Tuesday, 14th August 2007

RESULTS

The Hindu, 14th Aug 2007
Anup Sridhar and Saina Nehwal cruised into singles second round but Shruti Kurian and Jwala Ghutta bowed out of women’s doubles at the World Badminton Championships on Monday. Sridhar has a tough challenge ahead as he faces Olympic Champion Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia next. Saina will play either Juliane Schenk of Germany or Kristina Ludikova of Czech Republic. The country’s top women’s pairing of Jwala and Shruti went down fighting against Swedish pair of Elin Bergblom and Johanna Persson. The men’s National champion, Chetan Anand, was scheduled to launch his campaign with a first round encounter against ninth seed Sony Di Kuncoro of Indonesia on Tuesdsay. Trupti Murgunde was to play Pui Yin Yip of Hong Kong in women’s singles.

Badzine, 14th Aug 2007
The Japanese world number 17 pair of Tadashi Ohtsuka/Keita Masuda, who is unseeded at this World Championship, removed a local seed and effectively dashed Rexy Mainaky’s dream of an all-Malaysian men's doubles semi-final at the 16th World Championship. Under the guidance of former Malaysia coach and Korean men’s doubles legend Park Joo Bong, Ohtsuka/Masuda convincingly and passionately dismantled the world number 14 pair of Tan/Ong right from the beginning of the match.

The Star MY, 14th Aug 2007
For Malaysian men’s singles shuttler Mohd Hafiz Hashim, the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games brings good memories. He was a very confident player then. And yesterday, he had some of the same old feelings in his 21-8, 21-7 win in 22 minutes over New Zealand’s Stuart Gomez in the first match of his fourth appearance in the World Championships. Hafiz, who has come under fire for his lack of self-confidence, is gearing himself up for a possible third round match against Indonesian star Taufik Hidayat on Thursday. Hafiz will take on Ireland’s Scott Evans in the second round tomorrow while Taufik, who defeated Spaniard Jose Antonio Crespo 21-13, 21-7 in the first round yesterday, will take on Indian Anup Sridhar.

Vietnam News, 11th Aug 2007
Nguyen Tien Minh is Viet Nam’s sole representative at the 2007 World Badminton Championship, which is being held for the first time in public in Kuala Lumpur. Minh, who is ranked 46th in the world, received a bye next Monday’s first round, along with China’s Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai, England’s Pete Gade and Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. Minh will play 16th seed Simon Santoso of Indonesia in his opening match. Minh was unlucky to come up against a seeded player in the first round, and has little chance of progressing further in the tournament, which wraps August 19. However, the Vietnamese champion will gain invaluable international competition experience and has a chance of making it into the World Badminton Federation’s top 40, who automatically qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.


NEWS FROM THE BADMINTON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007

The Brunei Times, 14th Aug 2007
Olympic champion, Taufik Hidayat, took a swipe at the Badminton World Championships yesterday even before the first shuttle had been hit, branding the annual format boring. The Indonesian, known as badminton's bad boy for his occasional temper flares on court and outspoken views off, said the sport's governing body was wrong to change the showcase event from a biennial to an annual affair. "It used to be something the players look forward to every two years," the Indonesian, seeded eight here. "Imagine if World Cup football or the Olympics were held every year (instead of once every four years). They would lose much of their value," he said. "These world championships (in Kuala Lumpur) are all right because they will not be held in the Olympic year next year. But not after that."

The Star MY, 14th Aug 2007
THE Badminton World Federation (BWF) executive deputy president, Datuk Punch Gunalan, has defended their decision to make the World Championships an annual affair, saying that they need to look at the bigger picture like the commercial aspects of it. Punch was reacting to Olympics and Asian Games champion Taufik Hidayat, who said on Sunday that the annual championships had become boring. The championships, which offer no prize money, were introduced in 1977 and the first two editions were held three years apart before becoming a biennial affair. “We appreciate Taufik’s views on the sequence of the World Championships,” said Punch. “It’s a valid point. In fact, we have had such suggestions made to us in the past on whether we should host the championships yearly or biennially.

The New Straits Times MY, 14th Aug 2007
Badminton World Federation (BWF), in an attempt to bring some of the most memorable moments in badminton to the fans, have come up with seven DVDs which contains those moments from the Olympics, World Championships, Thomas Cup and other grand prix tournaments. Fans can purchase these collectors’ items for RM10 each at BWF’s temporary secretariat at Putra Stadium.

The New Straits Times MY, 14th Aug 2007
Acquiring profiles of shuttlers will no longer be a problem as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is providing full details of the players, which started a few days ago, on its website. The players’ details and bio-data were collected by BWF staff and posted on its website www.internationalbadminton.org. The full players’ profile database will be available soon.


THIS WEEK

Mon to Thu, 13th to 16 Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Preliminary Rounds

Fri, 17th Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Quarter-finals

Sat, 18th Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Semi-finals

Sun, 19th Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Finals
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Boston Open
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Brands Hatch, UK


INFO BOX

7 Facts about Billiards
Source: Play 89 Billiards

* The origin of all billiard games is an outdoor game similar to croquet, used to be played in France on the 14th century. Due to the game popularity among royalty as well as common people and thanks to the capriciousness of the European weather, the billiard game was born as an indoor game. Billiard was played on a table covered with green felt in order to resemble the lawn on which the ancestor game was played.
* The billiard game was outlawed for many years and in different countries: still at the early days of billiard, the game was accused of being immoral. Therefore, this faulty activity and its devoted players were chased by the Church. On the early history of American billiards, when the term "pool room" was still a synonym for horse betting parlor, the game was illegal in many states. Even Thomas Jefferson had to hide a billiard table in his residency.
* Nevertheless, the first world championship in sports history was the 1873 World Billiards Championship. William Cook won the title. John Roberts was the runner up.
* Other historic celebrities who had owned a billiard table include King Louis XI and Mary the Queen of Scots (whose billiard table cloth was used by her assassins as cerements). Captain Mingaud, whose responsible for inventing the leather cue tip, had a billiard table in his prison cell.
* The first public pool hall in history was built in England during the end of the 18th century. The pool hall featured one billiard table with one pocket. The biggest pool hall in history was built in Detroit in the 1920s; it featured more than 100 tables in addition to an exhibition room attached to a 250-seats theatre hall.
* The term "billiard" is derived from the French word for mace – billiart. Before the cue stick was invented (the term "cue" also has French origins. Queue, is tail in French), a wooden mace with a handle, similar to a tail, was used to shoot the balls. For a long period after the cue stick invention, only men were allowed to use it; women billiard players were automatically accused of misusing the cue and ripping the table cloth.
* The first woman who won in World Billiard Champion was actually a man. The woman billiard champion, who was known by the name of Frances Anderson and for outplaying (almost) every man and woman in both the American and European billiards world throughout the first centuries of the 20th century, came out as a man that was born under the name of Orie and created quite a stir on the 1920s billiards circle.


SPORTS SHORTS

* An opinion poll in the digital version of Marca shows most "madridista" fans are pleased with signing Wesley Sneijder from Dutch side Ajax. By mid-morning on Monday 26,914 votes had been cast in the poll, reflecting interest provoked by the signing of the Dutch international. To the question "Do you think that Sneijder is what Real Madrid need?", 72.8% have voted "yes" and 27.2% "no". There has been criticism of the cost of the transfer, but Real fans seem to see the necessity for a midfield general after poor pre-season performances. Real paid Ajax €25.5mil euros (US$34.93mil) for the 23 year-old midfielder, who will sign a five-year contract. Source: Earth Times, 13th Aug 2007

* Hong Kong’s i-Cable saw its pay-TV revenues fall 14% for the six months ended June 30, hit by “lower yield subscriptions” and higher ad sales in the comparable period due to the soccer World Cup. Despite subscribers increasing by 43,000 or 6% in the first half to 830,000, revenues were down to HK$827 million, from HK$966 million for the same period in 2006. But the pay-TV unit still saw operating profit increase by 2% to HK$100 million. Operating costs decreased by 16% to HK$728 million, largely due to decreases in programming costs and marketing and sale spending. Source: Rapid TV News, 13th Aug 2007

* i-Cable has launched On Your Mark, a tabloid-sized paper featuring news of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, to be distributed free alongside Beijing Business Today. The 24-page newspaper with an initial circulation of over 100,000 copies will publish weekly after which it will increase publication frequency to twice a week from February 2008 and eventually daily in the final months of the countdown to the event in May to September next year. The paper is a joint venture between i-Cable Enterprises, a wholly-owned by i-Cable Communications, and the Beijing Daily Group, owner of Beijing Business Today. Source: Marketing Daily, 13th Aug 2007

* The Hockey Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan in December 2007. At recent meetings, the International Hockey Federation considered the effect the unrest in Pakistan on the tournament. The FIH will consult with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and participating teams before a decision is taken not to hold the tournament in Pakistan. Australia has already withdrawn from the tournament. A decision on a replacement for Australia will be made after consulting the reserve countries. No further decisions are expected before early September 2007. Source: Sports e-Media, Sportcal, 13th Aug 2007

