Bellator and Russian broadcaster Russia 2 entered a partnership in which MMA fights will be shown to a potential audience of more than 83 million.

Bellator and Russia 2, allergy which is the biggest Russian sports network, viagra will start in late September.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said:“Over the last year, as the Bellator brand has experienced enormous growth and our talent team has signed the greatest Russian mixed martial artists in the world, the timing was perfect to align Bellator with Russia’s leading sports network.  R2 carries the world’s greatest sports to Russian viewers. So, aligning Bellator with this industry giant is another very exciting step forward in the evolution of the Bellator brand worldwide.”

This is a great partnership for Bellator, as the US MMA promotion continues to build a global following.  Although the UFC is the clear No. 1 MMA promotion, Bellator has steadily built a strong, dedicated group of fans – and looks to continue its international expansion.

Bellator has signed several Eastern European fighters such as phenom Alexander “Tiger” Sarnavskiy and Vitaly Minakov, joining the likes of Alexander Shlemenko, Andrey Koreshkov, Ruslan Magomedov, Akop Stepanyan, and Magomedrasul Khasbulaev.

Russia, with its strong background of boxing and sambo, has seen a dramatic increase in MMA popularity throughout the nation’s urban areas.

Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov has increased his shareholding in English Premier League soccer club Arsenal to over 29 per cent.

The move comes to reinforce the businessman’s claims that he would not sell his shares after majority shareholder Stan Kroenke triggered a mandatory buyout offer in April.

Usmanov’s Red and White Holding company said in a statement: “Red & White today announces that it now holds a stake of over 29 per cent in Arsenal Holdings plc.”

Kroenke’s holding in Arsenal currently stands at 66.1 per cent after the American made an initial takeover move for Arsenal in April when he bought the stakes of the late Danny Fiszman (16.1 per cent) and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith (15.9 per cent) for a fee of about £234m (US$378.7m).

The league’s approval of the takeover last month prompted Kroenke to give the club’s remaining shareholders 14 days’ notice on his offer to own 100 per cent.

However, Usmanov insisted he would not sell his shares, a sentiment echoed by the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, which owns some of the remaining shares.

Usmanov bought into Arsenal in August 2007, when he bought former vice-chairman David Dein’s take of 14.65 per cent for around £75m ($121.4m).

In December 2009, Usmanov raised his stake to just over 26 per cent.

Sky Sports have agreed a new deal with the Scottish Premier League (SPL)to continue coverage of Scottish League football for at least another five years.

Sky Sports’ coverage of the 2012/13 campaign will begin with Celtic v Aberdeen this Saturday (k/o 12.45pm).

The deal will also include live Rangers matches from the Scottish Football League, beginning with their opening clash away to Peterhead on August 11 (k/o 12.45pm).

Under the new deal, subject to ratification by the SPL clubs on Friday, Sky Sports viewers will be able to enjoy 30 live matches a season, including five live Rangers fixtures from the Scottish Football League.

Also Multi-platform coverage for viewers with Sky across TV, online, mobile and tablet devices through Sky Go. 

Barney Francis, managing director of Sky Sports, said: “We’ve supported Scottish football since we started over 20 years ago, and have always wanted to continue that commitment.

“Our viewers will see the SPL for five more years and our schedule includes the opening league match for Celtic. We will also follow Rangers as they plot their way back to Scottish football’s top flight.

“Clubs now have certainty over their income and exposure across the UK and Ireland and we look forward to the new season.”

English Premier League soccer club Arsenal has signed an agreement with residential property development company Barratt Developments on a multi-million dollar contract.

Under the terms of the agreement Barratt Developments will construct 375 new homes overlooking Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium that will have an overall end value of US$207m.

According to British newspaper The News of The World, the agreement is thought to add around $40m to the clubs finances.

The latest deal marks the final stage of a nine-year regeneration project that was implemented following the Premier League club’s move from Highbury to its new 60,361-capacity home ground.

Arsenal FC director, Ken Friar said: “This is the last piece of the jigsaw in our new stadium project which has delivered huge regeneration to the Borough of Islington. 2,500 new homes and 2,500 new jobs have been created over the past six years. I am proud that we stayed in Islington and proud that Arsenal has helped contribute to the local community in this way.”

Alastair Baird, regional managing director of Barratt London, added: “The homes will be situated literally yards from the stadium and we expect them to become as sought after by Gunners fans as the properties at Chelsea Village are by Chelsea supporters.”

Work will start on the ambitious new project in January 2012 and the build programme is expected to take three years in total.

ESPN has agreed a deal with the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference to telecast the new Champions Bowl beginning in 2015, shop according to Sports Business Daily.

Industry sources told the Daily that the two conferences will receive about $80 million per year. That total will play it with roughly the same rights that ESPN currently pays to the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences for the Rose Bowl.

The report clearly shows that ESPN is determined to get a stranglehold on properties that could make up the major post season games in the new era where a four-team playoff will conclude the FBS season.

