In addition to Liga MX sides Pachuca and León, Fox Sports will have the rights to Xolos de Tijuana and Santos Laguna's home games. The deal with Xolos will begin in '18, while the broadcaster will begin covering Santos Laguna matches in '19 (LA AFICIÓN, 10/23).
IMG extended its exclusive worldwide archive partnership with World Rugby to include all major events through '20. The agreement will see more than 2,500 hours of content made available on digital platform IMG Replay. It will archive video from upcoming and historic seasons and events. IMG also now represents World Rugby globally across licensing and marketing (IMG).
From Friday through February, SBS Viceland will broadcast up to two W-League games each week as well as the semifinals and grand final live, free and in HD. In November, SBS will broadcast the Matildas' friendlies with China in Geelong and Melbourne on SBS and SBS Viceland (SBS).
For the first time in India, a football tournament will be broadcast only digitally, as OTT service Veqta will broadcast live games from the English Football League this week. The eight matches will be spread across Wednesday and Thursday (INDIAN TELEVISION, 10/24).
Formula 1 owner Liberty Media said that it has no choice but to pursue an "over-the-top" strategy if it is to "attract a bigger audience" in the future. However, F1 Managing Dir, Commercial Operations Sean Bratches said that Liberty "would be launching the service in house, rather than going with an existing player such as Netflix as had previously been mooted." The new offer would only be made available in territories not covered by existing rights offers (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 10/24).
Czech DTH platform Flix TV added Fight Channel World HD to its offer in Slovakia. Flix TV made its full debut in Slovakia earlier this month (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 10/24).
The EFL Cup draw will be streamed live to a global audience on Twitter on Thursday, making it the first major English football competition draw to be exclusively broadcast on the platform. It will be hosted by TalkSPORT commentator Sam Matterface, former cricketer Phil Tufnell and former rugby player Matt Dawson (EFL).
Goalplay, a German coaching platform for goalkeepers, has chosen the content management solution and content distribution network services from MX1, the technical services subsidiary of Astra satellite operator SES, for "content delivery to digital platforms" (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 10/24).
Sina Sports secured the right to broadcast Chinese Volleyball League matches on its website and app, "covering no less than 200 games each season" including the regular and postseason (Sina Sports).
Infront Sports & Media was awarded "Agency of the Year" at the 2017 TV Sports Awards for the second time in a row (Infront).