* The English Premier League has agreed a deal with British Forces Broadcasting Service allowing live coverage of Premier League matches free of charge. Helen Williams, controller of BFBS TV, said: ‘The Premier League has exempted us from land rights for the next three-year period, with the express wish that the money saved – around a quarter of a million pounds for TV and radio rights – be used to provide more and better services for the troops. Free coverage will be available on British ships through IMG Media, the television arm of the international sports agency. Source: Sportcal, 13th Aug 2007

* IPTV sports channel, Cycling.tv, partners with Unipublic, organisers and rights holders of La Vuelta Ciclista A Espana 2007, to stream the third of the three ‘Grand Tours’ live online on the Vuelta Channel on www.cycling.tv. This year Cycling.tv is offering free live coverage at up to 400 kbs in the Free2view channel. Full subscription to the Vuelta is €21 - under €1 per day, and a Day Pass is €5 per day. For €21 viewers will receive live streaming up to 1200 kbs, "as live" re-run available in video on demand 1 hour after each stage, and on demand highlights up 1800kbs. Source: Sport Business, 13th Aug 2007

* Google is set to stop selling and renting video content on Google Video, a year and a half since the service launched. Last January, Google Video launched its online marketplace with partners such as CBS, NBC and ITN. The move sees the company, which owns YouTube, shifting its focus to an ad-supported strategy that offers content for free. Paid content will cease being available on the site as of August 15. Content purchased from the site will no longer be viewable as of that date. Google is offering refunds in the forms of credits to be used on its online payment service, Checkout. Source: Worldscreen, 13th Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

Singapore/General: Businesses in Sports Industry up 15% Since 2004

The number of companies in the sports industry has grown by 15% since 2004, said the Singapore Sports Council. This is in line with the Committee on Sporting Singapore's target of doubling the industry, from the estimated S$600 million in 2001 to more than a billion dollars by 2010. To help companies that are engaged in the sports business to network, the Singapore Sports Council launched a sports directory in 2004. And since then, the listing has grown from 2,264 to 2,613 firms.

Oon Jin Teik, CEO of Singapore Sports Council, said: "Our role is to build the industry and the industry is not the government. The industry is capitalised by the government, but the opportunities have to be created. When the opportunity is created, we hope that the party would step forward." One party that has heeded the call is Enterprise Sports Group (ESG), a small homegrown company with big plans and big ambitions. ESG has been involved in mega sports events such as the Standard Chartered Marathon and the GE Women 10km Run.

Terence Khoo, Managing Director of Enterprise Sports Group, said: "We have had talks with regional federations and regional bodies, to see how we can use the Singapore template and our experiences to help enrich and grow some of the Asian properties." And helping ESG cast its net wider is Sesdaq-listed communications design company Kingsmen, which has taken a 30 percent stake in the firm.

Benedict Soh, Executive Chairman of Kingsmen, said: "ESG joining Kingsmen is not just for Singapore because we have 16 offices, including Singapore – 15 in Asia and one in the Middle East, Dubai. "Therefore, the opportunity of growth is not just here, it is all over Asia, including the Middle East. I think there will be huge compounded growth."

In fact, for the sports industry in Singapore alone, companies can expect a 25% growth, according to sports marketing giant IMG, which is expanding its Singapore operations to prepare for more business. "One of the areas we are expanding in Singapore is our television operations, but it is going to service the region and we are also adding head count in some other areas such as our consulting division," said IMG Singapore's Managing Director, Mark Adams. IMG also feels that smaller sports companies can create niche markets for themselves and complement the big players. Source: Channel News Asia, 12th Aug 2007

India/General: South Asian Cricket Boards Stand Firm against Rebel League

Cricket authorities in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have insisted that players will be barred from their domestic competitions should they sign up to take part in the Indian Cricket League, a rebel Twenty20, limited overs venture. The opposition has been led by the Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar who dismissed calls from some politicians to work alongside the ICL.

Describing the ICL as 'an out-and-out commercial venture,' he warned the players targeted with lucrative contracts by its organisers that 'if they choose to play for the ICL, it is only fair that they should not expect benefits and privileges from the BCCI.'
Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Kangadaran Mathivanan said that any such players 'would not be considered to play even domestic cricket, or hold administrative roles,' and extended the ban to any umpires or commentators who work with the ICL.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi issued an almost-identical threat saying: 'We will not stop anyone [joining the ICL] and we can't do that, but the PCB has already announced its decision of banning such cricketers.' However there has been support for the ICL in other quarters, with Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the vice-president of India's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party supporting its challenge to the BCCI.

He told PTI: 'With the ICL, the bureaucratic attitude as well as the monopoly of the BCCI will break. Nowhere in the world does any association monopolise a game," Muk. The federal railways minister Lalu Prasad has also offered organisers use of ministry-owned stadia to stage matches. Source: Sportcal, 13th Aug 2007

India/General: India Inc. Deals With New Ball Game

They don’t sign on the dotted line in boardrooms any longer. Corporates across big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad now prefer to be in their tees and cargoes to discuss business over indoor cricket, soccer, hockey or even golf. If soccer-crazy Bengal-prompted Space Circle Clubs and Resorts gave Kolkata its second indoor arena last month, Mumbai-based golfers are gleeful over OptiGolf that would keep them out of the sun and yet allow them to play their master strokes.

The financial capital of the country is also expecting to attract corporates to its upcoming indoor arenas offering cricket, soccer and basketball. “Emulating the West, India Inc has now come out of their mundane board rooms and prefer to strike a cord with each other over a game of indoor cricket, soccer or golf.

This works fine with them considering they don’t have to sweat it out to do business in an informal environment,” MD of Neo International Sports Academy, Mushtaq Khan, told ET. Having joined hands with Australian International Sports Academy, Mr Khan will pump in $150 million in the next two years to set up 11 indoor sports facilities offering cricket, soccer, netball and golf across Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

The concept itself is so enticing that two of India’s biggest corporate houses based in Mumbai and Surat have sought virtual golf installations for their headquarters. “They are keen to have the facility where they can hold discussions over the game,” Mr Khan said. Source: The Economic Times, 13th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Setanta Steps up BSkyB Soccer Rights War with Tiscali Deal

Tiscali, the Italy-based company that is the UK’s fourth-largest broadband provider has signed a deal with Setanta, the international pay-television operator, to carry Setanta’s live coverage of English soccer’s top-tier Premier League on its Tiscali TV broadband television service. The deal is Setanta’s latest move in its bid to challenge the supremacy of British Sky Broadcasting, the UK’s News Corporation-controlled cable and satellite broadcaster, in the sports television market.

Setanta, which claimed that last month that 2.5 million people in the UK and Ireland have access to its sports coverage, agreed to pay £392 million ($) for the rights to 46 live Premier League matches per season for the next three years and is seeking to challenge the long-held domination of BSkyB, which has built up a subscriber base of 8.5 million. It had already signed deals for cable group Virgin Media and internet broadcaster BT Vision to carry its coverage.

Setanta’s coverage of the Premier League began yesterday, the first Sunday of the season, with the match between Aston Villa and Liverpool. Trevor East, Setanta’s director of sport, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: ‘The biggest obstacle to overcome is trying to create clarity for the general public about the confusing line-up of opportunities to watch sport. Our message is simple – we’ve got a third of the Premier League games and you can get them on any platform.’

East added that Setanta’s ‘platform-neutral’ approach was direct threat to BSkyB, saying: ‘Sky are in a difficult position because one of their main jobs is to sell [satellite] dished. It doesn’t fit their business model to start putting all their best product onto another platform.’

BSkyB may have lost its monopoly of live Premier League action, but will still show 92 matches per season, including many of the most attractive fixtures, and 242 delayed games. It can also boast comprehensive coverage of the Uefa Champions League, the top European clubs competition, both domestic cup competitions, the second-tier Coca-Cola Football League and international soccer. Source: Sportcal, Times Online, 13th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Media Boss Urges Rights Holders to Unite Against YouTube

Robert Waterman, head of online boxing portal SecondsOut.com, is urging other sports rights holders to join the FA Premier League’s class action against YouTube. Waterman’s SecondsOut.com joined the Rugby Football League, the Finnish Football League, the French Football League and the French Tennis Federation as well as several music associations, including the US National Music Publishers Association, in a legal fight to protect their content from exploitation on YouTube.

Waterman says that smaller rights owners should not be deterred from taking action which may help determine the media rights landscape for years to come. SecondsOut.com – through parent company Knockout Entertainment – is seeking to join the parties taking part in a Class Action against YouTube in the US courts. They claim they are being damaged because content which they have paid to own, is being made available free on YouTube, seriously compromising their business model.

Robert Waterman said: "This is not about size but principle. As the diversity of parties in this action demonstrates, the damage inflicted by the illegal broadcast of content on YouTube is not restricted to major leagues such as the FA Premier League which is acting to safeguard its own position and that of its rights holding broadcasters around the world.