And it also shows some respect for the Big 12, less than a year after the conference was thought to be on its last legs as other conferences appeared ready to pick apart its membership for new members.

The leading candidate for the Champions Bowl appears to be the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, where a bid would be backed by the Dallas Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl.

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said last week at the Big 12?s Media Days that he expects details of the Champions Bowl to be ironed out over the next few weeks.

It has been revealed that the champions of next year’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine will earn up to US$33.6m after an agreement was reached at a two-day meeting of UEFA’s executive committee.

UEFA announced that they had fixed the total prize money for the 16 finalists at $280m compared to $263m for Euro 2008.

Each country will pocket $11.4m just for getting there regardless of how they perform, prostate with $1.4m on offer for a win in the group stage and $715, order 000 for a group stage draw.

Victory in the quarter-finals will be worth $2.8m, a semi-final victory will add another $4.3m, while the team winning the final will land a cool $10.7m and the runner-up $6.4m.

ESPN Star Sports has agreed a new broadcast deal with the FIM Superbike World Championship across Asia until 2018.

The deal was broquered  Infront Sports & Media.

The broadcast agreement includes pay-TV rights for live and delayed races as well as race highlights, advice in addition to rights for free-to-air broadcast in most markets. The deal also includes rights for online and mobile coverage via ESPN Player and Mobile ESPN. The broadcast rights cover ESPN STAR Sports’ footprint including China, denture Hong Kong, allergy Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Thailand. 

In the future, the World Superbike calendar will feature two new races – India from 2013 and possibly Indonesia from 2014 onwards – that will be sure to bolster interest in Asia. 

Nick Wilkinson, Vice President, Programming at ESPN STAR Sports said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with World Superbike to continue showcasing the best of motorsport to fans in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports is Asia’s home for motorsports and with our stellar line-up of leading sports events, this new partnership underscores our commitment to serve our viewers with top quality sport programming.” 

Stephan Herth, Infront’s Executive Director Summer Sports, added: “Media rights agreements around the world help to cement the status of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship as a truly global series. With the extension of the ESPN STAR Sports contract until 2018 we ensure that the high visibility level of World Superbike in Asia will be maintained for the long term. The coverage on the continent’s biggest sports channel will further strengthen the series’ positioning in this key market for our teams, manufacturers and commercial partners.” 

The eni FIM Superbike World Championship features amongst ESPN STAR Sports an exciting list of motorsport events on ESPN STAR Sports, including MotoGP, Formula One, GP2, and NASCAR.

According to Egypt Football Association (EFA) vice-president Hany Abou-Reida, Egypt are not interested in replacing Libya as hosts of the 2013 African Cup of Nations.

The news comes as calls for a replacement of the designated hosts strengthen with Libya in turmoil due to the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.

South Africa and Algeria have both expressed a desire to step in and stage the 2013 finals of the 16-team tournament.

The secretary general of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Hichal El Amrani told BBC Sport recently that the continental body’s executive committee will meet in Cairo in September and review the situation in Libya.

Speculation has been mounting that Egypt would enter the fray and keep the event in North Africa, but Abou-Reida told Al Ahram newspaper: “Like any Egyptian I hoped to help my country gain that honor but we are effectively out of the competition because we hosted the tournament in 2006.

“South Africa and Algeria have much bigger chances of hosting the 2013 edition.”

CAF has already had experience of moving a tournament from Libya, having been forced to switch the African under-20 event to South Africa earlier this year.

A global survey of sports fans, advice commissioned by multimedia sports provider Perform, showed Chinese people watch the most sport on television.

Chinese sports fans average 11.7 hours per week viewing sports. Brazil and the U.S. are second and third, respectively, with 10.4 hours and 8.1 hours per week.

Australia ranks sixth with 6.3 hours per week, while British viewers watch 6.2 hours weekly. {jcomments on}

The crisis-torn African nation of Libya is still refusing to admit defeat in its efforts to host three major football tournaments, no rx despite coming under pressure to surrender the events due to political instability and widespread violence in the country.

The nation has been advised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that it would need to make an early decision on whether the country can stage the 2013 African Cup of Nations as well as next year’s African Nations Championship and Futsal Championship.

Fighting between NATO-backed anti-government rebels and forces loyal to Libyan leader Colonel Qaddafi forced CAF to switch an African Under-20 tournament from Libya to South Africa earlier this year and the same fighting has prompted the United Nations Security Council to impose a no-fly zone.

Despite the South Africa Football Association insisting earlier this week that it is ready to step in to stage the African Cup of Nations, there with Egypt also waiting in the wings, Libya has so far refused to withdraw its hosting rights.

CAF secretary general Hicham El Amrani told the BBC: “Of course we are thinking about it as a matter of priority. The CAF executive committee is thinking about plan Bs or plan Cs. We agreed an internal timeline (for the) latest moment at which we should decide on switching the tournament to another venue but as of today the 2013 African Cup of Nations is still in Libya.”