Staff

Rakuten TV announced today the upcoming premiere of Break Point: A Davis Cup Story, the documentary about the oldest and largest international tennis team competition. 

The documentary, a Kosmos Studios production, reviews the last edition of the tournament, held in Madrid in 2019, in which Spain was proclaimed champion for the sixth time and which presented a completely remodeled format, with a final phase with 18 teams and held in just one week.

Break Point: A Davis Cup Story focuses on the stories of the two finalist teams of the competition: Spain and Canada. 

The Spanish seniority, with Nadal as number 1 and four Davis Cup titles in his record, against the youth of the Canadian team, led by the 20-year-old Denis Shapovalov, who had the opportunity to win the first Davis Cup for his country.

For both teams, the 2019 Davis Cup was full of emotions, with the losses of some of their main players due to injury or even withdrawn during the competition. 

The documentary also tells, in an emotional way, Roberto Bautista’s personal story, who after temporarily leaving the competition due to the death of his father, returned to support his team, played the final and brought the victory for Spain.

Break Point: A Davis Cup Story will be available for free and exclusively on Rakuten TV from 26^th November.

Sports streaming service DAZN is expanding to 200 new countries and territories from December 1^st and has confirmed a special launch offer of £1.99 per month or less in all new markets.

Its launch month sees two weekends of back-to-back boxing action. 

On December 5^th Ryan Garcia takes on 2012 Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell, while a week later Anthony Joshua will defend his titles against mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. 

Subscribers can also watch an archive of classic fights, athlete features and a slate of original programming. 

DAZN says its app will be available globally on smartphones, tablets, laptops, PCs, smart TVs, streaming sticks and game consoles.

“From the UK to Mexico to Australia, we’ve seen an encouraging level of interest in our key events since first launching in 2016,” said DAZN EVP Joseph Markowski. 

“We’re looking forward to introducing the DAZN platform around the world this December with an exciting schedule of fights.”

Eleven Sports Belgium has extended its partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA), ensuring continued coverage across its linear and digital platforms. 

Subscribers will get four live games each week during the regular season, as well regular action from the Playoffs and full coverage of the NBA Finals. 

All games played at European primetime slots will be available. Eleven will also carry the NBA All-Star game each season and regular highlight shows.

Guillaume Collard, Managing Director of Eleven Sports Belgium & Luxembourg and Head of Acquisitions for Eleven Group, said: “We know how committed Belgian basketball fans are to our NBA package and we want to continue to offer them the best possible coverage of their favourite teams across all of our platforms. 

“We’re delighted to be continuing our collaboration with the NBA in the seasons ahead.” 

 Elsa Memmi, NBA EME Vice President, Global Media Distribution, added: “We are very pleased to extend our collaboration with Eleven Sports. 

“NBA fans in Belgium will continue to enjoy localized NBA programming tipping off tomorrow with what promises to be a thrilling matchup between the Lakers versus Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals.”

ELEVEN subscribers in Portugal will continue to enjoy all the best LIVE action from Spain’s top tier – from all the El Clasicos to following the progress of Portuguese stars João Félix, Francisco Trincão, Nelson Semedo, William Carvalho, Hernani, Ruben Vezo, Rui Silva, Domingos Duarte and others.

ELEVEN has also secured exclusive rights to LaLiga SmartBank and will broadcast over 100 games a season from the Spanish second league.

Fans will be able to enjoy comprehensive coverage of Spanish football across ELEVEN’s OTT and linear channels.

Melcior Soler, Director of Audiovisual, LaLiga, said: “ELEVEN SPORTS is a strategic partner for LaLiga in Europe and the renewal of our agreement with them in Portugal is a true reflection of this. We have three seasons ahead of us to continue growing together in Portugal and to offer the best live football to Portuguese fans.”

Jorge Pavão de Sousa, Managing Director of ELEVEN SPORTS Portugal, added: “Over the past two seasons we have worked closely with LaLiga to develop a fantastic value proposition for Spanish football fans, and we want to continue to build on that now and deliver for fans in the years ahead.

“LaLiga is one of the most exciting competitions in the world and is a natural fit for our portfolio of premium rights here in Portugal, which also includes the UEFA Champions League and F1. We are committed to growing our offering in Portugal and this new partnership with LaLiga is an important step in that journey.”

Formula 1 has extended its deal with AMC Networks International – Central and Northern Europe (AMCNI CNE) meaning the broadcaster will continue to exclusively show the full FIA Formula 1 World Championship until 2023 in Czech Republic and Slovakia. The extended three-year agreement will see Sport1 and Sport2 show the drama unfold across each race weekend, including free practice, qualification, and race day action.

The TV rights package also includes F1’s support championships, Formula 2 and Formula 3, offering fans almost 14 hours of live broadcasting across a race weekend. 

Michaella Snoeck, Head of Media Rights Formula 1 said: “We’re delighted to extend our partnership with AMCNI CNE as they continue to provide top quality broadcasting to F1 fans in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where the sport’s popularity continue to rise.

“This extended partnership means F1 fans in the region won’t miss a moment of action across a race weekend for the next three seasons, as the sport enters an exciting new era.”

Levente Málnay, EVP of AMC Networks International – Central and Northern Europe said: ”We’ve distinguished ourselves by consistently offering compelling, premium quality sports content in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

“The renewed partnership will build on the strong relationship Formula 1 and AMCNI CNE’s sports channels have established in recent years. By securing this crown jewel of sports rights for the upcoming years, we’re proud to remain a reference point for all speed motorsports enthusiasts in these territories.”