Secondout.com became aware of the problem earlier this year. Having acquired exclusive rights to cover a world heavyweight championship fight in many territories worldwide, its pay per view operation was compromised by round-by-round coverage from German broadcaster RTL posted on YouTube. Germany was one of the few territories to which SecondsOut.com was not the exclusive rights-holder. Source: Sport Business, 13th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: 2007 Badminton World Championships Found Only on WCSN

World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) will provide coverage of the 2007 Badminton World Championships, taking place August 13 - 19 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Fans can watch WCSN TV or log on to http://www.wcsn.com/ to watch on-demand coverage as the world's leading players compete in the largest badminton tournament of the year. (All badminton video on WCSN is available for viewing in the United States and its territories, including Guam, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.)

To date, China has been the most successful country in the sport and continues to have a stronghold, with top-seeded athletes in all five badminton events. The men's competition this year will be intense, as defending champion and top ranked Lin Dan (China) will compete against his greatest rival and hometown favorite Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia). Along with coverage of the World Championships, fans can also watch Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei battle it out in the Sudirman Cup, with highlights and on-demand video available at www.WCSN.com/badminton.

Badminton enthusiasts can follow every minute of the action online with on-demand coverage, via a $4.95 monthly subscription, plus free access to results, video highlights, breaking news, behind-the-scenes features, and more. Visit http://www.wcsn.com/ for detailed schedules. Source: Sports e-Media, 13th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/General: World Squash Federation Denies London 2012 Campaign

The World Squash Federation today dismissed a report that its president, Pakistan's Jahangir Khan, is pushing for the sport’s inclusion in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The sports for the 2012 games are already decided and the WSF told Sportcal.com that the organisation was therefore focusing ‘100 per cent’ on the 2016 games, where it hopes that squash will be added to the sports programme.

A news agency report originating from Pakistan had suggested that Khan was to push for squash’s Olympic inclusion in 2012 when he visits the UK in December to receive an honorary doctorate of philosophy. Squash could only be added to the London programme if it were adopted as a discipline of an existing Olympic sport. Such a move is being followed by skateboarding authorities who are seeking ‘adoption’ by the UCI, cycling’s world governing body.

The WSF is to meet soon to plan squash’s campaign for inclusion in the 2016 games, and will look in particular at the repercussions of decisions made on the Olympic programme during last month’s International Olympic Committee session in Guatemala. Changes were unanimously approved for the IOC to establish a core programme of 26 sports for the 2016 Olympics, which would drop to 25 for the 2020 Olympics. The IOC will then have the option to add sports for each games, up to a limit of 28.

The WSF campaign will culminate in October 2009 when members of the International Olympic Committee will vote on the sports programme for the 2016 Olympics. Squash campaigned unsuccessfully to be added to the London programme of sports, alongside golf, karate, roller sports and rugby union. Baseball and softball were dropped. Source: Sportcal, 13th Aug 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

South Koreans Want Their M-TV!
Article by Moon Ihlwan in Business Week, 3rd Aug 2007

Mobile TV programming on cell phones and other digital devices is hot in South Korea, though turning the mania into profits is devilishly tough.

While Europe and the U.S. are trying to sort out technology standards and spectrum availability for mobile TV, a digitally advanced South Korea is watching soap operas, sitcoms, and news programs on the go. Some 7 million consumers (or one in every seven residents) regularly watch mobile TV programming just two years after Korea became the world's first country to broadcast such content to cell phones. "Pretty soon, phones doubling as TVs will be as ubiquitous as camera phones now," says Song Sang Hoon, director in charge of mobile TV at Seoul's Ministry of Information & Communication.

Indeed, the small cell-phone screen hasn't hampered mobile TV's spread in Korea. Fast technological progress has improved the quality of the video. And although more than half of mobile TV viewers use handsets, a growing number of people are watching programs through personal multimedia players, music players, handheld PCs, and increasingly, navigation systems mounted on cars.
Korean Government Took the Lead

The problem is no Korean operator is making money. Worse, they still need to pour more money into building networks to provide seamless television delivery. The case of Korea, which often serves as a test bed for new gizmos and services, could offer a few lessons to countries that are just rolling out mobile TV.

First, government initiatives played an important role. In Europe, for example, a fierce battle is still being waged over which mobile TV technology will be used to beam programming to cell phones. The European Union has already recognized three standards—DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld) promoted by Finland's Nokia (NOK), MediaFLO by U.S. outfit Qualcomm (QCOM), and DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) by South Korea. Availability of spectrum could be an even bigger headache in Europe (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/31/07, "The Race for a Mobile TV Standard").

In contrast, the Korean government was quick to allocate spectrum and award licenses to six broadcasters in 2005 for terrestrial DMB, and to another for satellite-based DMB. That was shortly after the state-funded Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) developed the mobile TV technology. Then Korean handset makers Samsung Electronics (SSNGY) and LG Electronics (LGEPF) lost no time in rolling out TV/cell-phone combos.
Free Service Helped Kick-Start the Craze

Then there was the controversial decision on pricing. The authorities allowed TU Media, a unit of SK Telecom (SKM), Korea's largest mobile carrier, to charge $14 a month (it was later lowered to $12) for its satellite-based service offering 16 video channels and 20 audio channels. But they required six terrestrial DMB operators to beam everything from soccer games and sitcoms to the evening news free of charge. "There's no question this free service was vital for mobile TV to take off," says Lee Jung Gu, a director at the ministry.

Operators, however, blame policymakers for their financial difficulties. "We are bleeding red ink because we have difficulty in increasing the subscriber base as we are racing against free services," says senior manager Heo Jae Young at TU Media. The company has 1.2 million paid subscribers, while TU says it needs at least 2.5 million users to break even in operation, even before recouping its $435 million investment in satellites and networks.

No one questions that free service helped accelerate the spread. "But I don't think low-priced monthly fees or a one-off initial charge would have made that much difference," says Eom Min Hyung, DMB project leader at KBS, or Korea Broadcasting System, one of the six terrestrial operators, each of which has piled up an accumulated loss of between $22 million and $33 million. "An initial charge of a few dollars would have speeded up network development, which will serve users better," he says.
Massive Investments Are Still Required

Sure. commuters in Seoul can watch TV news in the subway on their way to work, thanks to so-called gap fillers that relay signals underground. But that's because of a deal struck among broadcasters, mobile-phone operators, and cell-phone manufacturers. Agents for the mobile carriers agreed to collect an additional $3.30 from each buyer of a phone-TV combo to finance the building of a subway network for TV signals. Broadcastsers, in return, agreed to carry ads for phone manufacturers—and they want a similar arrangement for further infrastructure projects.

Government officials point out mobile TV is a nascent industry requiring massive initial investment, and new entrants would have to endure losses for the first few years. Industry executives argue that the investment requirement is exactly why service fees are necessary, at least until they develop sufficient economies of scale to attract advertising. They add that the fees should be affordable to avoid turning off consumers. The six terrestrial DMB operators together pulled in only $1.8 billion through advertising last year.

Perhaps most important is the need for cooperation between mobile-phone companies and broadcasters. As the bulk of mobile TV viewers are expected to be handset users, broadcasters need marketing help from carriers who fear TV programming could cannibalize on their video business that they hoped would increase traffic over telecom networks. "What's essential is to find a formula to share profits," says Eom at KBS.

To kick-start the alliance, Korean broadcasters relied on smaller carriers who used mobile TV as an incentive to get SK subscribers to defect. SK, with over half the market share, later cooperated with broadcasters as well. Eom cites services requiring two-way traffic, such as video-on-demand and mobile-TV shopping, as a win-win solution.

Despite early hardship, broadcasters remain confident they could eventually build profitable businesses from TV on the go. KBS says its recent traffic and travel information service offering such data as congestion spots, travel time, and parking availability to drivers is turning out to be a profitable project. ETRI expects the number of Korean mobile TV users to rise to 24 million, or half the population, by 2010, when the service will generate $3.2 billion worth of production in handsets and other equipment. "I think mobile TV will serve as a new growth engine," says ETRI senior researcher Byun Sang Kyu.

Monday, 13th August 2007

RESULTS

Source: AVP Official, 13th Aug 2007
Third-seeded Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser beat eighth-seeded Dax Holdren and Sean Scott, 20-22, 21-16, 15-11 to successfully defend their AVP Crocs Tour Manhattan Beach Open presented by Bud Light title and win their tour-leading seventh tournament of the year. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh battled Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh in a women's final and May-Treanor and Walsh overcame an inspired Youngs and Branagh and a late three-point deficit before pulling out a 15-21, 14-7 (retired), 15-10 victory.


