RIGHTS FEES
=> Sri Lanka Cricket officials met with Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment Ventures to discuss the inaugural Sri Lanka Premier League following the BCC of India board’s refusal to release their players. For SEV, the critical element now is to salvage whatever they can from the mess created by the BCCI's unilateral actions. SEV has already paid $300,000 as advance payment to SLV as part of financial commitments made when it secured the commercial rights to the tournament for the next 5 years.
=> Meanwhile, Ten Sports denied claims by Sri Lanka Cricket that it is owed payments of $5 mil from the Indian broadcaster. Ten, a long-time partner of SLC, holds rights to SL’s home matches in a 4-year deal worth $65 mil which expires in 2013 but SLC claims that Ten has fallen behind with the payments. Ten issued a similar denial in Nov 2010 when it was reported that they failed to pay $1.5 mil to SLC related for the Micromax Cup, a triangular ODI series involving Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand, played in Aug 2010. Despite Ten’s denial, SLC’s claims are likely to revive concerns over the status of the broadcaster’s other deals with national governing bodies after it was reported last year to have negotiated discounts and rescheduled payments.
=> The Italian Serie A has not received any bids for live domestic digital terrestrial rights for home matches of 8 clubs at the close of Friday’s deadline. The league had set a reserve price of €32 mil ($45.5 mil) for next season’s rights, the same value previously paid by Dahlia TV, the pay-TV broadcaster that went into liquidation. Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A said that any broadcasters keen to enter into private negotiations for ‘Package D – Silver Live’ rights are given until Tuesday to register their interest.
=> German pubcasters, ARD and ZDF are close to a deal with Int. Olympic Committee for 2014 in Sochi and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. In mid-2009, IOC asked for initial bids in Germany for rights of 2014 and 2016 games, with Sky Deutschland submitting a €100 mil ($142.8 mil) offer and incumbents, ARD and ZDF, delivering a bid worth less than Sky’s. In a bid to pressure the IOC, ARD said that it would review commitments to broadcasting every single Olympic sport between games if it lost the rights going forward and claimed a private broadcaster could not match the level of Olympics coverage on public-service TV. The IOC retained rights to sell the 2014 and 2016 in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK. They signed a €70m deal in 2009 with Spain’s TVE, followed a €152m deal with Sky Italia and a €25m agreement with Fox in Turkey in 2008.
=> Argentina’s River Plate will suffer ‘financial apocalypse’ after failing to remain in the domestic top-flight. The club lost to a second division club in a relegation playoff and will play in the second division for the first time in its 110-year history. Boca Juniors and Independiente are now the only Argentinian clubs never to have suffered relegation. TV rights for Nacional B are held by TyC Sports and held exclusive pay-TV rights to the Primera for over a decade, before the government stepped in and unilaterally took over the Primera rights two years ago in the Soccer for All scheme. Under the scheme, Nacional B clubs receive 3.5 mil pesos in media rights fees, representing an 89% drop in revenues from for River from 30.7 mil pesos /season in the top-flight.
BROADCAST & RIGHTS DISTRIBUTION
=> MEASAT hit a milestone with its HD services. MEASAT inked a deal with Encompass Digital Media to distribute ESPN HD and STAR Cricket HD channels in Asia. Both channels will be distributed on the new Encompass MEASAT-3 MCPC platform. ESPN HD is a 24-hr channel showcasing sports content from ESPN STAR Sports’ line-up of premier international sports. STAR Cricket HD is the latest HD channel by ESPN STAR Sports, dedicated to showcasing cricket action from around the globe.
NEW MEDIA
=> The WPP Group has launched a new company linking ad-buying technologies with a vast database of consumer profiles. Xaxis will manage what is being touted as the world's largest database of profiles, in a bid to accelerate targeted advertising across Web, social-networking sites, mobile phones and ultimately, TV sets. Detailed profiles of over 500 mil anonymous individuals includes demographic, financial, purchase, geographic and other information collected from their Web activities and ‘brick-and-mortar' transactions. Addressing privacy concerns, WPP said ads targeted using the data will include the industry's special privacy icon that alerts consumers that they are being targeted and gives them the chance to opt-out. Xaxis will begin operations in N. America, Europe and Australia and has plans to further expand later this year.
BIZ & BITES
=> Real Madrid earned record revenues of €450 mil ($640 mil) in the 2010/11 season and have budgeted €500 mil next season. The club earned €442.3 mil in 2009/10. Profits reached €30 mil, up from €24 million the prior year. RM’s net debts have been reduced from €327 mil to €244.6 mil. Player salaries fell from €368 mil in 2009 to €353 mil last year, although new signings for 2011/12 will mean that amount will surpass €400 mil. Of the €450 mil earned this past season, 34% (€153m) derives from gate receipts, 31% (€141m) from media rights and 30% (€137m) from marketing, including sales of merchandise.
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