HEADLINES OF THE DAY
Blatter: ‘Nothing But God Can Stop 2010 World Cup’
President Fifa, Sepp Blatter, has reiterated that South Africa will be ready to host soccer’s 2010 World Cup. At the start of his two-day visit to the country, Blatter met with the tournament’s organising committee and Issa Hayatou, the president of the Confederation of African Football, who has been appointed by Fifa to monitor preparations for the tournament, the first to be held on the continent.
Blatter said yesterday: ‘Nothing, nothing can now be against this World Cup here in South Africa, nothing but God.
World Cup preparations have been overshadowed by anxiety over the building of venues and infrastructure, the lack of public transport and high crime rates. However, Blatter is unperturbed, saying: ‘South Africa will deliver the best World Cup in history. It will not be the same as Germany [in 2006], Japan or Korea [the hosts in 2002], but will be the best ever because it will be the African World Cup.’
The Fifa president expressed concerns last year over the slow start to stadium construction and renovation, but work has now begun at all sites and the organisers claim to be ahead of schedule in their preparations. Blatter was due to meet South African president Thabo Mbeki in Cape Town today. Source: Sportcal, 19th Jun 2997
WWE Lifts USA Ratings to Top of Heap
According to Nielsen Media Research live plus same day data, a special three-hour WWE Raw served up three of the top five largest audiences for the week ended June 17, with the final hour topping the list with an average 6.33 million viewers. McMahon’s staged demise was also witnessed by a week-high 3.11 million adults 18-49, 2.85 million adults 25-54 and 1.68 million adults 18-34.
All told, USA won the weekly prime time battle with 2.73 million total viewers; the net also swept the three demos, averaging 1.29 million 18-49s, 1.27 million 25-54s and 615,000 18-34s.
Rival net TNT took second place on the week among total viewers and third across the demos, averaging 2.12 million viewers, 915,000 million 18-49s, 988,000 25-54s and 385,000 18-34s. The Turner net claimed the week’s third-largest audience with its Sunday afternoon Nextel Cup coverage, averaging 5.23 million viewers between approximately 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., while also delivering the third-highest numbers among the two older demos.
TBS wrapped up third place (2.05 million), while snaring second among the demos with 1.14 million 18-49s, 1.04 million 25-54s and 599,000 18-34s, thanks in part to its Sunday night presentation of the Will Smith comedy Hitch, which averaged 3.54 million viewers, and the fourth installment of House of Payne (3.48 million). Source: Mediaweek, 19th Jun 2007
THIS WEEK
Wed, 20th Jun 2007
Copa Libertadores: Finals Leg 2 - Grêmio (BRA) v Boca Juniors (ARG)
Sat, 23rd Jun 2007
Masters Football: Yorkshire Masters
Sun, 24th Jun 2007
WWE Monthly Special: Vengeance, Houston, Texas
DTM 2007: Race Day, Norisring, Germany
BTCC 2007: Race Day, Oulton Parl, UK
QUOTABLE QUOTES – Melon-choly Maury
Extracted from article by Tom Adams on Sky Sports, 19th Jun 2007
The ever-quotable Jose Mourinho has wielded a bizarre analogy to explain the hit-and-miss nature of bringing through his young stars at Stamford Bridge.
"Young players are a little bit like melons. Only when you open and taste the melon are you 100 per cent sure that the melon is good. Sometimes you have beautiful melons but they don't taste very good and some other melons are a bit ugly and when you open them, the taste is fantastic.”
"One thing is youth football, one thing is professional football. The bridge is a difficult one to cross and they have to play with us and train with us for us to taste the melon. For example, Scott Sinclair, the way he played against Arsenal and Man United, we know the melon we have."
INFO BOX
What Can US$1,000 Buy in Asia?
