Thursday, 3rd May 2007

SPORTS SHORTS

* Mixed Martial Arts website ProElite.com will broadcast the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship. The event will take place on May 5-6 in New Jersey, USA. ProElite.com is used by MMA fighters, fans and organisations. The ProElite.com and OntheMat.com pay-per-view presentation over two days will feature selected fights from over 75 male and 30 female fighters. Visitors to ProElite.com before Saturday will be able to purchase the two-day event on an unlimited viewing basis. Source: Sports Media, 1st May 2007

* ESPN Star Sports, who has agreed to pay $1.1 billion for rights to the International Cricket Council’s tournaments over eight years, is reported to be seeking renegotiation of the deal in the wake of a disappointing World Cup. The deal with ICC is understood to be provisional and following India’s early exit from the tournament and legal complications at home, ESS wants to revise the value. The ICC was criticised for the protracted nature of the World Cup, lasting 47 days, and ESS wants assurances on the format for the next event in 2011 before it will commit further. Source: Sportcal, 1st May 2007

* Data from an Asian research house says India’s DTH operators will top Japan’s next year, and that India would be Asia’s leading cable market by 2010, and the region’s most lucrative pay-TV market by 2015 – and perhaps sooner. Malaysian researchers Aseambankers say that southern Indian states are more prosperous, based on average per capita income, which is 10% higher than India’s national average.” Aseambankers is also optimistic that its local DTH operator Astro All Asia Networks should see numbers and revenues rise from its India operation where it has a j-v with Sun Direct. Source: Rapid TV News, 1st May 2007

* IOC president Jacques Rogge has stoked ambition within Indian sport by suggesting New Delhi bid for the 2020 Olympic Games. Rogge, during a visit to the country, said he was impressed by India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s commitment to sporting investment and that the IOC would back its plans. The 2020 Games will be awarded to the successful bidder in 2013. Indian sporting chiefs say they will start work on a bid once the 2010 Commonwealth Games have taken place. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 30th April 2007

* The International Cricket Council could see a revolt led by India after it was blasted for its running of the World Cup in the Caribbean and has not ruled out calling a no-confidence vote in its chief Malcolm Speed. The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which contributes 80% of commercial revenues in the world game said, “The ICC has so many staff members. It unnecessarily employs people and that costs the members. The ICC should move away from bureaucracy and become more simplified. They should be concentrating more on the game.” Source: Sport Business, 30th April 2007

* NBA Commissioner, David Stern, says he is close to confirming an NBA sponsored and branded league in China. The commissioner confirmed the China expansion would occur before the long-standing plans for five franchises in Europe. Stern was responding to questions asking if the domestic league would see any more additions to the 30 clubs so far taking part. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 1st May 2007

* Two national korfball associations have launched new websites to promote the sport in the Asian region. Last week a new site was launched for korfball in Macau China (MCKA), and the Chinese Korfball Committee this week also released its own virtual presentation. The new Chinese website can be found at www.korfball.com.cn, while the MCKA website can be accessed at www.mcka.org. Source: Sports Media, 2nd May 2007

* The National Basketball Association has announced an agreement with Second Life, the online virtual world. Since opening in 2003, Second Life has grown impressively and is currently inhabited by a total of 5,979,976 people from around the world. With the deal, inhabitants of the virtual world can watch NBA broadband video clips, kit out in virtual NBA jerseys and be exposed to NBA sponsors like T-Mobile and Toyota. Fans will also be able to buy virtual merchandise, while NBA’s partners will be keen to look at marketing possibilities. Source: Sports Media, Mediaweek, 2nd May 2007

* InsideLacrosse.tv enjoys a strong start to its free video service covering the sport. Launched in February, InsideLacrosse.tv has released 100 online videos giving fans, players, coaches and parents tips about the sport. The site has offered video features including men’s and women’s game analysis and the Inside Lacrosse TV Preseason Special, which ran on ESPNU prior to the start of the 2007 NCAA lacrosse season. Inside Lacrosse has hired editorial staff to produce and manage the site's content, which is refreshed daily. Source: Sports Media, 2nd May 2007

* CONCACAF president Jack Warner has announced that Mexico will bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Warner made the announcement at a press conference in the Mexican city of Pachuca accompanied by Mexican Football Federation president, Justino Compean. Colombia was originally due to hold the tournament in 1986, but after it became apparent that the South American country was unable to stage that tournament, Mexico stood in at short notice. Source: Football Insider, 30th April 2007