THIS WEEK

Mon to Thu, 13th to 16 Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Preliminary Rounds

Fri, 17th Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Quarter-finals

Sat, 18th Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Semi-finals

Sun, 19th Aug 2007
Badminton World Championships 2007: Finals
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Boston Open
BTCC 2007: Race Day – Brands Hatch, UK


SPORTS SHORTS

* The pro volleyball tour is kicking sand in the face of winter. The AVP will launch the "Hot Winter Nights'' tour in January, bringing more than 200 tons of sand and some of beach volleyball's biggest stars to indoor venues nationwide. Two-player teams will compete in a round-robin format alongside a beach festival. The 2008 tour starts Jan. 10 at Oklahoma City's Ford Center and ends Feb. 23 in Las Vegas at Orleans Arena. Source: MS-NBC, 10th Aug 2007

* Sina Corp. has picked up online broadcasting rights for China to English Premier League and Italian Serie A soccer. Sina’s Broadband service will carry live, online coverage of all 1,140 English Premier League matches for the next three seasons until 2010. Web users will be able to subscribe on an annual, monthly and per-game basis. In addition, Sina Sport Channel will also replay the most exciting action free-of-charge. Matches can be viewed on pay TV in China. Sina has also acquired rights to provide live, online broadcast of the Serie A in China. Source: Worldscreen, Variety Asia, CNN, China Tech News, 10th Aug 2007

* Indian satellite TV, Tata Sky, has signed up its millionth subscriber. The landmark was passed almost exactly a year after launch. Since its launch, it has more than doubled its channels to 120 nets and has added several interactive functions. Tata Sky, which required an investment pegged in the region of $250 million, is country's third DTH operation after Zee's market leader Dish TV and pubcaster Doordarshan's platform. Publishing empire Maran and Malaysia's Astro will also team to launch Sun Direct TV at the end of the year. Two other groups are also considering entering the market. Source: Variety Asia, 10th Aug 2007

* South Korea’s Hanaro Telecom is planning to launch “real IPTV” in November, after claiming success in its first year of “pre-IPTV”. Around 500,000 subscribers have signed up to HanaTV, which offers programming and films on demand, but as yet has no linear channels. The company cited IPTV pioneer PCCW – which took two years to reach 500,000 subscribers – as proof of its own success. The company hopes to achieve revenues of Won180 billion to 190 billion ($195 million - $205 million) in 2008 if the broadcast channels plan goes ahead. However, a bill to make broadcast TV over telecoms lines legal is still pending in the National Assembly. Source: Rapid TV News, 10th Aug 2007

* The Indian Cricket League (ICL) has unveiled its official website www.indiancricketleague.in. The website will help aspiring cricketers to apply directly to the ICL.. The ICL will identify young talented players across India, training to compete at the highest levels and then playing for their respective regions alongside top international stars. The ICL will also make a foray in creating nation wide infrastructure (cricket academies) which will be equipped with state of the art facilities headed by international / domestic coaches under the supervision of a national director of academies, BS Sandhu. Source: Indian Television, DNA India, 10th Aug 2007

* Ten Sports has flagged off an interactive contest titled ‘Idea & Ten Sports On Tour’ through the mega campaign that will be centred around each month's most popular sporting event. The campaign is centred around Idea's tagline 'An Idea can change your life'. The contest will kick off on 19 August and continue till February 2008. To win, participants need to tune into Ten Sports every day and answer a question based on the sporting event for the month. The winners will get to watch their favourite sportstars in action at various corners of the globe. Source: Indian Television, 11th Aug 2007

* Argentinian Primera División clubs are poised to negotiate fund distribution after the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) agreed a historic new television deal. In the past, only six matches from the 10 games played in each round of fixtures have been televised, but the new deal with satellite broadcaster, Television Satelital Codificada (TSC) means every game will be broadcast live for the first time. The new deal will increase the collective income of top flight clubs from US$29.3 million to $47.8 million. Boca Juniors and River Plate are reportedly seeking the lion's share of the revenues. Source: Soccerex News, 10th Aug 2007

* APT Worldwide has secured the international distribution rights to the high-definition travel series Equitrekking produced by DCN Creative in association with KNME-TV. Hosted by Darley Newman, the 13x30-minute Equitrekking is the first travel series to explore the globe on horseback. Newman, an equestrian travel columnist for True West and Practical Horseman magazines and managing editor of Equitrekking.com, also serves as producer for the series. Source: Worldscreen, 10th Aug 2007

* Everton FC is planning to add to its existing web video channel with its own pay-TV service, after being granted a licence by broadcast regulator, Ofcom. Portland Interactive has been granted a licence to broadcast the Everton TV channel, which - if it launches - will go head-to-head with channels from rival clubs. Everton TV would add to channels from other premiership clubs, including Manchester United's MUTV, Chelsea TV and Sky's LFCTV, the soon-to-be-launched offering from Liverpool FC - traditionally Everton's arch rival. Source: C21 Media, 10th Aug 2007

* Paris St. Germain (PSG) has announced the launch of its own web TV channel, www.psg.tv, airing delayed coverage of PSG matches in their entirety, according to the Ligue 1 Orange club. The games are available for access from midnight following a match day, stated a press release from the club. Archived action, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with players and club officials are also on offer. Olympique de Marseille, Olympique Lyonnais, St Etienne and Racing Club de Lens also have their own web channels. Source: Soccerex News, 10th Aug 2007

* Chelsea and England footballer Frank Lampard will have his own TV channel. frank tv will be available to 1.3 million 3G Orange customers on their handsets through the Orange TV platform. The first installment on the channel will be a 50-minute programme filmed by the midfielder on his 3G mobile phone over the past year. The programme will be in the form of a video showing Lampard at home, with team-mates and at training. The frank tv concept was developed by Orange and sports marketing agency M&C Saatchi Sports & Entertainment. Source: Brand Republic, C21 Media, 10th Aug 2007

* The inaugural Youth Olympic Games in 2010 could feature fewer than the 26 sports comprised by the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed, adding that all competitions must be held in the host city. But guidelines issued do not set out a minimum required number of sports, which could leave cities, which are not permitted to build new stadia for the occasion, in the dark over whether they are suitable to hold the games. The IOC today issued the candidature procedure and questionnaire for the first summer Youth Olympic Games in August 2010. Source: Sportcal, 10th Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

Vietnam/Rights: Trouble in Race for SEA Games Broadcast Rights

The race among TV stations in Vietnam for the broadcasting rights of the 24th SEA Games has seen new developments – very complicated developments. Different from the AFF Cup or Asian Cup, the broadcasting rights of the 24th SEA Games must be bought through an intermediate agency, the Vietnam Olympic Committee. Unable to control the situation, this committee has asked for the intervention of the government.

According to the latest news from the website of the organising board of the 24th SEA Games, Suntipab Techavajij, head of the 14th SEA Games Strategic Vision Committee, has stated: “For the first time in the history of SEA Games, Thailand will not provide free of charge TV broadcasting rights but will sell it.” Mr. Suntipab also revealed that some Vietnamese TV stations wanted to buy the broadcasting rights on Free TV and Cable TV. After quoting Mr. Suntipab, the above website says that 20 sports will be broadcast live. According to the organising board, the games will account for around 210 hours on the system of Free TV, Cable TV channels. However, the board hasn’t fixed the broadcasting right fees yet and it is awaiting the final decision from the government.

Hoang Vinh Giang, Vice Chairman cum Secretary General of the Vietnam Olympic Committee, head of the Vietnamese sports delegation at the upcoming 24th SEA Games, said that similarly to the Olympics or Asiad, selling broadcasting rights of SEA Games was an irreversible trend but the plan of the organising board of 24th SEA Games was not approved by the Thai Olympic Committee and the Southeast Asian Sports Confederation.

Under the rules of the Southeast Asian Sports Confederation issued in 2007, any TV station of member countries that wants to buy broadcasting rights of 24th SEA Games must be recommended by the Olympic Committee of that country. Some Vietnamese TV stations didn’t know that rule and directly negotiated with the organising board, Mr. Giang said.

He also said that National Olympic Committees had the right to collect an amount of money from the fees for broadcasting rights paid by TV stations. “I know that the Olympic Committee of the Philippines will receive around 20% of the total broadcasting right fees but perhaps the Vietnamese Olympic Committee will not earn money in this way,” Mr. Giang said.

The committee has submitted to the government a document on the selection of TV stations buying broadcasting rights of 24th SEA Games. According to some sources, both the Vietnam Television (VTV) and VTC have directly made contact with the organising board of 24th SEA Games. VTC even signed a memorandum of understanding to be the exclusive owner of the broadcasting right of this event in Vietnam like at AFF Cup and Asian Cup at a price of $300,000. VTV, after failing in negotiations with the Thai partner, has asked the assistance of the Vietnam Olympic Committee. Source: Vietnam Net, 9th Aug 2007

Japan/Rights: Outlook Grim for Coverage of EPL Openers

Premier League fans' hopes of watching live games on satellite television this opening weekend are pretty much dead in the water, but Soccer Scene has learned all is not lost for the season ahead. SPORTFIVE, the television rights holder for live Premier League matches in Japan, is hopeful a deal can be thrashed out soon with J Sports or another Japanese broadcaster despite an impasse in negotiations that has left fans fretting.

"J Sports is one of the broadcasters we are in talks with. It is not the only one. We are working on a solution with these broadcasters," Lutz Tigges, SPORTFIVE senior director, international leagues, told Soccer Scene by telephone from his office in Hamburg, Germany. Unfortunately, Tigges said it looked as though a deal would not be done in time for this weekend's fixtures.

J Sports broadcasts on channels J sports 1, J sports 2, J sports Plus and J sports ESPN.

A J Sports public relations employee who wished to remain anonymous said in a phone call with Soccer Scene on Friday that the broadcaster doesn't want to say it is in negotiations, announce anything while negotiating or before anything becomes official, or say over which leagues the broadcaster is negotiating. The employee did say, though, there have been examples in the past where live game coverage has begun after the start of the season and that live Premier League games could be televised after the season starts.

