Tuesday, 20th May 2008

SPORTS SHORTS

* The members of Real Madrid have rejected a new set of statutes for the club amid calls for chairman Ramon Calderon to resign. In a block vote on the new statutes, 682 members voted against and 150 in favour, with 34 abstentions. It represents a serious blow for Calderon, who has held the post since 2006, and who also had to endure some members calling for his resignation. The statutes included a new name for the club – Real Madrid Football and Basketball Club – as well as modifications to the voting system on club issues. The meeting was overshadowed by a series of confrontations between two groups of members, one led by Calderon and the other by former chairman Florentino Perez. Sportcal, 19th May 2008

* Indian pay-television channel, Neo Cricket, has acquired the rights for forthcoming Tri Nation Series between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh from the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Neo Cricket will show all matches live and exclusive in India, Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Neo Cricket EVP programming, Mautik Tolia, said: “India- Pakistan one-day-internationals are the most exciting form of cricket and the Tri Nation’s format in a day/night backdrop provides for unparalleled viewer interests”. The tournament starts on June 8. Sport Business, 16th May 2008

* ESPN has acquired television, internet and mobile rights in the Pacific Rim for the home league matches of ten of the top Serie A clubs in a two-year deal with the MP & Silva agency. The deal covers the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, and includes the home Serie A fixtures of AC Milan, FC Inter Milan, FC Juventus, Fiorentina, AS Roma, SS Lazio, Genoa, Cagliari, Catania and Torino. Serie A joins ESPN’s lineup of European football properties, including UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and Spain‘s La Liga. Sport Business, Sportcal, 16th May 2008

* The oldest football club in the United Arab Emirates is to become the first club in the region to have its own satellite sports channel. Ambitious Al Nasr, which was founded in 1945, has announced it will launch the project in January 2009. The 'Nasrawina' channel will broadcast a range of sports, on top of covering the club's exploits. "It will be a new addition to the other sports channels (like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah) to serve the sports and youth in the UAE," said Al Nasr board member Shaikh Mohammad Bin Maktoum. Sports Media, 16th May 2008

* Cardiff City’s shirt sponsor, CommsDirect, have turned down a £500,000 offer from an Asian online gambling company to buy their advertising rights for tomorrow’s FA Cup final. Welsh-based CommsDirect, who sell 3G mobile phone contracts, said they intended to take advantage of the “once in a century” opportunity to have global television exposure at the Wembley fixture between Cardiff and Portsmouth. CommsDirect said they were approached by a sports marketing agency representing an undisclosed online gambling business based in Asia three days after Cardiff’s semi-final win over Barnsley. The agency offered £500,000 to have its clients’ name emblazoned on Cardiff’s strip for the final instead of CommsDirect. Sport Business, 16th May 2008

* Manchester City has opened an official club store in Bangkok as club owner Thaksin Shinawatra continues his drive to turn the Barclays Premier League outfit into a global brand. The store will aim to become the centre and network for all City fan clubs and supporters. It will be the centre of all club activities in Thailand and allow Thai fans to connect with other City fans around the world. Said Khun Pinthongtha Shinawatra, executive director of Manchester City Thailand, "The management of MCFC Thailand is determined to organise events and programmes together with fan clubs and supporters of MCFC around the world. All of us here will open the Thai football fan to a global experience." Football Insider, 19th May 2008

* IEC in Sports, the Stockholm-based media agency, has been appointed to distribute the international media rights of the Vodacom Challenge, the invitational friendly soccer tournament which celebrates its 10th edition this summer. The tournament will take place in South Africa on July 19 to 26 featuring two South African teams, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, along with Manchester United, newly-crowned champions of English soccer's top-tier Premier League. Sportcal, 16th May 2008

* Drifting will slide into millions of households after Formula Drift concluded a comprehensive and exclusive race programming schedule with Speed TV . The 2008 Formula Drift Championship Series will air on Speed beginning October 26 and continue through December 21. The 8-stop Formula Drift Championship Series and World Championship programmes will air over nine Sundays. Each episode will showcase one round of the Championship Series and continue all the way through the National Championships and into the final episode showcasing the inaugural Formula Drift World Championships. Each episode will re-air during the week immediately following the initial broadcast. Sport Media, 16th May 2008

