Sun, 19th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Brooklyn Open
WWE Summerslam: Meadowlands, USA
SPORTS SHORTS
* Efforts by Beijing city chiefs to cut down levels of pollution in a bid to ease IOC concerns appear to have been successful. A four-day clampdown on private vehicles which removed one million from the China’s city’s streets saw pollutions tumble. However, the smog over the city remained as humidity and low wind prevented the haze from dispersing. IOC president Jacques Rogge had expressed concerns over the pollution and the impact it would have on competition when Beijing hosts next year's Olympic Games. Source: Sport Business, 22nd Aug 2007
* The BBC has acquired the rights to broadcast highlights of the Northern Ireland national team’s soccer matches for four-years starting next year, after losing live rights to pay-television's Britsih Sky Broadcasting. The deal covers Northern Ireland’s home matches in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, and the Euro 2012 European Championships qualifiers. BSkyB holds live television rights for Northern Ireland’s home matches from 2008 to 2012, having wrested them from the BBC in April this year. BSkyB is reported to be paying about £10 million ($) for the live rights. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* AMI has secured exclusive new media mobile and internet clip rights to the English Premier League. The deal covers territories in central and eastern Europe and central Asia. It covers three seasons commencing with the current season. Rob Pickles, managing director UK-based rights holders AMI, said: “We are delighted to expand our relationship once again with the FAPL and look forward to working with them for another three years since we started our cooperation at the launch of the Premiership back in 1992.” Source: Sport Business, 22nd Aug 2007
* US broadband internet company, Narrowstep, has launched a mountain biking channel, MTBcut.tv, which will ‘bring together film makers from around the world to deliver the best mountain bike footage ever caught on tape.’ MTBcut.tv is based in Scotland, host country for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, and promises live coverage of popular events as well as video-on-demand in what it describes as ‘TV-like quality.’ The channel is planning live coverage of the closing rounds of this year’s World Cup series as well as the World Championships. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) begins its countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics with an exclusive line-up of world championship and Olympic qualifying events webcast live and on-demand on WCSN.com and broadcast on WCSN TV, starting Aug. 24, 2007. Offering an unparalleled variety and frequency of championship events, WCSN provides sports fans an opportunity to get an early look at the athletes and match ups anticipated for next summer's Olympic Games. Source: Sports e-Media, 22nd Aug 2007
* NBC Universal has struck a deal with the Associated Press to carry video and other exclusive content from the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in a premium online service. AP, a non-profit making organisation owned by member newspaper and broadcasters, will launch its service in the coming weeks. A spokesman for AP said: “The joint effort will provide AP customers with comprehensive Olympic coverage leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as during the 17 days of international Beijing competition.” Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* The man who led London to winning the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games has been elected a vice president of international athletics’ governing body the IAAF. Lord Sebastian Coe had been seeking election to one of four vacancies during the IAAF Congress in Osaka. He was handed a four-year term along with the Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka, Qatar’s Dahlan Al-Hamad and Robert Hersh from the US. Earlier, IAAF president Lamine Diack and honorary treasurer Jean Poczobut were returned unopposed for a further term. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* The AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007 will be a record-breaking event following the enlisting of 623 boxers from 114 countries. Chicago 2007 will be the biggest in AIBA’s World Boxing Championship history. The AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007, which is the opening qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games, begins on October 23 and finishes on November 3. Asian participation: Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam. Source: Sports e-Media, Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* The X Games in Los Angeles earlier this month, delivered record television ratings for ESPN and a record online audience for EXPN.com. Peak-time television ratings were up 35% from last year, while EXPN.com, ESPN.com’s action sport hub, recorded its most overall traffic ever for an X Games. Almost 38 million fans watched television coverage of the games, a 13% increase, while coverage averaged a rating of nearly 1.0, a 19% increase on last year. The site was accessed by more than 500,000 unique users and generated more than 3.2 million page views over the course of the games. X Games video footage was also viewed on EXPN.com and ESPN.com more than 1.6 million times during the four days of the competition. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* The South African soccer team will participate in the qualification competition for the 2010 World Cup even though they automatically qualify for the finals as hosts. The qualifiers for the World Cup are being combined with the preliminaries for the 2010 African Cup of Nations to avoid fixture congestion. As a result, South Africa will only be competing for a place in the continental tournament when they begin the qualifying campaign next year. If South Africa win their qualifying group, the runner-up will qualify for the World Cup. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
* Nortel says it is working with universities on new 4G innovations. Telcos have not had a ton of success in attracting 3G consumers as yet, but the technologists are looking enthusiastically at “next generation” 4G applications to redress the balance. Nortel says it is collaborating with leading universities “across the globe” to develop new innovative applications that will meet the growing demand for 4G mobile, such as video, mobile TV and new multimedia services. Source: Rapid TV News, 22nd Aug 2007
MORE NEWS
SBK: A Return to USA Next Year
The USA is to stage a round of motor cycling’s FIM Superbike World Championship for the first time in four years in 2008 after plans were announced for a race at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City in Utah. FGSPORT Group, the Italian company which holds the commercial rights to the championship, has signed a multiyear deal with the company owned by Larry Miller that built the circuit. Laguna Seca in California was the last US circuit to host a round of the Superbike World Championship back in 2004.
