The new chairman of the BBC Lord Patten has revealed that he is prepared to axe sports events and a digital television channel in order to save the broadcasters World Service from cuts.

Lord Patten said the corporation will “not be the same” after it introduces changes later this year as part of a cost-saving initiative to cut 20 per cent from its budget.

The former Tory minister confirmed that it may not bid for expensive broadcasting rights to some major sports events, adding that niche digital television channels BBC 3 or BBC 4 could be axed and one of the main sporting events lost.

Setting out his agenda for the corporation for the first time, Lord Patten said he is determined to ensure the 16 per cent cut in real terms following last year’s licence fee settlement must not impinge on its core services, particularly the World Service.

Patten stated: “I hope that with the Foreign Secretary we can successfully mitigate the effects of some of the decisions which were taken.

“I’ll be talking to him reasonably soon. I know he regards the World Service as an important part of this country’s soft power and I’m sure that with goodwill and without megaphones we’ll be able to sort it out.”

Lord Patten of Barnes added: “I think we’re bound to face some tough decisions in the area of sport. It’s extremely difficult for the BBC to bid for as many sports rights as it would like.”

European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, has reached an exclusive agreement with Italian state owned public service broadcaster RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana for the nation’s broadcast rights to the 2012 UEFA European Championships in Poland/Ukraine.

Under terms of the new agreement RAI will offer free-to-air coverage of all 31 matches of the European soccer tournament across its two channels RAI Uno and RAI Due, supplementing this coverage with dedicated magazine and highlights programmes and comprehensive internet and mobile services on a live and on-demand basis.

As a further part of the deal, RAI has acquired the media rights for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Media reports suggest that the deal followed the trend set in Spain and Germany, for example, Mediaset will pay around US$98m for the Euro 2016 rights package, short of the $105m UEFA requirement. Rai is thought to be paying slightly below its previous deal with UEFA, with the deal believed to be worth between $145m and $160m.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, UEFA Events SA marketing director, said: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with RAI, our long-standing broadcast partner in Italy for the UEFA European Football Championship. RAI has an exceptional track record of broadcasting major international sporting events and is the perfect home for UEFA Euro 2012. Football fans in Italy will be offered an excellent broadcast platform and a fantastic viewing experience.”

Meanwhile, The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has been awarded radio rights to the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and UEFA EURO 2012 after reaching an agreement with UEFA.

The deal covers UEFA EURO 2012 host countries Poland and Ukraine as well as this summer’s U21 Championship host nation Denmark, with other territories included in the agreement being the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Israel, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and, for the U21 tournament only, the United Kingdom.

UEFA said: “Following a very successful experience with the EBU during UEFA EURO 2008, we are extremely pleased to be in a position to extend our partnership for UEFA EURO 2012 and the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. We are looking forward to working together with the EBU and its experienced radio broadcasters to offer football fans across Europe extensive radio coverage of both competitions.”

Sportscraft will be the official supplier of the Australian Olympic team’s formal uniforms and Opening Ceremony uniforms for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The iconic Australian brand will design the Aussie’s wardrobe for the seventh Olympic Games, having previously done the job in Sochi 2014, London 2012, Vancouver 2010, Beijing 2008, Torino 2006 and Atlanta 1996.

“We very much appreciate Sportscraft’s partnership with the Team once again and it is exciting to know this iconic brand with such a strong Australian heritage is dressing our Team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games,” Kitty Chiller, Chef de Mission, 2016 Australian Olympic Team said

“The Opening Ceremony uniform designed by Sportscraft for London 2012 had a very positive impact among our athletes and I know the Team will be enormously proud to wear the uniforms they design for Rio.”

Adrian Jones, CEO APG & Co. said, “It’s with enormous pride and great honour that in Sportscraft’s centenary year, we announce that we will once again partner as the Official Supplier of Opening Ceremony and Formal Uniforms to the 2016 Australian Olympic Team. What can be more Australian than collaborating and drawing on our heritage to design and outfit the Australian Olympic Team?”

ESPN Brazil has agreed a contract with Infront Sports & Media to obtain coverage of the FIM Superbike World Championship.

The non-exclusive broadcast agreement will see ESPN Brazil broadcasting coverage of the Misano round in Italy and will run for the next two seasons. The deal follows a recent tie-up with ESPN STAR Sports to broadcast the series across Asia, and last year’s agreement with Eurosport.

