Tuesday, 15th May 2007

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

FAM Caves in to Pressure, Set to Defy AFC

Newly crowned Premier League champions Manchester United’s trip to Malaysia on July 27 is on again. The FA of Malaysia are now taking the stand that they have no authority to stop the English champions from playing here as it is organised by a private promoter working with the Ministry of Tourism. However, the FAM’s defiance of an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ruling could put the national governing body in the line of fire.

Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the deputy president of the FAM, told a press conference that the FAM had caved in to mounting pressure from AFC during the AFC Congress last Tuesday. The AFC had feared that the Manchester United match would be a distraction to the Asian Cup Finals from July 7-29. Then, the FAM had announced that the match had to be rescheduled or cancelled.

However, with pressure from the Malaysian public and the government, FAM have decided that United’s trip can go on as scheduled. FAM, however, will not be involved in any promotion or marketing of the United match. The FAM also felt that since the match will be played on July 27, two days after the completion of the Asian Cup matches in KL, FAM could provide technical assistance usually accorded to international matches.

When asked about repercussions from the AFC if they were to go ahead with the match in what could be seen as a show of defiance, he said the question should be posed to the AFC. However, he admitted that the FAM are very much in a tight spot right now. “We will try to find a win-win situation. We have to look at the positive side. We are giving a lot of priority to the Asian Cup and having a lot of football activity is good for Malaysia,” he said. Source: The Star Malaysia, International Herald Tribune, CNN.com, Channel News Asia, 15th May 2007

Related Excerpts: Manchester United’s Asian Tour

Source: Syed Nadzri comments on The New Straits Times Malaysia, 14th May 2007
Malaysia must be one of the most sports-loving — or more precisely, football-crazy — nations in the world. How else to say it when even the prime minister’s opinion had to be sought on whether Manchester United should or should not make a playing tour here in July? Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi duly obliged with his thought on the matter, saying that the newly-crowned English premier league champions should be allowed to come as scheduled (July 27).

Source: The New Straits Times Malaysia, 15th May 2007
It looks like the FA of Malaysia is, despite the carefully worded statement of deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah yesterday, on a collision course with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The decision to go ahead with the Manchester United tour means suspension is a possibility, though that is something that only those with legal knowledge will know for sure, while there is also the likelihood that Malaysia will not get Fifa's sanction for the Under-19 Champions Youth Cup (CYC). FAM had no other choice really for the feedback from the ground - from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the man on the street - has been overwhelmingly in favour of the United tour to proceed.

Source: Football Insider, 14th May 2007
Manchester United chief executive David Gill is attempting to resolve the row over the club’s summer tour to the Far East. United is due to visit Japan, South Korea and Macau before ending its four-match trip in Malaysia. However, its visit to Asia has attracted a storm of controversy as it clashes with the prestigious Asian Cup. Malaysia is one of four tournament co-hosts and organisers believe United’s presence in the region will detract from the competition. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called for United to abandon its trip, although his comments have brought an angry reaction from fans in the area. “David Gill is discussing the matter with the Premier League and people abroad, so hopefully something will happen,” said United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.


WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

McLoughlin Signs 2-Year Deal with ITV

Coleen McLoughlin, the fiancee of England striker Wayne Rooney, is to present a series of shows for ITV1 and ITV2, as part of an exclusive two-year television deal. Her first project will be a series for ITV2, in which she will conduct a mission to find naturally beautiful women, which will see her spearheading a campaign to use "real" women in advertising.

In each episode of 'Coleen's Real Women', McLoughlin will scour the streets in search of such women for a new and high profile modelling assignment. All professional models will be barred from taking part in the programme and only total amateurs will be eligible. McLouglin will present a series of programmes during daytime and peak time between 2007 and 2009.

In November, Mcloughlin became the new face of Diet Coke, matching Rooney's contract with sister brand Coke Zero. She is also the face of Asda brand George. Source: Brand Republic, 14th May 2007


INFO BOX

The World of Broadband
Source: Report by Point Topic published on Info IQ, 14th May 2007

* By the end of 2006, the worldwide total of broadband lines reached 281.5 million, year-on-year growth in 2006 was 31.1%
* 17.7 million lines were added over Q4 2006 which resulted in a 6.7% quarterly growth
* In terms of penetration rate, the number of broadband line per 100 population reached 5.4 by the end of 2006.
* Actual quarterly growth in penetration has been slowing since Q4 2004 from 13.3% to 6.8% quarterly, particularly in regions where broadband markets are relatively saturated (e.g. Asia-Pacific, North America)
* By the end of 2006, the Mid-East and Africa had almost 6 million broadband users, accounting for 2.1% of the world's broadband subscribers.