* The English Football Association has signalled its readiness to host the 2010 World Cup should FIFA be forced to strip South Africa of the event because of reported delays in stadium construction, threatening hopes of the event being held in Africa for the first time. FIFA president Sepp Blatter indicates that England remains a contingency option. The FA’s willingness to make itself available in an emergency is understandable considering Blatter does not favour a European bid for the 2018 tournament. Source: Football Insider, Sport Business, EUFootball.biz, The Sun UK, 1st May 2007

* Dorna Sports – rights holders for the MotoGP series – has denied that it is facing a crisis. With the end of tobacco sponsorship and the number of riders on the starting grid standing at 19, fears have been expressed for the future of the series. But Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta says there is nothing to fear. “We are trying to show our sport better and to get more money into the world championship. If we can reduce the costs as well then this would be perfect.” Source: Sport Business, 30th April 2007

* F1 chief, Bernie Ecclestone, could be set to deliver a blow to the A1GP series. Ecclestone is reportedly looking at switching the GP2 series to the winter months – with action taking place primarily in Asia. Such a move would inevitably cut across A1GP which races outside F1’s calendar and has made much of its desire to attract the Middle East and Asian markets. The GP2 series is growing in stature as a platform for the next generation of F1 racers. Last year’s winner was Briton, Lewis Hamilton. Source: Sport Business, Sportcal, 30th April 2007

* Thaksin Shinawatra has moved into pole position to buy Manchester City after he was granted access to club accounts. Shinawatra’s accountants will complete due diligence at City before advising their client on his formal bid for the club. Shinawatra has been linked with a near £100 million move for the club and contact was finally made last night. After failing in his bid for Liverpool three years ago, Shinawatra has not been put off getting involved in the Premiership and sees City as an ideal opportunity. Source: Football Insider, Sport Business, Sportcal, 1st May 2007

* UEFA will not require a license for anyone watching EURO 2008 matches on regular television screen or at private viewings in Europe. A license will be needed only for commercial viewings, where an entry fee is charged or if the viewing is sponsored. The fee will depend on the size of the screen (€6 per square metre per match). Later this summer, license applications can be made via www.euro2008.com. Revenues from license fees will be donated to charity. Exemptions apply for events in official fan zones and UBS-sponsored public viewing arenas. Source: EUFootball.biz, 1st May 2007

* The sports jobs market is no longer just a man’s world, according to The Sports Recruitment Company. Women are now just as likely to get a job in sport as men, and the number of women being placed in such a role has more than doubled in the last year. The Sports Recruitment Company reports that sports marketing is the key area of growth for women, and around 50% of candidates the company has placed into jobs in the sports industry are women, compared with 22% a year ago. Source: Sports Media, 30th April 2007


MORE NEWS

Asia/General: China, Russia Top Piracy List

According to a new report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, China and Russia remain on top of the list of the world’s biggest producers of pirated goods. The U.S. has filed two complaints on China with the World Trade Organization over pirated goods. China and Russia are on the Priority Watch List of countries that “do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or enforcement, or market access for persons relying on intellectual property protection.”

Ten other countries on list: Argentina, Chile, Egypt, India, Israel, Lebanon, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venezuela. In announcing the elevation of Thailand to the Priority Watch List, the report cites a range of intellectual property concerns, including deteriorating protection for patents and copyrights. Among the thirty trading partners are on the lower level Watch List are: Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Source: Worldscreen, Rapid TV News, 1st May 2007

China/Rights: CCTV5 to Air Final Four Hoops Clashes

Euroleague Basketball has inked a deal with China's national television to have this year's Final Four aired exclusively on CCTV5. The semi-finals of the tournament will be played on Friday with the final taking place on Sunday, and it is hoped the broadcasts of the event will help to strengthen the popularity of the sport in the country. CSKA Moscow, Unicaja, Panathinaikos and Tau Ceramica will contest the Final Four.

