Wednesday, 3rd January 2007

HEADLINES OF THE DAY

WWE Inks Portuguese Mobile Deal

World Wrestling Entertainment has signed an exclusive content agreement deal with Heylife, a mobile, Internet and TV content producer and distributor based in Portugal. The deal will see Heylife rolling out WWE standard and premium package downloads, including video streams, voicetones, ringtones, wallpapers and SMS alerts.

Tom Barreca, WWE’s EVP of digital media, noted, "We hope that this is a partnership that continues to grow, with both the advent of new technology and the expansion of WWE's television offerings in this part of Europe."

In May 2006, WWE announced the launch of WWE Mobile, featuring text news alerts, schedules and ringtones, to be purchased both a la carte and by subscription. WWE intends to offer a slate of original made for mobile video featuring 75 original two- to five-minute videos per month, and another 70 when adding premium subscription levels. Source: Worldscreen, 22nd December 2006


INFO DIGEST

Info Box – Sky Sports UK’s 2006

UK pay-broadcaster SKY SPORTS televised 40,638 hours of sport in 2006 across five core channels – Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports 3, Sky Sports Xtra and Sky Sports News - over 800 more hours of sport more than in 2005. Not included in this record figure were another 182 hours of coverage on Sky Box Office and PremPlus including Ricky Hatton’s win over Luis Collazo and eight WWE wrestling events. Over the last 12 months, the most televised sports on Sky Sports were (Hours in 2006 - Percentage change on year):

* Football 6,082 +3.1%
* Cricket 3,491 +28.9%
* Golf 3,514 -8.8%
* Rugby Union 1,412 +0.4%
* Tennis 1,161 -1.7%
* Rugby League 1,038 -9.8%
Source: Sport Business, 2nd January 2007


SPORTS SHORTS

* Dentsu and Media Partners & Silva will issue an invitation to tender for the media rights to the Italian Serie A for the next three seasons on January 4, 2007. Bids will be invited from all qualified media companies, broadcasters, mobile phone operators, internet portals and agencies. Closing date for submissions is January 31. The partnership was recently formed to distribute live and delayed rights to Serie A matches in Japan and the rest of Asia, excluding Indonesia and Middle East, for three years, beginning 2007-08. It is the first time that Dentsu has agreed to act as Asian sales agent for the broadcasting rights of an overseas soccer league. Source: Sportcal, Sports e-Media, 19th December, Sports Media, 21st December 2006

* Germany’s top-tier Basketball Bundesliga has agreed a deal with Sportfive for the international sports marketing agency to represent the league’s broadcast and title sponsorship rights. The BBL is hoping that Sportfive will help to increase the league’s media presence around the world. Source: Sportcal, 19th December 2006

* Bertrand Meheut, chief executive of Canal Plus has been named ‘Manager of the Year’ for 2006 by Le Nouvel Economiste magazine, as it emerged that the company is on track for an operating profit of €203 million ($268 million), in line with the figure for last year. The 2006 profit comes despite Canal Plus’ apparently ruinous deal to acquire the television rights for Ligue 1, the top French soccer league, for a record €600 million a season from 2005-06 until 2007-08. Source: Sportcal, 22nd December 2006

* Austria has announced two friendly fixtures against the Netherlands and Scotland in the run-up to Euro 2008. Austria will play Scotland in Vienna on May 30 2007 and against the Netherlands in Vienna on March 26 2008 the following year. Both hosts will also face Germany in the run-up to the championships with Austria's match scheduled for Vienna on February 6, 2008 while Switzerland will face the same opposition at a venue to be decided on March 28. Source: Sportcal, 19th December 2006

* Sheffield United is in talks over a proposed exclusive partnership with Sao Paulo. Preliminary negotiations are due to start early 2006 with the Brazilian giant, which was crowned the 2006 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A champion in November and won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2005. If the talks are successful, the Barclays Premiership team would have the opportunity of bringing over several rising young players from Sao Paulo. Source: Football Insider, 21st December 2006

* Four of Malaysia’s leading bowlers have quit the sport in protest at what they claim is the national federation’s preoccupation with professional players. The quartet include Nor Iryami Azmi, the winner of three gold medals at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Source: Sportcal, 22nd December 2006

