ESPN and the NFL have signed a multi-billion dollar eight-year extension to their media rights agreement which is a gigantic 73% increase in the average price of its current deal.

The $1.8 billion per year deal, arthritis which was first reported in January, allergy was announced today. The deal will keep “MNF” on ESPN through its 21 season. It also gives ESPN a number of capabilities when it comes to its digital rights that will allow the network to stream live games via broadband and tablets, ask as part of the cable industry’s “TV Everywhere” initiative.

George Bodenheimer, ABC Sports President, said: “Today, we’ve secured cable’s most valuable television franchise, along with an enhanced international package of year-round multimedia rights. It will help grow our business well into the next decade. No one has the breadth of worldwide media assets or the ability to monetize a property the way ESPN can, particularly with Monday Night Footballand our complete NFL coverage.”

Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, said “We are proud to extend our three-decade partnership with ESPN. We have come a long way together since ESPN first televised the NFL Draft in 1980. With this new agreement we are excited about the opportunity to take the NFL-ESPN partnership to innovative new heights in serving the most passionate fans in sports.”

Also what ESPN is not getting in the deal is significant. ESPN will not get any playoff games as part of the deal, at least not initially. The contract allows for ESPN to carry a Wild Card playoff game at some point, but it is not set in stone. Neither ESPN nor ABC will be part of the Super Bowl rotation. The NFL has never agreed to take any of its playoff games off national broadcast television. 

A key aspect to the deal for ESPN is that it will receive many more highlight rights, which the network will use to launch several new NFL-themed studio shows.

Pan-African sports network Supersport are a new addition to the broadcast roster of the Australian Open.

Under the agreement with event promoter World Sport Group, SuperSport, the leading pay television platform in the sub-Saharan African region, has acquired the rights to broadcast up to twenty hours of the event on all platforms including television, internet and mobile across 48 territories.

Sang Y Chun, Chairman and Commissioner of OneAsia, said: “The time is right for OneAsia to bring its exciting brand of Asia-Pacific golf to Sub-Saharan Africa.  SuperSport International’s impressive distribution will connect two of the world’s emerging golf markets.  The addition of SuperSport International to the OneAsia family of international television partners further strengthens Asia-Pacific’s best distributed brand of golf.”

Brandon Foot, Head of Acquisitions at SuperSport International, added: “SuperSport is thrilled to be broadcasting the Australian Open as it showcases a top-quality field at a world-class venue. Australia has some of the top young golfers in the world, and they are sure to challenge the big names already confirmed for the event. This is the perfect addition to our already excellent November golf offering for our viewers across the whole of Africa, ensuring they won’t miss a moment of the top golf from all corners of the globe.”

The $1.5 million Australian Open which is co-sanctioned by OneAsia and the PGA Tour of Australasia will be held at The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney from November 10^th to November 13^th.   Australian Geoff Ogilvy will return this year to defend his title and will be joined by a host of stars including Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Fred Couples, Greg Norman and Jason Day.

The event will be broadcast in Australia on Channel Ten’s One HD free-to-air sports channel, across Asia on ESPN Star Sports, in the United States and Canada on One World Sports and in Europe on Bloomberg Television. It will also be broadcast in Korea on SBS and in Japan on Jupiter Golf Channel.  World Sport Group, Asia’s leading sports marketing, media and event management company manages the television distribution for the event.

Brazil is to receive broadcast deals for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League this week with expected increases in right fees  due to intense competition in the market.

The current rights-holders – Globo, health Brazil’s biggest media group, doctor free-to-air broadcaster Esporte Interativo and pay-television operator ESPN – are understood to have tabled offers for the rights, which cover the seasons 2012-13 to 2014-15, according to TV Sports Markets. They will however face stern competition from commercial broadcaster Rede Record, which was understood to be preparing a large bid to secure the rights.

Record is challenging Globo for the major sports properties but recently lost out for the rights to the Campeonato Série A, the Brazilian national football league. That defeat means that Record has the budget available to land a knockout bid for the UEFA rights. Record have previous experience with the Champions League after holding the rights for the period 2006-07 to 2008-09.

In the current Champions League contract, Globo, Bandeirantes (through a sub-licensing deal with Globo) and Esporte interativio hold the free-to-air rights, while ESPN has the pay-television rights. ESPN also holds live and highlights rights for the Europa League, sub-licensing a package of rights to the free-to-air broadcaster Rede TV!. The deals are being negotiated on behalf of European football’s governing body, by the Team Marketing agency.

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The Superbowl is five months away but yet NBC has nearly sold out all of its most valuable in-game Superbowl commercial spots.

According to Seth Winter, senior vice president of NBC Sports Group Sales & Marketing, “literally a handful of units” remain available in its Super Bowl XLVI broadcast. An estimated 63 in-game slots were up for grabs; of these perhaps as few as six remain.

