Thursday, 5th June 2008

DATA BOX

European Leagues Reap Record Revenues
Deloitte & Touche Study on Football Finances published on Football Insider, Sportcal, 30th May 2008

Revenues for the "big five" European leagues exceeded Eur7 billion for the first time in 2006-07, according to Deloitte & Touche's comprehensive study of football finances. The financial analyst found that the combined revenues of the Barclays (sponsor) Premier League, the Primera División, Serie A TIM (sponsor), the 1.Bundesliga and Ligue 1 Orange (sponsor) increased by 6% - Eur402 million - on the 2005-06 figures to Eur7.1 billion. The increase was achieved despite a Eur236 million reduction in Italian Serie A revenues in 2006-07, while total revenue for the other four European leagues increased by Eur638 million (12%) in 2006-07.

Germany's Bundesliga and Spain's Primera División achieved the highest percentage increases - both up 15% - but Deloitte predicts that Juventus' return to the top flight in the recently finished season will make for a tight table next year. "Juventus's return to Serie A in 2007-08 should result in a close race for second place in next year's edition, behind England's Premier League," the report said. The report also found that the Bundesliga, which had the highest margin of aggregate operating profits with Eur168 million, spent less of its turnover on wages.

The report continued: "In four of the 'big five' European leagues, the wages/turnover ratio was in the relatively narrow range of 62% to 64% in 2006-07, with the German Bundesliga proving to be the exception with a much lower ratio of 45%. Despite a Eur184 million increase in revenue in 2006-07, Bundesliga wage costs only increased by Eur12 million, which bucks a trend seen elsewhere in the 'big five' leagues where increases in revenues have historically largely flowed through to increased wage costs."

Predictably, the Premier League led the way in wage expenditure. Premier League clubs' wages were more than Eur0.6 billion (75%) higher than in Spain's top flight (Eur0.8 billion) and double the total wage costs paid by any of the other 'big five' leagues. Despite favourable profit figures for the Bundesliga, Deloitte pointed out that their conservative attitude to spending may have had an adverse impact on the pitch.

The report said: "During the five seasons from 2003-04 to 2007-08, no Bundesliga clubs have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. In contrast, the English Premier League has provided three semi-finalists in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 and at least one finalist every season since Liverpool's success in 2004-05."

Report Warns of High Marketing Sponsorship Wastage on Olympic Games
Fournaise Marketing Group Report onBeijing 2008 published on Sportcal, 4th Jun 2008

Companies that are devoting funds for marketing sponsorship during this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing may struggle to get a return on their investment, according to a new report. Fournaise Marketing Group estimates that almost $1 billion in spending could fail to deliver the results expected by Olympic marketers and sponsors. The Beijing Olympics are likely to be the most marketed games of all time with 12 worldwide and 21 domestic sponsors and partners expected to spend more than $2 billion on sponsorship and endorsement.

It is estimated that $5 billion will be spent on advertisements in the run-up to the games and that there will be millions in advertising revenue during the event itself. However, based on a 40% marketing wastage rate, estimated by marketers in China, the report claims that the games could also set an Olympic record for the highest marketing sponsorship wastage.

Jerome Fontaine, chief executive and chief tracker at Fournaise Marketing Group, added: ‘Out of the thousands of ads our post-launch marketing effectiveness tracking solutions have been measuring and auditing in China for our clients during the pre-Olympics build-up, a whopping 75 per cent did not deliver the results expected by the marketers in charge and were way above the estimated 40% MWR in China. ‘While the increase in spending is a gold mine for the traditional and online media industry, the apparent lack of results has already started to create boardroom battles between marketing and finance teams and is definitely putting more pressure on marketers to deliver hard, tangible targets.

Sports Fans Play More Video Games
Consumer Electronics Association Research reported on Sports Media, 29th May 2008

Sports fans in the US play more video games than non-sports fans, according to research from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Sports Video Group (SVG). In the third annual Sports and Technology Study, 60% of sports fans who report owning a high-definition television also own a video game console compared to 43% of non-sports fans.

The study also finds that 37% of sports fans who own an HDTV say they will either buy their first video game system or upgrade their current console in 2008. That's compared to 21% percent of all consumers. "Sports fans in general own more consumer electronics products than non-fans and video games are certainly no exception," said Tim Herbert, CEA's senior director of market research. "When it comes to specific sports, football is king, both on television and in sports video games."