* The New York Southern District Court ruled that FIFA does not have to immediately comply with the court order issued 7 December 2006 requiring it to grant MasterCard Inc. an eight-year World Cup sponsorship deal, pending the outcome of an appeal. The court had earlier overturned FIFA’s sponsorship deal with rival credit card company Visa stating that senior FIFA executives repeatedly lied to Visa and to ousted sponsor Mastercard. After the ruling, FIFA sacked four employees for dishonest sponsorship negotiations. Source: Sport Business, 2nd January 2007

* The International Archery Federation (FITA) announced that an estimated 900,000,000 people watched Archery on television in 2006. The archery TV images were most watched in Asia and Europe, especially in India, China, Russia, Italy, Turkey and France. The main TV channels that showed archery include ESPN Star Asia, Eurosport, Fox International, Sport+, Zee Sport, RAI, RTR Russia, TRT or CCTV. Source: Sports e-Media, Sports Media, 21st December 2006


MORE NEWS

China/Broadcaster: Bundesliga Has Chinese Bright Spot

In its first season of a new international distribution arrangement, the Bundesliga is reaching about 140 countries, an increase from last season, according to the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL). Exposure includes eight live matches per week on Chinese television, with four games on CCTV5. Chinese digital football service Eurosoccer carries an additional four, two from the first division and two from the second. Matches are also shown on i-Cable in Hong Kong.

One year ago, the DFL sold international media rights for three seasons (through to 2008-09) to Austrian betting company Bwin (formerly Betandwin.com), represented by Munich-based Sportsman Media Group GmbH. In the past, rights were represented by Hamburg-based agency Sportfive. In the new deal, the DFL is working closely with Sportsman, learning about the market and about the requirements of broadcast customers.

In India, new company Neo Sports (owned by Nimbus) has the rights. The Bundesliga is shown on Indovision in Indonesia, MBC in South Korea and J Sports in Japan, among others. Dubai Sports Channel has acquired rights in the Middle East. Source: Sports Media, 21st December 2006

Asia/Rights: Sportfive Back in With Premier League After Rights Award

Sportfive, the international sports agency, has achieved a partial restoration of its former role as a distributor of international media rights for English soccer’s top-tier Premier League, winning the rights for a clutch of eastern European and western Asian territories for the seasons 2006-07 to 2008-09. The award comes on top of Sportfive recently outbidding Dentsu, the Japanese advertising giant, to handle the rights in Japan.

Under the contract ending with the 2003-04 season, Sportfive had been a joint distributor of worldwide Premier League rights with Newscorp, Octagon CSI and TWI in a deal worth £178 million ($349 million) over three years. Sportfive distributed the rights for the European territories. Sportfive’s acquisition comes on top of the recent award of the international rights for soccer’s Euro 2008 in most territories outside Europe, to go with the European rights that it won early last year. Source: Sportcal, 22nd December 2006

Asia/New Media: APAC IPTV Growth Fuelled by Demand

Frost & Sullivan reported that Asia Pacific IPTV Market - covering 12 major Asia-Pacific countries ex-Japan - is estimated to increase from US$353.4 million in 2006 to US$512.4 million in 2007. Growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 37.5 per cent (2006-2013), the region’s IPTV market is forecast to be worth US$3.3 billion by end-2013.

IPTV is presently available in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, and is expected to be introduced in India and the Philippines in 2007. Countries like China, India and Australia are expected to be high growth markets by 2009. China, in particular, holds immense potential as it has the largest broadband subscriber base in Asia-Pacific. Residential subscribers constitute approximately 70 per cent of China’s 47.8 million broadband subscribers. China together with Hong Kong, which is said to be one of the most sophisticated IPTV markets in the world, is expected to account for nearly 60 per cent of the region’s IPTV revenues by end-2013. Source: Advanced Television, 18th December 2006

Asia/General: Record-Setting Coverage of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006

iSe International Sports and Entertainment AG reached broadcasting agreements for the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006 with broadcasters for a total of 219 territories. 199 territories broadcasted the tournament matches live, whereas an additional 20 territories covered the event via news access. iSe had concluded major agreements in all continents.