Euroleague Basketball recently struck a co-operation agreement with the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), which will see a series of camps and specialist seminars take place this summer. Andrea Bassani of Euroleague Basketball, said: “I have to thank our partner, Infront Asia, for bringing this deal to life being a key in negotiations with CCTV.” Source: Sports Media, Sportcal, Euroleague Official, 2nd May 2007

India/Broadcaster: Cricket Channel Tipped For Success

ESPN Software India’s managing director, RC Venkateish, believes it is the right time for ESPN Star Sports to launch a dedicated cricket channel. It was announced last week that the new channel, Star Cricket, will be launched in June to coincide with India’s tour of England this summer. In an interview with www.indiantelevision.com, Venkateish said he had high hopes for the new channel.

Venkateish admitted a lack of general interest in domestic cricket in India is “a pity” but does not think it will have an adverse impact on the channel. He said: “What we will be showcasing in fact, apart from the international matches, is county cricket in England and domestic cricket in Australia, which also feature some of the best players in the world, including a lot of Indian players. There will also be a substantial effort to market that.” Source: Sports Media, 1st May 2007

Malaysia/Business: Tycoon to Buy Out Maxis

T Ananda Krishnan, Malaysia's second richest man, is looking to buy out Maxis Communications, the South East Asian country's biggest mobile-phone operator. Krishnan's investment company Usaha Tegas and its affiliates hold a 46 per cent stake in the telecom giant, which is valued at $ 9.6 billion. Mopping up the remaining 54 per cent would cost Krishnan a reported $ 5.1 billion. The buy offer is expected to be made by 3 May.

India is reportedly a big part of the strategy involved in Krishnan's intention to take complete control of Maxis. The telco is lining up spends in the region of $3 billion over the next five years to expand its network in India. India's exploding mobile market (121 million as of March) is what is attracting Krishnan's more than casual interest.

While over 70 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million population own mobile phones, the figure in India is just 10 per cent, so the upside potential is massive. Maxis said this month it plans to spend $3 billion in the next five years expanding its network in India to counter slowing growth at home. Source: Indian Television, 30th April 2007

Elsewhere/Rights: French League Warned over In-house TV Production

French’s soccer’s LFP has been warned by two top clubs of the dangers of its plan to assume the responsibility for television production, a role presently performed by Canal Plus, the pay-television broadcaster. The LFP has said it intends to handle television production of Ligue 1 from the 2008-09 season onwards, the start of its new television rights contract period, but risks a significant drop in the rights fee paid by Canal Plus, which pays €600 million ($815.2 million) a year under the present deal.

Pape Diouf and Bernad Caïazzo, the presidents of Marseille and Saint-Etienne respectively, have voiced concerns about the risk to television income. Both Diouf and Caïazzo want to see the league match existing domestic broadcast income during the next rights contract, but fear arguments over production, coupled with a reduction in competition brought about by the merger of Canal Plus and its former rival TPS, could drive the price down. Caïazzo said that he doubted whether the league taking the television production in-house would lead to an improvement in the quality.

The league responded to criticism by saying that all measures would be taken to ensure that the quality of the Ligue 2 production did not dip and highlighted the fact that Fifa, soccer’s world governing body and Uefa, soccer’s European governing body have been responsible for their own television production for some time. Source: Sportcal, 2nd May 2007

Elsewhere/Broadcaster: Joost Launches Commercially

Internet TV platform, Joost, announced its commercial launch today, along with new content deals with Turner Broadcasting System and Sony Pictures Television, among others. With today’s launch, campaigns from 32 advertising partners will begin airing on the platform this month. Additionally, as a part of this launch, all existing Joost beta testers have unlimited number of invitations they can send to others to download a new version of Joost today.

In related news, Joost has signed Turner Broadcasting System on as a content partner. Later this month, CNN will bring news programs and talk shows, including Anderson Cooper 360, Larry King Live and documentaries from CNN Productions. Sony Pictures Television will begin offering content on Joost; the AXN channel brand will showcase episodes of Charlie's Angels, Starsky & Hutch and SWAT, among others.

