Wednesday, 14th May 2008

SPORT SHORTS

* US broadcaster ESPN, has acquired rights for the US Open Tennis Championship in a six-year, $140 million deal from 2009 to 2014, with the US Tennis Association. The deal includes rights to the Olympus US Open Series tournaments. ESPN2 will show live matches in the tournament's first week from 1 pm until the end of play. The second week will have a four-hour window on Labor Day between 7pm and 11pm; the rest of the second week will have live coverage from 11 am until the end of play, or more than 12 consecutive hours. ESPN.360 will show live coverage of all courts during ESPN2's television window.The broadcast network rights are held by CBS, which has a contract with the USTA until 2011. ESPN is the first channel to have held the rights to all four Grand Slam events simultaneously. Sportbusiness.com, Sportcal, USTA Official, 13th May 2008

* Staging last year’s Sudirman Cup generated £6.7 million ($13 million) additional expenditure in Glasgow. Paul Bush, chief operating officer of EventScotland, the country’s government-funded major events agency, said: ‘Public sector partners invested £745,000 to bring the championships to Scotland and the economic impact of the event shows a solid return on this investment.’ The expenditure included £3.5 million spent by visitors from outside Scotland. The competition attracted 15,000 visitors from across the world. Some 1,000 competitors participated, plus 500 team and event officials. More than 100 jobs were created as a result of the event. Sportcal.com, 13th May 2008

* SingTel's combined mobile customer base in the region has reached 185.34 million at end- March from 123.79 million a year ago. The group's eight markets; Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, rose 8%, a record 13.80 million customers, in the first quarter. SingTel saw a record 244,000 mobile customers in Singapore this quarter bringing its mobile customer base to 2.57 million as of end-March, a 41% increase in its base compared with a year ago. Growth was fueled by demand in the prepaid mobile segment. During the quarter, SingTel netted 207,000 prepaid mobile customers, pushing its prepaid base past the one million-mark. SingTel is the market leader with 1.2 million prepaid users. It maintained its postpaid leadership with 37,000 customers added in the quarter. 3G customer base also grew to 859,000 as at end March. Telecomasia.net, 14th May 2008

* Indian DTH satellite pay-TV platform Tata Sky has clocked up its two-millionth subscriber, just 20 months since the joint venture between Tata Group (80%) and Star TV (20%) was launched. Commenting on the milestone, Vikram Kaushik, MD and CEO of Tata Sky, said: "This vindicates our commitment to transform the way people watch television in India." Tata Sky competes with other DTH platforms such as DD Direct Plus and DishTV. C21 Media, ATV, 13th May 2008

* After winning the Women's Asia Cup for the fourth time in Sri Lanka, India launched preparations for ICC's Women's World Cup 2009 in style. India defeated Sri Lanka by 177 runs in the final, extending its winning streak in the history of the tournament to 22 matches. India's supreme performance in Sri Lanka highlights it as one of the teams to watch at the ICC Women's World Cup in Sydney, Australia in March next year. Defending champion Australia, New Zealand, England, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will take part in the event that will be the first to be played under the auspices of the ICC since its merger with the International Women's Cricket Council (IWCC) in 2005. Newswebindia123.com, 13th May 2008

* YuuZoo signed an exclusive mobile partnership with MSN targeting more than 1 billion mobile users in China and a swathe of key markets in Asia. YuuZoo will develop, host and maintain a range of mobile content on a co-branded MSNYuuZoo site. MSN will provide ad placements across its network to promote YuuZoo content and both partners will work together on integration in key content areas, including editorial placements. In India, the world's second largest mobile market, the partnership will be non-exclusive. Substantial online impressions on MSN across China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines have kicked off in conjunction with the launch. Marketing-interacitve.com, 14th May 2008

* Juventus has reported a reduced net loss of €800,000 ($1.24 million) for the third quarter of the financial year, due in part to higher television rights sales. Losses narrowed from €4.5 million at the same stage in 2007 after the Turin club won promotion back to Serie A. They were previously demoted to Serie B for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal. Juventus said that television rights increased in value from €25.6 million to €37.9 million, while sponsorship was up from €7.6 million to €10.2 million. Sportcal.com, 13th May 2008

* A South African news site has reported the real reason for Dali Mpofu’s suspension as Group CEO of the SABC is that the organisation had lost its soccer broadcasting rights, according to a statement issued by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. The Premier Soccer League’s exclusive TV rights to all fixtures were awarded to SuperSport International last year for R1billion over five years. This was a major blow for the SABC since it had already lost the rugby and cricket broadcasing rights to Supersport. Sowetan, 12th May 2008