In Asia, ESPN Star Sports covered cable and satellite television in 22 territories corresponding to South Asia, South-East Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. iSe had also awarded exclusive terrestrial, cable and satellite rights to ART Sports in 13 territories. Additional rights were awarded to prestigious broadcasters in individual markets, such as CCTV in China, IB Sports in Korea, ANTV in Indonesia, and others.

The comprehensive coverage was completed by various TV news access as well as radio agreements. Reuters and SNTV ensured global news access. iSe was appointed by Dentsu Inc. to market and deliver the television rights on behalf of FIFA for the FIFA Club World Cup Japan in 2005 and 2006. Dentsu, a long-term partner for FIFA, acted as the Executive Event Producer of the tournament. Source: Sports e-Media, 21st December 2006

Elsewhere/Rights: Talks Stall On New Tenfield Deal

Talks in Uruguay over TV rights deals covering the 16 top flight club teams as well as the national team qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup appear to have stalled. The deals are due to be activated within the next two months, but Penarol and Nacional - the two biggest clubs in the country - are stalling on the deals. The other 14 clubs gave their backing to the proposed contracts at a recent meeting, but Tenfield, the company hoping to secure the rights for the coming four years, is running out of time to gain the unanimous approval.

Tenfield reportedly offered US$2.8 million to cover Uruguay’s qualifying matches for the next World Cup in South Africa in three-and-a-half years’ time, and $850,000 for the rights to games in the first and second divisions. Penarol and Nacional, as well as voting against the national team deal, believe they should receive $425,000 of the $850,000 on the table for the domestic league deal with the remainder of the amount split between the other teams in the two divisions. Source: Sports Media, 2nd January 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: Euro 2008 Rights to Be Shared in France

The television rights for Euro 2008 will be shared by French commercial broadcasters. TF1 and M6, after a second round of bids failed to produce an outright winner. TF1 and M6 are the only two broadcasters to reply to the invitation to tender for the rights in France and had submitted offers significantly lower than the fee required by Sportfive, which is marketing the European broadcast rights on behalf of governing body Uefa. Sportfive targeted a fee of €100 million ($126 million) for the broadcast rights in France and under the new agreement, TF1 and M6 will pay €50 million each and will have the rights to show simultaneous coverage of France's matches in the tournament.

The deal follows last month’s news that coverage in Germany could be split for the first time between free-to-air and pay-television, as public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF baulk at the reported €150-million asking price to show all 31 games. Both German networks have publicly stated that they will not increase an initial bid said to be worth less than €100 million. The broadcasters point out that the asking price, which is equivalent to €4.8 million a match for the tournament’s 31 matches, exceeds the €3.75 million per match they paid to show 48 out of the 64 matches of this summer’s World Cup, in a deal worth a total of €150 million.

The 2008 European Championships are to be co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland and are scheduled for June 7 to 29, 2008. Sportfive has also agreed a deal with JumpTV, the Canadian internet broadcaster, to show live coverage of the majority of the remaining qualifying matches for Euro 2008, including exclusive internet rights in USA and Canada. Source: Sportcal, 18th December 2006

Elsewhere/General: Class 1 Promoter to Run Championship without UIM Support

The International Offshore Team Association, the promoter of the Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, has expressed its disappointment at the response of the UIM, the sport’s world governing body, to its plans for the 2007 season and said it will rely on the newly-formed World Professional Powerboat Association and national authorities to sanction its events.

IOTA also lamented the fact that UIM had failed to respond to a letter of December 3 confirming the proposals for the 2007 season and instead ‘chose to send a communication to the national authorities containing a list of sanctions to be applied to those which undertake or recognise WPPA activities, without even taking the trouble to inform IOTA of this decision.’

The UIM has threatened to suspend members, associations and drivers that co-operate with the WPPA. This followed a breakdown in negotiations with Class 1, which has decided that next year’s championship will be run under the auspices of WPPA, which is headed by Saeed Hareb of the Dubai International Marine Club.

Next year's Class 1 schedule will again include a minimum of eight races in Europe and the Middle East and will be confirmed at the Dusseldorf Boat Show next month. Source: Sportcal, 19th December 2006

Elsewhere/General: WTA Plays down Threat of USTA Rival Circuit

The United States Tennis Association and the women's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour are on a collision course, after the USTA set aside $10 million to establish a rival women’s tennis circuit should it fail to reach agreement with the WTA over proposed changes to the tour. The USTA is particularly unhappy at planned alterations to the US Open Series, which comprises 10 major men's ATP and women's WTA events, culminating with the US Open.

