Wednesday, 26th January 2011

RIGHTS FEE & DISTRIBUTION

=>  The German DFB is to sell broadcast rights to its national cup competition separately from national team rights for the first time from 2012 onwards. Proposals by Uefa to centralise broadcast rights for European Championships and World Cup qualifying matches from late 2014 onwards are being discussed with the 53 member associations, and, although no agreement has yet been reached. German pubcasters, ARD and ZDF, have a current contract for Germany’s home games and matches from the DFB Pokal in a deal worth €80 million ($108.9 million) per season. In addition to ARD and ZDF, pay-TV Sky Deutschland, pays an average of €18 million per season for rights to all 63 DFB Pokal matches per season from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

=>  Negotiations for a new 5-year TV rights deal for Australian Football League are reported to be progressing swiftly, with hopes that a new deal could be signed before the 2011 season starts on March 24. The total value of the new deal, from 2012 to 2016, is expected to near A$1 billion ($1 billion), compared to the present deal worth A$780 million. The existing deal with networks Seven and Ten and with Foxtel expires after the forthcoming season. Nine Network is also reported to be interested in acquiring a share of the rights in the new deal. Seven and Ten presently show two live matches each per round and Foxtel shows a further four under a sub-licensing deal worth A$315.5 million.


BROADCAST

=>  Team owners in the Philippine Basketball Association met for the first time in more than a decade on Tuesday, agreeing among other things to keep the TV showing of the games in a free channel. The owners gave league commissioner Chito Salud specific instructions on where they want the PBA to go, and reiterated that the games should still be aired on a VHF channel to ensure the widest viewership possible. Television rights owner, Solar Sports, had informed the PBA of its intension to cease covering the games, starting with the Commissioner’s Cup but the league will hold Solar to air the games on Channel 9, a government-owned station where Solar TV owns the entire primetime slot.

=>  There won't be any 3D broadcasts of the upcoming Super Bowl. Fox Sports, owner of exclusive rights to the Super Bowlsaid that at current levels of adoption, there is no business model that makes sense for producing a show as complex as the Super Bowl in 3D. The Super Bowl was one of the first huge television events to be available in HD. To date, the Super Bowl season remains one of the biggest times for new HDTV purchases. But it looks like 3D isn't getting the early adoption treatment. Other sports that have gotten 3D treatment include baseball (MLB All-Star game), tennis (US Open), and golf (The Masters).


EVENT

=>  None of India’s top shuttlers will take part in the officially mandatory All India Senior Ranking Badminton Tournament, starting 1 Feb. Prize money for the Badminton Association of India-recommended tournament is Rs 500,000, but not enough to draw Jwala Gutta, Saina Nehwal, Chetan Anand or V Diju. The BAI rules clearly say that for a player to get national ranking, they have to play in the BAI-endorsed events, especially in the ranking tourney. Clarifications were sought from the secretary general, Dr Vijai Sinha and a few of the secretaries of the BAI. But none of them were willing to face the questions.

=>  LG Mobile is to spend Rs400 mil (US$9 million) on its 'LG Mobile Army' campaign to leverage association with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 as the 'official mobile partner'. With the campaign, LG plans to involve 500,000 participants by recruiting 2,500 cadets from 38 cities. For all 49 matches, the LG Mobile Army squad will select 50 fans who will cheer for cricket live at the stadiums. This ‘Mobile Army’ will be selected through auditions in which the cricket fan has to showcase his/her love for the game through a ‘cricket celebration dance’, slogans/chants and for the LG Smartphone buyers there is a special wild card entry.


OTHER NEWS

=>  Mohamed bin Hammam called for Sepp Blatter to be replaced as president of FIFA, but refused to confirm whether he would run for the role himself. The Qatari head of the Asian Football Confederation has recently dropped heavy hints that he is preparing to perform a u-turn on his earlier pledge that he would not challenge Blatter. The 74-year-old FIFA chief is up for re-election for a fourth four-year term at the helm in June, no other candidates have entered the running. A bid from Bin Hammam looks increasingly likely and he said that Blatter, who joined FIFA in 1975 as technical director, should not be handed another term.

=>  Yingli Solar has become the first Chinese sponsor of FC Bayern Munich. The firm, which was also a sponsor of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, will be a partner of the four-time European champions until the end of June 2014. The club will use the deal to help create green initiatives, including the implementation of solar technology at their Allianz Arena home, and to reach out to their fanbase in China, where there are seven Bayern Munich supporters' clubs. According to reports in the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the deal is worth an annual single-digit million euro fee.