The Football League highlights will remain on the BBC after a new three-year deal was secured.

The programme first aired in 2009 but its future had been in doubt due to the high costs involved with recording and editing highlights each Saturday. The new deal will see the programme continue until 2015.

The BBC will also continue to show highlights of Carling Cup and JPT Trophy games with BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live Sports Extra continuing to have non-exclusive rights to all league games, no rx league cup and play-off games.

Football League Commercial Officer Richard Heaselgrave said: “In a short period of time The Football League Show has become an institution amongst supporters of our 72 clubs, unhealthy more than a million of whom tune in every week for the comprehensive coverage the show delivers. We are therefore delighted that we will be continuing for a further three years.”

Barbara Slater, BBC Director of Sport added: “Football is a core part of our sports rights portfolio and BBC Sport is delighted to be continuing our relationship with the Football League, bringing games to our audience on both TV and radio.”

According to Sportradar chief executive and expert witness at a soccer match-fixing tribunal in Bochum, see Germany, generic Carsten Koerl, 24 European countries have been affected by match-fixing and up to 100 games have been manipulated in the past five months alone.

Koerl, whose company tracks betting patterns and works with FIFA and UEFA, claimed that the issue of match-fixing within soccer was definitely on the rise, stating: “Manipulations are increasing.”

He added: “In the past five months, we assume that between 70 and 100 games in Europe were manipulated.”

Despite this, he clarified that given the tens of thousands of games being played each year, the number of affected matches represented only a very small percentage, continuing: “There is a clear development in this [betting activity] given that nowadays there are many more possibilities to earn money from this.”

Although Koerl did not say which countries were involved or what leagues were affected, four suspects are on trial after a 2009 German police operation unearthed a European match-fixing ring which fixed or tried to fix about 200 matches across the continent, including three in the Champions League.

According to Deloitte’s figures, Real Madrid have topped the league table of the world’s 20 richest soccer clubs for the sixth consecutive year.

Deloitte’s Football Money League, based on season 2009-10, also said the combined revenues of the 20 clubs had passed 4bn euros (US$5.45bn) for the first time.

Real’s arch-rivals Barcelona retained second spot in the list, ahead of Manchester United who remain third. Despite the two Spanish giants topping the sports rich list, there is still a strong involvement in the world’s top 20 clubs from England with 7 teams represented.

Mega-money spending Manchester City were perhaps unsurprisingly the biggest climbers in the rankings, but despite the money being pumped into the club, expenditures on players over the past year failed to see them break into the top 10. The Eastlands outfit rise up from 20th to 11th.

Premier League quartet Manchester United (3rd), Arsenal (5th), Chelsea (6th) and Liverpool (8th) all claim places in the top 10, with Tottenham Hotspur (12th) and Aston Villa (20th) joining them in the top 20.

Full Top 10 List:

• 1. Real Madrid: $597.2m
• 2. Barcelona: $541.8m
• 3. Man Utd: $476m
• 4. Bayern Munich: $439.6m
• 5. Arsenal: $373m
• 6. Chelsea: $348.2m
• 7. AC Milan: $320.9m
• 8. Liverpool: $306.6m
• 9. Inter Milan $305.9m
• 10. Juventus: $279m

 

Middle East network, Al-Jazeera, says it is launching two sports channels in the United States in August.

The Qatar-based broadcaster says it plans to show league soccer from Spain, France and Italy as well as the Copa America and South American qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The network will be called beIN Sports USA.

BeIN Sports managing director Youssef Mohammad al-Obaidly says the channels will be “a new way of watching sports, a better way.”

He says the network is in “the last stages of negotiation with different providers, having secured two major deals so far that will bring the channel to subscribers’ homes on August 1.”

Renewed speculation arose today that the Glazer family is reportedly on the brink of selling Manchester United to Qatar Holdings for £1.6bn (US$2.56bn).

UK newspaper, sale The Daily Express claimed that a deal was “virtually done” and that the two sides are “only haggling over details”.

If the figure touted is accurate then any sale of the club by the controversial American owners would represent double the money that Malcolm Glazer and his family spent, stuff in the six years since they paid £790m ($1.26bn) for the club in the summer of 2005.

United has consistently denied it is interested in selling the club since Qatar Holdings, discount the business investment branch of the Qatar Royal family, was first seriously linked with a bid just before Christmas. According to sources of the newspaper, the Qataris have agreed to add another $160m on to their initial $2.4bn offer.

