Eurosport "confirmed and announced new media rights deals, including agreements for the Europa League, Serie A and Ligue 1," according to SOCCEREX. In a media event at Roland Garros in Paris, Discovery Communications President & CEO David Zaslav, Discovery Networks
Int'l President JB Perrette and Eurosport CEO Peter
Hutton "gave an update on the Eurosport business one year on from the
Discovery takeover." As part of that update, 10 new Eurosport rights deals "were announced." A new agreement "has been signed for the Europa League in Singapore
and Scandanavia," and a package of football rights in the Netherlands was revealed, secured from MP & Silva. The package "includes
exclusive rights to Serie A, Ligue 1, Coupe de la Ligue, the Emirates
Cup and a batch of pre-season friendly games." Deals for the Rugby World Cup in Germany and PGA Tour golf in Norway
"were also confirmed, in addition to a new agreement for Wimbledon tennis
in Belgium." All the deals "represent a continuation of Discovery's drive to strengthen the Eurosport business in strategic regional markets" (SOCCEREX, 6/4). BROADBAND TV NEWS' Robert Briel reported Discovery Networks Northern Europe will launch "a local Eurosport channel in Denmark" on July 1. The local sports channel "will be called Eurosport Denmark and will replace Canal 8, a general sports channel which was recently acquired by Discovery Communications from C More in Denmark." Eurosport Denmark "will air 2,400 hours of live sports each year, making it the number one channel for live sports coverage in Denmark." Sports events airing on the new channel "include the Bundesliga, three Grand Slam tournaments as well as ATP and WTA tennis, the Danish Alka Superlig and the European qualifers" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 6/4).