A deal with Sports Illustrated covers video shorts and interviews from this year's SI Swimsuit photo shoots. This month the National Hockey League will begin broadcast of selected vintage games from NHL archives. Full game replays and highlights from regular season and Stanley Cup Playoff games will follow. These programs will be available exclusively online through Joost in the U.S. Source: Worldscreen, Rapid TV News, Indian Television, 1st May 2007

Elsewhere/Business: Tennis Channel Founder to Launch Ski Channel

The Tennis Channel’s founder, Steve Bellamy, is turning his attention to mountain sports. Bellamy’s company, Atonal Sports and Entertainment, has announced it will launch the Ski Channel, which will focus on alternative sports like skiing, rock climbing, orienteering and snowboarding. The channel will include news and magazine programming and is aimed at mountain sports and leisure markets, with segments on travel and equipment.

the Ski Channel is expected to launch early next year and will offer multimedia platforms - including content on mobile phones - and video-on-demand via a website. The channel already has a long-term agreement with Time Warner Cable. The channel will be advertiser-supported with deals already struck with a string of brands.

Bellamy was president of the Tennis Channel for seven years before leaving the channel a year ago. Atonal owns a number of tennis and golf facilities around Los Angeles and is also the parent company of several media firms, including Atonal Films and Television. Source: Sports Media, 1st May 2007

Elsewhere/General: Taekwondo Set for Greater Olympic TV Rights Revenues

The sports of taekwondo and triathlon stand to receive an additional sum of between $1 million and $1.5 million every four years as a result of a decision to promote them to a higher grouping for Olympic television rights money handouts. The promotion was announced during the General Assembly of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations. Both sports made their debuts as official Olympic sports in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Summer Olympic sports in Group D have increased from the previous 14 to 16. Sports in Group D are badminton, baseball, boxing, canoe, fencing, judo, wrestling, modern pentathlon, softball, table tennis, shooting, archery, sailing, weightlifting, taekwondo and triathlon. Athletics is the only sport in Group A. In Group B are basketball, cycling, football, gymnastics, swimming, tennis and volleyball. Group C consists of equestrian, handball, hockey and rowing.

The IOC’s initial categorization and subsequent amendments mean that the International Federations are divided into five groups, all of which are allocated different amounts distributed equally within each group. Applying the principle, new sports on the program of the Summer Olympic Games should be added to Group E first and those IFs should move up after a period of contribution to the overall Games program. The ASOIF decided to retain Group E for new sports entering the official program for the 2016 Olympic Games. Source: Sports e-Media, Sportcal, 30th April 2007

Elsewhere/General: Seconds Out For HBO Boxing Showdown

May 5 could be the day that boxing is restored to its former glory. The showdown between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is boxing's biggest event since Lennox Lewis fought Mike Tyson in 2002. De La Hoya, who is the ‘golden boy’ of the noble art having generated nearly $500 million in pay-per-view revenue during his 15-year career, says he is “shooting for two million” buys this time.

The fight will be seen on HBO PPV - as will the Miguel Cotto vs Zab Judah fight on June 9 - another huge event for the network. Boxing’s popularity has been in doubt for several years, and the recent emergence of mixed martial arts (MMA) onto TV screens around the world has raised further questions about the future of the sport.

Spike TV in the United States has enjoyed tremendous PPV figures for MMA action in the Ultimate Fighting Championship - around 800,000 buys per event. Additionally, the lack of a competitive heavyweight division has not helped boxing’s cause. Hopes are high that Saturday’s fight will liven up to expectations and deliver a knockout blow in the TV viewing stakes. Source: Sports Media, 2nd May 2007

Elsewhere/General: Blatter Says Asia has Strong Claim to 2018 World Cup

Asia would be the most suitable location for soccer’s 2018 World Cup if the policy of rotating the tournament around the continents is maintained, according to Sepp Blatter, the president Fifa. England and USA are other countries which have expressed interest in staging the event but it is eastern soccer powers such as China which will have taken the most encouragement from Blatter’s remarks.

Speaking on the ‘Inside Sport’ programme on the BBC, Blatter said: ‘Personally I think we should maintain a rotation. At least with four continents. To take North and South America as one continent, Europe, Africa and Asia. ‘This would mean that the next World Cup after 2014 would go to Asia.’

Under the rotation policy, North America’s will host the World Cup in 11 years’ time but if it is coupled with South America, where the 2014 tournament is due to take place, then Asia would be next in line. The policy is due to be reviewed later this year. The tournament was staged in Asia for the first time in 2002 when Japan and South Korea were co-hosts. The 2006 competition was held in Germany and the next event in 2010 is expected to go ahead in South Africa. Brazil is the only candidate to host the 2014 World Cup. Source: Sportcal, 1st May 2007