* The International Association of Athletics Federations put a brave face on a surprise decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that Oscar Pistorius, the South African double amputee athlete, is eligible to run in able-bodied competitions under IAAF rules. However, the IAAF pointed out that the CAS ruling was based on a decision that, 'at this time, not enough is known scientifically to prove that Pistorius obtains an advantage from the use of the prostheses,' perhaps leaving open the possibility of a further challenge when the science advances further. The IAAF had earlier commissioned a study which concluded that Pistorius, a Paralympic champion, received an unfair advantage from the carbon fibre 'blades' attached to his legs. Sportcal, 16th May 2008

* The women's final at tennis' Australian Open is to be played at night from next year as organisers seek ways of increasing the television audience for the event. The move follows a similar time switch for the men's final. Traditionally, the women's final has been played on Saturday afternoons. Craig Tilley, the tournament director, said: 'We have been thinking about a night final for the women ever since the men's night final proved such an outstanding success. Our research has shown that the Australian tennis public would prefer the women's singles final to be played at night.' The move has been approved by the Women's Tennis Association, Tilley said. Sportcal, 18th May 2008


MORE NEWS

Asia/General: Lagardère Acquires 70% in WSG

French business group Lagardère has acquired a 70 per cent stake in Singapore-based sports marketing and television rights consultancy World Sports Group Holdings Ltd (WSG) in a deal worth up to US$150 million. Lagardère will make an initial payment of $125 million for the share of capital and voting rights, to be followed by a further $25 million in three years time, contingent upon “cash flow performance criteria”.

Lagardère said that the current WSG management will stay in place. WSG is the leading player in the Asian football television rights market, which accounted for a large part of its $146 million revenues in 2007. Its other shareholders are Sheikh Kamel, owner of Middle East pay-television broadcasterb ART, who has a 20 per cent stake, and Japanese agency Dentsu, which owns 10%.

A Lagardère press release said the acquisition offered the group “access to the fast-growing Asian football market, with unchallenged market leadership in the region; development of its leadership position in the world football rights industry; expansion of the footprint and better reach for Lagardère Sports’ strategic partners (rights holders and sports governing bodies); a move into the cricket market via Twenty20, a format with very substantial growth potential.” Sport Business, Rapid TV News, Sportcal, 19th May 2008

The Philippines/Broadcast: Nielsen to Present Findings

NIELSEN Media Research will present its findings to the Philippine Basketball Association board of governors tomorrow, based on parameters set by the league regarding the two organizations vying for its television rights. The board earlier pruned down the candidates to the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN and Solar Sports, whose branding as a sports entity has been established, although the growing involvement of ABS-CBN Sports in the past several months with big-time boxing events, has shown the network means business.

While there has been speculation about the cash component of the respective bids, some of the more influential board members, including former chairman Ricky Vargas have indicated that money was not the deciding factor in evaluating the respective bids of ABS-CBN and Solar Sports, which indicated it would telecast the games on the government-sequestered RPN Channel 9. Since ABS-CBN’s proposal indicated the games would be telecast on Studio 23, home of both the highly successful University Athletic Association of the Philippines and National Collegiate Athletic Association coverage, the PBA board wanted Nielsen to provide its inputs that would help the league in choosing a broadcast partner.

PBA chairman Tony Chua and commissioner Sonny Barrios were among those who met with the Nielsen representatives prior to the All Star Weekend in Bacolod City to discuss the league’s requirements in a study on reach, demographics and ratings of the two groups vying for the TV rights. Manila Standard, 5th May 2008

Meanwhile, PBA chairman Tony Chua said the board of governors will reconvene on May 19 to hopefully make a choice on which network to award the league’s television franchise between ABS-CBN and Solar Sports. Chua told Viva Sports/Standard Today that the Nielsen Media Research report showed that the two competing stations, Studio 23 of ABS-CBN and the government-sequestered network RPN-9 with whom Solar Sports has a huge block-time arrangement, “were almost balanced, but on the marketing and cross promotions ABS-CBN was definitely ahead.”