Source: Marketing Interactive, 18th Jun 2007
What would US$1000 worth of media communications in Asia deliver? A new survey by Mindshare aims to measure a diverse range of media buys to establish what marketers would get for their money across 14 different markets. Key conclusions gathered from the research include emerging Asian markets still offer exceptional value for money, Asian media costs are local and irregular, digital channels promise new levels of multi-market standardization, cinema ad costs are under US$10 in most Asian markets and several developing Asian countries command high-cost outdoor premiums:
* 172 taxi ads in China
* 5 bus shelters for a month in Hong Kong
* 1,600 search clicks in Australia for ‘used car' key words
* More than 2 million prime-time TV viewers in India
* 2.3 million magazine readers in Indonesia
* Half-a-million radio listeners in Japan
* 2.1 million newspaper readers in Malaysia
* 233 cinema spots in the Philippines
* 120,000 online finance readers in Singapore
* Reach US$9.5 billion of household GDP by television
* 4.5 million newspaper readers in Thailand
* 160 event promo people in Vietnam
SPORTS SHORTS
* Qualcomm has teamed with Hong Kong’s PCCW to conduct a technical trial of its MediaFLO mobile TV technology. The trial, which will run until November, is intended to test handsets and will allow PCCW to assess the potential business model of a commercial mobile TV service based on Qualcomm’s technology. In February, Qualcomm and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) completed a technical trial in the UK and MediaFLO is technical approach being considered for the deployment of mobile TV services around the world. Source: Electronics Weekly, 19th Jun 2007
* Six countries are in the running to host the 2008 Asean Football Championships, South East Asia's premier international soccer event. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have all declared an interest in hosting the event. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam will co-host next month’s Asian Cup finals. Source: Sportcal, 19th Jun 2007
* Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung has shown an interest in Birmingham City. So strong is his interest, that he is planning a GBP 49.8 million bid. Yeung was part owner of the Macau casino Greek Mythology. The Birmingham City bid could be Yeung's third attempt to buy an English club. Indian-born billionaire Lakshmi Mittal also was interested in Birmingham City. Source: EUFootball.biz, 19th Jun 2007
* German commercial network, Sat.1, is continuing talks with pay-television, Premiere, to become the German free-to-air broadcaster of the Uefa Champions League next season. German free-to-air and pay-television rights to the Champions League between 2006-07 and 2008-09 were originally acquired by Premiere for €200 million ($268.2 million) but having no free-to-air outlet of its own, Premiere turned to DSF, the privately-owned sports broadcaster, to make 13 live matches available on its free-to-air platform during the 2006-07 tournament. Source: Sportcal, 19th Jun 2007
* Celta Vigo, who has been relegated from the top-tier Primera Liga, has sold broadcast rights to Audiovisual Sport for €85 million ($113.9 million) over five seasons. The agreement takes effect with the 2008-09 campaign and dependent on Celta Vigo regaining their place in the top league at the end of next season. The deal represents an increase on €12 million earned this season from sale of broadcast rights, including revenue from appearances in the Uefa Cup. Audiovisual Sport is owned by television group Sogecable and media rights agency Mediapro. Source: Sportcal, 19th Jun 2007
* With the draw for the FIFA 2010 World Cup™ taking place in Durban, South Africa, two days before Soccerex 2007 starts, football federations from around the world will descend on South Africa in November. Soccerex is expecting to surpass the 300 federation representatives at last year’s event, making Soccerex 2007 the biggest and best yet. The World Cup draw will take place on 23rd November. Source: Sport Business, 19th Jun 2007
* UK-based sports agencies, Frontiers Group and Athletes 1, have been acquired by Essentially Group, a group that already owns two other sports agencies. Frontiers and Athletes 1 will join Accelerate and Global Sports Management in the Essentially Group stable, as the group seeks to expand from its present strongholds in rugby union and Formula 1 motor racing into cricket. Frontiers is involved in sponsorship activities, corporate consulting and event management and Athletes 1 works in athlete representation, sponsorship and rights management. Source: Sportcal, 19th Jun 2007
* FIFA is ready to restrict the role of agents following Lord Stevens' probe into bungs in the English game. FIFA said limits on agents could be in place by the start of next year. This came after Stevens could not clear 15 agents listed as questionable cases. FIFA treasurer, Matthieu Sprengers, who also conducted a 2-year study into agents' dealings and had proposed with a series of guidelines, including a 3% limit on all deals. FIFA president Sepp Blatter supported Sprengers' ideas, believing there is too much questionable activity with agents. Source: EUFootball.biz, 19th Jun 2007
MORE NEWS
BWF: Conflict of Interest Row Breaks Out at Badminton AGM
Malaysia’s Datuk Punch Gunalan is at the centre of allegations of a conflict of interest relating to the federation’s decision to move its headquarters from Cheltenham, England to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia two years ago.
The allegations surfaced at a dramatic BWF annual general meeting held in Glasgow last weekend, when the organisation’s president, Kang Young Joong was handed a three-year-old letter apparently implicating Punch in using his position at the international federation to pass on to the Badminton Association of Malaysia confidential information relating to rival bids to attract the international federation’s headquarters.
