The PA's Martyn Ziegler reported FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke "appeared to confirm" the deal to extend the U.S. TV rights deal with Fox to include the '26 World Cup "had been done to avert the threat of any legal action over its 2022 deal." Valcke: "We have done what we had to do in order to protect FIFA and the organization of the World Cup" (PA, 2/25).
WHAT'S UP, DOC? MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reported a crew from MLB Productions "has been following" Astros 2B Jose Altuve for the last few months to "gather footage for a documentary about him." The film "was the idea" of Astros Owner Jim Crane, who "wanted Altuve to get some publicity." The production crew "was in Japan when Altuve participated in a tour" of MLB All-Stars in December, and "traveled to Altuve's native Venezuela in January to get more footage" (MLB.com, 2/25).
JOE COOL: In San Jose, Chuck Barney reported KPIX-CBS on Tuesday announced Pro Football HOFer Joe Montana and his wife, Jennifer, have "signed on as special contributors and 'featured members'" of its broadcast team for the '15 NFL season and Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium. The station in a release said that the Montanas will "play an 'integral role' in KPIX's coverage of events leading up to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7, 2016" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/25).
IMPORTING VIEWERS: La Liga club Real Madrid Dir of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueno on Tuesday said that more visitors to the club's website "come from the United States than any other country." ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan noted Real Madrid has focused much of its "global marketing efforts" on the U.S. in recent years, "with the first team visiting various American cities for preseason training and games in each of the last six summers" (ESPNFC.com, 2/25).
