Friday, 28th January 2011

RIGHTS FEE & DISTRIBUTION

=>  V8 Supercars Australia looks set to proceed with a sale of a controlling stake in the business ahead of crucial broadcast rights negotiations. V8 Supercars board will solicit offers for at least 50.1% of the business, which generated A$135 million in revenue last year. Possible buyers include private equity or sports agencies such as IMG and Octagon although the two latter are outside chances to show interest in owning the sport. Channel Seven paid over A$100m for the current 6-year deal (including production), expires in 2012. Ten Network is interested in bidding for the next broadcast rights, although Seven has first and last rights of negotiations.


BROADCAST

=>  Australia's Channel Seven experienced a first-week drop in ratings for the Australian Open for the second year in a row. Viewers dropped by 14-17% compared to last year, which was 23-29% lower than 2009. The drop was attributed to increased competition from digital channels, one-day cricket matches and Oprah's Australian television special (which aired in the country last week). Early losses by Australian players did not help ratings. However, Channel Seven did top competitor Channel Nine on five out of seven nights with primetime tennis.

=>  The Scottish Premier League will relook the idea of launching a TV channel. A similar plan fell by the wayside in 2002 after it failed to gain support from Celtic and Rangers. SPL has announced the selection of IMG Media to investigate the feasibility. The SPL considered its own pay-per-view channel in 2002 when Sky Sports withdrew from bidding of rights after clubs rejected the company's TV offer. A 2-year deal was eventually agreed with BBC Scotland, which currently owns broadcast rights on terrestrial TV and online. Irish-based pay-TV Setanta won rights in 2008 with a deal worth £125m over four years. Former SPL chief, Roger Mitchell, said that he thinks his successor is doing the right thing by re-examining the proposal.


NEW MEDIA

=>  On the day when Yahoo! announced a second round of layoffs in six weeks, Google kicks off 2011 with over 500 hires in Asia Pacific. After cutting 700 employees last December, Yahoo! announced it will further lay off 1% of its global workforce, estimated at about 130 people. Google’ official blog post said 2011 will be "the biggest hiring year in company history", surpassing 2007 when it added 6,000 people to Google worldwide. In Japan and Asia Pacific, Google is planning to hire over 500 people. Google’s display advertising has been a main driver in 2010 and of its China business, with largest advertisers increasing spending by 75%. For Asia, Google would continue to act as an export gateway, allowing Asian businesses to connect with new international clients via export tools such as AdWords and AdSense.


DATA

=>  International sports agency, Octagon, launched the 3rd version of ‘Passion Drivers’ research initiative, which, it claims, enables sponsorship clients to get a better understanding of consumers. Passion Drivers launched in 2005 as a tool to enable sponsors to get an insight into motivations of sports and music fans and has been expanded to cover 11 countries on 6 continents and over 30 sports. The second version enabled clients to conduct proprietary research to deduce how each of their consumer segments connects with their sports and Passion Drivers 3.0 goes even further by allowing fan and consumer data to be cross-referenced.


EVENT

=>  The English Premier League announced that Proevents has been appointed as official event management partner of the 2011 Asia Trophy, a bi-annual pre-season soccer tournament held in Asia. The 5th edition of the tournament will be held in Hong Kong and sees Premier League champions Chelsea take on champions of the 2010/11 Hong Kong First Division League, alongside Aston Villa and Blackburn, in a knock-out tournament. The announcement is the second such contract which Proevents has secured. In August 2010 the consultancy was also named as the exclusive tour promoter for Chelsea's Asia Tour 2011.

=>  The ICC has ruled out the Cricket Association of Bengal’s Eden Gardens in Kolkatta as venue for the India-England ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 match to be held on 27 Feb due to failure to complete stadia work within a specified time for the match. Kolkata will however host its remaining share of matches. The Mumbai Cricket Association received clearance for Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai along with 3 Sri Lanka venues – Colombo, Hambantota and Pallekele – subject to minor finishing work to be completed within 14 days. It visited Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 24 January, while Kolkata was inspected on 25 January.

