Staff

ELEVEN will continue to bring Serie A live and exclusively to fans in Belgium until 2023/24, following the signing of a new three-year deal with Infront, Serie A’s exclusive international media rights partner. 

The outlet has been the home of Serie A since the platform’s launch in 2015 – bringing audiences comprehensive coverage of Italy’s top league across its linear and digital channels. 

Guillaume Collard, ELEVEN Belgium & Luxembourg Managing Director and ELEVEN Group Chief Rights Acquisitions Officer, said: “The ELEVEN Group has a long history of collaboration with Serie A and this deal further strengthens our partnership. 

“Serie A is one of the strongest competitions in Europe and the fact there is an important Belgian dimension to the league makes it even more attractive to our audience. 

“We’re delighted to continue to be bringing the best of Italian football to fans for another three seasons.”

Sports streamer DAZN has struck a deal to broadcast the Women’s International Champions Cup (WICC) live in over 120 countries and territories worldwide.

All four matches:

• Wed., Aug. 18, 8:30 p.m. ET: Olympique Lyonnais vs. FC Barcelona 
• Wed., Aug. 18, 11:00 p.m. ET: Portland Thorns FC vs. Houston Dash 
• Sat., Aug. 21, 7:30 p.m. ET: 3^rd Place Match – American Team vs. European Team 
• Sat., Aug. 21, 10:00 p.m. ET: 1^st Place Match – American Team vs. European Team

will be available on the DAZN ap plus via its YouTube channel dedicated to women’s football. 

The WICC will be available live and on demand with English language commentary as well as French and Spanish commentary for those respective matchups. 

“We are thrilled to have secured the rights to the Women’s International Champions Cup, which features two of the best teams from the National Women’s Soccer League going up against two fierce rivals from the UEFA Women’s Champions League,” said James Rushton, Co-CEO, DAZN Group. 

Serie A will be shown exclusively on BT Sport in the UK and Ireland after the broadcaster struck a three-season deal with the league’s international media rights partner, Infront

Coverage starts on August 21 and BT says it’ll show “every single match,” with at least five in each round shown live. 

Rachel Knight, Sports Rights Director, BT Sport said: “We want to provide our customers with the best sport from across the world and the addition of Serie A means viewers will get to follow some of the biggest stars, managers and clubs in world football.

“European football has always been an important part of our line up, with Serie A now joining our exclusive coverage of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, alongside France’s Ligue 1.”

The Bundesliga will be shown exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland for the next four seasons.

Sky Sports Managing Director Jonathan Licht said: “We’re delighted to have acquired the rights to the Bundesliga. Sky Sports customers will have the opportunity to watch some of the best players in the world as well as some of the leading teams in Europe.

“This new four-year agreement adds to our football offering in the UK & Ireland which already includes Premier League, EFL, Scottish Premiership and FA Women’s Super League as well as international action in the form of World Cup Qualifiers, placing Sky Sports as the home of live football. 

Bundesliga International CEO Robert Klein added: “This is a partnership that will deliver the best of the Bundesliga week-in, week-out, through world class production and multi-platform coverage. 

“With Sky as our partner, Bundesliga fans will benefit from a first class football viewing experience. 

Sky Q customers can now watch sport live in Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (HDR) for the first time thanks to the arrival of Eurosport’s dedicated 4K channel.

The channel will bring sports fans extensive coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games on its channels. Customers can find all the action by saying “Olympics” into their Sky Q voice remote.  

Sky will also be bringing HDR to more than 100 live Premier League matches starting with the first fixture on Friday 13 August, when Brentford host Arsenal. 

Fraser Stirling, Group Chief Product Officer, Sky, said: “Bringing HDR to live sport for the first time means you can feel closer to all the action of the Olympics and Premier League games, with the ultimate picture quality that creates the best at-home viewing experience. For sports fans, it’s the next best thing to being in the stadium.”

The Giants, a new documentary telling the story of four Hawaiian sumo-wrestlers who travelled to Japan as outsiders and became icons of the country’s national sport, is now streaming for free on Rakuten TV.

Producers NEO Studios filmed in Hawaii and Japan, delving deep into one of the world’s oldest and least understood sports through a combination of in-depth interviews, behind the scenes filming and access to previously unseen archive footage.

The three-part series is available to stream for free exclusively on Rakuten TV in 43 European markets.

Teresa López, EU Content Director at Rakuten TV, said: ​“The Giants is a valuable new addition to our catalogue. 

“It takes us behind the scenes of an ancient but little understood sport and gives us an insight into the lives of four sumo legends; their successes, struggles and daily sacrifices. 

“This is the kind of empowering story that defines our Rakuten Stories channel.”

Anouk Mertens, NEO Studios MD & The Giants’ Executive Producer, said: “In close partnership with Rakuten TV and our US team we have been working to do justice to the amazing story of The Giants. 

“We think the result is a special one and we’re excited to share it with Rakuten’s audience.”