University of Notre Dame American football fans abroad will be "able to catch all seven Fighting Irish home games" during the '17 season as part of a new NBC Sports Gold direct-to-consumer service. The $49.99 Notre Dame Football Season Pass package will be available in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. (MULTICHANNEL NEWS, 8/29).
Former Ireland int'l rugby player Ronan O'Gara will join TV3's rugby coverage for next year's Six Nations. TV3 broadcast the 2015 Rugby World Cup and secured the rights to broadcast Six Nations games in Ireland from '18-21 "just two weeks after" the World Cup concluded (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 8/30).
Italian national public broadcasting station Rai and Italian sports-dedicated terrestrial channel Sportitalia "retained their broadcast rights to Serie C" through the '19-20 season. Rai won the "National Package 1" with a bid of €650,000 ($772,500) per season (SOCCEREX, 8/30).
Polish broadcaster Polsat and Eurosport launched a channel package named Tenis Premium. Consisting of Tenis Premium 1 and Tenis Premium 2, it offers 24-hour coverage, ad-free and in HD, of the US Open "for the duration of the tournament and for one week after it finishes." It will offer "similar coverage" of the Australian Open in January (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 8/30).