Chua revealed that what needed to be discussed among the board members was the duration of the contract, which will begin with the new 2008-2009 season. He said ABS-CBN was pitching for a seven-year contract, divided into a first contract of four years, followed by a subsequent option for another three years with a different configuration in terms of the financial arrangements. Manila Standard, 9th May 2008

India/Broadcast: BARC Makes Ratings Obligatory

India currently uses viewer diary entries for its ratings system. The market has been demanding something better for some time. Now, the government is stepping in. India’s Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) is investing $20m, along with some extra cash from ad-agencies and major advertisers, to set up an independent ratings measurement system throughout the country. BARC president Pradeep Guha (who is also CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises) has been pushing for the move for some time. "The attempt is to make a system that is fair, transparent and applicable for all stakeholders,” he said.

The current system is dissatisfactory and the sample size and spread is inadequate, added Guha while participating in an open house on the TRP (television rating points) system organised by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) President Jawahar Goel – also connected with Zee - said the need for a better system is underscored by the fact that TRP is driving content and also that the size of the market has grown massively over the past few years. Rapid TV News, 18th May 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: Belgian Soccer TV Deal Stalls After Bids Deemed too Low

Ligue Pro, Belgium’s Professional Football League, has once more delayed the allocation of broadcast rights for the country’s top-tier Jupiler League, after bids raised only €44.7 million ($69.3 million) per season. The allocation of rights from 2009-10 onwards was rescheduled for today, but bids from incumbent rights holder Belgacom, the telecommunications firm, and VRT and RTBF, the public-service broadcasters, were below the league’s stated target of €50 million to €65 million per season. Belgacom bid a reported €36.7 million per season, while VRT and RTBF jointly offered €8 million, but the bids have not been accepted and the league has now postponed the award until Friday.

The award of rights was last week delayed as Ligue Pro awaited a vote from URBSFA, the Belgian Football Federation, on a proposed reduction in the number of teams from 18 to 16 for the 2009-10 season. The reduction of the league was approved at the weekend, although the second division clubs are set to launch an appeal, but despite the reform approvals, Ligue Pro has still been unable to allocate the rights for three seasons from 2009-10 onwards. Belgacom, the telecommunications group, acquired all the broadcast rights from 2005-06 to 2007-08 for €36 million per season, before sub-licensing rights to VRT and RTBF.

Rights from 2009-10 onwards were split into seven packages, with Belgacom bidding for the pay-television packages and VRT and RTBF bidding for the free-to-air packages, but the €44 million raised has not proved enough for the league. The league could now invite another round of bidding to drive up the price further, a tactic successfully employed by the French league for its recent award of broadcast rights. BeTV, the pay-television operator, is also thought to have bid for the rights but was unable to satisfy all of the contractual conditions required. Sportcal, 18th May 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: Euro 2008 Set for €1.05bn in TV and Sponsorship Revenue

Soccer’s Euro 2008 is set to generate a reported €1.05 billion ($1.64 billion) in television and sponsorship revenue, an increase of over €300 million on the last edition of the tournament in 2004. Worldwide television and new media rights sales equate to around €800 million, or 76.1 per cent, of the total revenue, with sponsorship fees making up the €250 million remainder. The €800 million figure represents a rise of more than 40 per cent on the €560 million raised in television rights fees for Euro 2004.

Market-by-market broadcast rights sales conducted by Sportfive, the international sports marketing agency, helped increase the figure, which includes at least €476 million for rights to the tournament in the five major European markets of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. For the European Championships in Portugal in 2004, the European Broadcasting Union, the umbrella body of mainly public-service broadcasters, held the distribution rights in Europe in a deal worth €540 million.

The development of the Asian market and the sale of rights for new media platforms have also helped boost broadcast revenue. Uefa, European soccer’s governing body, had targeted at least €600 million from the sale of broadcast rights by Sportfive in the whole of Europe. Sportfive was also awarded the Euro 2008 distribution rights in all territories outside Europe except North and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East and North Africa, Japan and Hong Kong.

