Wednesday, 12th January 2011

RIGHTS & FEE


=>  The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, from 19 Feb to 2 Apr in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will be televised across UK and Europe in Hindi after Zee Networks acquired the broadcast rights. Zee Café will show 37 of the total 49 matches with live commentary in Hindi. English commentary will be available in the UK and Ireland on Sky Sports HD, and on Eurosport in mainland Europe. Zee Network is also carried on the Sky TV satellite platform. ESPN Star Sports bought Asian broadcasting rights for a reported US$2 billion. Its high definition footage will be available in about 220 countries for the duration of the tournament. It was also earlier confirmed that Pakistan’s Geo Super will have exclusive cable and satellite rights in its home market.

=>  Italian pay-TV, Dahlia TV, have agreed to liquidate, leaving doubts over soccer rights held by the broadcaster, with rival Mediaset Premium considered as a candidate to buy them. Dahlia holds the rights for the matches of 8 teams from Italian Serie A (Cagliari, Catania, Cesena, Chievo, Lecce, Parma, Sampdoria and Udinese) in a deal worth €31.5 million ($40.8 million) per season and also holds rights to the second-tier Serie B. Other sports rights properties held by Dahlia include rugby union’s Magners League, motor cycling’s FIM Superbike World Championship, and the Liga ACB, Spain’s top-tier basketball league.

=>  French Video-sharing website, Dailymotion, has a deal with the LFP to show highlights of Ligue 2, to go with existing highlights deal for the Coupe de la Ligue. Dailymotion signed Coupe de la Ligue highlights deal a year ago, its first move in sports rights acquisition. It will show Ligue 2 highlights for the remainder of the 2010-11 season, starting this weekend. This ensures much-needed additional broadcast coverage of the second division. Dailymotion's three-year deal with the LFP for the Coupe de la Ligue rights was thought to include a small rights fee and an advertising revenue-sharing agreement.


BROADCAST

=>  The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has a new 3-year broadcast deal with ESPN; ESPN in the Caribbean and ESPN3.com in the USA will carry Caribbean T20 and other WICB regional tournaments live. Highlights of WI international home series matches will also be broadcast on ESPN in the Caribbean. The deal expands on an existing relationship, in which ESPN acted as host broadcaster for the inaugural Caribbean T20 in July 2010. ESPN is currently fulfilling the same role for the second edition of the event, which runs from 10th to 23rd Jan in Antigua and Barbados.

=>  Official sponsor of the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar, Samsung, has launched a tournament-focused mobile application for fans around the world. The new ‘AFC 2011 Samsung’ Android/Bada OS-based mobile application is available on Samsung’s latest smart devices. The MatchCast service allows users to access real-time data on players and teams, such as pass accuracy and sprint speed. The service is customisable and allows users to make comparisons between players and teams at the AFC event. This is the first time that Samsung has introduced a mobile application specifically designed for a sports event.


OTHER NEWS

=>  The Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) has been handed a financial boost by signing an US$230,000 sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Electric Asia. The 3-year agreement with the Asian division of MEC will fund the Singapore national table tennis team and to any other ventures run by STTA. The Singapore Women’s national side were crowned world champions in May last year after beating reigning champions and rivals China in a shock 3-1 win in the 50th edition of the World Team Table Tennis Championship. The sponsorship deal marks the 80th anniversary of the Singapore Table Tennis Association.

=>  EurAsia Golf Ltd, a JV between the Asian and European Tours, has appointed Charlie Tingey as senior director to oversee the alliance’s commercial aspects and promoter relationships in the region. Established in 2009, EurAsia Golf is designed to invigorate the game internationally by fortifying existing co-sanctioned tournaments, generating new competition and reinforcing relationships with sponsors, tournament promoters, national associations and regional professional bodies. Tingey has over 10 years of experience working in the golf and sports industry. He has overseen various aspects of operations that include sponsorship acquisition, event management and player management.

=>  Sportfive has summoned the French Football Federation to France’s high court, claiming €50 million ($64.6 million) in compensation over sponsorship deals. Sportfive was the FFF’s marketing partner ending 2009-10 season, selling television and sponsorship rights, but its services was not retained by the federation. Sportfive is looking for €10 million in commissions that it feels it is due for deals with various sponsorship partners, and for a further €40 million for its work in helping to broker a record kit deal with Nike, the US sportswear giant. The deal with Nike, announced in February 2008, kicked in at the beginning of this year and is worth €42.6 million per season.

=>  The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced the extension and upgrade of a partnership with health supplement manufacturer Usana Health Sciences and a new 3-year deal with Jetstar Airways. Usana's three-year renewal means the company will continue as the WTA's official health supplement supplier and receive significant marketing perks, sponsorship of a number of WTA-run tournaments in China and other wide-ranging benefits. The WTA's deal with low-cost airline Jetstar, sees the Australian carrier become the official airline of the tour in the Asia-Pacific region. Financial details for the Jetstar deal were not released, but has been confirmed by the WTA to be worth a multi-million dollar sum.

=>  The Mayor of Rome has admitted that the city would withdraw its bid for a F1 Grand Prix if it threatens Monza’s spot on the calendar. There is speculation that the Italian capital could stage an F1 race through its streets, with the future of the European Grand Prix in Valencia, considered to be in doubt. However, with the rounds likely to be capped at 20, Gianni Alemanno has admitted that he would not want Rome to jeopardise the event at Monza, which recently agreed a new five-year deal to stage a grand prix.