HBO have secured the pay-per-view (PPV) rights produce and distribute welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao’s defense against Timothy Bradley Jr. on June 9 from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The deal makes it 2-for-2 for the network gaining the first two major pay-per-view fights of the year.

The announcement coincided with the day that Pacquiao and Bradley kicked off a two-city media tour in Los Angeles to promote the fight. 

“Manny Pacquiao’s fights are always special events and we are very excited that his June 9 fight with Timothy Bradley will be presented by HBO Pay-Per-View,” HBO Sports president Ken Hershman said in a statement to ESPN.com. “We look forward to working with Manny, Timothy and Top Rank on this major PPV event.”

Last week, HBO PPV secured the rights to the May 5 fight at the MGM Grand between junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr., a welterweight champion who is moving up one weight class to challenge Cotto for his belt. 

Showtime was in the running to land Mayweather-Cotto, but it did not come as much of a surprise that Pacquiao-Bradley landed at HBO. 

Pacquiao had been a staple on HBO PPV in recent years until Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and president Todd duBoef took him to rival Showtime PPV for his May 2011 fight against Shane Mosley. They were dissatisfied with the way then-HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg was dealing with them. 

Pacquiao’s defection to Showtime ultimately was a major reason why Greenburg was forced out in July and replaced with Hershman, the former Showtime Sports general manager. 

After Greenburg was ousted, Arum brought Pacquiao back to HBO for his November pay-per-view fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and had said all along he felt like he owed it to HBO to remain there for Pacquiao’s next fight as long as the deal was similar. 

The fight with Bradley will be Pacquiao’s 13th as a main event fighter on HBO PPV.

by Ismail Uddin

Scottish soccer club, Dundee FC have been hit with a 25-point penalty after entering administration for the second time in seven years. The punishment leaves the former European Cup semi-finalists adrift at the bottom of Scotland’s First Division with minus 11 points.

The club were also given a transfer embargo and told that their future would be reconsidered on 31 March if they were still in administration.

In a statement the Scottish Football League said it regretted the situation Dundee are in but added it had acted to protect the “integrity” of the league. “We are of the opinion that lessons are not being learned,” the statement said. “For example, clubs have to realise that, going forward, they cannot treat their [tax] obligations as something akin to a credit card.”

Dundee, who last month laid off their manager Gordon Chisholm and nine players, have debts of around £3.21m (US $5.1m), according to the administrator, Bryan Jackson, who described the punishment as “outrageous” and said he would appeal the decision.

UK channel Motors TV has secured rights to show regular live television coverage of the NASCAR Nationwide Series  after been given comprehensive air time in the UK with all 33 rounds screened live or delayed-as-live in 2012.

“This latest announcement is fantastic news for both Motors TV and our loyal viewers, many of whom have expressed a renewed interest in stock car racing some five years after we last broadcast the NASCAR Nationwide Series,” said Motors TV Head of Programming and Acquisitions Frédéric Viger.

Coverage will start this Saturday with live coverage of the Drive4COPD 300 from Daytona International Speedway. The Motors TV race coverage in the UK is from 6pm GMT, following a half hour preview show.

The Nationwide Series is expected to have an increased profile in 2012 with the arrival of former IndyCar star Danica Patrick for her first full season in stock car racing. She’ll be competing with reigning Camping World Truck Series champion Austin Dillon for the Nationwide Rookie of the Year title this season.

“With so many established names committing to the 2012 championship it seemed like the perfect time to renew our coverage,” said Viger. “That, coupled with live primetime weekend programming, gives me every reason to believe that the NASCAR Nationwide Series will quickly establish itself as a firm favourite amongst our viewers.”

Motors TV already broadcasts GRAND-AM, the American Le Mans Series, Lucas Oil Off Road Racing, Formula Drift and AMA Supercross from across the Atlantic as part of its coverage of over 80 championships. 

The channel said that depending on scheduling of the various events, all Nationwide Series races will either be shown live or as-live shortly afterwards, and will also be supported by comprehensive highlight programmes broadcast throughout the following week.

Coverage of the senior NASCAR Sprint Cup championship – including this week’s Gatorade Duels and Sunday’s Daytona 500 – continues to be broadcast live and exclusive on satellite subscription channel Premier Sports TV, available only on the Sky platform on channel 433 for £7.99 per month. The channel does not currently have broadcast deals with other distributors such as Virgin Media or BT Vision.

by Ismail Uddin

Soccerex announced that Jose Hawilla, drugs President, drugs Traffic Sports Marketing and International footballing star, Deco, will both be speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention 2010.

