Thursday, 13th January 2011

RIGHTS & FEE

=>  A new tender process for French domestic broadcast rights of the LNR’s top two rugby divisions will raise rights fees of up to €50 million ($65.2 million) per season. Serge Blanco, former president of the LNR, identified the figure, which represents a significant increase from the €30 million per season raised from existing deals for the Top 14 and Pro D2 leagues. Pay-TV, Canal Plus, currently pays the lion’s share and the remainder comes from pubcaster, France Télévisions, telecom Orange and cable/sat broadcaster, Eurosport. However, LNR faces reduced competition as Orange cuts expenses on sports rights and is looking out for a partner for its TV channel.


BROADCAST

=>  [Excerpt] Thailand's newly thriving cable and satellite TV industry has a reach of more than 50% penetration - with over 10 mil connections of a total of 20 million TV households and with ad expenditure estimated at nearly THB2 bil (US$60 million) in 2010.

=>  Infront Sports & Media and German broadcaster, Sport1, have signed an exclusive rights agreement to cover the men’s and women’s Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) European Volleyball Championships. The deal covers the 2011 men’s tournament from the 10 to 18 Sep 2011 and women’s competition from 22 Sep to 2 Oct 2011 in Czech Republic/Austria & Italy/Serbia respectively. The deal follows an earlier 4-year media rights deal between the two for the 2012 and 2014 EHF European Women's Handball Championships. Sport1 also acquired the broadcast rights for International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship for an additional 6 years, a deal also brokered by Infront.

=>  Viasat satellite subscribers in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland can view the final two days of the four day Sony Open (golf) in live 3D. The first live 3D event was offered to Viasat subscribers in Sweden on Dec 27, with a Barclays Premier League match. This marks the second pan-Nordic live 3D event, with subscribers getting a live broadcast in 3D from the Waialae Country Club in Hawaii. Viasat is also planning to offer live 3D matches from the final stages of the current UEFA Champions League season.


NEW MEDIA

=>  Growing popularity of watching online video has given a kick to demand for broadband, driving global subscribers to 763 mil in 2010, according In-Stat. Primary market driver for growth of broadband subs continues to be the desire for Internet access with a high-speed connection. By end 2010, total worldwide DSL subscribers reached 371 million driven by strong demand for DSL service in Asia/Pacific. Also by the end of 2010, approximately 76% of the world’s FTTH subscribers reside in the Asia/Pacific region. In addition to overall growth , In-Stat predicted overall mobile wireless broadband subs would continue to grow rapidly as mobile telephone service providers roll out 3G and 4G services.

=>  The Premier League has the largest social media fan base of the ‘big five’ European leagues, with the Bundesliga attracting the lowest number, according Triumph Media Group’s reaserch. The agency found 18.4 mil fans following English clubs on Facebook, compared to 1.3 mill fans for Bundesliga clubs. Spain’s Liga BBVA was second with 15.5 mil, with Italy’s Serie A well behind in third with 2.7 mil and France’s Ligue 1 in fourth position. A total of 39.5 mil fans follow their teams in the top five European leagues, an increase of 55% compared to October last year. Spain’s Barcelona and Real Madrid have 8.4 mil and 7 mil fans respectively and England’s Manchester United has 7.1 mil.


EVENT

=>  The International Sepak Takraw Federation will discuss game format changes, including scoring and player uniforms in hopes to broaden appeal to broadcasters and sponsors. UFA Sports Asia last year agreed an 8-year deal with ISTAF to promote the sport internationally. 2011 marks the first time sepak takraw will have an international calendar, kicking off in July with the ISTAF World Cup in Malaysia, followed by the ISTAF Super Series, a series of 4 tournaments running until April 2012 taking place in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam (women only) and Iran (men only), before the Super Series Finals in June 2012. ISTAF also hopes the Super Series will be expanded in the next few years, with matches taking place outside Asia.