Franklin Johnson, the outgoing USTA president, said of the $10 million contingency: ‘We haven't spent it, but we've just earmarked it, saying if we have to do it, we will. The WTA Tour has proposed to re-designate tournaments into ‘A’ and ‘B’ -level events to ensure that top-10 players play fewer tournaments but face each other more often. But it is feared that many ‘B’ -level tournaments that have enjoyed success in the past could now find it hard to attract top players. Johnson acknowledged that the USTA and WTA are talking again and that there are signs of movement, but said that the USTA is not satisfied with the terms on offer.

Stacey Allaster, president of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, insisted that changes were needed to bring reform to the tennis calendar so that fans and tournaments can consistently see a greater number of top players on a more reliable basis. The length of the season is long and punishing, leading to too many injuries and withdrawals.

The tour is taking bids from tournaments for the 2009 season, with most tournaments expected to either bid up to some $4 million to get an ‘A’ designation, or drop down to a lower ‘B’ designation, leaving them without a guarantee of being able to attract top 10 players. Larry Scott, the WTA Tour’s chief executive, has said that the tour is willing to negotiate with its partners, but wants to ensure that in 2009 the tour has sufficient high-level tournaments in which star players are competing against each other. Source: Sportcal, 21st December 2006

Elsewhere/General: Dates for Olympic Hockey Qualifying Competitions

The FIH, field hockey’s world governing body, has announced the dates for the six Olympic qualifying tournaments for the 2008 Beijing games. The events are the last opportunity for countries which have not qualified through continental championships to qualify for the games. Hosts China, South Korea and Pakistan have already qualified for the men’s hockey tournament while China and Japan are confirmed entrants in the women’s event.

The venues for the competitions are subject to change if the host countries qualify at an earlier stage. The provisional schedule is as follows:

· February 2-9, 2008: men’s Olympic qualifier in Auckland, New Zealand
· March 1-9, 2008: men’s Olympic qualifier in Santiago, Chile
· April 5-13, 2008: men’s Olympic qualifier in Kakamigahara, Japan
· April 12-20, 2008: women’s Olympic qualifier in Baku, Azerbaijan
· April 19-27, 2008: women’s Olympic qualifier in Kazan, Russia
· April 26-May 4, 2008: women’s Olympic qualifier in Vancouver, Canada
Source: Sportcal, Sports e-Media, 22nd December 2006

Elsewhere/General: Squash's British Open Keeps Top Billing

England Squash has signed a new agreement with internationalSPORTgroup, which organises the British Open Squash Championships, guaranteeing the event’s future in the top echelon of tournaments for the next five years. The deal follows a three-year deal between the two parties in August 2005 which paved the way for the event to be upgraded and staged in Manchester in October of that year and in Nottingham in September of 2006.

The Dunlop British Open will return to Manchester next year when it takes place at the National Squash Centre from September 18 to 24. The men’s event will feature in the Super Series of the men’s Professional Squash Association for the first time since 2001 and the women’s tournament will have Gold level status on the WISPA World Tour. Both competitions are guaranteed to offer a top level of prize money until 2012. Source: Sportcal, 22nd December 2006

Elsewhere/Business: Transfers the Lifeblood of South American Soccer

With match attendances on the slide, South American clubs are becoming increasingly reliant on the sale of star players to stay afloat, according to a new report. Accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche calculates that teams in Brazil and Argentina derive 30 per cent and 50 per cent of revenues from player transfers respectively. The comparable figures for ticket sales are 7 per cent and 12 per cent.

During 2005, Brazilian clubs, which post an average annual operating loss of $83.5 million, generated $100 million from the sale of 804 players to foreign teams. Half of this turnover came from Brazilian international Robinho’s move from Santos to Spanish giants Real Madrid. With regard to television income, South American clubs cannot remotely compete with their European counterparts. Brazilian outfits earn as little as $9 million, equivalent to 20 per cent of total sales. Source: Sportcal, 22nd December 2006