America ONE Sports today announced that live and exclusive broadband coverage of the 2012 Indoor Football League (IFL) Playoffs and the League Championship United Bowl will be available on Pay Per View (PPV).

Created in 2008, discount the IFL features two conferences, unhealthy | the United Conference and the Intense Conference, with eight teams each. Each conference will hold two semi-finals during the first weekend of competition. The remaining two teams from each conference will face-off during the conference finals for a position in the League championship game, the United Bowl.

In 2011 the Sioux Falls Storm won the Championship United Bowl with a 37-10 victory over the Tri-Cities Fever. 

All of the playoff games will be available on America ONE Sports. The price for an individual Game Pass is $9. Additionally, a pass that is good for every game throughout the entire playoff is available for $50. Game broadcast video will become available at game time.

“America ONE Sports congratulates the IFL and its fans on a memorable, record breaking regular season,” said Bruce LeVine, America ONE Sports Director of Programming. “ America ONE Sports is proud to bring the playoffs and the Championship United Bowl to IFL fans everywhere.”

The company that owns English nPower Championship soccer club Watford has reported a sharp increase in losses for the second half of 2010.

Despite a small rise in revenue to £5.4m (US$8.6m), hospital pre-tax losses for the six-month period came in at £2.5m ($4m) compared with a loss of £172, sale 000 ($274,400) a year earlier.

The lack of player sales in that period is what Watford Leisure is crediting with much of the loss.

The club, who sit 9th in the league at the moment and four points off a play-off place, is currently the subject of a £440,000 ($702,000) buy-out offer.

The bid was tabled earlier this month by Panos Thomas, a surgeon who set up company Watford Football Club, specifically to buy the club, and is backed by entrepreneur Laurence Bassini.

Watford Leisure said that it needed to sell players in order to keep the business sustainable.

Chairman Graham Taylor stated: “It should be no surprise to anyone to read that our half-year figures state a deficit.

“Our focus on ensuring we remain true to our business plan means that failure to trade in either [summer or January transfer] window inevitably leads to the need for a working capital injection from alternative sources.”

He said this injection would have to amount to about £3.5m ($5.6m) this year.

Match day revenue fell to £2m ($3.2m), while season ticket sales fell by 1,500, resulting in a £49,000 ($78,000) drop in revenue – less than would have been the case had it not been for a “restructuring of the [season ticket] pricing model”.

Media revenue increased to £2.6m ($4.15m).

MP & Silva has acquired Asia-wide rights to the Capital One Cup (also known as the ‘League Cup’) until 2017.

The package covers all Asian territories and could reach over 110 million households.

MP & Silva now holds the Asian broadcast rights for all English football’s cup competitions. The company has announced the acquisition of The FA Cup and England matches across the continent.

Andrea Radrizzani, asthma Group CEO, sale MP & Silva, clinic said: “Our Capital One Cup and Football League agreement is another demonstration of the significant role MP & Silva is playing to increase the popularity of English football across Asia even further. Given the deal will include so many thrilling live matches and highlights, football fans across Asia will be able to follow all tiers of English football and never miss any of the action.”{jcomments on}

The new FIFA vice-president for Britain Jim Boyce, who replaces former incumbent Geoff Thompson, claims there is still time to persuade the four national Home Associations to provide players for a unified team at the 2012 London Olympics.

The Northern Irishman will succeed Thompson in June, embarking on a four-year term at soccer’s world governing body, and is prepared to do everything he can to resolve the current impasse over a unified Olympic soccer team.

The Football Associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remain resolute in their determination not to get involved in the Olympic soccer tournament for fear of losing their individual status within FIFA, despite president Sepp Blatter repeatedly stating otherwise.

Boyce stated: “They have made it clear that nothing must be done to jeopardise their positions.

“They are very concerned as to what could happen in the future and are adamant that they do not with to take part in a united Olympic team. 

“But it’s the epitome of many peoples’ careers to take part in the Olympics and I will do everything in my power to resolve the situation. 

“I don’t want to see a fallout.

“Mr Blatter has made it clear that it [taking part in a unified team] would not affect them. 

“I have absolutely no doubt he is sincere but he’s not going to be around for ever and there is no guarantee that someone else will also make that particular statement.”

Boyce suggested there may be a way through the impasse, adding: “One of the things that perhaps might be done is that the FIFA Executive Committee, if asked to do so, put in writing that should a player be selected for the Olympic team, it would not in any way jeopardise the future status of the four Associations. 

“I would be quite happy to put that forward if the three Associations feel it is a way round the problem.”

European Athletics has agreed a worldwide deal with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for the sale of media rights outside of Europe for the period 2012-2015.

The partnership, which has been in place since 1981, was extended for the period 2012-2015 making the EBU the exclusive media partner of European Athletics.

The new commitment will cover all of European Athletics’ major events including the Helsinki 2012 and Zurich 2014 European Athletics Championships, the Göteborg 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships and Prague 2015 indoor championships.

The agreement also covers the European Team Championships and European Cross Country Championships taking place during the four-year contract period.

European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz said: “I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement with EBU to be responsible for the sale of our championship programme outside Europe.

“With the sales expertise of EBU this agreement gives us a fantastic platform to promote our sport on media platforms throughout the world, which is an extremely important consideration for us.”

Stefan Kürten, EBU director of Sports and Business, commented: “This agreement demonstrates our commitment to the sport of athletics, and we will work hard to reach the largest audience possible worldwide – an audience the sport deserves.”