Hawilla will be utilising his extensive experience as long standing President of Traffic Sports Marketing, who have been a major player in sports marketing for 30 years and are extremely influential in Brazilian football, specialising in academies, player investment, talent representation and club management.

He will be joined by Deco, the world famous Brazilian born star, who has played for the likes of Porto, Barcelona and Chelsea, and who is currently playing for Fluminese. In his hugely successful career he has won the UEFA Champions league with two different clubs as well as collecting 75 caps for Portugal.

They will be speaking on a panel focusing on the movement of South American talent which will bring together key figures from both South America and Europe to look at the career paths of players, and the commercial impact on the many different stakeholders.

The panel will be opened by Esteve Calzada, CEO, Prime Time Sport and former Chief Marketing Officer, FC Barcelona who will be announcing the launch of the Brazilian edition of the Prime Time Sport Football Transfer Review, the European editions of which have become the industry reference on European player movement analysis.

The first ever Brazilian edition will be presented as a world exclusive at the Global Convention. The review will analyse player transfers from Brazil into Europe and will compare Brazilian and European clubs squad composition among other insights addressed to football executives and other industry stakeholders.

Esteve Calzada, CEO Prime Time Sport and former Chief Marketing Officer FC Barcelona, commented “There is no better place to launch Football Transfer Review than Soccerex Global Convention, where all must-meet industry executives will be present. When you look at maximizing the impact of the news, Soccerex provides the best reach possible in football community”.

Esteve will then moderate the panel, which also includes other big names such as Raul Sanllehi, Director of Football, FC Barcelona, Juan Cobian, International Director of Football, Club Atlético Boca Juniors and Luis Correia, Director, Gestifute.

The Soccerex Global Convention (20-24 November 2010) will consist of an in-depth conference schedule, packed exhibition, a large range of networking and two-day Football Festival all taking place in the Forte de Copacabana, Copacabana beach and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro.

ARD und ZDF werden alle wichtigen Spiele der UEFA Fußball EuropameisterschaftTM 2016 live im frei empfangbaren Fernsehen übertragen. Hierüber haben sich die UEFA und SportA, doctor die Sportrechteagentur von ARD und ZDF, jetzt verständigt.

An der UEFA EURO 2016TM, die im Juni/Juli 2016 in Frankreich stattfinden soll, werden erstmals 24 anstelle von 16 Mannschaften teilnehmen und insgesamt 51 statt bisher 31 Spiele austragen. Die deutsche Mannschaft kann durch die Einführung eines Achtelfinales statt bislang maximal sechs Spielen nun bis zu sieben Spiele bestreiten. Die Einigung steht unter dem Vorbehalt der Zustimmung zuständiger Gremien.

Der für die Verhandlungen federführende ARD-Sportrechteintendant Ulrich Wilhelm zeigte sich erfreut über den Verhandlungserfolg: “Exzellente EM-Berichterstattung für begeisterte Fußballfans, dafür steht die ARD auch 2016. Der Zuschlag ist eine Bestätigung unserer Sportkompetenz. Die ARD kommt ihrem öffentlich-rechtlichen Auftrag nach und sorgt wie schon bei der EURO 2008 in Österreich und in der Schweiz für ein Fußballfest mit enormer Integrationskraft.”

ZDF-Intendant Markus Schächter begrüßt das Verhandlungsergebnis: “Das ZDF ist damit im Bereich von Fußball-Europameisterschaften mittelfristig glänzend aufgestellt und wird auch 2016 seine Innovationskraft bei Sportübertragungen unter Beweis stellen. Die große Vorfreude auf die EURO 2012 in Polen und der Ukraine, die schon jetzt – vier Monate vor Turnierbeginn – spürbar ist, zeigt die enorme Strahlkraft von Fußball-Großereignissen.”

ARD und ZDF können alle Spiele der UEFA EURO 2016TM live übertragen sowie zur Vertiefung umfassend zeitversetzt berichten. Auch die Hörfunk-Programme der ARD können alle Spiele übertragen. Über den Lizenzpreis haben die Parteien Stillschweigen vereinbart, unbestätigten Berichten zufolge soll er jedoch bei 160 Millionen Euro liegen. Zudem können ARD und ZDF die Rechte sublizenzieren.