United’s director of communications Phil Townsend, who now also acts as Glazer family spokesman, maintained: “There has been no approach to buy Manchester United and no approach would be welcome.”

ONE World Sports (OWS) has signed three-year extensions for North American multi-platform rights with Japan’s J. League, the Korea Professional Football League (K-League) and the Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL) under terms of an agreement with World Sport Group (WSG).

Each weekend, ONE World Sports will feature three games from the J. League, two games from the CSL and one game from the K-League. This is in addition to two games from the Australian League (A-League). The combination of leagues offers a full host of top-notch soccer from Asia’s leading soccer leagues. The games are presented live whenever possible to add to the real-time excitement of the match.

“We are so pleased with the extension of our J. League, K-League and CSL football rights,” said Rick Jemison, Senior Vice President Programming, ONE World Sports. “We are committed to bringing Asia’s best soccer matches to its fans in North America. It is a tremendous vote of confidence for Asia’s preeminent soccer leagues to choose us to continue to deliver the live and exclusive coverage of their games.”

The J. League includes eighteen teams and is the top division of the Japanese professional football league. Its season is played from March to December and consists of matches played in double round-robin (home and away) format of 34 games each.

The CSL is the highest and most prestigious level of professional soccer in China. The league has sixteen teams. Three clubs competed in this season’s AFC Champions League, Asia’s premier soccer club competition, with Guangzhou Evergrande qualifying for the round of sixteen.

The K-League is South Korea’s top professional soccer league. It has a proven history of excellence, with four of the league’s sixteen teams competing in the 2012 AFC Champions League and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Ulsan Hyundai advancing to the round of sixteen.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has secured the broadcasting rights for the Bupa Great Run series until 2018.

The deal includes the world’s biggest half marathon, the Great North Run, and the Great Manchester 10K Run.

BBC director of sport Barbara Slater, said: “These events celebrate elite long distance athletics and inspire thousands of amateur runners.”

The Great Edinburgh Cross-County competition and the Great City Games are also included in the deal.

The Great City Games are staged in both Newcastle and Manchester.

Eurosport will broadcast the 2012 French Open – Roland Garros Live, in 3D, via Sky in the UK market. 

The Global sports channel will broadcast a Live 3D feed from Centre Court at Roland Garros from Monday May 28^thto June 10^th and it will be available to UK sports fans, non exclusively, via Sky’s 3D channel. 

It will be the third consecutive French Open tournament to be produced and available for fans in 3D. 

Jean Thierry Augustin, Eurosport’s Managing Director of Rights Acquisition, Distribution & Development said: “Eurosport was the first broadcaster to present live tennis in 3D with the French Open in 2010 and this agreements with Sky will give the British public an opportunity to experience live Grand Slam tennis in 3D.  Eurosport has already committed to broadcast over 100 hours of 3D content from the London Olympic Games this summer ensuring an even wider variety of sports can also be viewed in this innovative way. In January 2012 Eurosport extended its relationship with the French Tennis Federation for a further three years to reinforce its position as the leading live tennis channel in Europe.” 

John Cassy, Director of Sky 3D, added: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Eurosport and bringing our customers live action from the French Open, as well as the first 3D Olympics this summer. By working with channel partners and continuing to invest heavily in our own 3D sports coverage, we’re able to offer our customers a fantastic array of sport in 3D this summer, with football, rugby, cricket and tennis all available in immersive 3D over the next few months. Thanks to our ongoing commitment to 3D, Sky 3D customers can look forward to a monumental summer of sport.”

The Mediaset Group has gained the exclusive broadcasting rights for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship in Italy. The world championship rounds will be broadcast free-to-air on the Italia 1 channel starting from 2013. 

The agreement reached with Mediaset, impotent Italy’s largest private media and communications company, cialis will give the leading production-based bike racing championship massive visibility in Italy, and will further contribute to its development, at the same time offering a prestigious shop window for the numerous manufacturers, teams, riders, sponsors and partners – both Italian and international – who are present in Superbike. The deal was broquered by Infront Sports & Media.

“I am extremely satisfied with the agreement reached”, declared the CEO of Infront Motor Sports, Paolo Flammini. “The decision by Mediaset to join us is evidence of the high level reached by our championship. We are sure that this partnership will help to bring about a further crucial growth for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Italian TV broadcaster La7 for the excellent work it has carried out over the last few years, which has without a doubt helped to increase the coverage and the growth of the championship in Italy”.

