Monday, 21st May 2007

INFO BOX

The America’s Cup – The Richest Prize in Sport
Source: Sport Business, 18th May 2007

* The America’s Cup offers the biggest prize in world sport, and is the third largest international competitive sporting event behind the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup and similar to Formula One.
* Over the four year cycle of the America’s Cup the set up costs for each of the 12 competing teams has averaged $100m, making it the largest investment by teams in an international sporting competition, with total investment by the teams breaking the unprecedented $1 billion mark.
* If Alinghi successfully defends their title in the 32nd America’s Cup and took it to Dubai, where it conducted winter training the economic impact for Dubai would be $10 billion.
* If BMW ORACLE Racing were to win the Cup and bring it home to the USA to either San Francisco or Newport the corresponding economic impact would be $9.9 Billion or $4.5 Billion respectively.
* Total economic return for hosting the 33rd America’s Cup in Auckland, New Zealand would reach $1.75 Billion
* However Emirates Team New Zealand could expect to generate increased revenues if it chose to host the event in Dubai
* Total economic return from Luna Rossa winning and then hosting the America’s Cup in Genoa, Italy would be in the region of $3.75 Billion
* Success by DESAFÍO ESPAÑOL 2007 would bring an additional $1.5 Billion into the Spanish economy in direct and indirect effects in the short to medium term of hosting the 33rd America’s Cup- generating around 22,500 jobs.


SPORTS SHORTS

* Brazil's hopes of defending the Copa America have been dealt a further blow with a request from Ronaldinho to not be considered for selection. The Barcelona star told the Brazil Football Federation that he is too tired to play after a long season in Spain and Europe which is still underway. That follows a similar request from on-form midfielder Kaka. The two men are key elements in the side coached by Dunga. Brazil are hoping to field a top team comprising of stars playing in Europe. Source: World Soccer News, 16th May 2007

* Doordarshan said it would telecast highlights of the Test matches between India and Bangladesh on morning following a day’s match from 8 to 9 am from 19-23 May and from 26-30 May. Officials reiterated that the public broadcaster had only undertaken to telecast live the one-day matches and this had been announced in its schedule on 10 May. Meanwhile, Neo Sports, which has exclusive TV rights for the series, is sharing the signal with Raj TV which is showing matches with commentary in Tamil and Telugu on Raj and Vissa TV. Source: Indian Television, 18th May 2007

* Sumitomo Corp. said it is considering strategies regarding Jupiter Telecommunications Co. and Jupiter TV Co. after media reports said the cable TV operator plans to make Jupiter TV a wholly owned subsidiary. Sumitomo said in a press release that no decisions have been made and that it will announce it as soon as it is made. The Nikkei reported on Friday that Jupiter Telecom plans to buy out content provider Jupiter TV. Jupiter Telecom said in a separate statement it has been studying business strategies, but nothing has been decided. Source: Total Content + Media, 18th May 2007

* Major League Baseball will send a high-level delegation to China this month to inspect stadiums ahead of a possible trip for exhibition games next year. MLB has been discussing exhibition games next March and it was possible for those games to tied to the opening of regular season in Tokyo. A ballpark is being built in Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. The delegation will also travel to Shanghai. Source: Sports Video Group, 17th May 2007

* Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios has signed a deal for development of MGM Studio World in Shanghai, built around MGM’s brand and properties. The deal is with Hong Kong’s Tengxun Entertainment and Management and Shanghai Tianhong Real Estate Investment. Total investment is up to RMB1.2 billion ($156.5 million). Tianhong will develop and construct while Tengxun will manage the project and business operation after completion. MGM will make no financial investments but will serve as licensor and creative collaborator for the project. Source: Worldscreen, 18th May 2007

* Trinidad and Tobago cricket fans will finally get the opportunity to view their team in action when local station CNC3 penned a deal to bring live coverage of the remainder of the West Indies tour of England-four Tests, two 20/20 matches and three ODIs- from today. The deal follows the failure of local stations to take up offers at, first, US$175,000 then US$125,000 for the broadcast rights. Local channels even turned their backs on free-of-charge broadcast fee offers up to 48 hours before the first ball was bowled at Lord's. Source: TNT Express, 19th May 2007

* IMG is launching a new archive website with more than 250,000 hours of footage. IMG Media Archive.com went live on Wednesday, intending to offer an enhanced experience with easy access to content. The IMG Media Archive, formerly TWI Archive, is the world’s biggest sporting library and includes various collections from the English Premier League, IRB Rugby World Cup, Wimbledon and the British Open. The archive can be used for a variety of mediums, including television, advertising, feature films, DVD and home videos. Source: Sportcal, 18th May 2007

* Cash flow and survival of telecoms companies’ content businesses will hinge upon the existence and performance of video on demand services, analyst firm Ovum has predicted. Ovum predicts VoD revenues will reach US$12.7bn worldwide by 2011, making it one of the fastest growing digital content services. Starting from a base of US$2.7bn in 2007, Ovum said it expects to see more telcos around the globe launching on-demand programmes and moving them into the mainstream content distribution market. Source: Silicon Republic, 18th May 2007

* The UK government will support five sports seeking to gain from profits of the betting industry. Sports minister Richard Caborn said bookmakers will be approached to seek settlement for authorities in soccer, rugby union, rugby league, cricket and tennis. The levy system used in horse racing will not apply and a voluntary contribution of between £5 million and £10 million per year until a formula is determined. Sports other than horse racing have argued that growth of the betting market threatens integrity of their events and entails higher policing costs. Source: Sportcal, 18th May 2007

