Sky TV’s coverage of England cricket’s tour of India faces complications because of a late demand from the Indian cricket board for fees reportedly exceeding US$800,000 for the broadcaster’s commentary team to work in the stadiums.

Sky’s broadcast team includes former England Test captains Ian Botham, Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton.

Sky is reportedly reluctant to pay the fee and may have to accept local commentary or deploy its own team from a studio outside India.

Sky may be denied its usual pitch-side discussions and player interviews at the venues. But there are no problems with Sky’s access to a live feed of pictures from the Tests, which it is the UK rights holder of. The Tests begin November 15.{jcomments on}

The Forbes Magazine has announced that the Dallas Cowboys have become the first American sports franchise worth more than $2 billion.

The Cowboys, who begin their season tonight against the Super Bowl champions New York Giants have remained NFL’s most valuable team for the sixth consecutive year with their overall worth increasing to 14 per cent to $2.1 billion.That’s about $1 billion higher than the average NFL team value, $1.11 billion, up 7 per cent.

Only Manchester United of the English Premier League, at $2.24 billion, is more valuable than the Cowboys, according to Forbes’ surveys. And Man U’s owners, the Glazer family, also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are $1.033 billion, 18th in the NFL.

New TV contracts, the collective bargaining agreement signed last year that will last a decade, and higher premium seating revenue contributed to the increases. Every franchise except the Cincinnati Bengals increased in value; the Bengals stayed the same at $871 million, which ranks 26th overall.

With new stadiums in the works for the Vikings and 49ers, their values skyrocketed. Minnesota had a 22 per cent increase to $975 million, while San Francisco moved up 19 per cent to $1.175 billion.

Jimmy Haslam III bought the Cleveland Browns this summer for $1 billion, $13 million more than the value Forbes placed on the team, which ranks 21st.

Shahid Khan purchased the Jacksonville Jaguars for $770 million in January. Forbes values them at exactly that — the least valuable franchise in the league, $10 million less than the St. Louis Rams.

Rounding out the top five are New England ($1.635 billion), Washington ($1.6 billion), the New York Giants ($1.468 billion) and Houston ($1.305 billion).

The NCAA’s Memphis Tigers will be moving from Conference USA and instead joining the Big East Conference in all sports in 2013.

An official announcement is expected tomorrow at 1 pm, with a news conference in Memphis to follow.

Memphis will be joining a host of other schools headed for the Big East in the upcoming years, Central Florida, Houston, SMU, Navy, San Diego State, and Boise State. Many believed that even with the addition of the other schools, the addition of Memphis was crucial for the Big East’s survival as a conference due to the losses of West Virginia (Big 12), Pittsburgh and Syracuse (ACC).

With Big East approval guaranteed, Memphis still has yet another hurdle to climb; the Conference USA exit fee. Memphis will be forced to pay the conference’s $500,000 fee plus a share of their television rights revenue, putting their total exit fee at a little over $6.5 million.

Memphis has been trying to move from Conference USA since being snubbed when the Big East expanded in 2005, losing a longtime rivalry with Louisville. A departure now would be pricey for the Tigers. The exit fee from Conference USA for 2013-14 is $500,000 plus Memphis’ share of television rights revenue, which is approximately $6.13 million, according to a league spokeswoman.

by Ismail Uddin

Former Tour de France winner Floyd Landis has been handed a one-year suspended jail sentence for ordering the hacking of a French anti-doping laboratory.

The American, herbal who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title after failing a dope test, medicine was found guilty by a French court of masterminding the hacking into the computer of the lab that found abnormal levels of testosterone in his system.

His former manager Arnie Baker was handed the same sentence. The duo, along with others involved, will have to pay a total of 75,000 euros ($101,891.099) in damages to the Chatenay-Malabry lab.

InfrontRingier Sports & Entertainment Switzerland, the new joint venture between Infront Sports & Media and Ringier, has been named the Official Corporate Hospitality Sales Partner serving Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the 2012 UEFA European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. 

InfrontRingier will be the first point of contact for companies from Switzerland and Liechtenstein that are interested in being live on-site when Europe’s best 16 national soccer teams compete in next year’s tournament.

The Corporate Hospitality packages for the UEFA EURO 2012 comprise prime-location seats for the respective games as well as gourmet cuisine and impeccable services in the stadium.

There are two main categories available: Club Prestige Platinum and Club Prestige Gold, which will include access to a private skybox or business hospitality area, respectively. Customers will be able to choose diverse options including seats, matches and/or stadiums.

Only approximately four percent of available tickets are reserved for corporate hospitality, distributed over the course of the championship over the eight stadiums hosting the games.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the British Fashion Council has unveiled a partnership celebrating the connection between the stars of the sport and the world of fashion.  

A select group of WTA stars will be dressed in customised dresses, created specifically for them by British designers including Stella McCartney, Burberry, Vivienne Westwood, Giles Deacon, Matthew Williamson, Richard Nicoll, Hussein Chalayan, and David Koma.

The aim of the collaboration is to feature British designers, raise the off-court profile of the stars of women’s tennis, and extend the link between the sport and fashion.

Stacey Allaster, chairman and CEO of the WTA, said: “The WTA’s partnership with the British Fashion Council provides our players with a unique opportunity to work with some of London’s most talented creative minds.

“Women’s tennis has always had a link to the fashion of the time, and we are very pleased to be able to collaborate with the British Fashion Council to share our players’ interest in fashion and style with some of the world’s best fashion designers.”

The designer-player partnerships have been established based on the cultural similarities or previous working relationships of players with certain fashion personalities.  

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki will continue her collaboration with Stella McCartney as the face of adidas by the designer, while five-time Wimbledon Champion Serena Williams will wear a special dress created for her by Burberry.