The Big West Conference and Fox Sports Networks have announced a new long-term media rights deal that make three of Fox’s cable outlets, including Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West, the conference’s exclusive regional partners.

The deal begins with the existing deal for 2012-13 and will increase considerably in 2013-14. The Fox networks will air 20 events this school year, including the women’s basketball title game and four men’s basketball quarterfinal matchups.

The over-the-air deal for 2013-14 bumps the number of exposures to 32, including 12 San Diego State men’s basketball games. Fox Sports San Diego is the other regional outlet included in the deal.

Fox Sports Networks will also launch the conference’s new free-to-access video streaming platform this November, with up to 800 live events expected to be streamed annually, including men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.

“This agreement with FOX continues a partnership that began more than 15 years ago,” Big West Conference Commissioner Dennis Farrell said.

“The Big West’s continued growth and stability contributed to the overall expansion of the package and the increased exposure through the cable and digital platforms will only enhance the Conference brand.”

English Premier League team, Fulham FC, have posted record profits of £4.8 million ($7.5m) for the past financial year.

The Premier League club have also reported a record revenue of £77.1 million ($121m) for the 2010-11 season, according to figures released for the year ending June 30, 2011.

Fulham recorded a profit of £5.4 million ($8.5m), before interest and taxation, and enjoyed a 4.9% increase in attendance, which saw Craven Cottage secure a 98% occupancy figure for the season.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed said in a statement: ”The club has made great strides in recent years, and this excellent set of financial results is just reward for our progress. As always, I am determined to ensure the club moves in the right direction whilst remaining true to our history, heritage and past traditions.”

The west Londoners finished the 2010-11 season eighth in the top flight and currently lie 11th in the table.

Off the field, the club’s progress has been highlighted by their recently-announced plans to increase Craven Cottage’s capacity to 30,000.

The stadium has been Fulham’s home since 1896 and would be subject to wider facility improvements, as well as the Riverside Stand development.

On the plans, Al Fayed added: ”The announcement of our plans to redevelop the Riverside Stand, whilst opening up the Riverwalk for the benefit of the community, is further proof that my ambition for this football club remains resolute.”

The Premier League have announced that SuperSport has been awarded the live audio visual broadcast rights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season for seasons 2013/14-2015/16 in South Africa, capsule Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “We have worked with SuperSport for a number of years and are extremely pleased to extend our partnership.

“They will continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our many fans in South Africa, Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa.”

SuperSport Chief Executive, Happy Ntshingila said: “The Barclays Premier League has been a mainstay of SuperSports’s offering for many years and we are delighted to have once again extended the partnership.”

Soccer giants Manchester United have agreed a partnership with Western India Football Association (WIFA) to bring one of the world’s best club-sanctioned coaching programmes to Mumbai.

Manchester United Soccer Schools (MUSS) is inspired by the elite academy which has produced some of the English Premier League’s most famous names, pharmacy such as Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Danny Welbeck. It will train young footballers to play the ‘Manchester United way’.

The newly laid Astroturf at the Cooperage ground will be the home for MUSS academy which will offer kids aged between 8 and 18 a chance to train under the supervision of MUSS’s coaches. The training programme will be based on MUSS key principles of coaching: technical, tactical, physical, mental and social.

Mr. Praful Patel, President, WIFA said: “We are excited to be working with the current Premier League champions Manchester United. Young footballers will train under the direct supervision of coaches from Manchester United Soccer Schools, with programmes developed by the world acclaimed Manchester United Academy.

“These intensive but fun football development programmes will significantly improve players’ skills at a young age. We believe that this partnership will nurture and inspire young talent and provide players with the opportunity to realize their own potential.”

Manchester United CEO, David Gill added: “We are delighted to be partnering with the WIFA in bringing this exciting training programme to India. Manchester United Soccer Schools coaches have tremendous knowledge, experience and passion for the game that they will be able to pass on, both to young players and coaches. This is a long term commitment and we hope we will make an important contribution to the growth of Indian football.”

The partnership will also give coaches the chance to attend development courses to get an insight into the way Manchester United prepares its players. This long-term training programme will be run by full-time.

talkSPORT has begun broadcasting the Capital One Cup after agreeing a three-season partnership with The Football League. 

The deal will also see talkSPORT become The Football League’s official commercial radio partner outside the UK as talkSPORT Live, viagra buy the station’s international service, prostate will broadcast selected matches including the semi-finals and final. Full commentaries will be available via talkSPORT.com, mobiles, and international broadcast partners in a choice of English, Spanish and Mandarin for listeners.

Moz Dee, talkSPORT Programme Director, said: “Live commentary has proved to be a huge draw for our listeners both in the UK and internationally and further adds to our credibility as the leading sports radio broadcaster as we now offer more live football than ever before. We’re delighted to be part of this historic competition and have a bigger partnership with The Football League. We’re also delighted to be working with Capital One at the start of their journey with this competition.”

Richard Heaselgrave, The Football League’s Chief Commercial Officer said: “This agreement represents another significant boost for the Capital One Cup as we take live commentary to millions of loyal talkSPORT listeners across the UK and beyond.

“We look forward to working with talkSPORT to continue growing the public profile of this competition.”

Beleaguered French soccer team AS Monaco might have a new Russian owner in the form of businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, the club president has announced.

