Friday, 17th June 2011

RIGHTS FEES

• The cost of a TV rights for a dboxing deal signed by German pubcaster, ARD, with Sauerland Event could be reduced. In 2010, ARD and Sauerland signed a deal covering 2013 to 2015 worth €54 mil ($76.3 mil) but the administrative council of WDR, the regional public-service broadcaster, recently voted against the deal. WDR’s council said Sauerland has now offered ARD "a shortening of the [contract] duration and a reduction in the overall cost." Members of the influential WDR council have questioned the value of boxing rights and are annoyed that they were only presented with the deal a year after it was signed.

• State-run Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) suffered a major blow when it was outbid for the rights to carry the Olympics on TV in 2014 and 2016. Sports fans will now need to tune into national commercial television station TV2 to catch the action. Bergen-based TV2 won the bidding round for both the Olympics 2014 and 2016. TV2 is rumoured to offer NOK100 mil to carry the Olympics, called simply “OL” in Norway. Bidding was reportedly brisk between NRK and TV2 but NRK felt forced to withdraw.


BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION

• Bloomberg Television has agreed a deal for highlights of golf’s Asian Tour until the end 2011, adding to an agreement to broadcast highlights of the rival OneAsia series. Asian Tour Media, the jv between the Asian Tour and IMG negotiated the deal, and Bloomberg TV will begin coverage with highlights of this week’s Queens’s Cup in Thailand. The Asian Tour said that the agreement would allow Bloomberg TV’s global audience of "over 290 million households" to see the highlights shows, and that the tour’s global broadcast footprint will now be over 800 million homes and close to 200 countries. OneAsia has a deal in place for tournament highlights to be shown on Bloomberg Television in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.


NEW MEDIA

• Copa America 2011 will be streamed live on YouTube, after a deal sealed by Traffic Sports and Google. The internet video sharing network will show live coverage of all 26 games taking place next month in Argentina, on a dedicated channel. Each match will also be available on demand. Google said that they were “delighted to bring the action from the 2011 Copa America to the YouTube community across more than 50 countries, from Argentina, to the USA and Europe." Viewers can watch match highlights and other catch-up clips as well as live coverage. The Copa America is scheduled for July 1 to 24 .


BIZ & BITES

• England’s Football Association dismissed possibilities of conflict between beverage partners after Budweiser was unveiled as the new title sponsor of the FA Cup in a 3-year deal worth £25 mil ($40.2 mil). The competition will be known as 'The FA Cup with Budweiser'. Budweiser replaces energy provider, E.ON, whose 5-year deal with the FA Cup ended last month. Carlsberg is already the official beer of the England national team, in a deal that runs until June 2014, and is a founding partner of Wembley Stadium.