Soccer Scene has learned SKY PerfecTV, last year's broadcaster of live Premier League matches, is not one of the companies in negotiations with SPORTFIVE, despite recent reassurances to the contrary from operators working for its customer helpline. "SKY Perfect are not negotiating with the Premier League. They did this till the end of last season. This year, J Sports are negotiating with the Premier League," said public relations employee Yoshihide To on Thursday.

To was less optimistic than Tigges a deal could be worked out between a Japanese broadcaster and SPORTFIVE. "As long as I know, the Premier League has been asking for huge amounts of money to broadcast the games. So in my personal opinion that means I think the negotiations are not going well," said To. "At the 2002 World Cup we (SKY PerfecTV) got the right to broadcast the games and we paid ¥17 billion ($144 million) and since then the amount for television rights has been growing."

According to Tigges, SPORTFIVE owns the Premier League rights for Japan for the next three years and said the sale of the rights to broadcasters in Japan is not the responsibility of the Premier League.

The lack of live satellite coverage of Premier League matches in Japan could cause difficulties for businesses such as pubs and bars that depend on live soccer coverage for attracting customers. There are some ingenious ways around this, though. Some bars will no doubt try to show games using Internet coverage. Source: The Japan Times, 11th Aug 2007

Asia/New Media: Barca Offers More to Overseas Fans

FC Barcelona has announced plans to revamp its official Chinese and Japanese language websites in a bid to further reach out to its Asian fans. The Primera División giant is currently on a pre-season tour of the continent and has sealed deals with the Rakuten and Sports CN corporations. The new version of the Chinese language site (fcbarcelona.guanwangcn.com) will be developed in association with Sports CN, a leader in the online Chinese market that forms part of the multinational MIH media group.

The website will incorporate the latest Barcelona team news, corporate and historical information about the club, as well as specific information directed at the Chinese market. The new offering supplants the existing site established three years ago, which offered only basic Chinese language content. Rakuten is behind the redesign of the Japanese site (www.fcbarcelona.jp ) so it is in line with the main website. Apart from the website agreement, the Catalan club has been involved in a number of different projects with Rakuten including a Visa Barça credit card and an official Japanese language magazine.

Barcelona will now seek to establish Korean and Arabic language sites. The Arabic site will be developed by LinkDotNet, following a deal signed during Barcelona's trip to Cairo last season to celebrate Egyptian giant Al-Ahly's centenary. The site will be launched in a few weeks' time and will bring the club into contact with the huge market in the Arabic speaking world. Source: Soccerex News, 10th Aug 2007

China/Broadcaster: Boom time for China’s Olympic Games

Next year's Olympic Games in Beijing is already impinging on media coverage, with stories abounding about failings in general organisation and the city's infamous smog posing problems for athletes and visitors. Meanwhile, in the background, preparations for covering the event continue. Leading Chinese broadcasters and facilities groups have commissioned new HD OB trucks, all of which feature digital audio mixing consoles to offer 5.1 surround sound to international TV stations.

CCTV, Guangdong TV and Beijing TV have all built HD trucks that feature Studer Vista 8 desks audio consoles, which will be used for both live transmissions and production work during the Games. CCTV, China's biggest television company, has installed a large format Vista 8 in its flagship HDTV vehicle. The Guangdong TV vehicle features a 32-fader Vista 8, while Beijing TV's truck will have two desks, a 52-fader Vista 8 and an OnAir 3000.

This combination has also been chosen by facilities company Shanghai Media Group, whose HD van will feature a 42-fader Vista 8 and a 24-fader OnAir 3000. The company is also installing a 32-fader Vista 5 console into a 5.1 audio van, a lead followed by four regional TV companies. The HD OB truck boom extends beyond Beijing with Jinan TV, Heilongjiang TV in Jarbin, Inner Mongolia TV and Dalian TV all launching new HD vehicles for live broadcast and production. Source: Rapid TV News, 10th Aug 2007

Singapore/Broadcaster: TV Tug of War

Singapore has a unique pay TV battle brewing -- a face-off between digital cable and Internet Protocol TV, by implication also digital. Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) recently launched mioTV on broadband Internet with 33 channels and technical and service innovations, including the world preem of two BBC channels. The very threat of this competition has sent dominant cabler StarHub on a yearlong growth spurt. StarHub now offers more than 100 channels and has spent lavishly on content for its 490,000 subscribers. Most notably it outbid ESPN-Star Sports for rights to English Premier League to lure soccer-mad locals.

A technical evolution has allowed this rivalry to happen, in a country of 4 million where pay TV penetration is less than 40% of TV households. Singapore is one of the most wired countries in the world. But in the 1990s, when telcos first looked at video-on-demand, connections were too slow, compression technology not good enough and set-top decoders too expensive. Like Hong Kong's world-leading IPTV service, which started life allowing viewers to select only the channels they wanted, mioTV preems with a largely a la carte menu.

IPTV's flexibility allows SPTI to operate three business models on mioTV; a general entertainment channel that is a cousin of its Sony Entertainment Television net in India; a subscription video-on-demand channel that offers unlimited access to some 20 movies per month; and a pay-per-view service. Company is also experimenting by offering studio movies on PPV simultaneously with their DVD release in Singapore.

StarHub prepared for competition by using digital technology to add services, including a personal video recorder and HubStation, a device that allows consumers to watch, surf and talk simultaneously. "Hubbing has enabled us to reach out to an increasing number of customers taking on two or more of our services, increasing customer loyalty and reducing churn," says Patrick Lim, StarHub's VP of Cable TV Services.

On other fronts there is little to pick between the two. SingTel claims an equivalent of hubbing. "We can now offer everything on one phone line and have 96% household penetration," says a spokesman, who argues this will help mioTV score in the city-state's less affluent heartlands. To appeal here it will offer more Cantonese nets from Hong Kong and Mandarin-language nets from Taiwan. StarHub hit back by launching its own Malay-language general entertainment channel.

Both services emphasize high-definition programming,reflecting a need for gimmicks as well as the Singapore government's push to develop expertise in HD program production. Competition between the two turned litigious when SingTel challenged StarHub's right to sign exclusive contracts with content suppliers. Appeal court judge last week ruled that exclusive deals were not anti-competitive and that the market was big enough for both groups. The decision was widely applauded by foreign media congloms. Source: Variety, 10th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/General: Scudamore Predicts £200k Wages

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore believes top players could earn £200,000 a week by the end of the decade. Scudamore predicts Premier League TV rights will continue to rise from the record £2.7billion three-year deal agreed in January 2007 and potentially break through the £3billion mark. Scudamore told the Daily Express: "Is there no end to the money going up? I don't think so. Football provides entertainment. People want to watch it. "It has been like that for the 16 years since the Premiership began."

Chelsea captain John Terry has reportedly become England's highest-paid player on wages of around £130,000 a week and Scudamore can see players getting up to £200,000. "I can see the day when one or two are earning £200,000 a week but only the biggest superstars. "The average now is just under £19,000 a week which means some are earning under £10,000 a week."

Scudamore also insists the European Commission's proposed shake-up of the selling of TV rights gave him more concern than all the issues he faced, including the Carlos Tevez saga, over the last year. As well as the Tevez issue, which has rumbled on throughout the close season, there has been the Lord Stevens bungs investigation and questions over Thaksin Shinawatra's takeover of Manchester City. Scudamore insists the worst moment was when the PFA called for a strike in December 2001 to get what they thought was a fair share of TV cash.

"I've had worse moments. Only the threat of a PFA strike felt worse than it has done recently. "Yes, this year it has been administrative challenges and legal complexities but the PFA strike was the worst. I never felt under so much pressure. Then, there was the European Commission issue over our right to sell TV rights collectively as a league, more important than all the issues put together that emerged this year.”

"Nobody can exist in isolation. If clubs then, or even now, think there is a promised land out there that it might be better that they broke away, then I can assure you it is not. "Of course we have had problems with issues such as Tevez, but we've been following the road map of our rule book and that is all we can do." Source: Sporting Life, 10th Aug 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

£4bn Battle to Win Hearts (and wallets) of Armchair Fans
Nick Harris writes for The Independent UK, 10th Aug 2007

While Manchester United and Chelsea are eyeing the top spot on the pitch, two less well-matched adversaries, the giants of BSkyB and the relative minnows Setanta, will be battling for an altogether bigger prize: domination of a pay-TV sports market in Britain potentially worth £4bn or more a year.

Sky has bankrolled the Premier League since it started in 1992 and can claim to have been the driving force in making it the world's richest, most popular league. Top-flight football was the battering ram that opened up a nation's homes to pay-TV. Sky has grown to have 8.5m subscribers, more than 5m of them paying for sports content. The broadcaster earns more than £2.5bn from sport, mostly Premier League fans, per year. It is an eye-popping figure for a sector that was virtually non-existent 15 years ago. That is why spending £433m per year on keeping the majority of live Premier League rights was a no-brainer for Sky.