Stephan Herth, Executive Director Summer Sports at Infront, said: “The agreement with Mediaset, as a major network in Italy, reflects the significant growth in relevance and strength that the eni FIM Superbike World Championship has achieved in recent years. In Italy, it is among the most popular sports competitions and attracts high public interest – even more as 7 out of the 24 riders fly the Italian flag. The extensive live broadcast and in-depth coverage provided by Mediaset will be of strong benefit for the enthusiastic motorcycle fans as well as all commercial brands involved.”

Giorgio Giovetti, Head of Sports Rights Purchasing for Mediaset, added: “We have decided to switch our target to a very competitive and spectacular championship, with bikes that enhance the battles between great riders and render the outcome of each round uncertain right until the very end. Superbike is a sporting contest whose value will be enhanced considerably thanks to the visibility guaranteed by Italia 1 and by the technical and journalistic commentary of Mediaset’s sports editorial team”.

The eni FIM Superbike World Championship features a high number of riders, teams and manufacturers (Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki), racing with high-performance bikes that are similar to those available on the market for normal everyday road use. The championship’s well-tried formula of two races at each round, Pirelli’s one-make tyre supply, as well as stable technical regulations over the years, have helped World Superbike become a truly exciting spectacle for millions of TV spectators and fans around the world.

Media coverage of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship is firmly established worldwide and is helping to align the strength of the series across the scale. Overall, under Infront’s tenure, live coverage has increased steadily since 2007 and the number of broadcast partners has grown by 40 per cent. In 2011, the series reached a cumulative audience of 460 million viewers with 3,300 broadcast hours worldwide.

Sky Italia has acquired the TV rights for the FIM MotoGP World Championship starting from the 2014 season, ed which will be offered across all Sky technology platforms, including FTA TV, pay TV, Internet, mobile and Sky Go. 

Thanks to an agreement with Dorna, the company organizing the championship, Sky will have the exclusive right to broadcast all 18 races of the three classes (MotoGP™, Moto2™, Moto3™) of the FIM MotoGP World Championship. 

The Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix, and over the last decade, MotoGP, is one of the most watched sporting events on Italian TV, in part thanks to the achievements of its most successful and popular riders, Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi, as well as exciting new talents such as Romano Fenati and the achievements of Italian teams such as Ducati and Aprilia.

Now Sky is getting ready to significantly enhance the way this already well-established and popular sport in Italy will be broadcast, including the introduction of High Definition picture, as well as offering its subscribers the opportunity to customize their viewing experience thanks to Sky’s interactivity, allowing viewers to watch races anywhere thanks to Sky Go service. 

Under the agreement signed with Dorna, Sky will be in charge of providing the FTA showing of 8 MotoGP appointments. 

Sky Italia CEO, Andrea Zappia, said: “We are glad we have reached this agreement. It represents a new, decisive and important signal for subscribers who, in years to come, will be able to rely on one of the deepest-rooted sports event in Italians’ hearts. That confirms that Sky keeps investing in order to ensure an unparalleled offer by constantly enriching it. We would like to thank Dorna for the trust they have placed in us. It is a partner able to ensure the highest level of organization worldwide and I’m confident that together we’ll be able to further enhance such a great sport. Starting from now, our aim is to work every day so that the MotoGP and the whole Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix can continue to grow in the collective imagination of Italians who are already keen on a sport in which our fellow-countrymen are always getting to the top rankings.” 

Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO, added: “We are extremely pleased about the new agreement with Sky, as it allows MotoGP to keep evolving in the right direction. Sky is a partner known to offer sports coverage at the highest quality and provides us with the best opportunity to display content across its new and varied platforms. Italy is a country with a strong motorcycle heritage, most notably with Valentino Rossi, and we firmly believe that this new partnership will aid in the development of many more local young talents in years to come, such as current up-and-comer Romano Fenati. This, coupled with the unparalleled sport programming of Sky will give another boost to the MotoGP World Championship thanks to its original and innovative digital technologies.” 

Sky’s new acquisition follows the purchase of the rights for four editions of the Olympic Games  (Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014 and  Rio De Janeiro 2016), the Fifa World Cup in Brazil in 2014, preceded in June 2013 by the Confederations Cup, and the Champions League starting from next season, with 128 matches to be broadcast live and in HD.