UEFA has announced that Indian sports broadcaster Ten Sports has reclaimed the rights to show the Champions League and Europa League for the next three seasons.

Ten Sports will continue to show at least 55 Champions League matches and 60 Europa League games per season until 2015, allergy having held the rights for the previous two years.

The broadcaster will also deliver a weekly round-up show featuring highlights of every game played in the two competitions. The rights include all broadcast platforms, try not only in India, but in seven other Asian countries – Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

European soccer is attracting rapidly increasing fees in India, and Ten Sports is believed to have agreed to pay US$3.5m a year for the rights package, up from the previous agreement which was valued at US$1.4m per annum.

Atul Pande, chief executive of Ten Sports, said: “We are committed to bringing the best sports action to our viewers, and with this long-term renewal of the UEFAChampions League and UEFA Europa League we have reinforced our leadership further. With the best football line up on Ten Channels, it reaffirms the belief of our viewers and our associates in us. We are committed to bringing the best football action to our viewers and we will continue delivering to our promise.”

Highlights of the British Triathlon Super Series will be broadcast on Channel 4 this year, starting with coverage of the opening series event, the GE Strathclyde Park Triathlon, which is being held at the 2014 Commonwealth Games course on May 22. 

The provisional schedule will see a package broadcast on June 5, with highlights running through until October, presented by experienced sports commentator Rob Walker.

The highlights programmes will follow each race in this year’s Super Series, with the the GE Blenheim Triathlon on June 4, following the opener before the Toshiba Windsor Triathlon on June 12, the GE Canary Wharf Triathlon on June 30 and finally the Virgin Active London Triathlon on July 30.

Zara Hyde Peters, the chief executive of the British Triathlon Federation, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have the support of Channel 4 for another year.

“Over the past few years they have delivered outstanding coverage of triathlon, something that I’m sure has helped raise the profile and fuel the growing popularity of the sport.

“As we look forward to the 2011 British Triathlon Super Series, triathlon fans up and down the country have an exciting opportunity to watch the potential stars of London 2012 and beyond battle it out at some magnificent venues around the UK.”

Sagina Shabaya, deputy editor of off peak programming at Channel 4, added: “Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in this country and Great Britain has some of the best triathletes in the world.

“We are delighted to show the highlights of the British Triathlon Super Series in the UK.”

The shock resignation of long-serving and high-profile chief of NBC’s Olympics programming Dick Ebersol was announced yesterday, May 19, just weeks before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is due to award the US broadcast rights to the 2014 and 2016 Games.

Ebersol has headed NBC Sports for the last 22 years but has confirmed that he is stepping down as chairman after failing to agree a new contract with Comcast, which recently completed its takeover of NBC Universal. The revelations come amidst widespread reports that Ebersol had disagreed on various issues with NBC Universal’s new chief executive, Steve Burke, but the departing chairman claimed that he wanted “to make a really cool deal” with Comcast executives but “just couldn’t get to the same place.”

Ebersol added that his resignation came at this time so it would be clear with both Comcast and the IOC that he would no longer be involved with the Olympics. Current NBC Sports executive Mark Lazarus will succeed Ebersol after only being brought in as president of NBC Sports Cable Group earlier this year.

Ebersol spoke of his decision to step down, stating: “It has been a sincere privilege to tell so many remarkable stories that have inspired me throughout my entire career. Some of my favourite memories come from reading letters and talking to viewers who also have been moved by such powerful stories. I simply want to say thank you to all of those people who have touched me so deeply throughout my career.”

NBC has broadcast every Summer Olympics since Ebersol has been in charge, beginning before his arrival in 1988, as well as every Winter Games from 2002. In 2003, NBC paid US$2bn in direct rights fees and parent company General Electric chipped in an extra $200m to sign on as a global Olympic sponsor.

However, with IOC executive board member Richard Carrion finalising the bidding details with interested networks before the June 6-7 TV rights auction in Lausanne, the timing of Ebersol’s departure could have major implications in negotiations for the most lucrative broadcast deal in Olympic history.

IOC president Jacques Rogge stated his shock at Ebersol’s resignation, but added that he had been told his decision had “absolutely nothing to do” with the upcoming Olympic rights tender. Rogge also said he had been assured that NBC would bid for the US Olympic broadcast rights despite Ebersol’s resignation. Rogge went on to praise Ebersol, adding: “Dick Ebersol is a consummate professional and has been instrumental in changing the way that television brought the Olympic Games to US audiences.”

Before the announcement of Ebersol’s resignation on Thursday, IOC chief rights negotiator Carrion told The Associated Press: “I think we will have two, probably three interested parties that come all the way to Lausanne. I think we expect NBC to be coming. We expect ABC-ESPN to be coming. We expect Fox also to be coming.”

The Klitschko Management Group (KMG) have appointed Sports marketing agency Sportfive to handle the media rights for the upcoming world heavyweight championship unification bout between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye.

As with previous fights, diagnosis TV rights have already been sold in KMG’s home market of Germany, rx plus Austria, generic Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the homeland’s of the two boxers, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Sportfive worked as the marketing agency for both Wladimir and his elder brother, Vitali Klitschko, between 2001 and 2007, holding personal rights to both brothers before KMG took over.

Klitschko is hoping to land his 50th professional victory and unify the world heavyweight championship in his fight with Britain’s David Haye in front of 40,000 fans at the Imtech Arena, in his adopted home of Hamburg. The fight will be screened on free-to-air RTL in Germany and on pay-per-view channel Sky Box Office in the UK.

Sports broadcaster ESPN has announced it will stage six X Games events around the world from 2013 in a move that they claim will transform the franchise into the largest action sports competition on the planet.

Two of the six events will be staged in the United States with the remaining four locations yet to be decided, erectile with ESPN conducting a formal bid process to determine the X Games host cities. In addition to the current US-based events in Los Angeles and Aspen and also Tignes in France, where ESPN is partnered with Canal+, ESPN will add three international events with cities selected in 2012 for a three-year agreement.

Scott Guglielmino, senior vice- president of programming and Global X Games at ESPN, stated: “We are incredibly excited to take the X Games to the next level. While we have produced events under the X Games banner outside the US for many years, these four new X Games events will be of the same size and stature as the Los Angeles and Aspen events.”

The X Games have taken place since 1995, with smaller events having been organised from 1998 including qualifiers and demonstrations in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Philippines and Dubai.

A total of 130 hours of live TV coverage across the six X Games events on ESPN networks in the US and around the world will be supplemented by coverage on digital platforms, including a year-round action sports website. BMX, Skateboard, Moto X and Rally Car Racing are the sports covered in Summer X Games, while for Winter X Games, Skiing, Snowboard and Snowmobile events are staged.