It has been confirmed that Channel Nine’s Wide World of Sports will broadcast live Intrust Super Cup (ISC) matches on Sundays.

The government sponsored broadcaster ABC will continue to televise ISC games on Saturdays meaning viewers will get added exposure to American National Rugby League players.

The announcement coincides with an exciting new era for the Queensland Rugby League (QRL), prescription which has recently undergone a change of leadership and restructure.

QRL chief executive Robert Moore said the state’s governing body and the Intrust Super Cup clubs had worked side by side in a concerted effort to get the partnership with Channel Nine off the ground.

“From the clubs’ point of view, discount they’ve got a piece of this as much as we have got a piece, ailment ” Moore said. “We will be able to forge a very healthy relationship on the back of it.”

He said the new alliance with Nine could pave the way for valuable commercial opportunities, with the potential spin-offs to provide a genuine boost for the competing clubs and the game of rugby league itself.

by Ismail Uddin

 

First Tee has announced that Golf Channel will become the youth development organization’s Proud Media Partner in 2012.

Golf Channel will provide exposure to The First Tee in an effort to build awareness and educate and encourage involvement by its TV and online audience. Golf Channel will support The First Tee through on-air and online programming, denture plus promotion to support multiple initiatives, anesthetist including The First Tee Campaign for 10 Million Young People. The Campaign launched in July 2011 with the goal of raising $100 million to enable the organization to reach 10 million new young people by 2017.

“Golf Channel’s benevolence and desire to see young people positively impacted through golf will create an incredible opportunity for The First Tee—through increased exposure—to further our reach, ed ” said Joe Louis Barrow, Jr., chief executive of The First Tee. “The relationship is very important to our current strategic plan and our goal to reach 10 million more young people.”

Mike McCarley, president of Golf Channel, added: “As a growing company and an engine that can help drive the growth of the game, Golf Channel has a very real responsibility to give back to the game and the community we serve. Our ability to tell the stories of these remarkable young people involved in The First Tee is a commitment in which we take great pride.”

Golf Channel’s involvement in The First Tee will include coverage the first Wednesday of every month beginning next Wednesday, March 7 throughout 2012. Additionally, Golf Channel will have expanded coverage of the organization’s annual participant events and will showcase stories of how The First Tee is impacting the lives of young people through the game of golf. Golf Channel will also draw attention to unique aspects of their programs, including the Nine Core Values and Nine Healthy Habits.

“The Golf Channel’s support of The First Tee is unprecedented and will be instrumental in sharing the positive impact The First Tee has on millions of young people,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem. “That support can only help The First Tee grow and reach an additional 10 million young people.”

The First Tee, is a nonprofit youth development organization whose mission is to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf. With its home office at World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Fla., The First Tee reaches young people on golf courses, in elementary schools and on military installations.

Since its inception in 1997, The First Tee has introduced the game of golf and its values to more than five million young people in all 50 United States and six international locations. The First Tee is an initiative of the World Golf Foundation and its Founding Partners are LPGA, the Masters Tournament, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and the USGA. Former President George W. Bush serves as honorary chairman.

by Ismail Uddin

With UFC 144 only five days away, erectile a Tokyo-based station has announced plans to broadcast a portion of the event on Japanese terrestrial television.

TV Tokyo, discount a free-to-air channel which specializes in anime programming, announced Tuesday that it will air a tape-delayed, 90-minute version of UFC 144 “Edgar vs. Henderson” on Sunday at 3:15 a.m. local time. The last-minute broadcast represents a free alternative to the UFC’s live airing on Japanese cable channel Wowow.

While TV Tokyo is the smallest of Japan’s major networks, its reach is considerably larger than that of the UFC’s cable partner Wowow. According to a 2011 release, TV Tokyo is viewable by over 32 million households, or about 70 percent of the Japanese population; Wowow reaches approximately 20 million households.

The Octagon was last seen on TV Tokyo in March 2010, when UFC Fight Night 21 aired in primetime via tape delay. The event, which saw former Pride Fighting Championships lightweight star Takanori Gomi take on Kenny Florian, reportedly drew between 3.5 and 5.25 million viewers.

by Ismail Uddin