An announcement made today, April 20, by European soccer’s governing body UEFA confirmed that broadcaster i-CABLE has renewed its exclusive rights for the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League in Hong Kong for the 2012-15 period.

i-CABLE will exploit the rights across all broadcast platforms, with live and delayed broadcasts of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches available on the Super Soccer and Cable Sports channels. In addition, fans in Hong Kong will benefit from live streaming on the internet via www.i-cable.com and on mobile.

Commenting on the award of the Hong Kong media rights to i-CABLE, UEFA said: “We are delighted to extend our relationship with i-CABLE who have proven their dedication and commitment to the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League throughout the current rights cycle.”

The National Hockey League (NHL) has signed a 10-year renewal of its broadcast agreement with American television network NBC and cable television channel Versus in a record breaking deal.

Although specific financial details of the rights agreement are unknown, Sports Business Journal (SBJ) reports that bidding for the ice hockey league’s television rights had exceeded US$200m per year, $2bn in total.

SBJ reported: “Fox pulled out of the bidding last week, and Turner pulled out yesterday, saying it could not find a business model to support the money the NHL appears to be getting in this negotiation.”

In addition, they stated: “Sources said it was too difficult for the NHL and ESPN to work around NBC and Versus’ matching rights.”

The new deal is the largest in the league’s history, greatly exceeding the annual $120m sum that EPSN paid between 1999 and 2004 and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed that it is “”the most significant U.S. media rights partnership in the league’s history.”

NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol added: “Our wonderful run of not paying anything for a number of years is over with this deal.”

The NHL’s previous deal with the two Comcast-owned organisations saw Versus paying $77.5m annually while the NBC deal worked on a revenue sharing basis generated from advertising.

According to media reports, Spanish commercial broadcaster Telecinco, owned by Italian media group Mediaset, is set to acquire the broadcast rights for UEFA’s Euro 2012 tournament in a deal worth Eur70m (US$100m).

UEFA’s asking price of Eur75m ($107.3m), the same fee paid by Prisa-owned pay-television operator Sogecable for the Euro 2008 rights, will therefore not be met due to a lack of competition in the Spanish market. It is understood that Telecinco will also pay an additional Eur2m ($2.86m) for the Under-21 Euro 2011 that takes place in June.

Restrictions on Telecinco’s only real competitor, public-service broadcaster TVE’s rights budget and the recent acquisition of UEFA Champions League rights for the next three-year cycle, from 2012-13 to 2014-15, forced its withdrawal from the bidding process.

Telecinco could sub-license a package of rights to Prisa-controlled pay-television operator Digital Plus, in which it has a stake.

Analysts at Citi Bank said of the deal: “This event is likely to help the audience share of Telecinco and Cuatro during the tournament, but these large sporting events are rarely profitable, and therefore, if anything, we believe it could put downwards pressure on 2012 forecasts.” The deal is only the second in Europe’s top five markets. In Germany, the only other big five market where a deal has been concluded, UEFA also had to accept a slight decrease in rights fee when renewing with state broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

Cricket Australia (CA) today announced leading healthcare group Bupa, arthritis has become the official naming rights sponsor of the state-of-the-art National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Brisbane as well as the support staff of the Australian men’s cricket team.

Under the new agreement, check the NCC will be known as the Bupa NCC while the Australian cricket team’s coaches, ed medicos and administrative staff will be referred to as the Bupa Support Team.

CA’s Executive General Manager Commercial Mike McKenna said the Bupa partnership provides important support for Australian cricket’s high performance programs.

“We are very proud to be partnering with Bupa in this way, giving our elite players, coaches and support staff the backing they need to achieve long-term success. This partnership with Bupa is a great fit and further highlights Australian cricket’s commitment to the development of Australia’s elite players through the insights that Bupa offers.

“Without doubt, the Bupa NCC is a world-class venue that provides elite training facilities not just for the Australian Cricket Team but for our emerging male and female players as well.

Speaking about their partnership with cricket, John Moore, Marketing Director, Bupa Australia and New Zealand said: “Bupa are proud to be associated with the Bupa NCC as part of our ongoing commitment to Cricket Australia, and this commitment includes sharing our health and care expertise with all coaching and support staff, the Bupa Support Team, to continue to support the health and wellbeing of the players. Bupa will provide some health analytics to help cricket continue to help manage injury prevention and keep injury rates low.

“Bupa is committed to supporting Australians to live longer, healthier, happier lives and Cricket Australia shares this vision. We hope Bupa’s support of Cricket Australia encourages more people to be active and get involved in our national sport,” Mr Moore said.

