UFC and Fox Sports Australia announced an extension to their broadcast agreement. Fox Sports Australia will continue to deliver live UFC events to Foxtel subscribers in addition to magazine programming and archived events. Fans can also get access with Foxtel Now. Foxtel's Main Event channel will continue to show live and encore UFC PPV events and live UFC content for subscribing Foxtel and Fox Sports venues (UFC).
The Women's Rugby World Cup semifinal match between France and England was broadcast on France 2 and set a record for women's rugby. The match drew an average audience of 3 million viewers, translating to a 15% market share. The match, which England won 20-3, drew a peak audience of 3.4 million viewers (L'ÉQUIPE, 8/23).
The English Football League unveiled MCOT Public Company Ltd. as its official Thai broadcast partner for the '17-18 season. MCOT is Thailand's leading media organization and has been granted the license to broadcast live EFL and EFL Cup fixtures. Matches will be broadcast live on two territorial channels: 9 MCOT HD and MCOT Family (EFL).
Rugby's "woes in Australia have been further emphasised by poor TV ratings" for last weekend's Bledisloe Cup test. The All Blacks' win over the Wallabies in Sydney was watched by "just" 371,000 metro free-to-air viewers "across the Tasman." Adding in the pay-TV audience, the number was "still a disappointing" 600,000 (STUFF, 8/23).
Brazilian media company Globosat acquired the broadcast rights to Euro 2020. The tournament will be available through the organization's linear channels, "free-to-air Globo and specialist pay-TV network SporTV, as well as its digital platform globoesporte.com" (SOCCEREX, 8/23).
Facebook Live "acquired the Indian digital streaming rights from the Asian Football Confederation" for the remaining fixtures of the AFC Cup. JSW Bengaluru's home game against North Korean side 4.25 SC on Wednesday was "the first match to be part of the agreement." The tournament will run until November (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 8/23).
AMC Networks extended its rights agreement with the Kontinental Hockey League. As a result, viewers in Slovakia will reportedly be "offered continued coverage of the league" on channels Sport1 and Sport2 (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 8/23).