The study found basketball and baseball came in second and third respectively in sports video game popularity. Video games are also complementing sports viewership, according to the survey. Among consumers who own both HDTV and a video game console, 54% said sports video games makes them very or somewhat more interested in watching sports on TV. "There is a direct correlation between playing sports video games and watching sports on TV," says Ken Kerschbaumer, editorial director of SVG. "Nearly seven in 10 men surveyed said playing sports video games increases their interest in watching an actual sporting event." CEA's Third Annual Sports and Technology Study was dispatched to an online national sample of 2,278 US adults between January 14 and 21, 2008. It was designed and formulated by CEA and SVG.


SPORTS SHORTS

* Badminton's 2008 World Junior Championships have been awarded to the Badminton Association of India. The decision, which was confirmed at the BWF Council meeting in Jakarta, will see the event staged in the city of Pune from October 24 - 28. The individual event will run from October 29 until November 2. Elsewhere, the 2010 World Junior Championships have been awarded "in principle" to Mexico, which will stage a major world badminton event for the first time. Anne Smillie, Chair of the Badminton World Federation Sports Committee, said: "The choice of Mexico shows our commitment with BWF to take our sport to emerging badminton regions and to new venues.” Sport Insider, 4th Jun 2008

* Real Madrid will take on Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt in a pre-season friendly on August 12 in a repeat of the famous 1960 European Cup final. Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena will host the match, which has been organised by Sportfive, the international sports marketing agency. Sportfive will retain exclusive marketing rights to promote the game. Real Madrid faced Eintracht Frankfurt in the European Cup final 48 years ago at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, with the Spaniards running out 7-3 victors in a match regarded by many as the best of all time. Sportcal, 3rd Jun 2008

* Italy has pledged its support to Australia’s bid for the 2018 World Cup, a move which is certain to rankle with fellow European countries also keen on hosting the tournament. Football Federation Australia and the FIGC, the Italian soccer federation, signed an agreement of cooperation today, which will entail a friendly match between the two countries next year. The agreement also includes the sharing of resources and expertise, notably technical exchange in areas of coaching, refereeing and youth soccer. The deal was signed before the opening ceremony of the congress of Fifa, soccer's world governing body, in Sydney. Sportcal, 29th May 2008

* Bids of up to US$30 million have been tabled for broadcast rights in the Indian subcontinent to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The newspaper indicated that Ten Sports, Neo Sports and ESPN Star Sports have all lodged bids for the rights, with Ten Sports offering slightly more than the other two after the first round of bidding. Singapore-based Football Media Services (FMS) will distribute the rights. The figures represent a huge increase on the revenues generated by broadcast rights sales in the region for the previous World Cup in Germany two years ago. The 2006 showpiece pulled in a total of $9 million from ESPN Star Sports for the region while the 2002 edition of the tournament in South Korea and Japan attracted $3 million in rights fees from Ten Sports. FMS is hoping to tie up negotiations with the interested broadcasters within a month. Sports Media, Economic Times, 30th May 2008

* Zer01zer0 has signed a A$50 million (US$40 million) deal with Fox Sports to continue to broadcast the A-League in Australia. The agreement, which will run for three years, adds to the company's commitment to handle both Super14 and Test rugby broadcasts on Fox. The deal, which means all of Fox Sports' domestic and international soccer broadcasts will be channelled through the studio, coincides with the arrival of two new outside-broadcast vans. The vans will handle high-definition broadcasts in preparation for Foxtel's launch of its HD broadcast package next year, according to the newspaper. Sports Media, 29th May 2008

* (Excerpt) In 2005, the Australian National Rugby League re-signed a deal with Nine (all free-to-air games) and Fox Sports (pay) until the end of 2012 for a reported total of $500 million over six years. That was a long time to sign away the game's best income stream. When plenty of people voiced that opinion at the time, the NRL responded by saying it had a 65% increase in the game's existing payments from TV. Courier Mail AU, 31st May 2008