Maurizio Flammini, the president of FGSPORT, said: ‘After having built a very successful USA race in Laguna Seca, which for many years was at the top of motor cycle racing in North America, with over 100,000 spectators, our people are now working on doubling this success with the Utah race. ‘We consider Miller Motorsports Park a very interesting, fast and safe circuit with top facilities compared to the USA standard.’ Miller said that the race would be the biggest sporting event to be held in Utah since the winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: La Sexta Remains Defiant in Rights Row
La Sexta, the Spanish commercial broadcaster, said today that it intends to air a game on the opening day of Spanish soccer’s top-tier Primera Liga 2007-08 season despite Sogecable, the Spanish television group, threatening to cut the signal for the match over a continuing row over broadcasting rights. La Sexta is owned by Mediapro, the Spanish media rights agency, which has responded to Sogecable’s threat by saying that it could block broadcasts on Sogecable's pay-television service Digital Plus.
La Sexta said in a statement today that it would screen, as scheduled, the Sevilla – Getafe match on Saturday, ‘as per the written agreement with Mediapro, the company that holds the rights for this competition for three seasons, from 2006-07 to 2009.’ Audiovisual Sport, which owns Sogecable, yesterday claimed that it was owed €58 million ($78 million) by Mediapro, and said that until the sum was paid, it would not provide a signal for matches.
The relationship between the two companies broke down when Mediapro announced deals with 39 of the 42 teams in the country’s top two soccer leagues starting from the 2009-10 season. Sogecable threatened legal action over the claims, on the basis that it holds a majority of Spanish soccer television rights through Audiovisual Sports, in which it has an 80-per-cent stake. It claims to have ‘numerous contracts with soccer clubs running through to 2013.’
La Sexta added: ‘In relation to the conflict between Sogecable and Mediapro, La Sexta has been in touch with Mediapro, which has ratified the execution of the terms of the contract.’ It said that, according to the contract, La Sexta had the rights to one La Liga match per week throughout the 2007-08 season, as well as the highlights for the second-tier Segunda Divison
Sogecable’s Digital Plus pay-television service relies heavily on airing the Primera Liga to attract subscribers. The latest developments could represent a further blow after subscriber numbers already dropped slightly between April and June. The season kicks off on Saturday with the derby between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Source: Sportcal, Worldscreen, Rapid TV News, 22nd Aug 2007
Elsewhere/Rights: Premiere Thwarted in Bid for Bundesliga Rights in Austria
Pay-television broadcaster, Premiere, has failed to negotiate a deal to offer live coverage of German soccer's top-tier Bundesliga in Austria. The broadcaster had been in talks with the Sportsman Media Group, the agency responsible for selling the Bundesliga's international rights, but no agreement was reached ahead of the new league season on August 10.
Premiere recently won back the live Bundesliga rights in Germany after agreeing a sublicensing deal with Arena, the pay-television channel, raising the hopes of Premiere customers in Austria that they would once again be able to enjoy coverage of the league. Premiere was previously able to show Bundesliga action in Austria when it held the rights in Germany. However, talks between the Sportsman Media Group and Premiere have broken down, leaving commercial network ATV as the only broadcaster in Austria with rights.
ATV's deal includes the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons and allows it to pick one game to show live each week. Carsten Schmidt, a member of the board responsible for sports and new business at Premiere told Kicker magazine that Premiere was interested in the rights, which are currently held by public service broadcasters ARD and ZDF. The DFB, the German soccer federation, suggested last week that ARD and ZDF’s six-year, €390-million ($527 million) contract, which expires in 2009, would be extended.
Meanwhile, Premiere has shown an interest in acquiring the rights to show the top match each week from the 3.Liga, which is replacing the third-tier Regionalliga from 2008. Source: Sportcal, 22nd Aug 2007
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