The Scottish Premier League (SPL) looks set to expand following a meeting designed to improve Scottish football.

The current 12 clubs on Wednesday held the latest in a series of meetings designed to improve Scottish football.

Chief executive Neil Doncaster stressed that no format or system had yet been decided upon at the Hampden gathering.

But he told BBC: “The 12-team format is something that people perceive has possibly seen its best.”

Talks have been taking place for weeks between concerned chairmen, bronchi who privately admit that drastic action is needed to give the top flight a boost.

And, if the majority get their way, the new-look SPL will welcome two new teams and become a division of 14 and will also include one automatic relegation spot, with the second bottom side facing a play-off involving the top three from the second tier.

“I am absolutely delighted at the contributions that are being made some big thinkers in Scottish football,” Doncaster told BBC Scotland.

“They are coming to the party, they are wanting to make a contribution and they want to help with the process of reaching a consensus.”

canada viagra helvetica, thumb sans-serif;”>Eurosport and Infront Sport & Media have come to an agreement on a rights extension that will see the French sporting network continue to broadcast the majority of the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) World Cup events.

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The existing agreement has now been extended till the 2015/16 season in which the 5-year contract will include coverage of events such as FIS Alpine Skiing, Ski Jumping, Cross Country, Nordic Combined, Snowboard and Freestyle World Cup races.

 

This is estimated to be around 200 events per season in what is sure to be a significant coup for the network.

 

The new deal with Eurosport will include live TV and digital rights covered in Europe on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, as well as in Asia and the Pacific region on Eurosport Asia-Pacific. This includes the popular Tour de Ski in cross-country skiing and stages from the prestigious Vierschanzentournee in ski jumping. In Europe, a total of 600 hours will be dedicated to FIS World Cup races each season on Eurosport’s channels.

 

Online, the Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s dedicated web TV service, will broadcast live action from all FIS World Cup events acquired from Infront on six online bonus channels, one per discipline, as well as through video on demand. Eurosport Player is available in 52 countries across Europe, while all World Cup events will also be available across 14 European countries with the Eurosport Player mobile apps for iPad and iPhone.

 

By Marc Sibbons

The Australian Rugby League Commission and Sky Television have agreed one-year extension to their existing broadcasting contract, guaranteeing the 2012 National Rugby League season will be telecast live in New Zealand.

The agreement also covers the annual three-match State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland plus the one-off trans-Tasman test which is to be played in October.

The newly-formed commission can now press ahead with the negotiations for a new television deal encompassing Australia – a priority once the code’s new governing body came into power last week.

“With the Warriors kicking off the season with a Grand Final replay at Eden Park on March 4 (against Manly) this is a real boost for New Zealand fans,” said commission chief executive David Gallop.

“Over 700,000 New Zealanders tuned in to watch Kiwi teams in all three Grand Final day matches last year and we were always confident that we would be able to reach an interim agreement for 2012.”

Sky Television chief executive John Fellett added: “I think all New Zealand sports fans will be happy to know that we now have a firm deal for 2012 and the opportunity to negotiate longer term contracts in the months ahead.”

by Ismail Uddin

New Zealand Football has inked a four-match deal with Sky Television to broadcast All Whites home games in New Zealand.

The deal includes this month’s ASB Summer International against Jamaica and three World Cup qualifiers in Stage 3 of Oceania qualifying assuming New Zealand progress past Stage Two the OFC Nations Cup in June this year.

The Stage Three matches, cheap cialis home and away ties between the top four nations from Stage two, viagra usa will be played in the upcoming October, November and March FIFA windows, with the winner progressing to an intercontinental playoff against the fourth best CONCACAF team in November 2013 for a place at the 2014 World Cup.

New Zealand Football chief executive Grant McKavanagh said: “We’ve had a good meeting of the minds with Sky and we’ve come to an agreement over the value of, and interest in, the All Whites on the Road to Brazil.

