Friday, 14th January 2011

RIGHTS FEE


=>  Singapore pay-TV, Starhub, has acquired the Italian Serie A from MP & Silva. Starhub’s deal is for the remainder of this season and the all of 2011-12, replacing SingTel as the rights-holder when their deal expired at the end of last season. Sports Group subscribers will get 118 live matches this season, with up to 6 live HD games per week on Football Channel, SuperSports and Sports HD and also on Starhub’s mobile and internet platforms. Starhub also has rights to the German Bundesliga and Spanish Liga BBVA, compensating for the loss of rights to England's Premier League to SingTel from 2010-11 onwards.

=>  An invitation to submit offers for broadcast rights for the Uefa Champions League has been issued in the territories of Russia and Spain as Uefa and Team Marketing continue the sales process for the next rights cycle. The sales process began in Spain on Jan 3 and it was issued in Russia on Jan 11. Rights are presently shared in Spain by pubcaster, TVE, regional consortium, Forta, and agency, Mediapro. Russian terrestrial, NTV, holds the exclusive CL and Europa League rights from 2009-10 to 2011-12.


BROADCAST

=>  ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) and Astro are bringing 3D live broadcast of the Barclays Premier League to Malaysia, kicking off on Jan 16 with the Merseyside derby between Liverpool v Everton at 10 p.m. on ESPN 3D, followed by Tottenham Hotspur v Man. United at midnight on Astro SuperSport 3D. Astro B.yond customers with a sports package and 3D TVs at home can watch both 3D matches live. More live 3D broadcasts will follow throughout February.

=>  French soccer fans would watch matches from the Ligue 1 on Friday evenings as opposed to Sundays, according to an LFP poll. The LFP is considering the addition of new kick-off times, including a Friday evening match, to drive up revenue during the next broadcast rights tender for 2012-13 onwards. The survey results published by Le Figaro newspaper, found that 60% of fans were in favour of a Friday match, ahead of 48% for Saturday games and 46% for Sunday games. Ligue 1 matches are presently played on Saturdays and Sundays. 39% of Canal Plus subscribers polled would like to see 2 Ligue 1 matches per week, with 25% saying that they would like 3 matches broadcast per week and 17% backing just one match per week. Surprisingly, results also showed Canal Plus subscribers preferring Ligue 2 to English soccer’s Premier League.

=>  Superbike World Championship reached a cumulative audience of almost 500 million in 2010, according to Infront Sports and Media, which organises and promoted the series. The audience increased by 33% compared with 2009 figures, with 3,000 hours of coverage broadcast in a total of 175 countries. Live television coverage increased by 18%, with especially high viewing figures in Italy, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, the UK and across Asia. The official website experienced a 30% rise in unique visitors to 4 million, compared with 2009. Hannspree, the series’ title sponsor, and top sponsors Pirelli and Alfa Romeo each received over 400 hours of brand exposure from television coverage. The 2011 season begins on Feb 27 at Phillip Island, Australia. The series will be offering extended high definition television coverage this season.

=>  The BBC has announced that it will broadcast the F1 World Championship in high definition for the first time in 2011. The move comes after rights-owner, Formula One Management, said that a HD feed would be available to all broadcasters for the first time. The decision was welcomed by USA’s Speed Channel, which also plans to offer HD coverage of 16 races this season. The other four are shown by Fox. Germany’s Sky Deutschland also announced that it will broadcast in HD this year. The new Formula 1 season begins with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 11 to 13.


CONTENT

=>  Sony Ericsson, a major sponsor of the Women’s Tennis Association, revealed plans for a new entertainment show to be shown online and on mobile handsets featuring a group of up-and-coming female players. ‘Xperia Hot Shots’ will debut in March and follow the lives of six potential stars of the top-level WTA Tour, both on and off the court throughout the 2011 season, as they seek to raise their profiles and compete for a sponsorship deal with Sony Ericsson. The programme will be streamed on YouTube and the players will be encouraged to use their Sony Ericsson Xperia handsets to film their own content to share with fans on online social networks such as Facebook.


EVENT

=>  German automaker, BMW, has signed a deal to be the title sponsor of the 2nd edition of the WTA Tour’s Malaysian Open event. Last year’s inaugural event was without a title sponsor until the Golden Horses Health Sanctuary stepped in at the last minute. The BMW Malaysian Open, scheduled to take place at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort on Febr 28 to Mar 6, offers a prize purse of $220,000.

