ESPN STAR Sports has announced an agreement with Al Jazeera Sport for the broadcast rights of the Friends Life Twenty20 2012.

Star Sports, symptoms the exclusive Asian rights holder for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) domestic and home international matches, deal with Al Jazeera marks a significant landmark for cricket broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa with Al Jazeera Sport televising cricket for the first time ever with LIVE coverage of 25 matches from ECB’s domestic Twenty20 league scheduled to take place from June 12 to August 25.

ESPN STAR Sports licenses ECB broadcast rights throughout North Africa and the Middle East along with various other parts of Asia. In addition, ESS’ international cricket syndication business includes global distribution of marquee properties such as International Cricket Council events and Champions League T20 as well as Cricket Australia’s events (in Asia and North Africa).

Over the last few years, ESS has broadcast the game of cricket to over 180 territories across the globe in more than 16 languages, which has been a key contributor to the tremendous growth in the global visibility and popularity of the game.

English Premier League soccer club Birmingham City’s holding company has raised US$11.2m by selling a 12 per cent stake through a share sale as the side attempt to increase funds after parent company Birmingham International Holdings Ltd. (BIH) said its liabilities exceeded assets by about $44.65m.

According to a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Carson Yeung remains the biggest investor in BIH although his stake has fallen from 18.5 per cent to 16.3 per cent, controlled through a personal holding and his company Great Luck Management Ltd.

The filing said 450 million shares, representing about 12.37 per cent of the company, were sold at US2.56 cents each, to no fewer than six parties who aren’t connected to the company or to anyone linked to it.

BIH announced earlier this month that Yeung was applying for a $19.25m loan and had pledged in writing that all the money would be used to “provide sufficient financial resources” to allow the business to meet its liabilities and carry on “without significant curtailment of its operation.”

The company said it was fundraising because its financial position indicated “the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

The English Premier League announced today that Sky and BT has gained the rights to English top flight matches in the UK between the 2013/14 to 2015/16 seasons.

Sky secured five packages allowing them to receive 116 matches, for sale while BT got two packages worth 38 matches.

The overall value delivered for the seven packages following the structured and independently scrutinised sales process totalling £3.018 billion ($4.7bn). 

Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said: “The Barclays Premier League continues to provide excellent football and enthralling drama as we saw last season. The value this drives for our rightsholders is evident and we are extremely pleased that this has been realised for our UK live rights.

“As ever, the security provided by broadcast revenues will enable our clubs to continue to invest in all aspects of their football activities and plan sustainably for the foreseeable future. This deal allows them to keep delivering what fans want; top quality football in some of world’s best club stadia and an increasing focus on and commitment to areas such as Youth Development.

“The continuing support of BSkyB for Premier League football is significant beyond the revenues delivered; the longevity and quality of their commitment has done much for the English game as a whole. We are very happy to see this relationship maintained for another three seasons.

“We welcome BT as a new Premier League broadcast partner. They are a substantial British company that is at the leading edge of technology and infra-structure development. They are clearly investing in quality content to use on their platforms and when combined with the reach and pull of Premier League football they will deliver new ways in which fans will be able to follow the competition.

“These are exciting times for both the football and media worlds and we should all be proud of the value both industries contribute to the UK culturally and economically.

“I would also like to place on record the Premier League’s thanks to the numerous other highly credible bidders that showed such interest in the live UK rights.”

The Scottish Premier League (SPL) has postponed the vote with regards to a potential league reform, with clubs due to get together at Hampden next week, because of the soccer international week.

SPL bosses are keen to push for a top league of 10 with a second tier of 12, despite several members have voiced concerns over the plans.

The 12 club chairmen of the SPL’s current sides will now be asked to make a decision on the proposals on Monday, April 18, after SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster had said in January, that consensus was being sought for their preferred 10/12 structure.

However, some clubs still required convincing over the merits of a smaller SPL and the viability of plans to increase financial help for those suffering relegation.

Former first minister Henry McLeish delivered a report on the future of Scottish football to the Scottish Football Association in December, and said a 10-team top division was the most financially viable future model for the SPL.

ESPN Brazil has renewed it’s media rights agreement with the FIM Superbike World Championship, the world’s leading international production-based motorcycle series.

The deal was broquered by Infront Sports & Media.  

The agreement with the largest commercial broadcaster in the country is now exclusive and covers a three year period starting from the 2013 season. ESPN Brazil will provide full live and delayed coverage in HD quality of all 14 rounds of all classes, including Supersport and Superstock.

This is the latest in a series of developments to further spread the reach of the FIM Superbike World Championship on a global scale. As the largest commercial broadcaster in the country and reaching 12.2 million subscribers, ESPN Brazil will offer the championship much extended visibility and will at the same time provide a showcase for manufacturers, teams, riders and commercial partners.

João Palomino, Director of Journalism of ESPN Brazil, said: “The eni Superbike World Championship is a first-class TV product and an attractive content for our audience as the series provides more tension, excitement and action than any other motor sport. With ESPN as the exclusive broadcaster in Brazil, fans can look forward to receiving extensive coverage of the highest quality throughout the next three years.”