* Belgacom has retained the broadcasting rights for Jupiler League football after agreeing extension to its contract with the Ligue Pro de Football (LPF). Belgacom, which currently holds the exclusive live rights to the Belgian top flight, has been awarded the rights for the 2008-2011 seasons, putting an end to a long-running tender. The LPF had delayed the award of the contract after being disappointed by the bids on offer, however it has accepted terms that will see Belgacom pay €45.7-million ($70.7-million) over the next three seasons. RTBF and VRT are thought to be paying €8 million a year for highlights rights. Belgacom acquired all the broadcast rights from 2005-06 to 2007-08 for €36 million per season, before sub-licensing rights to VRT and RTBF. Sports Media, Sportcal, 4th Jun 2008

* Orange, the French telecommunications giant, is to broadcast eight live games from Ligue 1, French soccer’s top-tier league, on mobile phones from next season, charging subscribers €6 ($9.35) per month. Orange bought live rights to 38 Saturday night games of Ligue 1 from 2008-09 to 2011-12, and by doing so broke the present monopoly on live rights held by Canal Plus, the French pay-television operator. Orange is paying between €203 million and €208 million per season for its different packages of Ligue 1 rights. Sportcal, 29th May 2008

* ART, the pan-Middle Eastern pay-television broadcaster, has said that government-owned free-to-air channels that they should not bid for premium soccer rights as they have responsibilities to their citizens. Adnan Hamad, the ART vice-president, said: ‘Government TV stations should not be engaged in bids for acquiring television rights for football coverage. Football is not important for the welfare of the whole society.’ ART held rights to the the soccer World Cups of 2002 and 2006 and is thought to have paid at least $110 million for the rights to the 2010 and 2014 tournaments. Hamad added: ‘We make losses equivalent to 25% of some of our deals, but we have to do so to maintain our prestige.’ Sportcal, 3rd Jun 2008

* The International Olympic Committee has come under attack from some of the world’s leading record labels who are accusing a commercial partner of this year's Beijing Olympics of copyright abuse. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents labels such as Sony BMG, EMI, Warner and Universal, are suing Chinese internet portal Sohu.com, an official sponsor of the games, for its unauthorised global delivery service that allows users to download songs for free. The IFPI said the IOC is not displaying sufficient concern for the copyrights of other companies, despite being fiercely protective of its own brand. Sportcal, 29th May 2008

* While cricket buffs are dealing with IPL withdrawal symptoms, ESPN-Star Sports believes it has a solution and is quiet bullish on the upcoming soccer series Euro 2008, for which it has exclusive broadcast rights. Sources told ET that Vodafone has signed up as co-presenting sponsor for Euro 2008. HDFC, HP and Hyundai are learnt to have picked up the associate sponsor slots for the soccer series. It seems that ESPN-Star Sports has sold 90% of the spots for the 31 matches and is learnt to have raked in Rs 21 crore as ad-sales revenues so far. But for ESPN, the current dispute with Tata Sky may just spoil the party. As per the latest rates, Tata Sky plans to charge an additional Rs 40 from its consumers who want to avail ESPN-Star Sports and Star Cricket. Economic Times India, 5th June 2008

* The success of the Indian Premier League, which kept people glued to their televisions, queered the pitch for other mainstream entertainment media, according to a report prepared by financial services group India Infoline (IIFL). On the viewership front, IPL even outplayed the English Premier League. The report said multiplexes were hit with a 10-30% decline in ticket sales during the IPL season. Television prime time took a significant hit, affecting channels like Star TV, the report said, adding that viewership of Hindi general entertainment channels dropped from 6.1% to 4.8% in the first two weeks of IPL. The report noted that the key factor behind the success of IPL was local fan following. At the same time, the timings of the matches between 8pm and 11pm helped in attracting viewership. The presence of international players in the league teams also helped in pulling crowds, said the report. The Times of India, 4th June 2008

* The Dewan Negara (Lower House of Parliament) in Malaysia was today told that the problem of service interruptions during rain of pay TV station Astro will be overcome when the Measat 3A (M3A) satellite is launched in September. Energy, Water and Communications deputy minister Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum said the M3A will reduce by 30 per cent problems faced by Astro subscribers now. Asides from this, he said the Malaysian Multimedia and Communications Commission had also told Astro to cut down on repeats (of programmes). He added that the company will not be allowed to increase its offer of channels until existing complaints against it are resolved. NST Online, 4h June 2008

