49ers Enterprises, the investment arm of NFL American football's San Francisco 49ers, has acquired a minority stake in Leeds United, of English soccer's second flight.

ESPN, the Walt Disney-owned sports broadcaster, is reported to have agreed a deal to broadcast the fights of UFC, the mixed martial arts promoter, on its linear channels, in addition to a five-year agreement, already announced, to stream matches via its new OTT streaming service, ESPN+.

IMG, the international sports and entertainment company, will handle the exclusive licensing of Fortnite, the hugely-popular multiplayer third-person shooter video game, after it struck a deal with publisher Epic Games ahead of the launch of a $100-million eSports series for the game.

Australia's national cricket teams will have a new shirt sponsor after Alinta Energy, the national electricity and natural gas supplier, signed a deal with Cricket Australia, the domestic governing body.

A new global golf tour, with lucrative tournament purses, is on the discussion table in what would pose a major threat to the status of the US PGA Tour.

Perform, the international digital sports content and media group, is prepared to offer 90 per cent of its content to the prospective US sports betting market, but is waiting to see exactly how many states will allow the activity under changes to legislation.

The European Broadcasting Union, the umbrella body of mainly public-service broadcasters, is looking to ramp up its acquisition of rights to eSports events, but is likely to focus on sports simulation games as opposed to the “certain violent” shooting and battle titles that dominate the industry.

Social networking giant Facebook has recruited Joyee Biswas as head of sports partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region.

Twitter wants to be able to offer its users access to “live windows” of major sports events as part of a future development of its partnerships with rights-holding broadcasters.

A Formula 1 Grand Prix in downtown Miami in 2019 has moved a step closer after the hosting proposal received preliminary approval from city officials.