=>  The 2022 FIFA World Cup should be played across the Arabian Gulf rather than just in Qatar, says UEFA chief Michel Platini. Platini, who called for a winter World Cup to be considered in 2022, said it would be a good idea for the Qatar competition to be opened up to other countries. Neither the winter tournament suggestion nor the cross-Gulf idea was discussed in public during last year’s World Cup bidding. Platini also urged England to stop complaining about its defeat to Russia for the 2018 World Cup.

=>  Rio de Janeiro city officials will investigate possible structural failures that could delay renovation work at the Maracana stadium, the proposed venue of the 2014 FIFA World Cup final. Renovation work was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012. The planned $420 million redevelopment included a roof extension and a new lower tier. However, the city's department in charge of the revamp released a statement after O Globo newspaper reported that structural problems could delay the renovation by six months and increase its cost to nearly $600 million.

=>  The Portuguese Gymnastics Federation has been forced to cancel the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Cup event that it was due to host between March 4 and 6, citing internal concerns. Apologising for the late cancellation, the PGF said "a slew of politically-oriented obstacles" within the local organising committee had made it "impossible to hold the event". FIG, the world governing body, also announced that it had moved the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup event in Glasgow, Scotland to April 16 to avoid a clash with royal wedding of Prince William on April 29. Meanwhile, this year's Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Tokyo will act as a qualifying event for the 2012 London Olympics and has been scheduled for Oct 7 to 16.


OTHER NEWS

=>  AFC president, Mohamed Bin Hammam, has cast doubt on India's ability to host a World Cup any time soon. Comments attributed to FIFA’s Sepp Blatter earlier suggesting that India could be an option to stage the 2026 World Cup. Bin Hammam doubted India had the soccer infrastructure to host the 2019 Asian Cup, let alone a World Cup. India is ranked 144 in the world and has struggled to make a mark on the international soccer stage but has qualified for the Asian Cup. Its domestic league is set to undergo a major revamp. JV, IMG Reliance, was recently appointed as the long-term broadcast and marketing partner of the All India Football Federation in a 15-year agreement to restructure and overhaul the game of football throughout India.

=>  Sri Lanka will probe the controversial Nimbus deal that caused a storm in cricket circles and cost Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) a few million dollars. Indian pay-TV, Nimbus, was locked in arbitration last year with SLC for defaulting a staggering payment of US$3.6 million but SLC settled with them after accepting a lower figure than what was due. SLC had a bitter experience with Nimbus earlier (in 2001) when the SLC cancelled a deal and SLC had to pay US$5 million in damages to Nimbus.

=>  Maria Sharapova has signed a multi-year endorsement deal with tennis racquet manufacturer, Head. The deal is reportedly worth US$2 million annually. The endorsement will see the 3-time Grand Slam champion work with Head to develop a new racquet. Under the terms of the collaboration, Sharapova will also oversee development and design of Head products such as a high-performance tour racquet line as well as a range of junior and kid’s racquets, accessories and tennis bags to be released in coming years.

=>  The Int. Olympic Committee (IOC) has revealed that it has the power to postpone the 2014 F1 Grand Prix in Sochi if it feels the race could hamper preparations for the Winter Olympics in the same year. The IOC had obtained an “escape” clause that could see the 2014 race, earmarked as Russia’s first F1 grand prix, postponed until 2015.

=>  Further doubts loom over the prospects of a F1 race on the streets of Rome after series promoter, Bernie Ecclestone, told the city’s mayor that a second grand prix in Italy is unlikely to be sanctioned. He is also quoted as saying the GP at Monza, confirmed on the calendar for the next 5 years is “untouchable”. Ferrari had already expressed reservations about staging more than one race in the country, saying countries without a GP should get priority. Spain is the only country with 2 Formula 1 rounds – the Spanish GP in Barcelona and European GP in Valencia. The calendar is expanding to 20 races this year, adding the Indian GP.

=>  Meanwhile, the Formula One Teams Association investigate claims that some teams might have exceeded permitted budget levels in 2010. World champions Red Bull Racing are reported to have broken the resource restriction signed by all members of FOTA, which sets self-imposed limits on spending by the teams. However, the told the BBC that they had worked within the limits. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was the drivers’ world champion in 2010, while the team picked up the constructors’ world title.

=>  The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) has signed a deal with TSE Consulting to create a strategic plan that aims to increase recognition of IFAF worldwide and align it with other international governing bodies. IFAF wants to enhance its image as the worldwide governing body of international American Football and further develop its strategic plan for becoming a recognised Olympic sport. As part of the new agreement, TSE will conduct research on the perceptions of IFAF and of American Football among international sports leaders and develop a strategic plan based on this analysis.