* The Satellite DMB service in South Korea is failing. Presently TU Media, an affiliate of SK Telecom and the only S-DMB service provider that enables users to watch TV on mobile phones with a satellite receiver or navigation systems, have about 1.3 million subscribers, almost the same as the last year. It is doubtful whether the number will reach 1.5 million by the yearend. As TU Media has to attract minimum 2 million users to break even, the company is receiving capital injection from SK Telecom only to make continuous losses. ATV, 5th June 2008

* Globalstar has signed an agreement with SingTel to commence operating a new gateway located at SingTel’s Seletar Satellite earth station facility, as the operator set to launch Globalstar satellite services beginning later this summer. Globalstar said the company has recently installed a simple data applique at the new gateway in Singapore, which will provide Globalstar satellite coverage throughout Singapore, Malaysia, and significant portions of Indonesia, and much of the surrounding maritime region including the strategic Strait of Malacca. In September SingTel expects to initially offer Globalstar Simplex data solutions for a variety of logistics, supply chain management, government and maritime asset tracking applications plus personal tracking and messaging products such as the SPOT Satellite Messenger. telecomasia.net, 5th June 2008

* Grameenphone signs a contract with Huawei Technologies to expand and enhance its GSM network in Bangladesh. Under the deal, Huawei will supply its all-IP GSM core network solutions that it says will enable the convergence of radio access networks and a smooth evolution to 3G. Telecomasia.net, 5th June 2008

* 3 Indonesia selects NeuStar’s mobile messaging gateway to deliver mobile IM services to its customers in Indonesia. NeuStar will connect 3 Indonesia’s mobile subscribers with a number of PC-based IM networks. Telecomasia.net, 5th June 2008

* Liu Xiang, China's best hope of athletics gold at the Beijing Olympics, needs time to recover from a tight hamstring and might not be fit to run in his final warm-up meet in the U.S. this weekend, his coach said. The 110 meters hurdles world champion and world record holder's preparations for his Olympic title defense have been seriously disrupted by the injury, which caused him to withdraw from the Reebok Grand Prix in New York last weekend. Yahoo! News, 4th June 2008

* His Royal Highness Prince Feisal of Jordan has joined the BackSoftball Task Force bidding to get the sport reinstated onto the Olympic programme for the 2016 Games. The move by Prince Feisal, who is the president of the Jordan Olympic Committee, follows the recent creation of the Jordan Softball Federation. The sport will feature in Beijing this summer, but the 117th meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which was held in Singapore in July 2005, voted to drop softball from the 2012 Summer Olympics roster. Sport Insider, Sportcal, 4th Jun 2008

* The Vietnamese Football Federation may suspend play in the V-League after violence erupted at a match last weekend resulting in the death of a fan. Trouble broke out on Sunday after a 1-1 draw between Song Lam Nghe An and Hai Phong at the Vinh Stadium in northern Vietnam. The violence spiralled out of control and ended up with eight people hospitalised and one Song Lam fan killed after being run over by a car driven by a Hai Phong fan. It is not the first incidence of violence at a Vietnamese football match this season and the VFF has threatened to take action in the wake of the tragedy. Football Insider, 30th May 2008

* The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in Vienna was officially opened on Tuesday by UEFA president Michel Platini. The IBC will serve as the international nerve centre of host broadcast operations for the EURO 2008, with over 10,000 square metres of production and office space made available to over 30 broadcast partners from around the world with all of the rights-holding broadcasters relying on IBC to serve almost 200 territories. The IBC is situated at the Reed Messe Wien in Vienna. For the first time, UEFA will produce the television signal for the tournament itself through its subsidiary UEFA Media Technologies SA. As host broadcaster, UEFA Media Technologies will be responsible for the transmission of TV pictures from Euro 2008. Sports Media, Sportcal, 4th Jun 2008

* Uefa is considering all possible options for future online video coverage, including a review of the pricing structure and the introduction of free advertising-funded content. The pricing model for Euro 2008 video-on-demand coverage and Uefa Media Technologies, the federation’s technology and media content solutions arm, told Sportcal.com that it was keeping an open mind on future strategy. The Euro 2008 subscription service faces competition from online coverage offered by Euro 2008 rights holders and also the threat of priacy. During the 2004 European Championships in Portugal, 40 to 45 per cent of the total users of the official tournament website came from the Americas, Asia and Australasia. A less-advanced video subscription service was offered by Uefa at the time. The 2008 website is expected to generate 1.2 billion page views and receive 100 million visitors, around four times as many visitors as in 2004. Sportcal.com, 4th June 2008

