* The IOC has stepped into a broadcasting battle between Australia's Channel 9 and Channel 7. Ch.7, the Australian rights holder for the Games, reported rival Ch.9 to the IOC for breaching restrictions after it was caught filming inside the Water Cube, the aquatics venue in Beijing. Non-rights holders (ENRs) such as Ch.9 are prohibited from filming inside official Olympic venues. The IOC duly responded by banning Ch.9 from the Olympics common area for a week. Ch.9, holder of rights to the 2012 Olympics, has apologised for the incident and offered assurances that it has not broadcast any of its Water Cube footage. Sport Briefing, Sportcal, Sport Business, 7th Aug 2008
* Sepp Blatter, said that he fears that yesterday's ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in favour of three soccer clubs over the release of players for the Beijing Olympic Games could lead to other clubs seeking compensation for letting their players take part. Blatter and Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC, both pleaded with clubs to 'respect the Olympic spirit' and let players stay in Beijing for the games. Blatter said: 'This is a most uncomfortable situation. I will deploy a lot of effort today to help everyone understand what is at stake. We cannot have players who have been entered [into the Olympics] in accordance with all the rules return home.' Sportcal, Sport Business, 7th Aug 2008
* Whenever Michael Phelps or Libby Trickett breaks a world record, it is not just the spectators in the stands that jump to their feet and applaud. As the photographers happily snap away and the television commentators start yelling themselves hoarse, the swimmer's sponsors are laughing all the way to the bank. World records never last long in swimming but a flood of records in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics has created an unlikely controversy because most were achieved in Speedo's new space-age swimsuit. The controversy has been a marketing dream for the sponsors whose product has suddenly become one of the most recognizable brands of the Games even though they are not an official sponsor. Sports City, 7th Aug 2008
Olympic TV and Sponsorship in Beijing Cycle Worth Almost $5bn
Going in to the Beijing Olympic Games, which start tomorrow, the International Olympic Committee can rest assured that Olympic marketing revenue from the sale of television rights and sponsorship, for the four-year period from 2005 to 2008, has surpassed that for the previous cycle.
Even before income from ticketing, hospitality and licensing for the Beijing games has been factored in, it can be ascertained that marketing turnover in the present cycle is worth in the region of $4.8 billion. The figure compares with estimated operating costs of $2 billion for the Beijing games and $1.5 billion for the 2006 winter Olympics in Turin. It alsocompares witha revenuefigure of $4.2 billion from all sources for the 2001-to-2004 cycle and puts the IOC in a healthy financial position as it prepares for the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics.
It was originally predicted that the 2006 winter Olympics in Turin and the 2008 summer games in Beijing would generate a total of $2.54 billion in broadcasting revenue but in advance of this year's event this figure had already reached $2.57 billion. A further $866 million was contributed by the IOC's top-tier TOP sponsorship programme, which comprises worldwide sponsorship deals with 12 market-leading companies.
The Beijing organising committee is estimated to have raised $1 billion in domestic sponsorship income from more than 50 domestic partners. This is on top of the $348 million generated by the Turin organisers from deals with 57 companies for the 2006 winter games.
Television and new media
The Beijing Olympics have generated more than $1.7 billion in broadcast revenues, thanks in part to an increase in internet and mobile rights income compared to previous games. Broadcast deals, in the main, covered both the 2006 and 2008 games, although some covered multiple games and a few were individual deals for 2008 only.
Overall, the games are expected to be broadcast in at least 220 territories worldwide and in 187 territories on new media platforms. Unsurprisingly, the IOC's deal with NBC, the US television network, leads the way in terms of rights fees for Beijing, generating $893 million. NBC agreed a $1.506-billion deal with the IOC for the 2006 winter Olympics and the 2008 games, with the share for 2006 amounting to $613.4 million. The broadcaster has since agreed a $2.201-billion deal, including sponsorship rights, for 2010 and 2012, paying $820 million for the 2010 winter Olympics and $1.18 billion for the 2012 summer Olympics.
As the table below shows, the IOC's deal with the European Broadcasting Union, the umbrella body of public-service broadcasters in Europe, represents the second-most valuable deal for 2008 at $443.4 million. The IOC will allocate 49 per cent of the 2008 Olympic broadcasting revenue to the Beijing organising committee, with the remaining 51 per cent distributed among the Olympic movement.
New media rights deals in certain territories have also provided additional income for the IOC, none more so than a controversial deal with CCTV.com, the internet arm of CCTV, valued at between $7 million and $8 million. It was claimed that the IOC had been intent on an open bidding process, but that the Sohu.com and Sina.com portals withdrew their bids, worth double the CCTV.com offer, under threat from the government. Nevertheless, the IOC succeeded in generating a record Olympic new media fee from CCTV.com, as the Chinese new media rights for 2008 were sold for more than the television rights.
Broadcasters in Europe acquired new media rights for Beijing as part of the agreement with the EBU for 2006 and 2008. The new media coverage for Beijing is a dramatic increase on previous Olympic Games. The anticipated 187 territories with new media coverage for Beijing dwarfs the 23 territories for the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the virtually non-existent new media coverage in Sydney in 2000.
Sponsorship
A large proportion of the sponsorship revenue from the Olympic Games derives from The Olympic Partners programme, under which a select group of companies are granted exclusive global marketing rights within a specific product or service category for a four-year period.