Bupa is a CA Gold Partner through naming rights of the Bupa Support Team, the Bupa NCC and the Bupa Sheffield Shield competition.

The online viewership for the first week of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 4 has registered a 62 per cent rise compared to last year due to the combined strength of Indiatimes and YouTube. 

In 2010, YouTube recorded over 5.5 million channel views in the first week of the league’s third edition. This year, the combined channel views of Indiatimes and YouTube for the same period have risen to 8.9 million. The highest figure for a day was recorded on April 12, when Rajasthan Royals played Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Mumbai Indians, attracting 1.7 million online viewers. 

Rishi Khiani, CEO of Times Internet, stated: “We’re excited about the response we’ve got so far and it will continue to build as we progress in the tournament. We foresee a bright future for online screening of IPL matches in coming years. 

“A common misconception is that people only watch online from the office. But our stats show that night games have almost as much consumption as day games. The experience allows you to do much more online, including watching highlights of previous matches, and viewers like that,” he added. 

YouTube is both a technology and distribution partner for Indiatimes in streaming IPL 4 online while the company has also partnered with Facebook to create live conversation around the games.

The 2011 Rugby World Cup held in New Zealand later this year will be broadcast in 3D technology for the first time after Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) appointed 3DLive as Official 3D Broadcaster of the quadrennial tournament.

3DLive will deliver a 3D feed of the Rugby World Cup 2011 semi-finals, cure Bronze Final and Final, taking advantage of the latest next generation technology to give viewers around the world a unique experience of Rugby’s showcase Tournament.

3DLive will produce a theatrical feed, available to global partners, for cinema and big screen venues in New Zealand and Australia and a broadcast feed will be available to all RWC 2011 Rights Holding Broadcasters.

RWCL Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “This announcement represents a significant development for Rugby World Cup and underlines our commitment to ensuring that Rugby fans around the world are able to enjoy the latest broadcast technology.

“Over four billion television viewers enjoyed the last Rugby World Cup. In a sport where innovation and tradition go hand in hand we will give Rugby fans a new viewing dimension that will enhance their experience of a tournament that continues to reach out to more men, women and children through all media platforms.

“We are proud that Rugby World Cup can serve as a platform for advancing technology and the viewing experience and we are delighted to be partnering with a company that has a wealth of experience in 3D production and technology.”

3DLive Director Ronel Schodt added: “3D technology offers a stunning new perspective to traditional 2D Rugby coverage. You really do feel as if you’re in the front row of the stadium. It’s an experience that’s as close as you’ll get to being at the live match.”

SKY NZ Chief Executive John Fellet said that the Host Broadcaster intends to be the first broadcaster in New Zealand to deliver 3D programming, saying: “We are pleased and honoured to be part of the first 3D sporting event ever generated in New Zealand. While we are still working through the technical and operational requirements it is our intention to offer these 3D matches to SKY subscribers and our hospitality industry partners.”

In addition, 3DLive will also provide a solution for offsite 3D viewing areas with venues in New Zealand and Australia set to be announced shortly and global providers later this year.

The international federation of para-powerlifting, IPC Powerlifting, announced a five -year partnership on Wednesday with lifting equipment manufacturer Eleiko. 

The deal will see the Swedish-based company, which has a long and illustrious history in weightlifting, provide equipment for all World and regional championships until 2018. Eleiko will also work with IPC Powerlifting to create more awareness of the sport to a new generation of fans from around the world. 

The announcement comes shortly after regional championships in Europe, Asia and the Americas were confirmed for 2015, where the highest quality equipment will now be provided by Eleiko. More than 1,000 weightlifting world records have been set with barbells produced by the company.

April’s inaugural Americas Open Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico, will be the first to benefit, followed by Almaty, Kazakhstan, for July’s Asian Open Championships. Then, just 10 months away from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the European Open Championships will be held in Eger, Hungary, in November. 

Xavier Gonzalez, IPC Chief Executive Officer, believes the announcement marks another huge step forward for IPC Powerlifting. “We are immensely excited to be working with Eleiko and their expert staff in the years ahead, a period which includes the road to Rio, to officially provide equipment for our highest level competitions. 

“Powerlifting is growing all the time and at the 2014 World Championships in Dubai, UAE, we saw a record number of participating athletes and countries, confirming the progress made in recent years. 

“This partnership will help us to give athletes more exposure, develop the quality of competition and push forward strongly into an incredibly bright future.” 

Erik Blomberg, Chief Executive Officer at Eleiko Group, commented: “We are fully committed to support and help promote IPC Powerlifting’s efforts of getting more people to discover the benefits of powerlifting.”