* A proposed new online multi-sport video platform and the inaugural Martial Arts & Combat Sports Games were the two key items on the agenda of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) Council meeting on Monday. The meeting was held against the backdrop of SportAccord at the Hilton hotel in Athens. A working group has been looking at the feasibility of the multi-sport platform, which would provide a single destination for GAISF Member Federations to provide content, such as highlights, live event footage, news and archive material. The concept will be presented to GAISF’s International Federations (IFs) at the General Assembly on Friday. Sport Insider, 4th Jun 2008

* Milan will host the 2009 Homeless World Cup with 64 nations and 700 players set to descend on Sempione Park in September. The annual Homeless World Cup is an international event, uniting teams of people who are homeless and excluded to take the opportunity to represent their country and offer them the chance to change their lives forever. It has triggered and supports grass roots football projects in over 60 nations working with over 30,000 homeless and excluded people throughout the year. The successful bid for 2009 was awarded to a combined effort from a number of parties including Milan City Council, Milan Provincial Council, the Italian Football Federation and the Politecnico and Bocconi Universities. Football Insider, 3rd Jun 2008

* Aston Villa is to replace its shirt sponsor with the logo of a children's charity, in a move similar to FC Barcelona's groundbreaking agreement with UNICEF. Villa refused to rule out reports that it could be set to forgo a lucrative shirt sponsorship deal in favour of a charitable agreement. The club said the decision to promote the work of Acorns children's hospices would help the charity to raise funds and "give something back" to the community. Villa, which finished sixth in the Premier League last season, agreed to promote Acorns' work on its shirts after the expiry of a two-year deal with online gaming firm 32Red.com worth a reported £2 million a year. Football Insider, 4th Jun 2008

* Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo were today chosen as candidate cities for the 2016 Olympic Games, leaving Doha out in the cold, despite having the biggest financial backing of all candidates. The decision also means Baku and Prague, respectively the capitals of Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic, are out of the running, as many observers had expected. Doha had proposed to stage the games between October 14 and October 30, which threatened to clash with other major sports events and create difficulties for broadcasters. There were also doubts over whether a city of just 1 million people could fill stadia and cope with the size of the event. Sportcal, World Screen, 4th June 2008


MORE NEWS

Real Madrid: Sogecable Extends Real Madrid TV Rights Deal

Ramon Calderon, president of Spanish soccer giants Real Madrid, has confirmed that Sogecable, the Spanish television group, will retain the club’s television rights next season. In agreeing the deal, Sogecable has exercised its option to extend the current deal with the Spanish league champions to include the 2008-09 season, despite a bid from fierce rival Mediapro. Calderon told the financial newspaper Expansion : ‘The television rights will be exploited by Sogecable.’

The deal was extended as per the terms of an agreement signed between Sogecable and Real Madrid in July 1999, despite further conditions being introduced in November 2002. A dispute between Sogecable and Mediapro over the broadcasting rights to the top-tier Primera Liga overshadowed the 2007-08 season. The dispute dates back to November 2006 when Mediapro acquired the rights to Real Madrid’s matches up to the end of the 2012-2013 season for €1.1 billion.

Sogecable argued that the deal breached a contract agreed in July 2005 in which Mediapro acquired a 25-per-cent stake in Audiovisual Sport, the holder of the league's rights until the end of next season. Sogecable claims that Mediapro had agreed, as part of the deal, that it would refrain from exploiting the rights to the league independently of Audiovisual Sport, which is part-owned by Sogecable. Mediapro, for its part, claimed that the deal is void because the ownership of Audiovisual Sport is unresolved.

The argument dragged on for the duration of last season, with both companies claiming to have the rights to certain matches. Prisa, the Spanish media group, recently completed the takeover of Sogecable, and is planning a restructure of the company, including the possible sale of pay-television platform Digital Plus. Sportcal, 30th May 2008

Global/General: Squash Chief Believes 'Global Game' Will Appeal to the IOC

The World Squash Federation claims that the global impact of the sport has boosted its chances of gaining admission to the Olympics, after it narrowly missed out on inclusion in the 2012 games. Squash was one of two non-Olympic sports, the second being karate, to be nominated for a place in the games after baseball and softball were controversially excluded in 2005. However, neither sport received the necessary two-thirds majority in a vote of International Olympic Committee members, sending them back to the drawing board for 2016.