Sponsorship deals for Euro 2008 look set to generate €250 million, compared to €183 million for Euro 2004. The tournament has 10 official tournament sponsors, plus national partners in the host nations of Austria and Switzerland. The four national sponsors in Austria are paying around €8 million each. The 2008 European Championships will take place on June 7 to 29. Sportcal, 18th May 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: Serie B Clubs Threaten Boycott Over TV Rights

The chairmen of clubs from Italian soccer’s second-tier Serie B league have threatened to boycott the start of the 2008-09 season because of a continuing row over television rights. A statement from the 20 Serie B clubs read: ‘There is too much disappointment over the television rights deals this year which has left us outside of everything, plus the agreement with Serie A [the top-tier league] that penalises B.’ The Serie B clubs have not had a permanent television deal in place for the 2007-08 season, which has added to their overall debts. The second-flight clubs have voiced their discontent about the high rights fees being paid to Serie A clubs and the amount that Rai, the Italian public service broadcaster, is spending on international soccer.

In October, the clubs protested at the lack of live television coverage by deciding to prevent crews from entering their stadia. Rai and Sky Italia, the pay-television operator, both failed to meet the asking price set for Serie B rights earlier in the season. Sky Italia also offered to show the matches on a pay-per-view basis on a revenue share basis. Sportcal, 18th May 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: New Gold Dream

* In the field of broadcasting nothing went up higher than rights to the Olympics. CBS Canada paid a little more than half a million dollars for the U.S. rights to the 1960 Summer Games in Rome; NBC will pay $1.18 billion for 2012 Summer Games in London. The Winter Games are considered the lesser of the Olympics but they too have followed a similar track.
* The CBC's worst fears were realized in early 2005, when the IOC approved CTV-Rogers' bid of $93 million for 2010, and then threw in the 2012 Summer Games in London for more than $60 million. CTV promptly announced its plans for 22 hours of coverage daily on the main network, including all major events and finals.
* Back in 2000, Olympic results posted on the Internet subverted replays on networks. Now the Web will enable viewers to watch live action or events on demand on CTVglobemedia and Rogers sites. Online offers precise real-time metrics for viewership.
* No sports event fits the same template as the Olympics but one comes reasonably close: March Madness, the U.S. collegiate basketball championship, with 63 games and 300 hours of preview and game programming over 17 days. CBS, the rights holder, first offered online coverage and game downloads on a subscription basis in 2005, generating just $250,000 in revenue. The network executives thought so little of it after that first run that they decided to give it away. On the strength of advertising sales, CBS online coverage last year generated $4 million; this year it spiked to $21 million. There seems little reason to think that Olympic hockey would be any less of an attraction in Canada for two weeks in February.
Excerpted from article by Gare Joyce in the Financial Post, 6th May 2008

Global/General: WTCC Popularity Increasing

Eurosport has revealed the popularity of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) is spreading around the world. For the 2008 season, Eurosport Events - the promoter of the WTCC through its KSO subsidiary - has signed agreements covering 160 countries across Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East. The Championship will be aired by more than 62 channels, an improvement of 51% on last year, with 37 terrestrial channels, 15 cable and satellite networks and 10 pan-regional networks showing the event. The Eurosport Group grants extensive live coverage of the WTCC through the Eurosport network, reaching more than 113 million homes across 59 countries.

Improvements in the TV distribution have been achieved in three key countries: United Kingdom (ITV4), Russia (TV Center) and Japan (free-to-air network TXN, which includes TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, TV Aichi, TV Setouchi, TV Hokkaido and TV Kyushu). WTCC also benefits from new live coverage on AYM (Mexico), ART (Middle East) and TV Paprika (Slovenia). In addition, Eurosport Events has renewed broadcast agreements for live or highlights coverage with the major free-to-air or pan-regional networks of NTV (Germany), Telecinco (Spain), TF1 (France), RTL 7 (Netherlands), RAI (Italy), RTP (Portugal), Czech TV (Czech Republic), RTBF (Belgium), Globosat (Brazil), Gaora (Japan), CCTV (China), Zee (India) and ESPN Star Sports (Pan Asia). Sports Media, 19th May 2008