Sports

Home advantage could once again play a part in how the Olympic medals are shared in August; but the superpowers of the US, China and Russia are again set to battle it out at the top of the Olympic Games medals table in London in August, according to a new analysis by economists at PwC.

NBCUniversal announced their Spanish-language Olympic coverage in the company’s history, offering more than 173 hours of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games on Telemundo, “The U.S. Home of the Olympic Games in Spanish.” Telemundo’s comprehensive coverage will feature marquee disciplines such as boxing, swimming, basketball and soccer, which will be a major broadcast highlight.

GolTV will broadcast the upcoming Brasilierão season, kicking-off on May 19 with Sport Recife vs Flamengo at 5:30 p.m. ET. Featuring Brazil’s top 20 teams and top stars such as Neymar, Lucas, Liedson, and Ganso, the league has seen a resurgence as the booming Brazilian economy has allowed teams to retain many of the nation’s top players to play on home soil.

Univision Communications Inc. announced the appointment of Juan Carlos Rodriguez as president of Univision Deportes. Rodriguez will lead Univision’s sports division across all platforms. He will report to Cesar Conde, president of Univision Networks.

Time Warner Cable Sports unveiled launch plans for the company’s two new regional sports networks debuting on October 1, 2012 to serve Southern California-area sports fans. The networks, branded Time Warner Cable SportsNet and Time Warner Cable Deportes, will deliver comprehensive sports information, complementing a year-round schedule of more than 120 live sports events as the new exclusive local homes of the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Sparks.

ESPN, Inc. introduces ESPNFC, a new multi-language and multi-country brand for soccer fans around the world across TV, radio, print, online, print and mobile.

FOX Deportes announced an expansion of its combat programming by partnering with Golden Boy Promotions, one of the leading boxing promotional companies in the world. The partnership with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions includes one originally produced boxing event per month from the United States which will also air on Fox Sports Net along with live boxing events from cities throughout Mexico. In addition, FOX Deportes will broadcast classic fights from Golden Boy Promotions extensive library.

Univision Deportes Network, the new all sports network from Univision, is set to kick off on Saturday, April 7 on DishLATINO and DISH’s America’s Top 200. The new network launches at 3 p.m. ET with an exclusive live Major League Soccer match. At 7 p.m. ET the network will premiere “Futbol Central,” a new show hosted by legendary sportscaster Fernando Fiore featuring the top highlights from the day in soccer and previewing the night ahead which features the Liga Mexicana double-header of Santos vs. Estudiantes Tecos at 8 p.m. ET and Monterrey vs. Tigres de la UANL at 10 p.m. ET – a rivalry dubbed the Clasico Regiomontano. The night ends with “Univision Deportes Extra,” a new nightly, hour-long, fast-paced wrap-up of the day in sports, created and produced exclusively for Univision Deportes Network.

According to the new Scarborough Sports Marketing study, nearly half (49%, 115M) of all American adults are MLB Fans and 15% (36M) are Avid Fans. The study also reveals that there is ample opportunity to turn young fans into lifelong MLB enthusiasts as 44% of Generation Y* is MLB Fans and 13% is Avid Fans.