The programme, which is managed by the IOC, has been in operation since 1986 and in the period from 2005 to 2008, 12 partners have contributed $866 million in funding and services to the Olympic movement. This compares with the $663 million provided by 11 partners in the period from 2001 to 2004.
Below the TOP sponsors, there are several tiers of domestic sponsors recruited by the local organising committee for each Olympics. Some 51 companies have been signed up for the Beijing games, generating an estimated $1 billion towards the running costs of the event. This compares with 38 partners and $302 million for the 2004 Athens Olympics and 93 sponsors and $492 million for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Of the total raised from the TOP programme, 50 per cent goes to the organising committees of the winter and summer Olympics and the national Olympic committees of the host countries, 40 per cent to national Olympic committees worldwide and 10 per cent is retained by the IOC to cover operational costs.
The TOP sponsors include household names such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Visa but also less-well known companies such as the French IT services provider Atos Origin and the Canada-based insurance firm Manulife (see table below). Eight of the existing 12 TOP sponsors are contracted up to and including at least the London Olympics of 2012. Of these, Japanese electronics corporation Panasonic and its Korean counterpart Samsung are both additionally committed until 2016 and Coca-Cola's partnership runs until 2020.
Lenovo, the Chinese computer manufacturer, is pulling out once its commitment to the Beijing games is over but the IOC has already secured a replacement in the shape of its Taiwan-based rival Acer. Kodak, the US-based photography and imaging company whose association with the Olympics dates back to the first modern games in Athens in 1896, is also withdrawing its support, leaving the IOC with at least one gap to fill. With the Black Sea resort of Sochi set to host the winter Olympics in 2014, it is thought that a Russian company could join the top table. Lenovo is estimated to have paid between $80 million and $100 million to be a TOP sponsor in the current four-year cycle. The figure is thought to be typical of the fee paid by TOP sponsors for their association with the 2006 and 2008 games.
Awarding the Olympic Games to Beijing stirred the corporate sector in the booming Chinese economy and some of the country's most high-profile businesses were subsequently signed up as domestic sponsors. The companies were divided into four categories in the order of 'partners, 'sponsors', 'exclusive suppliers' and 'suppliers'. Of the 11 top-tier partners, eight are based in China, including national powerhouses the Bank of China, China Mobile and oil company Sinopec. There are also two Germany-based firms in sportswear manufacturer Adidas and car maker Volkswagen. Source : Sportcal.com and IOC's Olympic marketing fact file
This article is an abridged version of one that appears in the latest issue of The Sports Market Review, Sportcal.com's quarterly magazine, which is available free of charge to all Sportcal subscribers.
SPORTS SHORTS
* Tottenham Hotspur has been unveiled as the first EPL team to join the Superleague Formula Championship. Tottenham's blue and white livery will be carried by one of the 750 horsepower, V12 powered Superleague Formula Panoz chassis in the football-themed motor racing Championship. Tottenham joins Beijing Guoan, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto, Olympiacos, Borussia Dortmund, RSC Anderlecht, FC Basel, Flamengo, Galatasaray, Sevilla, Corinthians, Rangers, AS Roma and Al Ain. In June, Superleague Formula co-founder Robin Webb said two representatives from the EPL were on the verge of joining the Championship, and with 16 slots now filled on the 20-car grid, four competitors are still to be announced ahead of the inaugural race later this month. Sport Briefing, 7th Aug 2008
* Korea Broadcasting's director general Jung Yun-joo has been recommended for dismissal, according to Korea's Board of Audit & Inspection (BAI). BAI said that "striking irregularities" had been discovered made him unfit to head the state-run broadcaster. In the four years Jung lead KBS, the company turned from profit to an accrued deficit of W117.2 billion). "But forget management efficiency," said a news report, "KBS under Jung also raised labour costs by 15.3%, double the 7% average increase at state-invested institutions between 2004 and 2006. Annual salary at KBS is estimated at over W80 million, if you add various bonuses on top of the W76 million average yearly salary as of 2006 that the broadcaster publicly disclosed on its website." Rapid TV News, 7th Aug 2008
* IMG is looking at winter sports as an area of potential for commercial development through its new 20-year deal with CCTV to showcase new events and sell sponsorships. New sports events are set for development as IMG seeks to promote China's athletes throughout the country, supporting them with sponsorships and television advertising driven by the country's massive viewer reach. At present, China does not host any of skiing's top-tier FIS World Cup events. Chinese ski resorts of Beidahu and Yabuli does host other FIS events, though, and Harbin, the north-eastern Chinese city, will host the 2009 Winter Universiade, the winter-sports event for university athletes. Sportcal, 7th Aug 2008
* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has filed a case against ESPN Software India for non-compliance of its direction on pricing offer for direct-to-home (DTH) operators. The sector regulator has filed the case before the CJM court. According to the Trai directive, pay broadcasters have to offer their channels or bouquets to DTH operators at half the price charged in the non-CAS (conditional access system) cable networks. Earlier, TRAI had written to the Information and Broadcasting ministry for revoking ESPN's downlinking licence. Trai had issued a show cause notice to ESPN last month threatening legal action. Sports City, 7th Aug 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment