Friday, 4th May 2007

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

Fifa Regains Upper Hand in Visa Case Jurisdiction Dispute

Fifa could, after all, succeed in gaining a hearing before an arbitration panel in its ‘home’ country of Switzerland in its attempt to retain credit card firm Visa as a sponsor. A three-judge US federal appeals panel yesterday reserved a ruling on the case after hearing oral submissions, but two of the three judges said that the arbitration panel in Zurich might be entitled to hear some aspects of the dispute.

Fifa is struggling to overturn a New York court ruling to ditch the deal with Visa and instead award an eight-year sponsorship contract to MasterCard. The New York judge had scornfully dismissed the governing body’s attempt to switch judgement over the case to Swiss jurisdiction, rejecting Fifa’s claim that by approaching the Swiss arbitration panel it was not seeking a second ruling in a different court.

However, Fifa’s lawyer yesterday told the appeals panel that a disputed contract between Mastercard and Fifa contained a provision for Fifa to have the right for any dispute to be settled by arbitration, instead of in a court of law. MasterCard took legal action against Fifa after it broke off negotiations with the company over a new contract covering its competitions from 2007 to 2014 and went with rival Visa, worth $180 million, plus $15 million in so-called ‘marketing-in-kind’ benefits.

The New York court ruled that Fifa must ditch the sponsorship deal with Visa and proceed with a deal with MasterCard that had been provisionally agreed. The judge found that four Fifa officials, who were subsequently sacked, lied repeatedly, both to Visa and MasterCard, over MasterCard’s right of first refusal over a new sponsorship contract.

Fifa did not have to comply immediately with the order to deal with MasterCard after the court ruled in December that the deal could be suspended pending the outcome of the appeal. One of the issues in dispute is whether Fifa should be bound by a contract it signed with MasterCard in 2005 or one it declined to sign in March 2006. Fifa claims that both contracts call for disputes to be decided through arbitration. Source: Sportcal, International Herald Tribune, 3rd May 2007


DID YOU KNOW…?

A form of badminton was played in ancient Greece and Egypt. But it wasn't called badminton then. In India, the game was called poona. Elsewhere it was called either battledore or shuttlecock. British Army officers stationed in India in the 1860s took the game back to England. In 1873, it was played at a party given by the Duke of Beaufort at his Gloucestershire estate, which was called Badminton. So it came to be called "the Badminton game."

A badminton shuttle (also called a shuttlecock or bird) contains 14 to 16 feathers from the left wings of geese, ducks and chickens but also could be made of plastic. The shuttle is about 6.4cm (2-and-a-half inches) tall and weighs 73-85 grains (4.74-5.50 grams). It is one of the fastest objects in sport, easily traveling at 180 km/h (112 mph). It has been clocked at an amazing 289 km/h (180 mph), making it second fastest only to Jai-Alai, a sport that originated in the Basque country. In 1979, Guinness World Records recorded a player throwing the Jai-Alai pelota at 302.5 km/h (188 mph).


SPORTS SHORTS

* A new Superbike World Championship team bearing the name of the UK’s iconic four-time SBK champion, Carl Fogarty, is to join the grid next year, after he agreed a ‘long-term’ deal with MV Agusta, the Italian manufacturer. Fogarty’s Foggy-Petronas team was forced to pull out of this year’s championship after Petronas, the Malaysian petrochemical giant, ended its backing. Source: Sportcal, 3rd May 2007

* India’s ESPN Star Sports will telecast the 16th edition of Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament 2007 LIVE and exclusive starting May 5, 2007. Launched in 1983, Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey tournament has emerged as a premium tournament worldwide. Staged every two years till 1998, the tournament is now an annual feature owing to the growth of popularity of the game in Malaysia. Source: Indian Television, 3rd May 2007

* Google said it has opened an office Singapore to be closer to customers and advertisers in Southeast Asia, which boasts a market of half a billion people. Google declined to say how much it has invested in the Singapore office. Singapore is one of Southeast Asia's most technology-friendly economies and one of the most wired countries in Asia. The government is seeking to attract high-tech industries as it moves away from the traditional manufacturing sector. Source: Channel News Asia Singapore, 3rd May 2007

* Indian Badminton Players' Welfare Association has asked for the sports minister’s "intervention" to stop Badminton Association of India's "regressive steps which are hurting players". BAI's recent "authoritative" stand of unconditionally disallowing shuttlers to play in international events has been criticised in letters from IBPW to Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and federation President VK Verma. Secretary of IBPW, Vimal Kumar, sent the letters, accusing BAI of not being "transparent" and brushing aside objections of coaches and players. Source: India Times, 2nd May 2007

* The Tennis Channel and ESPN have partnered on a multimedia programming and marketing alliance for The French Open and the Australian Open through 2011. The pact enables ESPN to keep the second of three major tournaments and its sobriquet as “The Grand Slam Network,” while TTC, which landed the French Open last August, adds a second Slam. Continuing its recent momentum, TTC — the USTA took a stake in the service in December — now has TV rights to 48 of the top 50 tournaments. Source: Multichannel News, 2nd May 2007


MORE NEWS

China/Broadcaster: Southern TV Hijacked

Hackers allegedly hijacked satellite TV signals in southern China to broadcast anti-government messages, news reports said Thursday. Viewers complained that their TV screens went blank for nearly two hours or showed anti-government messages for 30 to 40 seconds Tuesday evening, the Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News said in a report on the Web site Sohu.com. The report didn't describe the content of the messages that aired in Guangdong province.

TV station operators told viewers that hackers may have hijacked their satellites but a receptionist who answered the phone at a cable TV operator in Guangdong said the incident involved a satellite problem that has been fixed. "The satellite's reception wasn't very stable," said the receptionist, who declined to be named because she was not a spokeswoman.

Calls to Guangdong's broadcasting authority went unanswered. Previous cases of jammed satellite signals in China have been blamed on the spiritual group Falun Gong, which is banned in the country as an evil cult. The group has said it doesn't have the technological expertise to launch such attacks. Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper said the Chinese government censored news reports about the satellite interruption. Source: Ken Radio, 3rd May 2007

China/General: NFL Agrees Chinese Media Deal

NFL has cut a deal to increase awareness of the league in China by making Titan Media the official sports media partner of the NFL. ‘Titan Sports’ is “the largest, most influential and widely-read sports newspaper in China, and will increase its coverage of the NFL and American football”. Coverage will include the regular season, playoffs and Super Bowl, and other NFL-related content leading up to the first-ever NFL game in China, planned for summer of 2009.

Titan Sports is published three times a week and reaches an more than six million readers. Titan Media will also feature the NFL in ‘All Sports’, a monthly sports magazine featuring stories and interviews from around the world. NFL.com said the league is committed to the growth of American football in China and is in the process of opening an office in the country.

A core grass roots youth initiative, Flag Football, is played by more than 5,000 children in Chinese cities, while four Chinese kickers are taking part in NFL Europa. Source: Sport Business, 3rd May 2007

Mid East/General: Dubai to Get Universal, Nick, Marvel Theme Parks

Dubai’s Studio City has secured partners for its ‘Dubailand’ theme park development. Universal Studios will invest $2.2bn in its 4th site, in partnership with Dubai-owned development company Tatweer. The Universal project is scheduled for completion in 2010, complete with the world’s first apartment complex claimed to revolve on its own axis! Dubailand has plans for 12 entertainment parks, including one of the largest water parks in the world.

Meanwhile, across town at Al Ahli Park, currently under construction, it has been announced that Nickelodeon will build a theme park at the facility, which will include Nick properties like ‘SpongeBob’ and ‘Blue’s Clues’, two popular Nick shows. Al Ahli Group has already signed up Marvel Entertainment as part of the $1bn project, which is expected to include Spiderman and other Marvel properties in the attraction. Source: Rapid TV News, Worldscreen, 3rd May 2007

Elsewhere/New Media: IOC Press Concludes That Future is Fully Digital and Full IP

A recent International Olympic Committee ‘think tank’ session on the digital future of press coverage of Olympic Games concluded that the future is ‘fully digital and full IP (Internet Protocol).’ Among key outcomes of the session, involving executives from 10 major press agencies, newspapers and magazines, the think tank foresaw ‘functionality with more data transmissions, more integrated services and greater mobility, meaning increased transmission facilities.’

In a presentation on the session given during the SportAccord convention in Beijing last week, Anthony Edgar, the head of Olympic Games media at the IOC, controversially declared that ‘printed newspapers will become a thing of the past.’ The future of content is multiple formats – text, photo, video, audio – consumed over multiple platforms… ‘convergence.’

Edgar added: ‘The concept of a deadline is finished – the keyword for the future is ‘instant.’ Press must be able to transmit large files, in multiple formats, from anywhere to anywhere instantaneously.’ Source: Sportcal, 3rd May 2007

Elsewhere/General: Premiership Place Worth £60 Million

A place in the FA Premier League next season will be worth about £60m for promoted clubs, making this year’s Coca Cola Championship play-off final at Wembley one of the most valuable football matches in history. According to Deloittes, the three promoted teams are guaranteed at least £35m extra revenue with "parachute payments" of £20m over the next two seasons if they are relegated.

On Sunday, the last league games of the season will determine the four teams to fight it out for the remaining place. "Those games promise drama and tension on the pitch, on the terraces and in the boardroom," said director of Deloitte's Sports Business Group, Paul Rawnsley. Most of the money comes from domestic and overseas broadcasting deals which begin in the 2007/08 season.

The domestic TV rights auction generated £1.7bn ($3.1bn) for the Premier League, with BSkyB paying £1.3bn for its four packages of games and Setanta £392m for its two. Meanwhile the overseas rights were sold for £625m. The immediate revenue boost can provide promoted clubs with finances to help bridge the gap between Championship and Premiership revenues," said Alex Byars of Deloitte, which compiles an annual review of football finance. Source: Sport Business, 3rd May 2007

Elsewhere/General: MLS Tries to Make Waves on Air

This evening will not mark the first time D.C. United has played on a weeknight. Because of stadium and scheduling issues, MLS teams have had to squeeze a random week night match onto their calendar. No one particularly liked them. Coaches and players felt they interrupted the weekly routine. Marketing departments found it difficult to sell tickets.

But because of a new broadcasting package -- a deal that is earning the league an estimated $20 million per year in rights fees -- Thursdays have suddenly become an important date in MLS. United's match tonight against the New England Revolution will be shown on ESPN2, which is attempting to make Thursdays a signature night for soccer and broaden the appeal of the league beyond weekend evenings.

What MLS might lose at the gate, it gains in national exposure and presentation. The league's broadcast partners will provide coverage for 110 of 195 regular season matches. Although ESPN has been showing MLS games throughout the league's 11-year history, mostly on Saturday afternoons, this is the first year it takes control of production, advertising and promotion, and offers matches on the same night throughout the year.

In the past, MLS produced its own games -- and it showed. "It just feels like a big-time sports television property now," Garber said. Besides providing the league with prime-time exposure, ESPN has added features to improve presentation -- high-definition broadcasts, a sky-cam for some matches, a virtual offside line, a ball tracer, a sideline reporter and three commentators.

ESPN chose Thursday to spotlight MLS because it works for league scheduling purposes -- teams have three or four days off after playing the previous weekend and, in the event of an approaching Sunday game, two days to prepare for the next match -- and it allows the network to dedicate the same night to MLS over a six-month regular season. Source: The Washington Post, 3rd May 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

Oscar the Next Don King?
Bernard Fernandez writes on Philly.com, 3rd May 2007

The professional athlete as corporate dynamo isn't really that new or unique a concept. Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus made many times more money through their various business enterprises than they did for their victories on the PGA Tour, and Tiger Woods has taken his storied predecessors' blueprint for success to an even higher level. Michael Jordan was just as comfortable negotiating deals in a tailored suit as he was weaving through the lane in baggy shorts for one of his signature slam dunks.

With a gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and world titles in six weight classes, Oscar De La Hoya's place in boxing history is secure. Boxing's most bankable star, and the highest-grossing non-heavyweight ever, De La Hoya, 34, could live comfortably for the rest of his life off the $350 million (in endorsements and returns on investments) he already has earned with his sweat and his fists, a figure that will swell by more than $30 million when the accountants finish tabulating his take for Saturday night's scrap with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand.