=>  Qatar will host the Men's Handball World Championship in 2015, after winning a four-way bidding competition. It is a fist for the Middle East to be selected as host of an international handball tournament and comes off the back of Qatar winning the right to stage soccer's 2022 World Cup. The International Handball Federation met in Sweden and chose Qatar ahead of Norway, France and Poland to host the men's event. The IHF Council also confirmed Denmark as host of the Women's Handball World Championships in 2015. Sweden is presently staging this year's Men's Handball World Championship and Brazil will host the women's event later in the year. Spain and Serbia will be the respective host countries in 2013

=>  Badminton Europe has been forced to extend the bidding deadline for its top clubs competition this year after no host was found. Member associations interested in holding the European Club Championships in June and July now have until February 15 to submit their bid to BE. The governing body was hoping to have made its decision already. BE said in a statement that it hopes to allocate the annual event to one of its members, "so that the tradition of crowning Europe's best club can continue." Last year's tournament, in which 21 teams competed, took place in Zwolle in the Netherlands.

=>  Power Horse has become the title sponsor the World Team Cup, an ATP World Tour clay court tennis tournament in Düsseldorf. The Austrian energy drinks brand will be given brand exposure around the tournament venue, the Rochus club, and on the official website. The future of the 33-year-old event had earlier been in doubt due to financial difficulties. Power Horse is likely to be contributing around half of the organisers' US$1.85 million total financial commitment. The Power Horse World Team Cup will take place from 15th to 21st May, with Argentina defending their title against seven other national teams.

=>  South Africa is putting in a bid for a grand prix in the hope of bringing a F1 race to Cape Town by 2013. The Cape Town Grand Prix Bid Company has a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone to discuss the feasibility of bringing a race to the city's Green Point coastline, with Table Mountain as a backdrop. However, Cape Town authorities cautioned that the costs of the project would be carefully evaluated after the city helped host the 2010 World Cup. The last South African GP was held at Kyalami in 1993 and F1 has not been present in Africa since. During World Cup 2010, Ecclestone said he would like the sport to return.


OTHER NEWS

=>  Dua Kelinci has struck a deal with Real Madrid FC for a local partnership in Indonesia. The 2-year deal, brokered by Total Sports Asia, gives the Indonesian snack producer the right to create joint promotions and use the Real Madrid IP rights in all its brand advertising campaigns and BTL activations. The agreement marks the first sponsorship deal between Real Madrid and a Indonesian company. The Dua Kelinci brand becomes the official sponsor for Real Madrid in Indonesia, preceding nationwide promotional activities to strengthen both Dua Kelinci and Real Madrid brands.

=>  Hyundai chairman, Chung Mong-gyu, is to be appointed head of the soccer K-League as officials attempt to address falling interest in the countrys top division. Chung will be formally elected to replace Kwak Chung-hwan who recently left the post. Chung also serves as owner of Busan IPark, one of the Leagues 16 teams. Kwak had been at the helm of the K-League since 2005, stepped down earlier this month stating that he bears responsibility for falling game attendance, TV ratings and decline in corporate support.

=>  Delhi Commonwealth Games chief organiser Suresh Kalmadi has hit back at India's new sports minister, describing the decision to sack him as "illegal and arbitrary". Ajay Maken fired Kalmadi and organising committee (OC) secretary general Lalit Bhanot this week to ensure a fair investigation into corruption allegations surrounding the $6bn event held in October. Kalmadi said that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which he heads, had appointed him as OC chief in 2004 and that the sports ministry was not empowered to sack him.

=>  German Football Leagues (DFL) member clubs have a record turnover for the 6th consecutive season, despite 1.Bundesliga making an overall loss for the first time since 2003. The figures outline that 36 member clubs generated combined revenues of €2.083 bil for the 2009/10 season, an increase of 21.5% over the past 3 years. The top two divisions recorded income growth in sponsorship, advertising, media and transfers. However, 1.Bundesliga made an overall loss of €78 mil with the League pointing out that just 3 clubs accounted for 93% of the deficit. 1.Bundesliga also achieved a new record for total equity of €534 mil, but liabilities rose to €644 mil. Total revenues for 2. Bundesliga ran to €313 mil, with losses of €25 mil.

=>  Premier League chief, Richard Scudamore, has received a £3mil bonus for his work in negotiating a record-breaking set of TV contracts. The payment, which is sure to raise eyebrows, was included in the accounts package sent to the 20 teams in advance of next week's Premier League summit. The cash will be paid over 4 years, and is guaranteed even if Scudamore leaves during that period. Scudamore masterminded the £2bil-plus deals for domestic and overseas rights over the next three seasons, a 50% increase on the bonus Scudamore received for the previous round of TV contracts.