* UEFA president Michel Platini is ready to revolutionise the world of refereeing by using two more officials in each match. Platini wants to put an official behind each goal to help rule on penalty-box infringements and believes that would be better than using technology, which would "dehumanise" football. He told France Football, “to referee with just three people is outmoded. Three officials cannot see everything. I am proposing two extra officials, over-45s who don't need to run because they would stay behind the goals.” Source: Football Insider, 18th May 2007

* The Olympic Truce International Forum confirmed the launch and objectives of the Peace and Sport initiative. The OTIF is based in Monaco under the patronage of Prince Albert, supported by the International Olympic Committee and United Nations. Peace and Sport intends to lead actions in favor of establishing sustainable peace, based on independence, neutrality and perseverance. It strives to convince Governments, International Organizations and Businesses of the significance in sport for prevention and solutions to problems linked with warring states. Source: Sports Features, 18th May 2007


MORE NEWS

Elsewhere/General: Sports Marketing Surveys Bolsters Its Tennis Presence

Tennis Europe has signed a three-year partnership agreement making sports research agency Sports Marketing Surveys the official research partner of the organisation. Based in the UK, SMS specialises in media and market research in the sponsorship and sports sectors. The company has strong presence in tennis and works with the International Tennis Federation, Wimbledon, Tennis Industry Association in the United States, equipment manufacturers and some European tennis federations.

The two have begun collaborating on a series of projects aimed at increasing the available data and knowledge of the European tennis industry. The first of these will take place immediately, and comes in the form of an analysis of consumer habits of users of the Tennis Europe website (TennisEurope.org).

Similar studies will then be carried out at national level involving volunteer member nations of Tennis Europe, which is comprised of 49 European federations. The surveys will enable comparison across the participating countries as well as enabling each nation to tailor their studies to account for local interests. The aim is to build a coherent picture of trends in markets across the continent. Source: Sports Media, 18th May 2007

India/Rights: DD Lands Military Games

Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has been given the exclusive rights for telecasting and broadcasting the fourth Military World Games to be held in Hyderabad and Mumbai later this year. Prasar Bharati would broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies live on DD-1 and at least eight hours of daily live telecast of events in its sports channel, DD Sports. All other news channels would be given daily feed by Prasar Bharati. Prasar Bharati has been awarded full rights for multiple telecast, broadcast of matches and highlights of the matches on all or any of its channels in perpetuity.

Prasar Bharati would also show at least 30-minute highlights of the sports events on DD-1 and all other channels of Prasar Bharati on all days during the Games. Similar arrangements will be made by All India Radio for the broadcast of the event across the country. Prasar Bharati would pay 50 percent of the net surplus earned by it through the exclusive telecast of the Games to MWGOC. Source: Press Information Bureau of India, Malaysia Sun, 20th May 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

Arrest & Firing of HBO's CEO Could Affect UFC-HBO Deal
Source: Ivan Trembow comments on MMA Weekly, 18th May 2007

The news of the record-breaking PPV buy-rate for Oscar De la Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has almost been overshadowed by the news that HBO Chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht had been fired. Just hours after the conclusion of the De la Hoya-Mayweather fight, Albrecht was arrested for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend in a Las Vegas parking lot.

Fans of mixed martial arts who don't follow the boxing industry or HBO at large may be familiar with the name Chris Albrecht because he is the person who took the uncommon step of overruling HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg's plans to exclude MMA from HBO's line-up in the future. Albrecht is among those credited with helping lead HBO to expand beyond movies, sports, and stand-up comedy but insiders at HBO considered Albrecht to be "a ticking time bomb" even prior to the most recent incident.

According to a report by Thomas Hauser of Seconds Out from January of this year, HBO Sports did not want MMA programming, and HBO Sports head, Ross Greenburg, vigorously opposed the UFC deal while doing "everything in his power not to televise mixed martial arts." In a surprising and significant move, Albrecht, then the Chairman and CEO of HBO as a whole, vetoed Greenburg and insisted that HBO would air MMA programming, leaving Greenburg only to negotiate the details of such a deal.

Due in part to Albrecht's previous veto of Greenburg, and in part to the very strong anti-MMA sentiments of other people at HBO Sports it's a very sensitive political situation at HBO whenever the subject of boxing vs. MMA is raised even privately, and much more so when it's raised publicly.

In interviews with the media after the De la Hoya-Mayweather fight, UFC president Dana White voiced disappointment with the fight. In one interview with the Boston Herald, some of White's statements included: "I went to the fight that night. Inside the arena, there was no energy whatsoever... I'm not bashing boxing, I love it, but all these people have destroyed this sport... It's crazy. It just drives people further from boxing. You get one fight for 55 bucks. One fight for a $2,500 ticket. You get people all excited for the build-up and then the fight ends up sucking. Both guys try to outpoint the other and win a decision."

White continued, "In the UFC, we give you eight or nine fights, they’re all good, and the guys are fighting their asses off trying to finish it." The UFC's contract with Spike TV expires in mid-2008. Spike is currently the UFC's exclusive basic cable television partner, an arrangement which precludes the UFC from signing deals with other basic cable networks, but would not preclude a deal with a premium cable network like HBO.

In addition to seeking a large increase in programming rights fees in its negotiations with Spike TV for a contract renewal, the UFC is almost certainly going to want to remove the exclusivity clauses altogether, given the company's publicly stated desire to air its programming on other networks such as ESPN.