It is also why Setanta, an Irish firm founded in 1990 in order to screen an Ireland World Cup match in an Ealing pub, is spending £130m per year (£392m to 2010) for 46 live Premier League matches per season. Sky will still have more games for now, 92 per season, but for Setanta the forthcoming campaign is only the start. "This season is massively important for us," Setanta's director of sport, Trevor East, said yesterday. "The Premier League is one of the main building blocks going forward."

Setanta's £5m marketing campaign, spearheaded by Des Lynam, has been underway for almost a fortnight. The live match programming, which kicks off with Aston Villa versus Liverpool at 5.15pm tomorrow, will be anchored by Angus Scott, poached from ITV, and feature pundits including Steve McManaman.

Setanta also plan to go head-to-head with Sky by screening a live Saturday results show, and starting a 24-hour sports news channel. Setanta's co-chief executive, Michael O'Rourke, insisted that Setanta are "not out to get Sky" and added "we believe there's a large constituency of disenfranchised viewers who want premium live sport and have been priced out by current providers."

In other words, there are people who cannot or do not want to pay £34 a month or more for Sky's sport, but do want pay-TV sport, now including live Premier League games, for the £9.99 Setanta charge. "We're in there to live alongside Sky," East said. He did not disagree however, that a successful first stint as a Premier League rights holder would whet the appetite to take on Sky in a larger way.

Setanta has one major hurdle to clear, its niche status to date as the home of the Scottish Premier League, lesser European leagues, American sports and horse racing. Its purchase of USPGA golf rights – trumping Sky – started to change that, as did a deal for Ricky Hatton fights and then for Premier League football. As East acknowledges, "our biggest problem is helping the potential customer understand what is out there in the market."

A recent deal with Virgin Media means that 1.4m subscribers to Virgin's top-tier cable package will get Setanta free. Another 1.1m subscribers have also already signed up to Setanta Sports, either via Freeview, BT Vision, broadband, Sky or existing Setanta packages."All the signs are very positive," said East.

Money-Talk in EPL
Commentary on The India Times, 10th Aug 2007

2007 is a landmark year for the Premiership. Dubiously touted as the best league in the world, it has acquired another hefty accolade this summer that is not the subject of conjecture: the English top flight is now the richest league in the world. Fittingly, even its name has been amended for commercial reasons. The Premiership is dead, long live the Premier League.

The league is awash with money. A new TV deal with Sky Sports and Setanta has brought an unprecedented £1.7bn windfall, further augmented by £625m from overseas television rights. If the headlines were dominated by the emergence of Setanta and the end of Sky’s monopoly, the bottom line is that the club finishing bottom of the Premiership this season will earn around £25m in 'prize money' - almost as much as Chelsea received for buying the 2005-06 title. It’s boom time.

While the prospect of new riches will be appreciated by cash-hungry chairmen and players, the avalanche of money will not be universally celebrated. Nor should it be. An undesirable consequence has been a flurry of overseas businessmen launching big-money takeovers, a business-led process that inevitably serves to further alienate clubs from their supporters.

Granted, a few clubs have imposed a freeze on tickets, but this is the consequence of cynical economics: once total match-day revenue is considered, it is far better for 20,000 fans to spend £15 on a ticket than 15,000 on £20. Meanwhile, the gap between the top flight and the rest of the Football League will widen into a vast chasm. The Premiership’s £92m donation was mere loose change.

The volume at which the money will talk within the league will largely be decided by how well it is spent. Yet there is good reason to suspect that the league is already eyeing the pursuit of a new, and different type of, money. With a fanbase of half a billion people, the Premiership is recognised as the world’s most popular sporting league. The fact that only three of its clubs did not embark on overseas pre-season tours indicates where they believe their next £1bn windfall lies (the new overseas deal, announced in January, represented a two-fold increase). Dollars rather than sterling could soon become the league's currency of choice.

To that end, the scenario in which certain clubs schedule certain games specifically to cater for an overseas TV audience is no longer ludicrous. Nor that the words 'football club' will be replaced by something more appropriate. ‘Franchise’, perhaps. And ‘United’ may become 'Union' as clubs ponder the potential rewards of globalisation.

Money may have indeed made the Premiership the best football league in the world but at what cost? The symptoms of suffering from too much of a good thing are already unmistakable and will only worsen.

Friday, 10th August 2007

THIS WEEK

Sun, 12th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Manhattan Beach Open


DID YOU KNOW…?

Pakistan, Venezuela and Nigeria are among the most unstable emerging markets and rank the lowest on Eurasia Group's Global Political Risk Index, a political stability ranking for 24 emerging markets. The top three most stable countries are Hungary, South Korea and Poland, according to the group's scores on the Global Political Risk Index for August.

Tailored toward emerging markets investors, the index is produced by Eurasia Group and distributed in partnership with Citi Private Bank. The index is based on 20 indicators in four equally weighted categories : government, society, security and economy, which are combined into a single country score on a scale from zero to 100. The higher the score, the more stable the country.

Once again leading the ranking, Hungary has a score of 79, followed by South Korea with 76, Poland with 72, Bulgaria with 70 and Brazil with 69. With a score of 66, Turkey is also among the stable emerging markets, since the recent parliamentary elections brought some measure of political stability after months of turmoil. Pakistan is the most unstable country with a composite score of 46. Oil-rich Nigeria is the second most unstable country with a score of 50, though analysts at the Eurasia Group see President Umaru Yar'Adua's recent efforts to fight corruption as encouraging. Also at the bottom of the ranking are Venezuela with a score of 50, Iran with 51, Colombia with 56 and Saudi Arabia with 56. Source: Ken Radio, 8th Aug 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* Ten Sports has signed new long-term deals to show tennis’ US Open and the Sunfeast Open, India’s top women’s tennis event. The US Open agreement is for five years and involves Ten Sports broadcasting the event exclusively in the Indian sub-continent, including live coverage of all of the games of rising Indian women’s star Sania Mirza. Ten Sports’ coverage of the Sunfeast Open involves a week of live coverage, highlights and promotional activities. Other tennis events shown by Ten Sports this year included the Dubai Tennis Championships. Source: Sportcal, Indian Television, Economic Times, DNA India, 9th Aug 2007

* Dutch midfielder Royston Drenthe is to join Real Madrid after they came to agreement with Feyenoord, according to Spanish press. Sports newspaper AS said that the Spanish champions will fork out €13mil for the player with Marca quoting €14mil. The 20-year-old, also rumoured to be a transfer target for Chelsea, had been putting pressure on the Dutch club to let him leave for one of Europe’s glamour teams. AS said he will be unveiled today on a five-year deal. The Spanish season begins on Aug 25. Source: The Star MY, Slam Sports, 10th Aug 2007

* Broadcasters could be asked to pay rights fees for the Southeast Asian Games for the first time after Suntipab Techavanij, rights division chairman for this year’s games in Thailand, said that extra TV revenues were needed to cover cost of staging the event, estimated at $6.6 million. Under the present games regulations rights are shared equally among the national Olympic committees of participating countries free of charge, and the NOCs then allocate them to national broadcasters. This year’s games, which will feature 43 sports, are scheduled for December 6 to 16. Source: Sportcal, Thanhnien News VT, 9th Aug 2007

* Taiwan’s Government Information Office (GIO) will launch a new English-language TV channel next year to promote Taiwan. Initially, the channel would be operated as a private firm with government funding. GIO will spend approximately eight to 12 months setting up the new TV channel and a budget of NT$2 billion (US$61 million) will be needed for its establishment. Several local TV managers compared the efforts to Japan's NHK and Qatar's al-Jazeera. The government said would not get involved in the management, although the channel would rely on the government for funds. Source: Taipei Times, 9th Aug 2007

* Japan's digital content service market expanded 8.3% in 2006 from the year before to a record 2.77 trillion yen (€18.3bn) on the growth in services for the Internet and mobile phones, the Digital Content Association of Japan reported. Sales grew in all four categories of content - videos, music titles, games and books. The association is forecasting that the Japanese digital content market will exceed three trillion yen this year. Source: Advanced Television, 9th Aug 2007

* Union Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad has voiced support for the Indian Cricket League (ICL). At a press meet, Prasad said Railways’ would offer its stadiums to the ICL for holding the proposed Twenty-20 tournament and charge less. Mr. Prasad said: “It is a good initiative for cricket and its growth.” The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not yet stated its position on whether ICL can access the stadiums. However, in a move that indicates BCCI’s reluctance to share resources, it recently stated that any person associating himself with “any other organisation” would not be entitled to derive any benefits from BCCI or “be connected with any of its activities”. Source: The Hindu, Business Line, 9th Aug 2007

* Prasar Bharati thinks 20twenty World Cup matches qualify as ODIs and that a live and clean feed of the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup should be mandatorily shared with Doordarshan. Both Prasar Bharati and ESPN-Star Sports are yet to clear the air on the matter. A Prasar Bharati thinks that the laws enacted clearly states an event of national importance where India is playing should be shared with Prasar Bharati and since this is a World Cup event it qualifies to be shared with the DD. ESPN-Star Sports officials refused to comment. Prasar Bharati expects to share a clean and live feed of not only all matches in which India plays, but also the semi-finals and final matches irrespective of whether India makes it to the finals. Source: The Economic Times IN, 9th Aug 2007