SPORTS SHORTS

* Vince McMahon has one more mark of distinction to add to his long list of accomplishments. After delivering a speech to the graduates of Sacred Heart University, the WWE Chairman received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. “First of all, my name is not Vince,” Mr. McMahon told WWE.com. “It’s Dr. Vince or Dr. McMahon.” The Chairman said he had no other honors comparable to this one; however, he felt right at home in that robe. Source: WWE Official, 13th May 2007

* Misty May-Treanor matched Holly McPeak's record of 72 tour wins with a win over Tyra Turner and Rachel Wacholder in the AVP Glendale Open final. For May-Treanor and partner Kerri Walsh, it was their third straight tour victory. Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers also picked up their third men’s tournament title of 2007 with a tight victory over four-time 2007 finals losers Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal. May-Treanor goes for the outright women's titles record in Hermosa Beach next weekend. Source: AVP Official, 14th May 2007

* Liverpool FC’s attempts to establish a foothold in the Asian market have taken a step forward after the club’s new media arm, Liverpoolfc.tv, agreed to a partnership with PremierGoals Limited. The company has become Liverpoolfc.tv’s web and mobile content partner for China, with the deal paving the way for the launch of a local language website. The proposed site will offer mobile services geared towards fans in China as well as the editorial and video content found at the club’s official website, www.liverpoolfc.tv. Source: Football Insider, 14th May 2007

* Li-Ning, China’s leading sporting apparel firm, has become an Official Sponsor and exclusive Sportswear Apparel Sponsor of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau, China. Li-Ning will outfit staff, officials, media and over 10,000 volunteers of the Games with uniforms under their flagship brand. The Asian Indoor Games is a multi-sport event created by the Olympic Council of Asia composed of sports that are not included in the Asian and Olympic Games but have strong popularity and potential, such as Extreme, Electronic and Dance sports. Source: Sport Business, 14th May 2007

* The inaugural Asian Sports Awards, being held along the lines of the Laureas Sports Awards, would be promoted through ESPN Sports Centre with additional exposure on the ESPN and STAR Sports Channels. The Asian Sports Awards, billed as the Oscars of Sports, is a collaborative effort between the Asian Sports Press Union and Hong Kong based Stropt and Sports, would be held in Kuala Lumpur on Aug 11. Source: Economic Times India, 14th May 2007

* The Zee group says it plans to put in place its own cricket league comprising six teams, with four international players and two Indian stars in each team by end-October. The Indian Cricket League will be managed and supervised by a board chaired by Kapil Dev. The ICL will have six teams taking part in Twenty20 matches played in India from July to August. Each team in the league will have four foreign players, two current Indian players and eight young Indian players. The BCCI, on its part, has not yet reacted. Source: Indian Express, Indian Television, Agencyfaqs, 15th May 2007

* Data on television audiences from the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham in March makes the event the most watched European Athletics Indoor Championships ever. The number of hours broadcast dramatically rose to a staggering 262 hours in 2007. The total audience has risen from 180 million in Madrid 2005 to 194 million in 2007. Outside of Europe, 6 broadcasters showed footage of the event including the Dubai Sport Channel, TBS Japan, DD Sports India and Eurosport Asia amongst other. Source: Sports e-Media, 14th May 2007

* F1 will be broadcast in high definition later this season, according to supremo Bernie Ecclestone. According to the official website, plans are in place to upgrade the TV production facilities that would allow footage to be available to F1’s broadcasters around the world. Ecclestone said he did not know exactly when the sport would switch over to HD but confirmed that it would be at some point later this year. However, he appeared to have reservations about the move, because of the limited number of channels that currently broadcast in HD. Source: Sports Media, Sport Business, Sportcal, Advanced Television, 14th May 2007

* Sky Sports will enhance its coverage of England cricket internationals by introducing infrared camera technology, a first for British television. ‘Hot Spot’ will be used to determine if a batsman has edged a delivery, and if so, which part of his bat or body made contact. Using technology developed in the military for tank and jet fighter tracking, Hot Spot identifies and measures heat generated in a collision, producing an image of the point of impact. It is the latest innovation that Sky has introduced to its cricket coverage which have included High Definition, Hi Motion, Ultra Motion, virtual graphics, interactivity, widescreen, stump cameras and stump microphones. Source: Sports Media, 14th May 2007