“The most pleasing aspect is that we’ve got a longer term arrangement, which gives us and football fans a degree of certainty.”

New Zealand Football has retained rights to sell-on coverage in overseas territories and has also retained off-shore internet streaming rights.

by Ismail Uddin

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed it will broadcast some live 3D coverage to homes across the UK as part of a 3D trial during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The trial coverage will be broadcast via the BBC’s HD Channel and will include the Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony and the Men’s 100m final.

The 3D free-to-air broadcast will be available to anyone who has access to a 3D TV set and to HD channels, regardless of which digital TV provider they use.

Kim Shillinglaw, Head of BBC 3D, said: “We have always said we believe some of 2012 should be captured in 3D, and we’re delighted to confirm our offer to audiences in the UK, providing them with a new way of getting close to some of the key moments from the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

As the UK’s host nation broadcaster for the London 2012 Olympic Games the BBC will have live sport coverage from every venue across BBC One, BBC Three, BBC Sport website, BBC Red Button, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Mobile.

The schedule for TV and BBC Red Button has yet to be confirmed and will be released nearer to the Games.

by Ismail Uddin

Eurosport, the leading pan-European sports media group, have announced they have renewed their media rights agreement for the majority of FIS World Cup events through to 2015/16.

The five year contract, which includes the on-going 2011/12 season, covers the FIS Alpine Skiing, Ski Jumping, Cross Country, Nordic Combined, Snowboard and Freestyle World Cup races where Infront handles the media rights collectively – almost 200 events per season.

The new agreements with Eurosport include TV and digital LIVE rights covered in Europe on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 as well as in Asia and the Pacific region on Eurosport Asia-Pacific. This includes the popular Tour de Ski in Cross-Country Skiing and stages from the prestigious Vierschanzentournee in Ski Jumping. In Europe only, a total of 600 hours will be dedicated to FIS World Cup races each
season on Eurosport’s channels.

Online, the Eurosport Player, Eurosport’s dedicated web TV service, will broadcast LIVE action from all FIS World Cup events acquired from Infront on six online bonus channels, one per discipline, as well as VOD. Eurosport Player is available on PC in 52 countries across Europe. All World Cup events will also be available across 14 European countries with the Eurosport Player mobile apps for iPad and iPhone.

As the media rights partner of most National Ski Associations that host the FIS World Cup events, Infront is developing the FIS properties as a coherent, high-level television entertainment product. In cooperation with the national TV stations serving as host broadcasters, a top quality world feed is produced to FIS TV Standards – developed to suit each discipline individually. 

This is also in line with the FIS objective of raising audience interest in the races and the continuity of the competition – in particular among a younger audience. All races are offered live and/or delayed and increasingly in full HD production quality. In addition, Infront produces and distributes weekly TV magazine programmes
throughout the winter season including the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Report, the Snowboard FIS World Cup Magazine and the Freestyle FIS World Cup Magazine.

by Ismail Uddin

Ustream Inc., viagra the leader in live, interactive, streaming video, today announced a partnership with Universal Sports Network to broadcast live coverage of the 2012 Alpine Ski World Cup.

The partnership will also include additional sports including coverage of the HSBC Sevens World Series rugby matches with the next match set for March 23-25 in So Kon Po, Hong Kong. Universal Sports Network provides more than 1,200 hours of original programming each year for its world-class Olympic, endurance and adventure programming from around the world.

“Ustream brings a valuable mix of social interaction and strong viewership to the sporting events that will be available on Universal Sports’ channel,” said Bart Leivo, vice president of business development for Universal Sports. “We’re excited to be working with a leader in live, interactive video like Ustream and taking our content to the next level of social engagement.”

In addition to the Alpine Ski World Cup and Rugby Sevens events, the partnership provides Ustream viewers with access to many of Universal Sports Network’s top sporting events including the Swimming Grand Prix, CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying soccer tournament, World Figure Skating Championships, Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana, and VISA National Championships (gymnastics), among many others. 

