The television rights to the second tier of domestic rugby union in France, generic Rugby Pro D2, store have been sold for a collective US$1.6m.

European sport network Eurosport and pay-TV channel Canal+ have both acquired television packages for the 2011/12 season in new agreements, troche while public television channel France 3 already holds broadcast rights to the competition.

Both deals will last four years and will include one of two semi-finals and the final.

The new agreements are on hugely improved terms for the league whose previous four-year rights package from 2007 to 2011 saw the Pro D2 receive just $160,000.

Having become the first ever agency to acquire the rights to the Olympic Games from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), ed  Sportfive has announced that it has sub-licensed the media rights to Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 for Sweden to MTG.

The deal is the second agreement reached by the agency for the two editions of the Games post London 2012 after agreeing a similar package in fellow Scandinavian nation Norway with TV2.

The deal comprises the media rights to all events at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and 2016 Olympic Games across a range of broadcast media, including free-to-air TV, pay TV, the internet, mobile and radio.

Under the terms of the deal, MTG must ensure a vast number of hours of coverage on free-to-air TV, including events of national interest, enabling fans in Sweden to continue to enjoy access to the Olympic Games on a free basis.

MTG, a leading broadcaster in Sweden and one of the most important media companies in Scandinavia and Europe, operates several TV channels – both free and pay – and a selection of other media services. The broadcaster has a strong track record of broadcasting premium sports events and has committed to providing vast coverage of the Olympic Games across a wide range of media platforms.

Hans-Holger Albrecht, President and CEO of MTG, commented: “It is a major milestone for us as a Group to secure the rights to broadcast coverage of the original and most popular sports event in the world. MTG is the leading sports content distributor in Sweden and we produce, broadcast and provide commentary on over 5,000 sports transmissions each year. This acquisition reflects our strategic focus on securing premium sports content and making it available to viewers across all of our channels and platforms.”

Commenting on the agreement, Vincent Tong Cuong, CEO of SPORTFIVE International, said: “We are delighted to broker this deal in Sweden, and are confident that MTG will provide excellent and extensive coverage for fans throughout Sweden. SPORTFIVE is relishing the privilege of having acquired such prestigious media rights from the International Olympic Committee. We can confirm that the sales process is progressing smoothly and anticipate encouraging and prosperous results.”

Score Media has snapped up the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the Copa America, viagra 40mg kicking off in Argentina on July 1, as the official English language media partner in the nation.

Score will broadcast 15 games live including every match from the quarter-finals, semi-finals and championship rounds.In addition to live television coverage, theScore will also stream every game covered by the deal live on theScore.com.

Greg Sansone, vice-president of television at Score Media, stated: “We’re thrilled to be showcasing a quality soccer tournament like the Copa America on theScore and we’re especially excited about having (presenters) James Sharman and Kristian Jack calling all the action.”

Italian soccer’s elite Serie A league will stage an emergency meeting this evening, June 14, to discuss the backing given by the Italian government for the position of the country’s top five clubs in the long-running dispute over how to split television revenues earned last season.

The dispute revolves around how to share the Eur200 million related to the size of a club’s supporter base, with the league’s ‘big 5’ of Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli and AS Roma insisting that, according to the 2008 ‘Melandri law’ which re-imposed collective selling of media rights, only one club preference per supporter should be taken into consideration.

The smaller clubs argued for a wider interpretation which allows for the fact that fans often support two or more clubs but were unsuccessful after the government’s legislative office said that the position of the big clubs was the correct interpretation of the law.

Udinese pointed out that the view is not legally binding, while Lazio owner Claudio Lotito suggested that the matter should be taken to the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court.

In other news, the nation’s second tier of soccer, Lega Serie B, said that it had received no offers for its live digital-terrestrial rights for next season by Friday’s deadline.

The Welsh Rugby Union has signed a new four year deal with specialist equipment supplier Rhino Rugby.

Rhino Rugby – who have been official suppliers of Scrummage and Training Equipment to the WRU since 2005 – have committed to continue to support Welsh rugby until 2018.

At international level Rhino Rugby and the Wales national coaches are in close consultation about the equipment needs of the international players, with normal items like scrum machines, jackal and tackle bags on the agenda alongside some new designs.

Rhino equipment has also been on offer at significantly reduced rates to each of the WRU’s member clubs via the governing body’s Participation Points scheme – thousands of items have already been ordered by clubs from pitch equipment to tackle bags and training gear, including 272 chrome whistle, 773 corner poles and 689 ‘hit shields’.

“Rhino rugby are the collision kings, nobody else can do what they do as well as they can do it,” said WRU chief executive Roger Lewis.

“The most important thing about Welsh rugby’s relationship with Rhino is that the players and the national coaches are happy with the specialist equipment they supply.

“If we have the right supplier at a national level, when we filter down the equipment and expertise to our age group sides and directly to grass roots rugby, we know we are reaching the right standards to enable our teams and rugby clubs to flourish in their training environments.”

Rhino Rugby has been a supplier to the Welsh Rugby Union for over nine years and both organisations are keen to see their relationship continue grow over the next four.

“We are working closely with the Wales national squad to make sure we meet all there training requirements with the kit we provide,” says Anthony Locke, Managing Director Rhino Rugby Ltd:

“Training techniques are constantly changing along with the way the game is played and we remain and innovative dynamic company at the cutting edge of design in terms of the equipment we are able to supply to national teams.

“But we also produce a staple diet of equipment which can enhance training and the matchdays at all levels of the game and we are extremely pleased to be able to announce a continued relationship with Welsh rugby will ensure that every need is catered for from grass roots to international level.”

Belgium soccer’s elite Jupiler League has divided the broadcast rights to the live games between cable and IPTV, with contracts going to Belgacom TV, who previously owned the sole rights, Telenet and VOO.

On Friday, June 10, Telenet and VOO managed to acquire a number of exclusive pay television rights to broadcast the competition during the next three seasons. This allows Telenet to present the top three matches live and complete per match day on its Prime Sport channel, while VOO will broadcast it via the premium sports channel of its BeTV bouquet.

Telenet claimed that it is very pleased that, after six years, it is once more able to offer its customers the best and most important matches in Belgian soccer.

The total paid for the matches is around US$238.7m for the next three seasons, $14.38m more than the current amount Belgacom TV is paying per season.

In a statement, Belgacom regretted the fact that the Jupiler League is now split up between two operators and, as a result, customers wishing to see all matches will now need to buy subscriptions to two different operators and have two set-top boxes on their TV.

Duco Sickinghe, CEO of Telenet, said in a statement: “Our customers have repeatedly told us directly that they would appreciate it very much if Telenet too would broadcast the Belgian football competition. For that reason we did our utmost to satisfy their demands, and financially we made an effort not only to acquire a number of Belgian football rights, but will also offer top-class international football as well on Prime Sport.”