Rybolovlev, 93rd on the Forbes list of billionaires, sold his stake in fertiliser producer Uralkali for $6.5 billion in June 2010.

Etienne Franzi, AS Monaco president said: “We have a plan designed in such a way that everything will be decided before the end of the year and it will be Mr Rybolovlev and his group. It’s good news for AS Monaco and for French football in general.”

Seven times French champions Monaco who reached the champions League Final in 2004 have been struggling of late, languishing in France’s second division, Ligue 2, after been relegated last season and are at the bottom of the table this season after one win in 16 games.

Broadcaster TEN Sports is set to air US Open Tennis Championships again after extending for a period of four years, denture starting with the next edition in 2013.

TEN Sports has been telecasting US Open since 2005 and has acquired the rights for India, stomach Pakistan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh, TEN Sports said in a statement.

The final Grand Slam of the year will add to the existing strong line-up of tennis programming on Ten Sports, it added.

In addition to the television rights, TEN Sports has also acquired the rights for mobile, internet and video-on-demand.

The renewal of the telecast rights for the US Open adds to the portfolio of the channel, which has properties like the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, French League, rights to live cricket action from five Test playing nations and WWE.

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, “We are proud to be associated with the US Open, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. The conclusion of this agreement is of vital strategic importance as TEN Sports continues to deliver top-flight programming to our viewers. Rights holders know we have the best distribution of any sports network in the South Asian Market and they appreciate the value we bring to their product not only through having the largest audience, but also the way we present their product, through scheduling, production and expert commentary.”

USTA executive director Gordon Smith commented, “We are very pleased that Ten Sports has agreed to continue their relationship with the US Open. Ten Sports has been a good partner of the US Open for many years and their support demonstrates the continuing appeal of the US Open to a worldwide audience.”

German Football Association President and FIFA Executive Committee member Theo Zwanziger has once again blasted the decision to award the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, prostate suggesting that the criteria to host the tournament had been ‘perverted’. Although there have been calls to investigate into the process, advice the 2022 World Cup will definitely take place in Qatar.

Zwanziger has been an outspoken critic of the 2022 bidding since its decision, sale claiming that a number of his colleagues had been victims of government pressure to vote for the bid. His opinions hold a lot more weight after his appointment as Chairman of the new task force dedicated to revising FIFA’s statutes.

“The basic requirements for a host country have been perverted,” said Zwanziger.

“I have never understood how such a small country can be awarded one of the most important sports events in the world, especially as Qatar was in last place on the grid before the decision was made. I am allowed to say, a World Cup needs to have other basic conditions and I have my doubts whether sporting factors were taken into consideration enough.”

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced today that it has accepted a joint bid from World Sport Group and Traffic Sports for the confederation’s international media rights.

The two-year deal was reached after due process from the CONCACAF Evaluation Committee, comprised of Victor Montagliani, Canadian Soccer Association President; Eduardo Li, Costa Rica Football Association President; and Cheney Joseph, Grenada Football Association President; who assessed the different bids.

“This is yet another broadcast agreement that will contribute to elevating our properties as global brands while expanding the reaches of our football,” said CONCACAF President, Jeffrey Webb.

The agreement includes full-match and highlight television broadcast rights for the 2013 Gold Cup, CONCACAF’s biennial championship for national teams that continues to grow in popularity with fans worldwide; the 2012/13 and 2013/14 editions of the CONCACAF Champions League, the UNCAF Copa Centroamericana, as well as next year’s CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 and Under-20 Championships.

Under terms of the deal, World Sport Group and Traffic Sports acquired the right to market the CONCACAF properties in all territories outside of the CONCACAF region, with the exception of rights for the Champions League in Latin America. Television, web and mobile communication devices will be utilized as transmission vehicles.

Jochen Losch, President International Business of TRAFFIC Sports, expressed to be “delighted to continue our long lasting relationship with CONCACAF, by marketing their every time more attractive football assets together with our friends and business partners from World Sport Group.”

“We’re very happy too extend our relationship with CONCACAF with this new contract, and we look forward to working with our partners at Traffic to build a world class platform for CONCACAF’s events,” said James Clarke, Senior Vice President, Content of World Sport Group.

Morocco is now favourite to stage the 2013 and 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, prescription after the Japanese Football Association (JFA) ruled out the possibility of bidding for the tournaments. Japan will stage the 2011 and 2012 editions of the competition. FIFA confirmed that Iran, medicine South Africa and the United Arab Emirates had pulled out in October, ed leaving a clear path for Morocco to become the first African country to stage the tournament. JFA President Junji Ogura’s reasoning behind the decision to shelf the hosting rights is to focus on securing leading women’s events. The women’s game in Japan is on a high following the national team’s World Cup triumph in July, defeating the United States in the final. “If we have it every year, it makes it difficult to host other competitions,” said Ogura said “If we want to stage the Under-20 World Cup or the Women’s World Cup it makes sense not to bid (for the Club World Cup in 2013 and 2014).” Club World Cup Organising Committee chairman Chuck Blazer highlighted FIFA’s support for Japan following the devastation caused by March’s earthquake and tsunami. He said: “I think it (the Club World Cup) is a wonderful opportunity, after those natural tragedies, to be of assistance. “FIFA is assisting with six projects in different venues, and donating US$6 million. I also think the fact that we indicated earlier this year that we would be going ahead with the tournament here was crucial in showing support for Japan and local football.”