Malaysia was involved in a bidding war with South Korea, Switzerland and the incumbent England, with the bidders becoming embroiled in making competing offers of benefits, including tax breaks, in their attempts to lure the federation, then known as the International Badminton Federation. Others involved in the initial stages of bidding included Singapore, USA and Mauritius, and the letter contains details of the offers contained in their bids enabling, it is said, the Malaysian bid to trump them.
The allegations are the latest in a series of rows over the controversial move of the federation’s headquarters to Kuala Lumpur, which was widely seen as a manifestation of a power struggle between the sport’s Asian and European power bases. Source: Sportcal, 19th Jun 2007
India/Broadcaster: Nimbus Gets Partners, but Ads May Dry Up
The woes of sports broadcaster Nimbus continue. After Star India pulled out of the distribution deal that it had with Nimbus, its new-found alliance with six other channels — including Sab TV — to telecast the India-South Africa ODI series in Ireland, starting June 23, is facing some rough weather. Nimbus has struggled to get advertisers at the rates they’ve quoted for the upcoming Ireland series.
After finding no interest, Nimbus cut down the rate by almost 30% to Rs 2.5 lakh for a spot and another cut of 20% is expected. Nimbus is also looking to get on board two presenting sponsors and six associate sponsors. When contacted, a Neo Sports spokesperson told ET that they didn’t want to make any comments on potential sponsors at this stage.
The only way Nimbus will get reach now will be through DD. Neo Sports currently reaches less than 30% of TV sets in the country. The Board of Control for Cricket in India had awarded the India-South Africa ODI series in Ireland and Scotland to Nimbus after Zee Television pulled out of the 5-year overseas media rights deal covering India’s matches at neutral venues.
Nimbus is the telecast partner for the five match series — three ODIs against South Africa and another against Ireland in Belfast, besides a match with Pakistan. Nimbus has paid BCCI $6.05 million per match for the broadcast rights. Source: The Economic Times, 20th Jun 2007
ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS
'There's this delusion that the Premiership is great'
Source: Donald McRae speaks with Alex Lalas, published in The Guardian, 19th Jun 2007
"We may be Americans but we're not stupid," Alexi Lalas says wryly as, in his role as the president of LA Galaxy, he leans back in his boardroom and strokes the smooth and gleaming jaw-line which used to be covered by the most famous ginger beard in world football. "We know when we're being patronised and I get so irritated when I hear the experts in England talk about David Beckham as if he's going into semi-retirement by leaving Real Madrid for Los Angeles.
"That's ignorance of the first degree because almost every one of those critics has not even seen a single MLS [Major League Soccer] game. It's insulting to us and to our sport to say Beckham is on his way to Hollywood when he's coming to play in one of the most competitive leagues in the world. There are a lot of stars in European football who would struggle over here. But Beckham has done his homework on this league, and his team-mates, and he recognises the merit of American soccer."
Beckham will play football in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Carson rather than Hollywood. The 60ft palm trees may sway gently in the breeze along Avalon Boulevard, leading to the Galaxy's Home Depot Center, but even on a summer morning they are shrouded in smog, an image that chimes with Lalas's reminder that a significant part of Los Angeles is still a blue-collar town, driven by immigrant industry as much as the glamour of the Hollywood hills.
When Beckham begins the next stage of his career, playing for the Galaxy on a five-year, $250m (£128m) deal from mid-to-late July onwards, the football is likely to lack much of the skill and creativity he experienced at Manchester United and Real Madrid. Lalas inadvertently confirms as much: "The MLS is much more physically challenging than people expect. There is a lot of running and hard tackling, a lot of heat and travel."
The image of Lalas as a wild-haired copperknob from Detroit, trying to hack it as a footballer in Serie A, has been replaced by a highly quotable spokesman for US soccer. If he makes much of English football's apparent decline he also puts a notable spin on the MLS's credibility.
"English football now has the haves and the have-nots, and even the top four in the Premiership may be narrowing down to two. But because of the structure of our league and the salary cap our competition runs deep. It's just that the Premiership have become so skilled in presentation. They took a page out of American football and now have Saturday Showdowns and Super Sundays. I love it. This is high-calibre marketing: taking an inferior product and improving it through packaging."