* For TV stations in the US, business was good in 2006. It marked an 8-year high in TV station transactions, with $18.1 billion from the sale of 182 stations in 2006. The record was due in part to the sale of Univision and four NBC stations. The television industry also enjoyed strong revenue growth in 2006, achieving 8.2% increase in station revenues from the year before, totaling $2.5 billion. Source: Broadcast Engineering, 14th May 2007

* Walt Disney revealed that its Internet delivery strategy continues to see strong sales of TV programs and feature films through Apple’s iTunes online store. Disney has now sold 23.7 million episodes of TV shows and 2 million feature films through iTunes. In November 2006, Disney reported sale of 500,000 films and 12 million television show episodes through iTunes. Disney reached 1.3 million in February and periodic reports show that Disney’s iTunes movie sales have been consistent, averaging about 250,000 movie downloads per month. Source: Broadcast Engineering, 14th May 2007


MORE NEWS

Elsewhere/General: Experts Outline Cost Of Premiership Relegation

Relegation from the Barclays Premiership will cost each team up to £30 million in lost revenues, according to Deloitte. Watford, Charlton Athletic and Sheffield United will lose between £25-30 million if they remain in the Coca-Cola Championship for two seasons. Once the ‘parachute payments’ for relegation run out in the third season at the lower level, the loss in revenue could be expected to climb nearer to the £40 million mark.

The figure will be galling to Sheffield United, as West Ham's punishment of £5.5 million for contract irregularities in the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano pales into insignificance against the money it now stands to earn from staying in the top flight.

On the other hand, Derby County, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton can expect to earn around £60 million even if they only stay in the top flight for one year. Paul Rawnsley, director of sports business at Deloitte, said: “Premiership football will provide Birmingham (City), Sunderland and the third promoted club with at least £35 million of additional revenue (each) for the 2007-08 season. In addition, even if the club is relegated after one year in the top flight, parachute payments worth over £10 million per season will be received for two more seasons.”

The new TV deals have added an extra £20 million to the promotion prize fund compared to £40 million for last season's promoted teams Reading, Sheffield United and Watford. Source: Football Insider, 14th May 2007


ARTICLES, COMMENTS & OPINIONS

England's Goal Rush
Full article by Adam Smith on Time Magazine, 24th April 2007

On a flight back home to the U.S. in early February, Tom Hicks was passing the time with a DVD of the European Champions League football final of 2005. A ruthless trio of goals by AC Milan had looked to have killed the game before half-time, and Liverpool, Milan's opponents, were out of sorts. But the second half was a different story. The English team fought their way back into the game, and Liverpool eventually snatched Europe's top club competition in a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

For Liverpool fans, celebrating their club's first European Cup for 21 years, the game was one for the ages. Reliving the spectacle at 35,000 feet, Hicks was entitled to think that he had even more invested in it. Hours earlier, the owner of the Dallas Stars ice hockey team and baseball's Texas Rangers had agreed to buy Liverpool for $430 million with his partner, George Gillett, the money behind the Montreal Canadiens hockey franchise.

The two Americans beat out Dubai International Capital, which had offered $300 million for the club. The takeover is now complete, and Hicks and Gillett are set to move to the next stage of the deal — building a brand-new arena for the 115-year-old team. "Liverpool has a history that's at the very top," says Hicks, who pledges to "make sure we keep a great thing going great."

Right now, in sports, the English Premier League is just about the definition of a great thing. Backed by wealthy investors like Hicks, and tapping into a huge fan base all over the world, Premier League clubs have struck gold. Teams in English football's top flight notched up around $2.5 billion in revenue last season, almost triple the level of a decade ago, making it the world's richest football league by a country mile. New owners are piling in: foreign investors have snapped up four clubs in the past year — Liverpool, Portsmouth, Aston Villa and West Ham United — to add to the three which already had non-British owners.

The rush isn't over; in April, Stan Kroenke, owner of the Denver Nuggets basketball team and ice hockey's Colorado Avalanche, increased his stake in Arsenal, of London, to more than 12%. The flood of money is paying dividends; three of the four semifinalists in this year's Champions League are Premier League clubs. With interest swelling among faraway fans in Asia and beyond, backers of the Premier League can look forward to "a much brighter future of growth," says Hicks.

If so, that would be one of the business world's more improbable turnarounds. Less than 20 years ago, English football was known more for rabid fans and decrepit stadiums than for the sort of classy crowd that fills the suites at the stadiums of Chelsea and Manchester United. How did the local game of the English working class become a global business? And can it stay on top?