“Ustream’s partnership with Universal Sports has proven to be a successful one,” said Wayne Sieve, vice president of content partnerships for Ustream. “Given the performance of our initial collaboration around the Rugby World Cup, we were thrilled to extend the relationship in distributing their 2012 programming to our network of 51 million unique viewers.”

Ustream’s partnership with Universal Sports kicks off with the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, the premier event for the international circuit of alpine skiing competitions started in 1996. The season is currently underway and will continue throughout March. 

by Ismail Uddin

The National Hockey League (NHL) today announced the addition of two broadcast agreements that will provide live game coverage of the NHL in the Ukraine, order Slovenia, vcialis 40mg Serbia, clinic Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The recently launched Ukrainian “Hockey” TV channel has secured the rights to show up to 15 live NHL games per week in the Ukraine for the next five seasons. The addition of the 24-hour “Hockey” channel featuring live NHL contests has brought the game back to a Ukrainian TV audience for the first time in more than three years.

Arena Sports has secured the rights to show multiple live NHL games per week in Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina for the next five seasons.  Through this deal, live NHL games also will be made available in Slovenia through Sport TV.  All games will be broadcast in HD and in the local language.

These additions follow a number of distribution agreements reached this season with international broadcasters throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the landmark distribution partnership between the NHL and MTG to provide live coverage of all 1,230 regular-season games and every Stanley Cup Playoffs game throughout the Nordic region, including Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.

by Ismail Uddin

Satellite broadcaster British Eurosport will continue to screen live coverage of the MotoGP World Championship after extending its rights agreement into the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Fans in the UK and Ireland can look forward to live coverage of the practice and qualifying sessions at every grand prix, with the Moto2 and Moto3 races also being shown live. 

However the main MotoGP race will continue to be shown on a delayed (same-day) basis by British Eurosport. The BBC broadcast’s live MotoGP race coverage in the UK, in a deal that lasts until the end of 2013.

Popular commentary duo Julian Ryder and Toby Moody will remain behind the microphone to give viewers their infectious take on all the action over the next two seasons following Eurosport’s renewal of the deal.

The channel has established a reputation as a massive supporter of motorcycle racing, also providing exclusive live coverage of the MCE British Superbike Championship and highlights of other major motorcycle events.

by Ismail Uddin

Broadcasters in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Asia and the UK have now signed rights deals to televise action from the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) cricket tournament, which began on Thursday (9 February).

Geo TV has become the BPL broadcast partner in Pakistan for three years; while opening season twenty20 (T20) BPL cricket will now be shown by Maharaja TV in Sri Lanka, SuperSport in South Africa, and CricOne in the Middle East and West Asia. In Britain, NTV UK will carry the Bengali feed of the tournament to serve the country’s Bangladeshi expatriate population.

ESPN Star Sports acquired the broadcast rights for the BPL in India and across Asia last week, while Channel 9 will televise all the matches within Bangladesh. In total, 80 countries are now receiving TV coverage of the BPL.

Channel 9 Bangladesh, which owns the international broadcast rights for the tournament, has appointed Delhi-based events licensing company Sporty Solutionz as its global distribution partner.

“We have a three year deal with Channel 9, which is the broadcast rights holder for this league. They have given the licensing rights to us. We have picked the overseas broadcast rights excluding Bangladesh and subsequently we are distributing the event,” said Ashish Chadha, chief executive, Sporty Solutionz.

Modelled on the Indian Premier League (IPL), the BPL comprises six teams – Barisal Burners, Chittagong Kings, Khulna Royal Bengals, Sylhet Royals, Dhaka Gladiators and Duronto Rajshahi – who will play each other twice in a round-robin format over 33 matches.

Big name international cricketers such as Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Herschelle Gibbs and Muttiah Muralitharan are all involved in the action, which takes place in Chittagong and Dhaka until 29 February.

Most days will feature either one or two matches, with the first beginning at 2pm local time and the second at 6.30 pm.

by Ismail Uddin