* IOC President Jacques Rogge recognised that Beijing's air pollution could force the delay or postponement of some outdoor endurance events during the 2008 Olympic Games. He said in a CNN interview that endurance sports such as cycling may have to be delayed if the air quality was not good. Rogge’s comments came as the Beijing organisers celebrated the one-year countdown to the Games Opening Ceremony. Source: Sport Business, China Economic Review, 9th Aug 2007

* The International Association of Athletics Federations said it is close to completing television rights sales for this month’s edition of the biennial World Championships in Osaka, Japan, with a possible large deal for several Asian territories still under negotiation. It is understood that if this is successfully completed, the total number of territories showing the event will exceed the 187 that showed the last edition in 2005. The IAAF said that the championships would appear on terrestrial television in about 85% of the territories in which it will be shown. Source: Sportcal, 9th Aug 2007

* Australia’s broadcasters are gearing up for a battle to land rights for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games. Australian media report there could be developments in the next couple of months with broadcasters having made informal inquiries to the IOC. Some commentators predict the rights could be worth up to A$100 million. Two years ago, the IOC suspended talks in Australia as it was reported to have been disappointed by the level of the offers. Australia is one of the last countries to negotiate for the 2010 and 2012 rights. The Seven network will cover the 2008 Beijing Games. Source: Sport Business, 9th Aug 2007

* Deutsche Telekom said that it had decided to continue to honour its sponsorship of the T-Mobile cycling team despite the doping scandals that marred this year’s Tour de France. T-Mobile, the mobile arm of Deutsche Telekom, announced that it would maintain its commitment to the cycling team, estimated to be worth between $16.5 million and $18 million a year, but with the unprecedented proviso that riders and team managers contribute a certain percentage of their salaries to the fight against doping. These contributions will be topped up by T-Mobile to make €1 million. Source: Sportcal, 9th Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

Hong Kong/Broadcaster: HD on Mobile

Hong Kong’s PCCW is launching what it calls “HD on mobile” – a high-quality mobile television service. PCCW mobile will offer mobile TV coverage of the English Premier League and other football based on H.264 QVGA 320x240-pixel video streaming. The technology is a “brand new high-quality viewing platform available only from PCCW mobile.” However, live broadcasts will be available only on certain mobile handsets that support the level of streaming PCCW is offering.

Seven channels will be available, although four will operate only on weekends, providing Premier League coverage. The remaining three channels will offer other sports including volleyball, snooker and bowling as well as Italian and Japanese football, and Premier League preview and highlights programmes. The package costs HK$98 per month (US$12.50), free to those on monthly packages of HK$198 or above. Source: Rapid TV News, Advanced Television, 9th Aug 2007

India/Rights: Nimbus Sport Wins EPL New Media Rights

Nimbus Sport has acquired the mobile and Internet rights of the English Premier League for over 80 countries. The rights to the football league, which features 20 clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool, are for the next three years. It will cover 1,140 matches that will be played until the end of the 2009.

“This is the first time that the Premier League has offered Internet rights separately from broadcast rights, and Nimbus Sport is delighted to be a pioneering commercial partner for the world’s leading football property… We have already closed major deals with licensees in Italy, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, Hong Kong and many other major markets,” said Mr Digvijay Singh, CEO, Nimbus Sport. The company will market these rights in association with PA SportEV, a subsidiary of PA Sport.

The rights are for 80 countries including China, Japan, Thailand and India in Asia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Algeria in West Asia and North Africa and Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Belgium in Europe. It also covers Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. Source: Business Line, 9th Aug 2007

Thursday, 9th August 2007

HEADLINE NEWS

Brazil World Cup Qualifiers on Korean TV

Public broadcaster Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) agreed a deal with the Traffic Sports Marketing and Total Sports Asia agencies for the rights to broadcast all nine of Brazil’s home matches of the 2010 South American World Cup Qualifying Tournament. The matches are held over a period of three years starting with the first match on October 17, 2007. The deal covers all media platforms.

Jean Marc Schwartzenberg, Director of International Business at Traffic Sports Marketing said, “We are very happy to have reached this agreement with KBS. They are an ideal partner for matches of this magnitude and we are confident that the network will give the Brazilian National Team the coverage it deserves in Korea.“

“Since we have a plenty of experience airing the Brazil’s qualifying matches for 2006 Germany, we strongly believe that this will be another precious chance to meet the expectations of Korean audience“, said Young Moon Park, Head of Sports Business Team of KBS.

Total Sports Asia, exclusive representative of Traffic Sports Marketing in Asia brokered the deal. “KBS is one of the most prestigious broadcasters in South Korea, and we believe this deal is the evidence of the popularity of South American soccer in general and that of Brazil in particular. KBS has been a valued partner of Total Sports Asia for many years and we are excited at this opportunity to further reinforce our relationship”, said Chung See LIANG, Managing Director (Korea/Japan) of Total Sports Asia. Source: Sport Business, Sports e-Media, Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007


THIS WEEK

Sun, 12th Aug 2007
AVP Crocs Tour 2007: Final Day – Manhattan Beach Open


INFO BOX

A Peek Into the Average User's Computer
Source: Info IQ, 8th Aug 2007

* Average hard drive capacity on U.S. computers is demonstrating steady and noticeable gains since the beginning of 2007. The percentage of computers with at least 70 GB of hard drive space has increased from 33% of computers in January 2007 to 39 percent in April 2007. Meanwhile, the percentage of computers with less than 50 GB declined from 59% to 53% during the same period.

* The typical computer contained 880 mp3 files, which accounted for an average of 3 GB of hard drive space. The average computer also contained 197 Microsoft Word (.doc) documents, 100 PDF (.pdf) files, 77 Microsoft Excel (.xls) files, and 36 Windows Media (.wmv) files. The average Windows Media file size is 12.5 MB.

* The heavy mp3 segment was significantly more likely to visit categories dealing in entertainment (gaming, gambling, humor, music) and communication/ networking (community – teens, instant messengers, discussion/chat). Specifically, nearly 40% of heavy mp3 users visited the gaming information category, more than twice as likely as the average Internet user. They also exhibited particularly heavy relative visitation to the online gambling, community – teens, and entertainment – humor categories.


SPORTS SHORTS

* A badminton seminar for players and coaches will be held on the eve of the World Championships to create awareness - especially on doping matters. Through the seminar, the Badminton World Federation hoped that players, coaches, officials and administrators would get updates in the world of sports medicine related to the game. The BWF medical commission chairman Dr Gurucharan Singh will also present a paper on the Sports Supplements and Doping. Commission member, Dr Ashwin Patel, will speak on "Doping: Therapeutic Use Exemption and players whereabouts’ and consequences." The seminar is organised by the BWF with the cooperation of the Sports Medicine Society of the Malaysian Medical Association. Source: The Star MY, 7th Aug 2007

* Star TV-backed Indian DTH platform, TataSky, will invest Rs2 billion (US$50 million) over the next five years to reach 8mil subscribers. Over 1mil subscribers are signed up to the platform after a year of operation. TataSky, owned by News Corp’s Star TV and the Tata Group, launched in August 2006. A mooted deal to sell some of the platform to Singapore’s Temasek Holding seems to have fallen through. Despite heavy investment, TataSky may struggle to reach 8mil – penetration of around 40-50% of the DTH market. Kotak Institutional Equities estimates the DTH subscriber base will increase to 15 million by 2012, with other forecasts pegged at around 16-20 million. Source: Rapid TV News, 8th Aug 2007

* AT&T and China Netcom have agreed to provide telecommunications services for NBC, the US television network, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China Netcom will work with AT&T to provide a dedicated network through which NBC can broadcast digital television coverage. AT&T and China Netcom are also collaborating to set up a circuit for NBC to facilitate live coverage of today’s one-year countdown celebrations in Beijing’s Tianenmen Square. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

* South Korea is claiming they lead the world in IPTV-based standards. Korea’s state-backed Radio Research Laboratory says that an ITU meeting accepted 46 IPTV-related proposals. As a result, the number of the country's overall IPTV-related standards now totals 199, including ones approved at four earlier ITU meetings. South Korea evidently proposed 52 “standards” of which 46 were accepted. Kang Sung-Chui, a director at the research lab is quoted locally as saying this means South Korea now has about a quarter of the 700 or so IPTV-based standards, which – he says – “will benefit our companies when IPTV becomes widespread”. South Korean companies like Samsung, LG, KT and Hanaro co-operated with the Radio Research Lab. Source: Rapid TV News, 8th Aug 2007

* IP solutions company UTStarcom is claiming that over 60% of China’s IPTV subscribers are watching over networks operating with its RollingStream end-to-end IPTV solution. UTStarcom sells the technology to both China Telecom and China Netcom, which currently use it in 19 deployments between them with over 310,500 live subscribers. Those deployments have a total system capacity of nearly 625,000 subscribers. Consultancy IDC forecasts that IPTV subscriptions in China will reach 10.5 million by 2010 and 14.9 million by 2011. Source: Rapid TV News, 8th Aug 2007