But De La Hoya does not want to settle, any more than Palmer, Nicklaus and Jordan did, for the very sizable financial gains he has achieved during his relatively short career as an athlete. Nor does he want to perpetuate the stereotypical image of the boxer as an uneducated waif, powerless to prevent the erosion of his fortune at the hands of unscrupulous promoters, managers and hangers-on riding the gravy train until it finally runs out of track.

As De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KOs) prepares to defend his WBC super welterweight championship against Mayweather (34-0, 27 KOs), his focus is entirely on the task at hand. But he realizes that nights such as this must end, as they do for all athletes, and he wants to make sure that he and his company, Golden Boy Promotions, are positioned to carry on well beyond the scope of his finite boxing life.

Some have said that De La Hoya wants to evolve from active fighter into the next Don King or Bob Arum, but clearly this product of the East Los Angeles barrio seeks to achieve more than that. What he really hopes to do is to attain a status on par with such moguls as Donald Trump, Steve Wynn and Kirk Kerkorian. He wants to become boxing's first billionaire, the first fighter to make the transition from blood-stained rings to mahogany-paneled boardrooms.

Toward that end, he and his business partner, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, are depicting Saturday's pay-per-view fight with Mayweather as not only a matchup of two terrific fighters, but as a model for how all future megabouts should be packaged and sold to a business community heretofore untapped by boxing.

"This by far has to be the biggest," De La Hoya said when asked if this event is the most significant fight in which he has participated. "Being involved with every aspect of the promotion, it just feels that much bigger than any fight I've ever been in. If my other big events had been promoted through Golden Boy, we would have gone through the roof. The synergy for this fight is incredible. All eyes will be on that ring, and on boxing. All we have to do now is perform. It's up to us."

"I'm getting sick and tired about people talking about how the sport of boxing is dying. It's really a handful of promoters, and we know who they are. They keep hissing on the sport. It's just wrong. The sport of boxing is not dying. Look at the numbers we're doing for this fight. It's unparalleled. "If they think boxing is dying, they should stop promoting. Just retire."

De La Hoya and Schaefer did not mention the "handful of promoters" who supposedly are hastening boxing's demise, but then they didn't have to. De La Hoya's company has been duking it out with septugenarean counterparts King and Arum as hard or harder than the "Golden Boy" has been between the ropes with the likes of Mayweather.

Arum served as De La Hoya's promoter for most of his career and the two men did very well together, each making millions. Arum even admitted to almost paternal feelings toward De La Hoya, and he was devastated when their personal relationship deterioriated. But only temporarily. Now Arum is fighting for his version of truth, justice and the American way of boxing promotion, and his former surrogate son and Schaefer have become the enemies.

At a press conference to hype the April 8, 2006, bout between the then-Arum-promoted Mayweather and the King-promoted Zab Judah, longtime rivals King and Arum seemed more intent on presenting a unified front against Golden Boy Promotions than in squabbling themselves.

Arum sees HBO, which has a cozy relationship with Golden Boy Promotions, as the hammer being used to dent, if not destroy, the high profiles he and King have worked so long to craft.

With his back up, the pugnacious Arum - whose June 9 bout in Madison Square Garden between his fighter, Miguel Cotto, and Judah will be televised via HBO Pay-Per-View - independently promoted a PPV card in San Antonio, Texas, headlined by the matchup of Manny Pacquiao and Jorge Solis, which was an artistic and financial success.

"We're getting on in years," Arum, 75, said of himself and King, 74. So are the relatively youthful De La Hoya and Schaefer. Golden Boy Promotions has made a few missteps, but inclusion of several prominent fighters as limited partners – notably, Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Marco Antonio Barrera - has made the company seem more appealing to the rank-and-file, who would like to believe they aren't puppets tethered to someone else's strings.

"Golden Boy will be around forever," De La Hoya said. "I plan on doing this for as long as I can. This is my great passion. It's fun, and it's a great opportunity to really change the sport. We can do it. There's no stopping us now." *