Such is the strength of the market that NBC is guaranteed to smash all previous pricing records for the game. While Fox commanded $3 million per spot a year ago, NBC has raised the bar to as high as $3.5 million a pop.

“We originally set a target of $3.5 million. That was our asking price in the market,” Winter said. “But as we ventured into themarket with the Super Bowl, we were always look for broader commitments across our sports assets. We don’t just sell Super Bowlpositions, so depending on what other buys the clients made, the final price of an individual spot is a function of these other commitments.”

Each Super Bowl unit sold thus far is attached to some other NBC Sports offering, Winter said. Key among these is the 17-day 2012 Summer Olympics spectacular, which will unfold in London July 27-August 12.

Despite fears that the NFL season would be delayed or scuttled altogether, sales of NBC’s Super Bowl inventory proceeded without interruption throughout the four-month labor dispute. In fact, two months after the lockout began on March 11, NBC had already sold half of its Super Bowl slots.

The fast-moving market is a recapitulation of Fox’s early sell-off of Super Bowl XLV. By early June 2010, Fox had already wrapped 80 percent of its Super Bowl business, a remarkable feat given that broadcasters had previously only reached that milestone in October—or about six weeks into the NFL regular season.

Then, as now, automotive dollars sparked the demand. And while Winter declined to identify the clients who have already committed to the Super Bowl, he acknowledged that NBC’s broadcast will be just as flush with car dollars as last year’s production.

“You will see the same strength in auto this year that you did last year,” Winter said. “I can literally count on the fingers of one hand the number of car advertisers who won’t be back.”

Last year, eight car makers bought 20 secs in game superbowl slots, accounting for nearly one-third of the broadcast’s total. Among those who ponied up for the exposure were Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Mercedes, and Kia. The game marked Mercedes’ first foray into America’s great secular holiday; moreover, Fox welcomed back BMW after a 10-year absence.

The Steelers-Packers showdown smashed the record for the most-watched single TV event in American history, as an average 111 million viewers tuned into Fox on Feb. 6. With peak viewership reaching 162.9 million, more than half the total US population saw at least part of the game, according to Nielsen.

Along with the in-game spots, NBC is doing well with its shoulder programming around the event.  “We are very well sold throughout the day. As you know, there are people who for whatever reason do not buy the Super Bowl but want to be involved in the day. Those clients are buying category exclusiveness and [marquee] sponsorships in the programming leading up to the game.”

In the near term, NBC is all but sold out of its Sunday Night Football inventory. Loaded with big draws like the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New York Giants, the SNF slate kicks off Sept. 8 with an NFC matchup between Green Bay and New Orleans.

According to Nielsen, NBC last season averaged 21.2 million viewers per SNF broadcast, making it the most-watched package on television. “We are extraordinarily well sold in the regular season, and while the season hasn’t even started yet, we’ve already exceeded last year’s final revenue tally,” Winter said. “That in itself should speak to the increasingly healthy NFL market place.”

Based on industry estimates, Sunday Night Football last year generated $850 million in ad sales revenue.

Cablevision System Corporation (CVC) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)’s customers shared some grief yesterday after their FiOS pay-tv service lost access to the Tennis Channel due to a fee dispute causing them to miss some of the coverage of the U.S Open.

Tennis Channel pulled its signal early, pills Jim Maiella, pills a spokesman for Cablevision, sick said in an e-mailed statement. He declined to say whether the company plans to negotiate a new agreement with Tennis Channel after their contract expired. Verizon is trying to negotiate a new deal with Tennis Channel, Kevin Laverty, a spokesman for the New York-based carrier, said in an interview.

The blackout means the customers will miss some coverage of the sport’s only U.S. grand slam event, which includes marquee players such as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Both Cablevision and Verizon customers can still watch CBS and ESPN’s coverage of the tournament, which is scheduled to run through Sept. 11.

Tennis Channel asked for “significantly higher” fees, Maiella said. He said Cablevision customers can see “every important U.S. Open match” on ESPN, CBS and through an online service.

Cablevision didn’t agree to new contract guidelines and “has chosen to drop Tennis Channel,” according to an e-mailed statement from Eric Abner, a spokesman for Tennis Channel.

Verizon’s FiOS had about 3.8 million TV subscribers as of June 30, and Bethpage, New York-based Cablevision had about 3.3 million such customers. Both trail larger pay-TV providers including Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., DirecTV and Dish Network Corp.

The Tennis Channel, based in Santa Monica, California, is owned by investors that include Apollo Partners and Bain Capital Ventures, as well as former Tennis Stars Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, according to the company’s website.

Rugby World Cup limited (RCWL) has announced that fans in Antarctica for the first time will be able to watch the World Cup in all its glory live.

A live encrypted feed will be made available free of charge by Rugby World Cup 2011 Rights Holder TVNZ to ensure that every pass, alternative tackle and try is available to view.

