high profile and impressive speakers at the event on June 23-24, which includes Alexey Sorokin, Chief Executive of Russia 2018, FIFA Director Walter Gagg, and Marcin Herra, President of Poland 2012.

“The continued growth of Russian domestic football will be integral to the success of the World Cup”, said Simon Joseph, Director of the Forum. “Mr Cheban is uniquely placed to talk about the steps that teams are taking – and the league as a whole – to widen football’s appeal, attract further investment and meet a range of other challenges.”

With six weeks to go until the Moscow Forum, senior executives from Aon, SPORTFIVE, Lagardere Unlimited Stadium Solutions, Nussli, Sport + Markt, Helios Partners, FieldTurf Tarkett, Dow Europe, Triumph Media Group, Aggreko, BTD, Austrade, Beswicks Sports and a host of other key names from the world of sport have confirmed their participationAon, SPORTFIVE, Lagardere Unlimited Stadium Solutions, Nussli, Sport + Markt, Helios Partners, FieldTurf Tarkett, Dow Europe, Triumph Media Group, Aggreko, BTD, Austrade, Beswicks Sports and many other leading names in the global sports industry. at the event.

The Inside World Football Moscow Forum, Moscow, 23-24 June, 2011, will set the stage for preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ – exploring the challenges that Russia faces and the part specialists can play in providing expertise to the organisers of the tournament.

The Forum’s intensive programme will cover construction, transport, legacy strategy, media solutions, raising sponsorship and many other aspects of organising a major modern sporting event. For the latest details, visit: http://www.eventica.co.uk/?p=4169

The Legends Football League (LFL), formerly known as the Lingerie Football League have renewed their distribution rights deal with Total Sports Asia to encompass the rest of the world, excluding Brazil, Japan, Central and North America.

The US based women’s professional league American football have recently re-branded and are keen to explore their global reach.

The new agreement includes media right representation across all three LFL global leagues to include LFL USA, LFL Canada and LFL Australia. Both TSA and LFL are keen to duplicate the success that they have enjoyed in Asia, in all continents and drastically increase TV distribution and revenues across the globe. 

TSA’s Chief Content Officer, Julian Jackson, said: ”When we 1st got involved with the LFL, we were really happy to close some very large deals soon after being appointed and have since had broadcasters, ask us about the sport in many other markets that we work in globally. This cemented, in our minds, the confidence that we have in the LFL and this has been borne out by the amazing reaction we get from broadcasters when they actually see the hard hitting action. Stay tuned for some more major markets that the LFL will soon be available in.” 

“Our focus for the LFL is to build it as a the largest spanning global league in all of sports. The league’s early and unprecedented success’ internationally are a great indicator of its appeal and potential for growth with international audiences. Television being the leading component of brand building, we feel our now global agreement with TSA enables us a partner that not only understands sports but how to navigate the landscape of media rights”, said, Mitchell S. Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Legends Football League, LLC.

Die Fußball-EM war im Juni das Topthema der Hauptnachrichtensendungen im deutschen Fernsehen, cialis wie der InfoMonitor des Instituts IFEM, Köln, ermittelt hat. Mit 250 Minuten Berichterstattung lag das Sportereignis deutlich vor Berichten aus dem Umfeld der Fußball-EM, der Euro-Schuldenkrise, der Parlamentswahl und Schuldenkrise in Griechenland sowie der Debatte um den Fiskalpakt.

Die Berichte von der Fußball-EM führten in allen Hauptnachrichtensendungen die Themenliste an. Auf Rang zwei folgten bei den Privaten Berichte aus dem Umfeld der Fußball-WM. Dagegen widmeten “Tagesschau” und “heute” der Eurokrise die zweitmeiste Sendezeit.

Der Sport-Event führte dazu, dass sich die im Mai gestiegene Anzahl der Politikerauftritte in den Nachrichten wieder etwas reduzierte. An der Spitze lag erneut die CDU mit 371 Auftritten, gefolgt von der SPD mit 204 Auftritten. Die FDP war dagegen mit 109 Auftritten deutlich seltener vertreten und musste ihren dritten Rangplatz an Die Linke abgeben, über die mit 146 Auftritten anhaltend stark berichtet wurde. Es folgte die CSU mit 92 Auftritten knapp vor den Grünen (91 Auftritte), die als einzige Partei präsenter als im Mai war.

Die Fußball-EM schlug sich in höheren Sportanteilen in allen Nachrichtensendungen nieder. Dies ging allerdings nur zum Teil auf Kosten der Politikberichterstattung. Diese sank zwar gegenüber dem politikstarken Mai wieder, pendelte sich aber in etwa auf dem Niveau des April ein. Die “Tagesschau” widmete 56 Prozent ihrer Sendezeit der Politik (entspricht 9 Minuten pro Sendung), “heute” 38 Prozent (7 Minuten), “RTL aktuell” 23 Prozent (5 Minuten), die “Sat.1 Nachrichten” 31 Prozent (4 Minuten) und die Nachrichtenmagazine “Tagesthemen” und “heute-journal” je 53 Prozent (11 Minuten).