MP & Silva, a leading int'l media rights agency, has extended its partnership with Major League Soccer until '14. The deal includes the exclusive rights distribution outside North America to all MLS games, tournaments and events, including MLS regular season, MLS Cup Playoffs and MLS Cup. MP & Silva continues to support MLS’ increase in global popularity. The '11 MLS season reached 118 million homes in a total of 112 countries (MP & Silva). ... BT saw a "record level of traffic" on its retail broadband network during London 2012. Bandwidth consumption "reached an all-time high on July 29, coinciding with Team GB's first Medal win." According to BT, this is the date that the U.K. "woke up to the Games online". During the Paralympics, the highest volume of traffic was reached on Sept. 2 (CABLE.co.uk, 9/12). ... Video search engine blinkx "has entered into a partnership with television sports video group SNTV." The agreement "will give blinkx users more premium sports content." SNTV covers a variety of major sports events worldwide, from the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup to the novel and niche competitions like wife-carrying and snail racing (SHARECAST.com, 9/12).
CRICKET COVERAGE: ESPN3 will present exclusive live coverage of the World Twenty20 Championship in the U.S., making it available to 73 million households nationwide at no additional cost to fans. In addition to delivering all the action on the pitch live from Sri Lanka, ESPNcricinfo will provide extensive coverage throughout the event from a team of seasoned experts and analysts globally and across platforms. ESPN3 will carry complete coverage of the World Twenty20 Championship in the U.S. exclusively live from Sri Lanka. The multi-screen sports network will feature every match of the tournament, as well as the warm-up match between India vs. Pakistan on Sept.17 (ESPN). ... Nimbus, one of India's leading TV marketing companies, "has been approached by the Pakistan Cricket Board." PCB source Harish Thawani said that "the Nimbus CEO met the PCB officials recently" in Lahore. Thawani said, "Obviously the discussions were relating to the broadcasting rights" (PAKISTAN TODAY, 9/12). ... The ICC launched the official event website for the ICC World Twenty20 2012, which will be staged in Sri Lanka between Sept. 18 and Oct. 7. The site will include tournament information, video match highlights and exclusive behind the scenes interviews with all of the teams and leading players. The site is accessible at www.icc-cricket.com (ICC).