* A proposed four-year deal between the European Broadcasting Union and the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, excludes Germany and Spain because broadcasters there remain nervous about making a long-term commitment after doping allegations in recent seasons. The EBU’s present deal with the UCI for the European market expires at the end of this year and Alexandre Baudin, the UCI’s marketing manager, said that the broadcasting body has until the end month to finalise its extension offer, excluding two of Europe’s most important markets. Rights outside Europe are handled on a territory-by-territory basis by the UCI. Baudin pointed to increased interest in the UCI’s rights from Asia. Rights have only been sold directly to Japan under the present contract, but Baudin said that it had received offers for ‘all Asian territories for the World Championships and World Cups.’ Sportcal, 13th May 2008

* The UK's Wembley stadium becomes a contender to host the 2011 Champions League final after the UK government agreed to relax tax charges on overseas footballers' earnings. Wembley lost out on the 2010 final because of the tax rule, which might have made players liable to pay tax on bonuses and endorsements if they appeared at a UK event, even if based overseas. Uefa awarded the 2010 final to Real Madrid ahead of Wembley because of the taxation rule. Sportbusiness.com, 13th May 2008


MORE NEWS

WWE: Q1 Revenue Rises to $162.6 mn

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced financial results for its first quarter ended 31 March, 2008. Revenues totalled $162.6 million as compared to $107.4 million in the comparable prior year quarter. Operating income was $27.1 million, as against $20.6 million. Net income was $19.5 million, or $0.27 per share, as compared to $15.1 million, or $0.21 per share, in the prior year quarter.

WWE CEO Linda McMahon says, “Our first quarter results reflect the power of our premiere event, WrestleMania® XXIV. Our WrestleMania brand provides us with a unique opportunity to showcase our creative content and marketing talents across a multitude of media outlets. In addition to posting solid financial results in the first quarter, we are actively expanding our global brand presence through our newly established international offices.

WrestleMania XXIV contributed in the aggregate approximately $31.3 million of revenues and $7.1 million of profit contribution ($4.6 million, net of tax), to our results for the first quarter of 2008, whereas WrestleMania 23 contributed in the aggregate approximately $31.4 million of revenues and $9.7 million of profit contribution ($6.6 million, net of tax) in the second quarter of 2007.

Revenues from live and televised Entertainment businesses were $99.8 million for the current quarter as compared to $63.0 million in the prior year quarter, representing a 58 per cent increase. Live event revenues were $24.6 million as compared to $18.2 million in the prior year quarter, primarily due to the inclusion of WrestleMania XXIV in the current quarter. WrestleMania XXIV generated approximately $5.9 million in revenue in the current quarter. There were 74 events, including eight international events during the current quarter, as compared to 71 events, including eight international events, in the prior year quarter.

North American average attendance was approximately 7,200 in the current quarter as compared to 6,900 in the prior year quarter, an increase of 4%. The average ticket price for North American events was approximately $45.39 in the current quarter as compared to $36.30 in the prior year quarter. Excluding the impact of WrestleMania, North American average attendance was 6,300 and average ticket price was $38.08 in the current quarter.

PayPerView revenues were $41.2 million as compared to $15.8 million in the prior year quarter. There were three PayPerView events produced in each quarter; however, as discussed above, WrestleMania XXIV occurred in the first quarter of fiscal 2008, and WrestleMania 23 occurred in the second quarter of fiscal 2007.

Revenues from the consumer products businesses were $43.4 million versus $37.4 million in the prior year quarter, representing a 16 per cent increase. Home Video net revenues were $14 million as compared to $13.4 million in the prior year quarter. The company shipped over 175,000 units of both The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H®: King of Kings DVD titles in the current quarter.

