Bill Rasmussen, the co-founder of ESPN and one of the pioneers of 24-hour sports television, has died at the age of 93. ESPN announced that Rasmussen died Tuesday from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. Alongside his son Scott, Rasmussen developed the idea of creating a television network dedicated entirely to sports in the late 1970s,…
The WNBA continues to post some of its strongest television audiences of the past 25 years, with the Indiana Fever once again at the center of the league’s ratings boom. Tuesday’s Indiana Fever–New York Liberty regular-season matchup averaged 2.01 million viewers on ESPN, making it the fourth-most-watched WNBA game ever on cable. The only three…
LaLiga will continue to be broadcast across Spanish-speaking South America through ESPN and DSports after agreeing to a six-year media rights extension covering the 2026-27 through 2031-32 seasons. The renewed agreement covers Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, excluding Brazil. The previous agreement between LaLiga, Disney-owned ESPN and DirecTV-operated DSports ran…
Disney+ has secured global streaming rights to Formula E, with the electric racing championship set to be available live across 144 territories from the 2026-27 season under a multi-year agreement with Disney+ and ESPN. The deal will also cover the United States, where Formula E will be available on ESPN+. Financial terms were not disclosed….
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has delivered a major commercial boost to Deutsche Telekom’s MagentaTV platform in Germany, with the broadcaster adding around one million new customers after showing every match of the tournament. The German telecoms giant said football played an important role in its strong performance during the first half of 2026. Deutsche…
Serie A has ended its broadcasting blackout in India after signing a five-year media rights agreement with Zee Entertainment, bringing Italy’s top-flight football league back to one of the world’s largest sports markets. The multi-year agreement covers the next five seasons and includes not only Serie A, but also the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana….
Disney has sold out its advertising inventory for Super Bowl LXI, becoming the earliest broadcaster in history to fully book commercial slots for the NFL’s championship game. The announcement came nearly a month before the start of the 2026-27 NFL season, setting a new industry record. The milestone marks the second consecutive year that the…
LaLiga has awarded its French domestic media rights to Disney+ and DAZN under separate three-year agreements running through the end of the 2028/29 season, strengthening the Spanish league’s international distribution strategy in one of its key overseas markets. Beginning with the 2026/27 season, which kicks off on August 15, the two streaming platforms will jointly…
Global sports marketing agency IMG has been appointed as the official production partner of WTA Ventures, expanding its relationship with the commercial arm of the women’s professional tennis tour through a new multi-year agreement beginning in 2027. Under the deal, IMG will oversee production for more than 50 WTA Tour events annually, including the season-ending…
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has officially begun the search for the host broadcast partner for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), opening a competitive tender process for one of the continent’s flagship sporting events. The selected company will be responsible for producing the international television feed for the 24-team tournament, which will…