Christian Leighton, the chief executive and secretary general of the WSF, told Sportcal.com that squash has made considerable progress since the vote, focusing its attention on ‘presentation, marketing and refereeing and development’ and believes that it ticks many of the boxes required by the IOC. He said: ‘We are truly a global sport. We have world champions from all the continents. They won’t be choosing a sport that is only popular in one country.’

Squash has traditionally been regarded as a Commonwealth sport, with the most successful players coming from a select group of countries including Great Britain, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. Leighton said: ‘That was very valid 20 to 30 years ago. Now if you look at the top nations, you’ve got a big spread.’ He pointed to the fact that France and Egypt are both well represented in the upper reaches of the rankings in the men’s and women’s game and cited the advances made in the developing world. Leighton said: ‘This is one of the beauties of squash and why it has developed so quickly. It’s very inexpensive to form a national federation, build some courts and for people to pick up a racket.’

The WSF has a project in which major squash-playing nations help with the growth of the sport in developing ones. For instance, Egypt has been involved in other parts of North Africa, while Malaysia has been active in Asia. The federation has also organised world, regional and national level conferences on coaching and other subjects. Squash is competing against six other sports for a place in the 2016 Olympics and their respective cases will be considered at a meeting of the IOC programme commission in November, where there will be presentations by each federation.

In addition to squash, four of the sports – karate, golf, rugby sevens and roller sports – were on the shortlist last time round, while baseball and softball will be looking to get back on the programme after being left out of the London 2012 games. Leighton welcomed the fact that the IOC charter no longer demanded a two-thirds majority for aspiring Olympic sports and that, with a maximum of 28 sports allowed, there were two free spots in 2016. He regretted that the need to exclude sports for others to be included in 2012 had ‘created a lot of bad will’ and is looking forward to a fair contest.

It is acknowledged that squash does not enjoy the same level of television coverage as sports such as golf and rugby union, but the WSF has taken steps to address this in recent years. Leighton pointed to the introduction of all-glass courts, rule changes, the introduction of the white ball and new camera angles, all of which are intended to make the sport more appealing to viewers, and said that there is now coverage of major tournaments in 125 countries. However, he said that television is only one factor considered by the IOC and squash, which now features in 20 international games, offers ‘very high quality for a low cost.’

He said: ‘For squash, you only need a couple of courts, which cost around $150,000, along with some temporary seating, and you can put them inside or outside.’ There are already two racket sports in the Olympics in the shape of tennis and badminton but Leighton does not believe that this will affect squash’s hopes of being included in the games. He said that the IOC was more concerned about gigantism and unequal numbers of male and female athletes and the WSF respected this and was proposing just two singles tournaments, one for men and one for women, with 32 players in each. Sportcal, 30th May 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: Money Rolls in as Football Passes Screen Test

Euro 2008 looms and, with no home nation involved in the three-week tournament, the patience of armchair fans will be tested to the limit with wall-to-wall coverage of every match on BBC One and ITV1 in peak time. Yet, while ITV’s argument that Britons will still want to watch familiar names such as Cristiano Ronaldo in big numbers sounds hollow, the event will be no more than a hiatus in the great British love affair with the national game.

Five years ago the FA Cup was dying on its feet, with poor attendances and TV viewing weak. Fewer than 6 million people watched Arsenal beat Chelsea in the 2002 final. But the tournament has made a dramatic recovery, helped by some smart BBC coverage. In the past three years finals involving the “big four” have peaked at more than 10 million viewers and even an unpromising game such as the Portsmouth v Cardiff City final this year was watched by 7.3 million. With its status restored, ITV and Setanta snatched the rights to the Cup, and England games, in a record £425 million, four-year deal.

At the same time, the recovery in audience figures comes when almost every other form of television, with the exception of soap operas and Saturday-night entertainment, is losing popularity. Marc Mendoza, a managing partner with advertising buyer MPG, which works with clients such as Nationwide, the building society and England sponsor, says: “There are fewer and fewer opportunities to reach large numbers of people at the same time. The Man Utd v Chelsea Champions League final was a massive opportunity and, as a result, ITV could increase its prices to advertisers by 50 per cent.”