=>  The 25th IMG-Reliance Federation Cup Basketball Championship for men and women, conducted by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI), will be held Raipur from 10th-15th February, 2011. The top eight teams in both the men’s and women’s divisions from the previous year’s Sr. National Basketball Championship are participating in the Federation Cup. The host team qualifies automatically – this year, hosts Chhattisgarh already fell in the top-eight of both divisions. The 24th edition of the Federation Cup was held at Alwar (Rajasthan) from October 22nd-26th, 2009. ONGC (Uttrakhand) were champion amongst the Men while SEC (Indian Railways) won the Women’s division.

=>  The race to host 2018 Winter Olympics entered the last stretch after all three candidate delivered their bids to the International Olympic Committee. Munich (Germany), Annecy (France) and PyeongChang (South Korea) all delivered their files to the IOC by the deadline. The IOC evaluation commission will now analyse candidatures and make site inspections. The commission will then publish a report to coincide with the 2018 Briefing for IOC Members, which will take place in Lausanne on 18 and 19 May. The election of the host city will take place on 6 July during the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa.

=>  Tennis' World Team Cup could yet take place in 2011 after it emerged that Triumph Media Group is still in talks with potential sponsors. Tournament organisers had said in Dec that the tournament was ‘history’ as financial gaps in the budget was too great, given that a title sponsor had not come on board to replace ARAG, the insurance group that ended its deal after 2010. Sponsorship would fill the €1.4-million ($1.83 million) gap in the budget and save the tournament in the short term. The deal with ARAG was said to be worth between €1.3 and €1.5 mil per year. The 2011 World Team Cup was due to take place from May 15 to 21.


OTHER NEWS

=>  Japanese ad giant with a large involvement in sports marketing, Dentsu, has recorded a 6.3% year-on-year increase in net sales for December 2010. Dentsu reported non-consolidated net sales of Y126.5 bil ($1.52 bil), a rise on the Y119 bil from Dec 2009. Net sales figure for December 2010 for 'other businesses,' including sports marketing, media planning, entertainment business and other income, came to Y10.2 bil, which was equal to 98.6% from 12 months previously. Dentsu distributes the IAAF World Athletics Series outside Europe and Africa, and swimming’s FINA World Championships (rights outside Europe).

=>  UEFA's new financial fair play rules broadly demand that clubs playing in European competitions break even and are due to apply from the 2012 financial year, with sanctions likely to be enforced shortly after. According to UEFA, the 655 top-flight clubs in Europe generated collective revenues of €11.7 bil, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. However, figures demonstrated that more financial discipline was needed because reported costs were up 9.3% to €12.9 bil, an increase of 9.3%. UEFA reported that the collective losses of nearly €1.18 bil represented an 85% increase. The new rules will apply to clubs from 53 top divisions that qualify for European competitions, and will be brought in to ensure clubs do not "repeatedly" spend more than they earn.

=> The US Olympic Committee (USOC) has opened talks with the Int. Olympic Committee (IOC) over a revenue-sharing deal. The USOC currently receives a 20% share of global sponsorship revenue and a 12.75% share of US broadcast rights deals under an agreement that will run through to 2020. However, many within the Olympic movement felt that the USOC’s share of the revenues has been excessive, and it is widely thought to be a contributing factor behind Chicago being kicked out in the first round of voting for the 2016 Olympics in late 2009.

=>  England’s rugby clubs have been warned that their financial futures are at risk if they agree to a substantial rise in salary cap to compete with their big-spending French rivals. Leicester, Northampton, Saracens and Bath are pushing for the increase in salary cap to remain competitive with the French Top 14 clubs in the Heineken Cup. French clubs’ salary cap of £8m, twice that of the English. However, Mark McCafferty, chief executive of Premiership Rugby, is urging caution when negotiating to agree on salary cap level for the 2012/2013 season because he believes French clubs are racking up financial issues down the line with their level of spending on marquee players.

=>  The English FA is in talks with the other home nations to play a one-off tournament in 2013 but does not want to revive the home international tournament, involving England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, on a regular basis. The FA is investigating the proposal as part of its 150th anniversary. The last home international tournament took place in 1984, exactly 100 years after the first championship. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus the Republic of Ireland, are due to take part in the Carling Nations Cup in February and May this year.