Russia said that it is "far from reaching a deal with FIFA on TV broadcast rights for next year's World Cup." With the tournament a year away, "there is still no agreement in place to avoid the embarrassing situation of games not being shown in the host nation." FIFA "usually signs deals several years before major events." Deputy PM Vitaly Mutko said that FIFA wants $110M from Russian TV channels, but Russia "can only afford to pay" $38M-$40M (AP, 7/5).
More than a third of Premier League football fans "say they regularly watch matches live online" via unofficial streams, according to a BBC survey. The poll suggests younger adults "are most likely to say they stream matches" via unauthorized providers. Nearly a quarter of all fans surveyed regularly watch matches online via "special technology, such as Kodi boxes" (BBC, 7/4).
Toyota signed on as an official sponsor of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The deal, which makes Toyota the official motor vehicle of the Gold Cup, includes broadcast, in-stadium signage and messaging on stadium video boards. Toyota also will be presenting sponsor of the Futbol Fiesta pregame experience at each of the tournament's 14 venues. This marks the first time Toyota has sponsored the Gold Cup. The length of the deal was not disclosed (CONCACAF).
Eleven Sports will cover all of League 1 rugby side Toronto Wolfpack's matches in the U.S. The Wolfpack, which competes in the third tier of England's Rugby Football League, is the world's first transatlantic major sports team. The network also extended its agreement to show live and exclusive Formula 1 coverage across Poland in a deal brokered by media rights agency MP & Silva. Eleven will carry all F1 races during the '18 and '19 seasons. Additionally, Eleven announced a partnership with Cage Warriors to bring Cage Warriors 89 to Belgium on Nov. 25. The MMA event, which will be the first Cage Warriors event to take place outside the U.K. and Ireland in '17, will be held in the Lotto Arena in Antwerp (Eleven Sports).
Slovak sports channel 213 became the first in Slovakia to broadcast via satellite in Ultra HD. The channel is reportedly undergoing tests "as a FTA service distributed by the Belarussian satellite Belintersat at 51.5 degrees East and in partnership with the DTH platform Pantelio," which is providing the channel at its own expense (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 7/4).
German pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland extended its free-of-charge offer for sports fans. Following the transformation of sports news channel Sky Sport News HD into a free-to-air channel in December, Sky Deutschland "has now launched its advertising-funded free sports streaming service on the internet" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 7/3).
The U.K. government department representing the creative industries and media sector made a "name tweak" to include digital in the name. The DCMS will now denote the department for digital, culture, media & sport, in a move agreed by PM Theresa May and Culture Secretary Karen Bradley (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 7/4).
