Aussie Rules Returning, Record Ratings for German Soccer Reboot, UFC JAX Success
AP — Aussie rules football will kick off again on June 11, with the second round of the Australian Football League to be played almost three months after the competition was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Australian Football League chief executive Gillon McLachlan on Friday announced the matches for the next four rounds of the condensed season would be released within 10 days. The AFL, Australia’s most-watched sports league in terms of attendance and TV audience, was suspended on March 22 after one round.
Quarantine requirements and travel restrictions from some states means players and staff from the four AFL clubs from Western Australia and South Australia — the West Coast Eagles, Fremantle Dockers, Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide — will be temporarily be relocated to hubs on the Gold Coast, an hour south of Brisbane.
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- Sky Germany Attracts Record Audience for Bundesliga Restart
Bundesliga Sees Record Viewership Numbers
Berlin (AFP) - The restart of the Bundesliga behind locked doors on Saturday attracted over six million viewers watching in Germany, a new record for broadcasters Sky, according to specialist website DWDL.de.
When the German league resumed on Saturday afternoon after a two-month break due to the coronavirus, Sky had 3.68 million viewers watching the matches on its subscription TV channels in Germany.
The domestic figure is more than double the usual audience for a typical round of Saturday matches.
In addition, 2.45 million viewers watched the 'Konferenz' - a simultaneous live broadcast of the five afternoon games, where coverage moved from stadium to stadium.
In the day's main game, Erling Braut Haaland scored the first Bundesliga goal since mid-March to help Borussia Dortmund rout rivals Schalke 4-0 and stay in the title race with Bayern Munich, who play Union Berlin away on Sunday.
A spokesman for the German Football League (DFL) told AFP the matches were televised by more than 70 broadcasters worldwide, all on previously-agreed deals.
With Bundesliga matches played behind closed doors in near-empty stadiums, Sky Germany broadcast the 'Konferenz' on its free-to-view Sports News Channel.
The idea was to discourage fans in Germany from meeting up to watch matches in places with a Sky subscription.
When Saturday afternoon's games kicked-off, Sky Germany had a market share of 27.4 percent on their pay-to-view channels and 18.2 percent on their free channel.
In the target group of 14-49 year olds, the total market share was "over 60 percent", according to DWDL.de on Sunday, a record for Sky Germany.
Having been granted permission to restart after the German government approved the league's strict hygiene guidelines, the Bundesliga is the first top European league to resume.
There are hopes the leagues in Italy, Spain and England can restart next month while the French league season has already been scrapped.
- UFC President White Targets Arizona if Vegas Not Option for May 30 Event
- UFC in Jacksonville: Looking Back at Landmark Week as MMA Bounces Back
There was one notable scare before 9 May's UFC 249 event when Brazilian fighter Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza and two of his cornermen tested positive for Covid-19 upon their arrival in Jacksonville. But, rather than cancel the event, the UFC instead moved to isolate the three men and provided immediate medical support while continuing with the shows, which delivered a hat-trick of spectacular fight nights.
"It feels good," UFC president Dana White told reporters at the post-fight news conference.
"I'm happy to have it behind me. It was successful in every way it could be successful. I feel great about it. More importantly, nobody is sick. Nobody has gotten sick. There's no guarantees in life, but hopefully that's the case and we all go home. It was a great event. It was a great week."
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