* Brazil and Mexico will meet in a football friendly in New England, USA next month. The match will take place at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on September 12. Mexico beat Brazil in the group stage of the recent Copa America in Venezuela but the South Americans recovered to qualify for the quarter finals and win the tournament. In addition to the Brazil fixture, Mexico have arranged a friendly against China at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 17. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

* The Olympic Games will be aired live online in USA for the first time when television network NBC launches its broadband stream at the games in Beijing. Over 17 days of competition, NBC will air 3,600 hours of coverage on its platforms, over 1,000 hours more than the combined hours of online coverage in USA for previous Olympic Games. NBC, USA, MSNBC and CNBC will all screen the games, with NBC Universal's Telemundo providing coverage in Spanish. In addition, the NBCOlympics.com site will feature approximately 3,000 hours of highlights. Source: Sportcal, Worldscreen, Michael Hiestand comments on USA Today, 8th Aug 2007

* The Professional Squash Association, the sport's world governing body, has announced a 29% increase in tour prize money comparing the first half of 2007 with 2006. Total prize money for PSA tournaments in the first half of 2007 reached nearly $1.4 million, a record figure. The PSA is in line for total prize money of $3 million in 2007, more than double the 2003 figure. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

* The National Hockey League, expects Versus will take up its option to show live games in the USA through to the end of the 2010-11 season, despite reports of rival ESPN returning to the sport. Versus began coverage of the NHL at the start of the 2005-06 season and has the right to withdraw after the 2007-08 campaign and there are claims that ESPN could replace the channel or the national network NBC. However, the league has the option to cancel the deal, currently worth around $72 million per year, if Versus does not hit subscriber benchmarks. NBC does not pay a rights fee but has a revenue-sharing deal to show a selection of games, which it can reportedly opt out of at the end of the 2007-08 season. Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007


MORE NEWS

Malaysia/Broadcaster: Media Prima to Expand TV Ops in Asia-Pacific

Media Prima Bhd, Malaysia’s largest integrated media investment group, will expand its television networks business in the Asia-Pacific region and is slated to announce its plans in the last two quarters of this year, said its chief executive officer of television networks Datuk Farid Ridzuan. Farid said the group’s regional expansion of its strongest business, television broadcasting, after the consolidation of a majority of the nation’s free-to-air segment of TV and other media. Media Prima owns four of the six free-to-air channels with the acquisitions of 8TV, Channel 9 and, most recently, ntv7. RTM 1 and RTM 2 are owned by the government.

“It is natural that we look outward and also to answer the government’s call to look at regional expansion. Ghana was an expansion and very soon we will be making an announcement about our plans, moving forward, which is quite critical to ensure the sustainability of our media business in the mid to long term,” Farid told members of the Malaysian press present at the Global Brand Forum in Singapore here yesterday. “We don’t want to be overly ambitious for starters; we’re looking at neighbouring countries on how we can invest, act as consultants or joint venture with other media companies,” he said.

The group also owns radio stations FlyFm, hotfm; print media group New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd; content creation and movie production company Grand Brilliance Sdn Bhd; Tiga Events Sdn Bhd and outdoor advertising companies Big Tree Outdoor, UPD and The Right Channel. Furthermore, media companies in neighbouring countries have shown interest in partnering with Media Prima. The group wants to expand, by providing its broadcast expertise and technology, either as broadcast consultants, network manager and operators.

“Acquisition is not the priority… unless investors that want to invest in us want to acquire,” he said. The group is not expected, however, to dip into its cash flow coffers in the name of expansion. Farid said the group was looking to attract a mix of foreign and local investments from media fund managers, private investors, financial institutions and banks. Currently, foreign investors have 47% ownership in the Media Prima group.

“Foreigners have more faith in us,” he said. Farid said the group was “shifting gears to get things going faster” with its expansion plan as broadcasters overseas were expanding aggressively in the region. “It’s always been our strategy to expand regionally, but having said that, we had an opportunity in Ghana which has taught us how to manage from afar, how to run a station. “We thought maybe around the region would be better because we can deploy or redeploy manpower,” he said but declined to reveal which countries it was looking into.

On another matter, Farid said 30% of its revenue for the financial ending Dec 31, 2007, would come from various events and festivities, including the nation’s 50th Independence Day, in the next four months. “So far the momentum has been pretty good,” he said. Source: The Edge MY, 7th Aug 2007

Korea/General: Series of International e-Sports Events Due

South Korea is becoming an e-sports mecca this summer by hosting a series of international conventions and competitions of computer and video gaming. A dozen countries including China, Vietnam, France, Japan, India and Singapore are sending government envoys to Seoul this week to learn from its experience and know-how in transforming computer gaming into a lucrative sporting business. This year's second International e-Sports Symposium will be held from Saturday to Tuesday in COEX, southern Seoul.

The international conference on computer and video gaming competitions is co-organized by the government-funded Korea Game Industry Agency (KOGIA) and the Korea e-Sports Association (KESPA). Along with the government officials, major media outlets such as Star TV of Hong Kong and representatives from South Korean professional e-sports clubs will participate in the event, the organizers said.

``We are going to make an online forum this time so the people in the e-sports industry can talk to each other anytime of the year,'' an official at the e-sports association said. The so-called e-sports have become a new cultural icon especially in South Korea where there are two 24-hour cable TV channels dedicated to broadcasting video and computer game competitions of professional players.

There are a dozen professional clubs owned by major conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom. Even the Air Force operates a ``Star Craft'' computer game team consisting of conscripted professional players for promotional purpose. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been in charge of the nation's e-sports policies, and many local governments have jumped into the business, too.

This week, Seoul city invites hundreds of top computer gamers to the Seoul International e-Sports Festival. It is slated for Aug. 9-12 at Olympic Park in southeastern Seoul. Highlights of the e-sports festival will be aired via local and foreign media, as well as sports cable channel Xports and Internet broadcasting on Gom TV, Naver and Freechal. The total prize for the winners is 150 million won. In fall, the e-sports industry will once again gather in the southern city of Daegu at the ``e-fun 2007'' convention.

The Daegu city government plans to foster the event as a more business-oriented expo. Oct. 25 will see the launch of the first World Game Culture Conference where experts from 10 nations will discuss ways to utilize games in other industries, the organizer said. Busan city hosted the finals of the ``StarCraft'' pro-league last week, where some 70,000 spectators filled the vast Gwangan-ri beach to watch the best-of-seven series on a giant screen. Source: The Korea Times, 7th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/General: IRB Claims Record TV Figures for Sevens Series

The IRB Sevens Series ‘smashed previous attendance and broadcast records’ during the 2006-07 season, according to the International Rugby Board. The IRB, which is pressing for rugby sevens to be added to the Olympic programme, claimed that the figures ‘confirm the series’ continued global appeal and growth.’ It said that the eight tournaments in the series were televised by 30 international broadcasters in 11 different languages and reached 213 million homes, an increase of 24 million on the figure for the 2005-06 season.

The series was seen in 137 countries, an increase of one on last season, with live coverage increasing dramatically to 911 hours of action, a 72% increase. The overall cumulative attendance exceeded 250,000, with sell-out crowds for the opening three tournaments in Dubai (64,000), South Africa (25,000) and New Zealand (70,000) and a further sell-out for the Hong Kong event (40,000). Three new venues staged tournaments during the season, attracting crowds of 29,000 (San Diego), 25,000 (Adelaide) and 30,000 (Edinburgh).

The IRB added that rugby sevens is to be included on the programme of the Pan-American Games in 2011 and that ‘re-inclusion in the All-African Games is now a step closer after the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa endorsed its inclusion.’ The IRB credited its worldwide production and distribution partner ProActive Television with playing ‘a significant role in driving these figures.’ Source: Sportcal, 8th Aug 2007

Elsewhere/General: Premier League Launches “Creating Chances” Programme

English football’s Premier League launched Creating Chances, a new programme intended to support the work the top-flight clubs do in the community and for good causes and charities. In new research, Deloitte demonstrates the Premier League and its twenty clubs will invest an estimated £122 million next season in community projects, charities and other good causes, representing an increase of over 50 per cent since Deloitte’s last assessment in 2003.*

The core element of Creating Chances is a new initiative called ‘Places for Players’, which will involve 200 Premier League players supporting a number of charities and good causes in September, raising awareness of and funds for the work that these organisations do. Over 400 good causes will benefit either by players getting involved in their work or from a £2,000 cash donation direct from the Premier League. There will also be a Premier League All Stars, a 7-a-side knockout competition to be played during the Creating Chances week of action in September.

Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League, said: "Community engagement is now woven into the fabric of football and the size and scope of that commitment today really is something of which the Premier League, our clubs and the players can be extremely proud. Creating Chances is a means of showcasing all of the work that takes place right across the League on a daily basis and will help to further strengthen the relationship we have with countless charities, good causes and our fans.”

James Purnell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, also attended the launch and said: “Football clubs have a unique position in their communities. They are now helping to raise standards of education, working with police to cut crime and anti-social behaviour and also re-investing millions of pounds into football facilities for the public. I am pleased that Government can play a part in Creating Chances, and help highlight this important side to the Premier League’s business.” Source: Sport Business, 8th Aug 2007