Wednesday, 9th March 2011

RIGHTS FEE & DISTRIBUTION

=>  The BCCI has invited bids for the Indian Premier League's global internet & mobile rights and global broadcast rights excluding some key markets for a period from 2011-14. Key markets excluded for TV broadcast are the Indian sub-con, Australia, South Africa, Mid East, Carribean, Hong Kong and Singapore. Internet & mobile rights are available for all territories. Bidders can opt to bid for three packages of rights for TV, radio, mobile & internet, or all the rights (exc. worldwide mobile rights) and worldwide mobile rights only. Consortium bids will also be accepted. The ITT document is available from 8 to 15 March, last date of submission is 20 March.

=>  As expected, World Sport Group has condemned the BCCI's move to float the tender for IPL rights. WSG said BCCI's move is in contrary to its submission in Bombay High Court which restrains it from entering agreement with any third party for worldwide broadcast rights contract for the IPL till it is resolved. WSG said it also violates the undertaking BCCI had given to the apex court. WSG also accused the BCCI of making claims to third parties that it will be broadcasting the IPL on its channels through agents even before issuing the tender. WSG has vowed to take necessary legal action against the BCCI for violating the court order and protecting the interest of its commercial rights holders.

=>  An ITT for the broadcast rights in France to the Davis Cup and Fed Cup has been issued by the International Tennis Federation. The tender covers 4 years from next year onwards and has been split into five packages. The rights in France are presently held by France Télévisions which is reported to be paying €400,000 ($557,253) a year for the first two rounds of the Davis Cup and about the same again if France reaches the final, plus additional fees for the Fed Cup. France Télévisions recoups some of its investment by sub-licensing matches to Canal Plus which shows games on its Sport+ channel. France defeated Austria 3-2 in the Davis Cup World Group first-round match at the weekend to qualify for a quarter final tie against Germany in July.

=>  One World Sports (OWS) has acquired the North American rights to the AFC Champions League in a deal struck with World Sport Group. OWS will present the 2011 AFC Champions League matches in English on TV, broadband and mobile. The 2011 AFC Champions League, which started on March 1, comprises 32 teams from 10 countries. The final will be held in November. Live and delayed match coverage will be available on OWS TV, OWS Broadband and mobile video coverage on Verizon Wireless V CAST Video. OWS also bought the North America rights to the recent AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar from WSG.

=>  Brazilian Serie A clubs moving to sell their media rights individually to broadcasters has grown to 11, after Corinthians first broke away from the collective Clube dos 13 last month. Internacional is the latest addition to the ‘rebel’ ranks. Other clubs boycotting the collective sale are Coritiba, Grêmio, Santos, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro. The Clube dos 13 now faces a full-scale rebellion in the lead-up to the auction for the collective media rights to the first-division Serie A from 2012 to 2014. The group has already sent out the details of the tender for the coveted free-to-air package of television rights to Serie A, confirming that the minimum bids for the 2012-14 package would be R$500 million ($302 million) per season.


BROADCAST

=>  Turner Broadcasting System Asia-Pac has launched a suite of top channels in Mongolia, after agreeing with the country’s IPTV operator, Univision. The multi-year deal will see mixed genre package of premium channels - CNN Int., Cartoon Network, Boomerang and truTV - as part of Univision’s triple play service: its network covering Ulaanbaatar and other major cities using high-speed fibre optic technology. Expansion into Mongolia marks the 7th Asian market for truTV, Turner’s most popular reality channel, since its regional debut April last year. Programming include The Smoking Gun Presents, World’s Wildest Vacation Videos and Disorder in the Court.


EVENT

=>  The EPL will take the league trophy on tour around key markets over the next 3 years, as the league attempts to capitalise on its international popularity. The Barclays Premier League Trophy Tour will start in the United Arab Emirates later this month, April in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, before heading to Hong Kong in July for the Barclays Asia Trophy. During the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the trophy tour go to China, Southeast Asia, USA, India and South Africa. The Premier League is broadcast to more than 580 million households in over 200 countries.


OTHER BUSINESS NEWS

=>  Indian Sarath Kumar is will make history debuting in his first race with the WTR Team for the Moto GP 125 CC Championship that will be later replaced by the Moto3 class in 2012. WTR-Ten10 Racing, a tie-up between San Marino based WTR Team and Indian Team Ten10 Racing, lining up Sarath Kumar on Aprilia RSW bikes. Ten10 Racing is a motorcycle racing team based in Bangalore, which has competed in the '165cc' Indian bike category and the 'Superbikes' category in the Indian two wheeler motorsport scene as well as the Malaysian Super Series.

=>  England's 2018 World Cup bid had tried to secure a voting alliance with Qatar by using the Duke of York's relationship with the Qatari royal family. The BBC revealed diplomats and the FA sought to ally with Qatar to help England's bid to host the tournament, which gained just two votes as it was eliminated in the first round, while Qatar's bid for the 2022 World Cup was successful. The Duke of York's press office had denied any lobbying with Qatar took place and that the FA had declined to comment.

=>  FIFA has threatened to suspend Portugal's national sides and clubs from international competition should the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) fail to pass a set of new statutes that conform with the world football body's rules, after regional associations rejected them in previous assemblies for fear of losing influence at national level. The suspension could put the national side's 2012 European Championship qualifiers at risk and exclude the country's top clubs from Uefa competitions. Porto, Benfica and Braga have qualified for the last-16 round of the Europa League.