Stephan Herth, Executive Director Summer Sports at Infront, added: “This new agreement with ESPN Brazil is a great achievement for the sport as it guarantees continuous presence in a growth market with a strong affinity for motorcycling. The long term nature of the arrangement allows ESPN to establish high-quality coverage, help to make the series even more accessible for the audience and transmit the fascination of motor racing at highest level to the fans in Brazil.”

Current English Premier League soccer champions Chelsea has renewed its partnership with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and in turn, find its commitment to developing football in the continent.

The initial agreement which saw the London club work alongside the AFC on grassroots projects has been extended through to 2015, medicine with a specific focus of the partnership on the development of football in China, one of the biggest AFC Vision Asia projects, but including the scope to look to other initiatives.

AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam, who is expected to confirm his candidacy for the FIFA presidential elections on Friday, stated: “This is a great chance for a club to work with a football confederation to develop football.

“Since the first contract was signed four years ago, we have developed our football a lot and overcome some of the challenges in improving the grassroots level of football. Currently 38 cities are part of the Vision Asia development programme and the snowball is still rolling,” he added

Chelsea CEO Ron Gourlay added: “Since Chelsea and AFC signed the first agreement in 2007, it’s been an exciting time for us at the club to have the chance to work with a confederation to develop football, especially in China. We believe the game is getting stronger in Asia and we are happy to be a part of it by spreading our wings to Asia.”

ONE World Sports (OWS) has extended its contract for the exclusive North American rights to all Asian Confederation (AFC) events through 2016 under the terms of its agreement with World Sport Group (WSG).

The AFC is Asian football’s governing body with 46 Member Associations. It is one of six Confederations comprising the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). AFC’s premier event is the Asian Cup competition held every fourth year. This jewel in the crown event is one of the big three Continental cups along with the European nations Euro Cup and the South American nations Copa America. Japan presently holds the Asian Cup, having beaten Australia in the 2011 final with the Korean Republic placing third. The next Asian Cup is slated for 2015 in Australia.

In addition to the Asian Cup, OWS will multicast the AFC Champions League. The Champions League features Asia’s top club teams including Japan, China and the Korean Republic as they compete for the honor of becoming Asia’s Champion Club. OWS will also have the rights to the AFC’s qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Rio 2016 Olympic games.

James Clarke, Senior Vice President – Content, World Sport Group, added: “We are very pleased to have One World Sports join us as our North American broadcast partner. OWS have committed to show more matches from the AFC events than have ever been shown in the USA and Canada before, from a broad range of our competitions, including both the main national team competitions and the AFC Champions League. We greatly appreciate their support.”

Rick Jemison, Senior Vice President Programming, One World Sports, said: “We are excited about the extension of our exclusive rights to the AFC events through 2016. The extension guarantees that we will bring the 2015 Asian Cup, Asia’s top soccer match, as well as ongoing live coverage of AFC events to our North American audience. It’s part of our long-term commitment to deliver Asia’s best soccer events live on TV, broadband and mobile to U.S. sports fans.”

English Premier League soccer club Fulham have announced a widened loss from the last fiscal year due to higher costs after reaching the UEFA Europa League final.

According to accounts published by Companies House, discount the loss at the club, check owned by Mohamed Al-Fayed, clinic surged to US$27.2m from $11m due mainly to the expense of hosting extra games and player-trading costs.

However, sales climbed 15 per cent to a record $123.4m in the year to June 30, boosted by the European run, which contributed $20m.

Fayed released a statement, reading: “As is evident, I remain committed to making investment funds available to achieve our goals both on and off the pitch. The continued success of Fulham and its eventual financial self-sustainability is my priority.”

The Executive Committee of the French Rugby Federation (FFR) has approved the allocation of matches for France for the next four seasons with France Televisions and Eurosport getting deals. 

France Televisions has gained to rights to the national teams tour matches in November, home games of the 6 Nations Tournament in France and Women’s under 20 games.

Eurosport meanwhile has secured the rights to Fedraral 1 games.

Pierre Camou, President of the FFR, said: “I am very pleased to see that rugby through his window, the XV of France, and other national teams, has mobilized the major groups of French television. Successful tenders allow our sport to consolidate over the next four seasons for media exposure and its financial resources. “

The president of the French Football League (FLP) Frederic Thiriez has revealed the need for calm after a report by the league’s financing authority, the national directorate of management control (DNCG), unveiled worrying financial results for the country’s top soccer clubs.

In its annual report for the year through to June 30, 2010, the DNCG announced a cumulative deficit of nearly US$180m for clubs, with Ligue 1 outfits accounting for $157.8m of the total.

The losses for the 20 clubs in the top flight were reduced to $157.8m after write-downs by some shareholders, but Thiriez is concerned that the deficit has increased from $78.9m in the previous financial year.

In an interview with Reuters, Thiriez stated: “The accounts are not good. However, it is necessary to keep our heads. This report will be submitted to the union so that it can make its observations.”