Licensing revenues were $26.2 million as compared to $20.6 million in the prior year quarter, primarily reflecting increases in video game sales and apparel. Video game revenues increased by $5 million, reflecting the sales of the SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 title, while revenues related to licensed apparel increased by approximately $0.5 million in the current quarter. Magazine publishing net revenues were $2.9 million, essentially flat as compared to the prior year quarter. Revenues from the digital media related businesses were $8.1 million as compared to $7 million in the prior year, representing a 16 per cent increase. WWE.com revenues were $4.5 million as compared to $2.8 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting $1.1 million of additional advertising related revenues and $0.4 million of additional revenues from wireless content. Indiantelevision.com, 13th May 2008

Elsewhere/General: Premier League Insists Cash Gap Is Closing

Premier League chiefs insist the financial gap between the top clubs and those at the bottom is closing despite Manchester United's record income from the season. Sir Alex Ferguson's side earned £78 million in television cash and prize money over the season, £50 million more than bottom side Derby County. The equivalent figure last season, under the previous broadcast deals, was £40 million - and it was just £30 million in the 2005-06 season when earnings from the UEFA Champions League were not so high.

However, in percentage terms the smaller clubs have done better than the bigger ones. United's income rose 25% compared to last season, while Derby earned £28.2 million, a 56.5% increase on the £18 million earned by Watford a year ago. Premier League communications director Dan Johnson said: "The new broadcasting deals are closing the gap, because the biggest increases have been in the overseas contracts which are divided equally between the 20 clubs. Furthermore, the increase in money means a lot more to the smaller clubs because it is a much bigger percentage of their turnover."

Johnson also pointed out that all clubs are now guaranteed a minimum of 10 payments for being featured in live games, whether or not they actually appear in 10 live matches. That means all 20 clubs are guaranteed £4.6 million in 'facility fees' plus a further £460,000 for each extra live game they are featured in. For example, Newcastle United was screened in 20 live league matches, meaning it earned £9.2 million from facility fees - double the amount of the likes of Middlesbrough, Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic who all featured in fewer than 10.

The Champions League continues to be the big divide with a huge gap between the four clubs in the elite European competition and the rest. United earned at least £28.1 million from Europe - and will top the £30 million mark if it wins the final - while Liverpool took in £18 million. By contrast, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton all earned less than £500,000 for their UEFA Cup campaigns even though they made it to the last 16. Football Insider, 13th May 2008

Elsewhere/General: Hefty Bonus Awaits ‘Invincible’ Midfielder Park

Soccer star Park Ji-sung could earn up to 7.3 billion won (about 7.3 million U.S. dollars) this season, including 570 million won for Manchester United’s second straight English Premier League title won Sunday against Wigan. His next game is against Chelsea in the final of the UEFA Champions League May 22 in Moscow. If Park plays in Moscow and his team wins, he will become the first Asian to take part in a Champions League final and earn a bonus of 110 million won.

Park’s annual salary is 5.7 billion won but he can earn a 10-percent bonus if United adds the Champions League title. In addition, team owner Malcolm Glazer has pledged a bonus of 510 million won to each player if the Red Devils achieve the double. Thus Park will earn a bonus of 1.65 billion won if his team wins the Champions League. Adding to his annual salary, his income for this season could reach 7.35 billion won or more if his team pays a higher bonus than promised.

Often dubbed the most famous sports franchise on the planet, United is able to pay such high bonuses because of the astronomical profit it reaps. The English Premier League charged 5.5 trillion won for three years of TV broadcast rights from this season. About half of the money is evenly distributed to the league’s 20 teams, while a fourth is given based on performance and the remaining fourth depends on the number of times of live telecasts.

United will also receive 100 billion won in prize money alone. In addition, UEFA gives away 75% of broadcast and sponsorship income to participating clubs according to performance. AC Milan of Italy earned about 64 billion won for winning the Champions League last year. Donga Korea, 13th May 2008


ARTICLES, COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS & OPINIONS

IPTV Operators Searching for Competitive Differentiation

In the past five years, IPTV has grown from a handful of deployments by a few pioneering telcos and ISPs to an established part of the pay-TV landscape with services spanning the globe from Australia to the Ukraine. But now, according to ABI Research, this "adolescent" industry must find ways to create a distinct identity so it can continue to grow and prosper, with IPTV operators creating unique service offerings that are differentiated from the traditional video services of their key competitors.

Some services have recently crossed the symbolically important 1-million-subscriber threshold. But, says senior analyst Cesar Bachelet, "IPTV operators must now leverage the characteristics of the new platform to produce a differentiated offering, redefining the experience of television."

"From a technology perspective," Bachelet concludes, "all the tools are there, enabling IPTV operators to move to the next level and bring greater choice, convenience, and control to consumers. However, operators must tread carefully in order not to overwhelm subscribers with too many new features at once, and business models still need to be defined for some of the new value-added services in order to monetise them without alienating subscribers." ATV, 14th May 2008