He laughs at the irony that an American soccer executive should accuse the Premiership of being all style and no substance. "You know," he says with a mischievous glint, "there's no accounting for bad taste. The fact that a segment of the world worships an inferior product in the Premiership is their business. In England our league is considered second-class but I honestly believe if you took a helicopter and grabbed a bunch of MLS players and took them to the perceived best league in the world they wouldn't miss a beat and the fans wouldn't notice any drop in quality."
Even a helicopter at the disposal of the Galaxy's president would not be large enough to hold more than a few MLS players, which probably explains why it is Lalas's chosen mode of transport for his fantasy excursion. He argues instead that the United States' performances over the past five World Cups can be compared favourably with England's.
"There's this delusion that if it's English then it's great. But a whole world exists outside of England. That's reflected in the difficulties they had when everyone ran to the Premiership. Maybe it's OK for the fan but for the average development of the English player the game is struggling. And in terms of pure football I would choose La Liga. That's why I've been thrilled at the way Beckham turned everything around at Madrid."
Lalas insists that, even when Real Madrid were making their most optimistic noises that they might hold on to Beckham, "we've left him alone. First off he was still part of Madrid and we respected that - and last week was one of the most important weeks in his life. Winning La Liga has been a fitting end to an incredible ride for him but I never had concerns about him not coming here. I've come to realise that there is always a tremendous amount of theatre whenever you deal with Madrid. I know they'd love to keep him but we've signed a very good player and a very good person."
He cites as a measure of Beckham's character his reaction to being told by Fabio Capello early this year that he would never play for Real Madrid again. Beckham stood up in a packed dressing room and, speaking in Spanish, forced Capello to address that statement. "He's just been very impressive all the way through. The craziness around him gets bigger and bigger but he focuses on what he's best at: playing football."
Beckham's enduring ability to hit raking passes and pinpoint crosses has resulted in a near-hysterical reaction to some competent performances on his return for England. Lalas concedes that it has now become unthinkable for Steve McClaren to do another u-turn and exclude Beckham simply because he is playing in America. "While it is going to challenge us from a business and a competitive standpoint if he's flying 6,000 miles to play games for England, I'll back him all the way. I told you a few months ago I'd drive him to the airport if he got picked for England and that promise holds. If you sit down and talk to David you quickly understand how representing his country has meant so much to him. It has nothing to do with money or prestige. It's simply the honour. And, listen, it's also a great tribute to the Galaxy to have one of our players representing England."
Yet McClaren and Lalas must both be concerned about a schedule which the Galaxy president describes as "ugly". Apart from representing LA Galaxy, Beckham is expected to visit every MLS club in his first few months and he will probably shake as many hands as he will fly tens of thousands of miles. "We can discuss things with England and look at the situation because it affects us all. But we will always abide by Fifa regulations and release him."
The swiftness with which Lalas moved in signing Beckham six months ago illustrates his pragmatism and vision. "We had a very small window of opportunity in January and we made it happen. Tim Leiweke, the head of AEG [which owns LA Galaxy], sat down with me and we said this is a guy who can help us win games and transform our image. So the machine started up and we did everything we possibly could to make it enticing to David because we knew this was a unique opportunity. There is a risk but this is a growing business and you need to do big, bold things to get to that next level.
"Beckham is not going to change anything overnight but the hope is that this will be a big stepping stone towards the point where we see ourselves in 20 years. We want to emerge as America's first super-club, to compete with Madrid and Man United. Some might say that's a pipe-dream but I prefer to call it our vision."
Part of that ambition extends to the idea that a world club championship might eventually rival the Champions League, with the likes of Manchester United playing LA Galaxy and Barcelona meeting River Plate on a regular basis. "In this global economy I'd say that's almost inevitable. It's what we're working towards."
Lalas, at 36, has come a long way from the bearded, guitar-playing wizard. Did all the grunge and madness disappear the day he shaved off his notorious beard? "I cleaned up on the outside but I'm still a mess on the inside. For a long time it conveyed a certain immaturity and I milked it all the way. And then I shaved it off in 2000. I was in Sydney, doing some TV work for the Olympics, and it was the end of a long night for me and Anne, my then girlfriend and now my wife.
"We all do strange things when we come in late at night so there's me, the beard, a hotel bathtap and a razor. It looked like surgery. We actually filmed it because it felt like an iconic moment - never before in the history of football has so much been made of so little facial hair. We should probably put it on YouTube, maybe on the day David arrives in Los Angeles. But it'll be Beckham, rather than the beard, that will give us a million hits and more . . ."
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