Friday, 3rd August 2007

THIS WEEK

Sun, 6th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Chicago Open
Superbikes 2007: Race Day – Brands Hatch, UK


SPORTS SHORTS

* Malaysian badminton fans can look forward to the presence of Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat in the World Badminton Championships, which will be held at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Aug 13-19. The poser over whether Taufik will be in or out of the championships has been laid to rest with the confirmation of his attendance in the final list of players released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) two days ago. Lin Dan is the current world number one ahead of Malaysian Lee Chong Wei. The seedings for the world meet will be released today and the draw will be made the following day. Source: The Star, 2nd Aug 2007

* The High Court dismissed, with costs, an injunction application by former general manager of Badminton World Federation, Ganga Rao. Rao had applied to stop the BWF from deciding on his position as the general manager in a domestic inquiry. The court decided that BWF, a registered society in Malaysia, has been wrongly named as a party in the suit, said a statement on the BWF website. Rao’s application for an injunction to restrain BWF from delivering its decision through the panel of the domestic inquiry in respect of his position as the general manager of the federation until a formulation of a new panel of inquiry was also quashed. Source: New Straits Times MY, 31st Jul 2007

* A new commercial station in Jordan, ATV, went on air this week. ATV is the first local station to challenge Jordan’s public-backed broadcasting. However, with most Jordanians having ample access to satellite TV the station will have something of an uphill battle. Its output includes movies, Arabic and foreign dramas, cultural shows, children’s programmes, sport, family entertainment, and the country’s first independent news broadcasts and current affairs shows which will account for 35-40% of content. Source: Rapid TV News, Int. Herald Tribune, 2nd Aug 2007

* Barcelona has defended its pre-season tour of Asia, which came under fire by some players, saying it will give the club contact with its supporters in the region. The number of Barcelona supporters in China has gone up six-fold in the last three years and seven-fold in the same period in Japan. Barcelona, who finished second in the Primera Liga last season, will play two exhibition matches in China and one in Japan before returning to Spain on August 11. Barcelona defenders Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram have criticised the tour, arguing it will hamper training for the Spanish championship that kicks off on August 25. Source: Channel News Asia, 3rd Aug 2007

* Thailand will host the second edition of the Asian Hopman Cup, the mixed team tennis tournament, in November. Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Uzbekistan have been invited to compete with the hosts in Bangkok from November 8 to 11. The winners of the two groups will meet in the final, with the champions earning a place in the main Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia next January. Hosts India won the first Asian Hopman Cup in Hyderabad last year. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Aug 2007

* The Zhuhai International Circuit in China is to stage a round of the A1 Grand Prix Series for the first time after the calendar for 2007-08 was announced. Like last season, the A1GP series will comprise 11 rounds and commence at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on September 30. There are races in the Czech Republic, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and Great Britain. The host for the other Asian race on November 4 is yet to be announced, but it is thought that a new deal with the owner of the Sentul track in Indonesia could be concluded shortly. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Aug 2007

* China will host its first extreme long-distance triathlon discipline, ‘Ironman', after Haikou was chosen to host an event next year. The city in Hainan province will stage the inaugural race on April 20. Robert Vernon, president of Ironman China Ltd, said: ‘We have cemented our relationships with both the World Triathlon Corporation and the China Triathlon Sports Association and we’ve moved the event to Haikou where we have enthusiastic support of the city and the provincial governments. Links to the event can be found at www.ironman.com, website of the World Triathlon Corporation. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Aug 2007

* Canada’s TSN's French-language partner, Réseau des Sports, announced immediate six-year contract extensions with the Montreal Canadiens and NHL. The deal involving both club and league, is worth about $35mil — $20mil to the Canadiens and $15mil to the NHL.. As for TSN, the rights fee that it will pay the NHL would be in the $50-million range. Currently, the CBC is paying the league $100mil yearly for a comprehensive national schedule that includes a Leafs game almost weekly, most of the playoff series involving Canadian teams and the exclusivity to the Stanley Cup final. TSN's new contract is unlikely to kick in until the current deal expires at the end of 2007-08, although it's possible broadband rights would start immediately. Source: Globe & Mail, 1st Aug 2007

* The National Hockey League could be set for a return to US cable sports broadcaster, ESPN, following reports of top-level negotiations. The Sports Business Journal says talks started two weeks ago about a new deal, which would see ESPN resume NHL coverage from the start of the 2008-09 season, replacing national network NBC. Following the cancellation of the 2004-05 NHL season, as a result of a labour dispute, ESPN decided not to exercise an option to extend a one-year deal for a further two seasons at the asking price of $70 million a season. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Aug 2007

* Four-time former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield will get a chance to win the WBO title when he fights the Russian Southpaw Sultan Ibragimov in October. The 44-year-old gets his chance because Ibragimov's original opponent, the WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev of Uzbekistan withdrew from their fight claiming an unspecified illness. If he beats Ibragimov, Holyfield would become the second oldest heavyweight champion in the history of boxing behind George Foreman who was 45 when he knocked out Michael Moorer to win the WBA and IBF titles in 1994. Source: The Guardian UK, 3rd Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

WWE: Profit Halves at WWE

World Wrestling Entertainment’s second-quarter profit fell from $14.7 million last year to $7 million, despite improved revenues of $137.5 million, as a result of a one-time impairment charge. Earnings in the quarter were negatively impacted by a $15.7 million impairment charge related to revised performance expectations of the feature film The Condemned. Excluding the impairment charge, operating income would have been $25.4 million as compared to $21.4 million in the prior year quarter, representing a 19 percent increase. Net income would have been $16.9 million, as compared to $14.7 million.

“We achieved a broad-based 15% revenue increase, posting higher revenues across all key business lines in the current quarter,” said CEO Linda McMahon. “In addition to the top line growth, we achieved EBITDA of approximately $12 million, or $27.7 million excluding the film impairment. This $27.7 million represents an 18% increase over the prior year quarter.”

Television and live event revenues were boosted by WrestleMania, McMahon said, which set WWE records for both the number of pay-per-view buys and gross ticket sales. Consumer products revenues increased 29%, reflecting improvements in the home video, licensing and magazine publishing businesses. And digital media revenues were up 30%. Source: Worldscreen, 2nd Aug 2007

Asia/Rights: IMG Media to Sell Australian Open Rights in Asia Pacific

IMG Media, the international sports marketing agency, has today been appointed to sell the broadcast rights to tennis’ Australian Open in the Asia Pacific region. Tennis Australia, organisers of the Australian Open, have signed a ‘multi-year’ deal with IMG Media, allowing the agency to market the rights in Asia Pacific across different platforms. IMG Media previously held broadcast distribution rights to the tournament until 2006.

It currently distributes rights to various top tennis properties, including the Wimbledon championships, French Open and the men's Tennis Masters Series. Steve Wood, Tennis Australia’s chief executive, said that the agreement with IMG Media is ‘a significant plank in our Asian strategy to get more exposure across the region on a number of platforms.’ The 2007 Australian Open was aired in 192 territories to a global household reach of 649 million homes. Source: Sportcal, 2nd Aug 2007