Under Infront’s tenure, the number of broadcast partners working with the series has grown by 40 per cent. In 2010, the series was shown in 173 countries, reaching a cumulative audience of 498 million viewers, a 33 per cent increase on the previous year.

Sandown Park Racecourse today announced that bookmaker bet365 has extended its sponsorship of the two day bet365 Meeting for a further three years. 

Taking place at the end of April each year, herbal the two day festival features the Grade 1 bet365 Celebration Chase and Grade 3 bet365 Gold Cup Steeple Chase.  2014 saw the first year of a new format, generic bet365 Flat Friday and bet365 Jump Finale on the Saturday, which was hugely successful and will be continued.   

Rupert Trevelyan, London Regional Director, The Jockey Club, said: “We are delighted to announce that we will be working with bet365 for a further three years on a fantastic meeting that both launches Sandown Park’s Flat season, and celebrates the official end of the Jump season.

“bet365 has shown a real commitment to this meeting for many years – first sponsoring it in 2008. This new agreement will take their involvement to ten years by the running of the 2017 meeting, and Sandown Park is immensely grateful for their support.”

Steve Ibberson of bet365, said: “It has been a real pleasure working with Sandown Park, helping to evolve the bet365 Meeting into one of racing’s signature events. 

“The time and effort from all those involved in driving the improvements have been considerable and it now stands as a true celebration of racing marking the official end of the Jump season.”  

“We look forward to working with Sandown Park for a further three years and propelling the bet365 Meeting to even greater heights.”

European soccer’s governing body UEFA confirmed that it has secured agreements with broadcast partners who will deliver extensive coverage of the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship which began in Denmark on Saturday, June 11, in over 130 territories globally.

The body confirmed that the 8 participating countries were all excellently represented through the following deals; Belarus TV in Belarus, Czech TV in Czech Republic, TV2 in Denmark, RUV in Iceland, Cuatro in Spain, SSR SRG in Switzerland, Sky Sports in the UK, ICTV and TRK Football channel in Ukraine.

In addition further distribution has been secured in other European territories including Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

Extensive coverage will also be delivered outside Europe through media rights agreements with major players in North Africa and the Middle East, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the USA, Canada, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia to name but a few, reflecting the global appeal and profile the UEFA European Under-21 Championship derives.

The final tournament began on Saturday, June 11, when host nation Denmark lost the opening game to Switzerland 0-1. Last night, June 12, competition favourites Spain threw away a 1-0 lead to draw with the hotly tipped England side who equalised in the 88th minute.

Titanbet.co.uk has signed former Liverpool and England star John Barnes as a brand ambassador for their new UK-facing sportsbook.

Barnes, no rx 50, vialis 40mg earned 79 caps for the national team during a glittering career which saw him win both the First Division and FA Cup on two occasions while at Anfield.

As well as online content that will include written and video blogs, arthritis Barnes will be involved in other media work forTitanbet.co.uk to increase awareness and credibility of the brand.

Spokesman, Russell Yershon, said they were delighted to have signed the former winger who was included in the top ten of a poll of 100 players who shook the Kop.

He added: “I’m confident John will have great resonance among football punters who remember his mazy runs in one of English football’s most successful teams.

“More importantly, he will give us a platform to position ourselves in the UK market alongside the more established players.”

John Barnes commented: “It’s a privilege to sign with Titanbet.co.uk in an ambassadorial role and I am very much looking forward to working with the brand to grow its presence in the UK market.”

Eurosport has announced record audience ratings for the 2011 Tennis French Open with strong increases posted across Europe.

The revelations included the broadcasters best ever audience reach with 56 million different viewers during the two week period of competition on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 combined. The best ever LIVE average audience on Eurosport with 1,062,000 viewers during the whole tournament, an increase of +18% vs 2010.

Eurosport also recorded the best ever LIVE average audience for a men’s Final on Eurosport with 2,653,000 viewers for the Nadal – Federer match (+ 40% vs 2010).

Eurosport’s exhaustive coverage of the tournament from 23 May – 5 June on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, featured 305 hours of broadcast including 191 hours of Live action which attracted these record breaking audiences.

Excellent performances were also recorded for Eurosport’s exclusive on site magazine which reached 19 million different viewers throughout the tournament on Eurosport and Eurosport 2.