All 48 matches will be available to the winter population of 13 New Zealanders, medic an Australian and an Irishman who are stationed at Scott Base. It is the first time that Rugby World Cup has been broadcast into the Antarctic.

RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “We are delighted that Rugby World Cup 2011 is going to reach Rugby fans in Antarctica and that they will be able to join the global Rugby community in enjoying the Rugby World Cup experience.”

Mike Mahon, adiposity Antarctica NZ, IT Administrator, added: “The crew here, and our friends from the nearby US McMurdo Station, are definitely looking forward to cheering on the teams at what promises to be a superb Rugby World Cup.”

Rugby World Cup 2011 will be broadcast in over 200 territories worldwide, more than any previous Rugby World Cup Tournament.

Sports media provider Deltatre has contracted Elemental solutions to deliver extensive highlights coverage of the Rugby World Cup, doctor which begins on 9th September.

Highlights will be available on mobile apps on iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7.

Chris Catling, head of operations at deltatre media, said: “Speed, ease-of-use and high quality support are the distinguishing qualities that motivated us to use Elemental. Due to the complexity of the solution we are delivering at the Rugby World Cup, Elemental have been an excellent choice. They have seamlessly integrated into the workflow between our editing operations and publishing via the deltatre CMS. 

“In total, 22 outputs are delivered to different locations feeding seven different platforms. The pure speed at which we can do the encoding is faster than real-time. This enables us to provide a superior service to our client as well as a top-quality experience for viewers. ?

Sam Blackman, CEO and chairman of Elemental Technologies, said: “We are honoured to partner with deltatre as it looks to deliver superior quality entertainment to rugby fans globally across PCs, tablets and mobile devices. Elemental stands ready to support its efforts as they move to additional multi-screen video delivery applications that continue to extend the deltatre brand and reach.”

CBS Corpoation (CBS) and Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) have agreed a nine-year television contract extension with the US PGA Tour.

Terms of the contract were not disclosed, but PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said the rights fees were going to go up in the new pacts. He added that the partnership would significantly increase the amount of charity work the PGA does.

“We can now with confidence expect to reach $2 billion in all-time charitable contributions by 2014 and conceivably reach $3 billion by the end of the term,” Finchem said.

CBS will carry about 20 PGA tournaments a year while NBC will run 10 events annually. The Golf Channel will continue to carry early portions of the PGA Tour season as well as have rights to repeats of coverage from NBC and CBS.

The tour’s current network contracts, reached in 2006 and worth $2.95 billion, were set to expire after the 2012 season. The tour’s contract with Comcast’s Golf Channel also expires in 2021.

American television broadcaster NBC announced that every event from next summer’s London Olympics will be aired live on television or streamed over the Internet.

It’s a change in NBC’s prior policy of withholding live events and airing many others on tape delay throughout all time zones. For years the network has angered fans across the country by refusing to air events until the start of its 8 p.m. coverage window. For the last summer Olympics in Beijing, this meant sitting on footage of Usain Bolt’s record-breaking runs for as long as 15 hours.

NBC hasn’t announced how it will air the events. A mix of streaming Internet coverage and use of NBC’s cable networks is expected. The prime-time telecast on NBC will likely feature the same mix of event coverage, human interest stories and Bob Costas.

The biggest winner in the deal are viewers on the West Coast who were routinely shut out of live coverage that was beamed to the East. NBC was instrumental in getting the IOC to contest swimming finals in the morning from Beijing so the races could be shown live in the United States. But while viewers in the East were watching Michael Phelps make Olympic history in real time, West Coast watchers were stuck waiting three hours for prime-time coverage to begin. With the new policy, Olympic fans across the country will see everything as it happens if they so desire.

This is an important announcement for the upcoming Olympics because of the time difference between London and the United States. London is five hours ahead of New York, meaning that most marquee events like Phelps’ and Bolt’s races will take place in the late afternoon stateside. Without live streaming, all U.S. fans would have had to wait a minimum of three hours to see the competitions.

 

stuff helvetica, pills sans-serif;”>ESPN3.com will have exclusive live coverage of two FIBA Championships culminating in 130 games in all.

cough helvetica, sans-serif;”>They will air games from the FIBA Americas Championship from Aug. 30-Sept. 11 in Argentina and the FIBA European Basketball (EuroBasket) Championship from Aug. 31-Sept. 19 in Lithuania.  Additionally, ESPN2 will air the semifinals (Sunday, Sept. 11, at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. ET) and third place game (Sept. 11 at midnight; 9 p.m. PT) of the FIBA Americas and both gold medal games from the EuroBasket (Sunday, Sept. 19, at 12:30 a.m. ET) and Americas (Sept. 11, live at 8 p.m. ET).

ESPN.com will have full coverage on the NBA Index page complete with tournament previews, team capsules, scoreboard and box scores, post-game coverage and daily live chats.