Julien Ternisien, EBU head of Sports Rights of Summer Sports, added: “This contract provides European Athletics with a strong and reliable partner that will showcase an attractive championship programme to broadcasters around the world, with the aim of increasing audiences in key athletics markets outside of Europe.”

English Premier League leaders, soccer club Manchester United’s parent company have announced a loss of US$176.8m in the year ending June 30, 2010, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

The parent company of United’s owners the Glazer family, Red Football Joint Venture outlined a turnaround in fortune from the previous financial year when the company had posted a $34m profit – figures largely achieved by the $130m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

The loss includes one-off costs from establishing a $854m bond scheme to replace outstanding debts of $826.8m. Losses in 2010 also included $49m in interest on Red Football’s $357m payment in kind (PIK) loans, which have now been repaid.

United’s chief executive David Gill has rejected fears over the Barclays Premier League club’s financial health following the release of its annual results in October.

Gill stated at the time: “We have £165 million in the bank. United fans should not be concerned, we have a long-term financing structure in place, excellent revenues that are growing, we are controlling our costs – total wages are 46% of turnover – and we can afford the interest on our long-term finance.”

Viasat, try the leading broadcaster for golf in Scandinavia, herbal will broadcast the Asian Tour for another three years after agreeing an extension until 2015.

The announcement means that approximately 4.3 million homes across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will be able to watch all the action from the Asian Tour.

Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han said: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Viasat, which is a major broadcaster of golf in the world.

“The Asian Tour has produced great champions from the Scandinavia nations in recent years through the likes of Rikard Karlberg of Sweden and Finland’s Joonas Granberg and golf fans from Scandinavia will be able to follow their progress closely through Viasat Golf.”

Viasat Golf will broadcast the live Asian Tour events, Highlights Show and Asian Tour Golf Show, with the Tour’s season-finale also being beamed live on TV 10 (terrestrial) as part of the new agreement in 2013.

The Asian Tour television platform currently reaches over 200 countries worldwide and 650 million homes.

The English Football League has launched a tender process for a broad range of digital services required by both FL Interactive (FLi) and The League itself.

FLi is the digital subsidiary of The Football League, doctor managing and developing the internet and mobile rights of The Football League and 84 participating clubs.

This includes 67 Football League clubs, 8 Premier League clubs and 9 non-league clubs and includes the provision of official club websites, audio/video and mobile services.

The Football League’s director of Business Development, Kieron Kilbride stated: ‘The decision to launch the tender follows the largest research project ever undertaken by FLi. Through that process we gained tremendous insight into the needs of stakeholders, the suitability of our existing digital platform and opportunities for future development’.? ?‘We are now focused on implementing solutions that ensure that The League can achieve its objective of delivering cutting edge products, the very best service levels and very strong revenue growth’.

The FLi network is reportedly the largest football network globally, with more than 6m unique users viewing its websites. The 84 participating clubs currently attract an average of 6.5m users per month, and around 900,000 mobile internet users per month. 

The tender process is expected to last between 2 and 3 months.

Modern Times Group (MTG), pills an international entertainment broadcasting company, clinic today announced that it has signed a number of agreements to extend its exclusive broadcasting rights in the Nordic and Baltic countries for a number of key golf tournaments.

The new agreements are valid until the end of 2015.

The signed agreements include the PGA European Tour, the World Golf Championships, Ryder Cup, The Open, US PGA Championship, The Asian Tour, and the women´s British Open. The Group has already secured the exclusive broadcasting rights to the PGA Tour until 2015.

The Group’s golf rights are broadcast on Viasat’s premium pay-TV channel Viasat Golf, which is made available through the Viasat satellite platforms in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries and the Group’s third-party networks offerings in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, as well as through the Viaplay service in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “We are delighted to be able to extend our exclusive broadcasting rights to these key golf tournaments. Viasat Golf is the leading provider of golf coverage in the Nordic and Baltic regions, and we are proud to continue providing our subscribers with the very best worldwide golf coverage.”

The broadcasting rights were acquired through IMG Nordic.

Kristian Hysén, Senior Vice President of IMG Nordics commented: “Viasat Golf offers a world class golf channel and the respective rights owners are very pleased to continue with the cooperation for an extended period.”

Red and White Holdings Ltd., co-owned by Alisher Usmanov, announced yesterday, Marc 22, that the Russian billionaire has increased his holding in English Premier League soccer club Arsenal to more than 27 per cent.

Despite raising his stake in the club, Usmanov remains behind American Stan Kroenke who is the largest individual shareholder in the London club, with 29.9 per cent.

If any party were to cross the 29.99 per cent takeover threshold, under the strict financial rules of the City, they would be obliged to make a formal offer for the remainder of the shares.

Although Usmanov, unlike Kroenke, does not yet have a seat on the Arsenal board, the news has continued his steady accumulation of shares and will fuel speculation that the Gunners are set for more changes behind the scenes.

Despite the Red & White group initially releasing a statement in April last year maintaining that a full-blown offer was not on their agenda and they remained ‘a committed long-term investor in Arsenal’, Usmanov claimed in December that his objective was to bring up a ‘blocking state’ of 29.9%, and from that point he ‘will just keep looking’.

Former director Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith put her family’s 15.9 per cent stake up for sale in April, and Usmanov’s latest dealings could be the result of some minor tradings.

The club’s other major shareholder is non-executive director Danny Fiszman who controls 16 per cent of the shares.