In all, 14.6 million people watched the all-England Champions League final penalty shoot-out on ITV1, plus a further 1.9 million on Sky — the highest level since Liverpool’s triumph in Istanbul three years ago. The success of the four English clubs this year ensured that 6.2 million on average watched Champions League games on ITV, the highest for five years. This year, Ford used the Champions League final to show the first advertisement for its new Kuga car; last year it used the same event to launch a new Mondeo. The carmaker, already a sponsor of the Champions League and of Sky Sports’ Premier League live coverage, is expected to spend about £6 million on the Kuga campaign in the UK, with half that money going on television advertising. Times Online, 2nd Jun 2008

Elsewhere/Rights: Champions League Tender Sparks Interest in Germany

Broadcast rights to the Uefa Champions League, European soccer’s top-tier clubs tournament, from 2009-10 onwards have stoked the interest of Germany’s leading broadcasters ahead of the bidding deadline next Tuesday. Premiere, the pay-television broadcaster and incumbent rights holder in Germany, has repeatedly signalled its intention to retain the Champions League rights, but faces significant competition from terrestrial channels for the free-to-air coverage.

Team Marketing, the agency that is marketing the centralised rights for the Champions League, launched the tender on May 9 and there has been interest from ARD and ZDF, the public-service broadcasters, plus commercial networks Sat.1, ProSieben and RTL. The tender covers three seasons and has been launched at the same time as the tender for the Uefa Cup, the secondary European clubs competition.

A spokeswoman for Sat.1, which bought sublicensed free-to-air rights from Premiere for around €13 million ($20.2 million) per season, said: 'We are always interested in rights that are relevant to the masses, which are also economically attractive cost-wise.’

Premiere paid around €70 million a season for free-to-air and pay-television rights in a three-year deal which runs until the end of the 2008-09 season, first sublicensing free-to air rights to DSF, the privately-owned sports broadcaster, and later to Sat.1. Sat.1 broadcast 13 matches on free-to-air television this season, although the absence of Bayern Munich, Germany’s leading club, did have a negative effect on ratings.

The number of matches available in the pay-television package has grown from 125 to 146 due to the inclusion of the third qualifying round of the Champions League and the Uefa Super Cup, the annual match between the winners of the Champions League and the Uefa Cup. Team has beaten the Bundesliga to the market, with the tender for German soccer's top-tier league having been delayed due to a cartel investigation into the collective sale of rights. Sportcal, 30th May 2008

Elsewhere/General: Top Spanish Soccer League Becomes Liga BBVA

Spanish bank BBVA has increased its involvement in Spanish soccer by agreeing a title sponsorship deal with the top-tier Primera Liga, one of Europe's most high-profile leagues. The firm has been an official partner of the LFP, the Spanish league, since August 2006, having signed a three-year deal which included the title sponsorship of the second-tier Segunda Liga, known as the Liga BBVA. Under the terms of the new agreement, the Primera Liga will be renamed the Liga BBVA, while the Segunda Liga becomes the Liga Adelante.

The deal, which will see BBVA remain an official sponsor of the LFP, is reported to be worth €32 million ($49.5 million) a year. Other LFP official sponsors include car manufacturer Toyota and beer brand San Miguel. The league is expected to distribute €750,000 per year from the deal to each Primera Liga club, including Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, and €325,000 each Segunda Liga club The deal was due to be officially presented by Francisco Gonzalez and Jose Luis Astiazaran, the respective presidents of the BBVA and the LFP, at the bank’s headquarters in Madrid today.

BBVA said it would follow the example of England's Premier League, which is also sponsored by a bank, Barclays, and ensure that all official references to the league and logos include the name of the sponsor. It Italy, the main league sponsor is TIM, Telecom Italia’s mobile phone brand, which has given its name to the top-tier Serie A TIM and the second-tier Serie B TIM. The French league is also linked with a mobile phone network, Orange, which sponsors the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 divisions. Germany’s top-tier Bundesliga does not have a title sponsor, although this is likely to change for the 2009-10 season.

BBVA’s main domestic rival Santander has primarily been interested in Formula 1, but does now have a sponsorship deal with the Copa Libertadores, South American soccer’s top clubs tournament, which runs until 2012. Sportcal, 4th Jun 2008