MARKETING
SNOOKER’S GOVERNING BODY announced it will launch a new short form of the game, provisionally called ‘Super6s’, in a bid to shake-up and modernise the sport. The ‘Super6s’ format will have six-minute matches, and will reduce the number of red balls from 15 to 6 to speed up play. Sir Rodney Walker, the chairman of World Snooker, said, “As an observer of snooker you cannot churn out the same diet year after year. Look at what Twenty20 has done for cricket. It brought in a whole new audience so what we have in mind we think would be appealing to a younger audience.”
UK SPORT and the British Olympic Association (BOA) demanded a meeting with top British athletes in an attempt to diffuse a row over image rights. UK Sport wants athletes to sign a contract to be part of a sponsorship scheme to cover a £50 million shortfall in the Government's £300 million funding package. The scheme aims to attract private investment by athletes promoting the BOA’s commercial partners, which could in turn affect athletes’ private sponsorship. Athletes who receive Lottery funding are currently already obliged to give up to three days each year for promotional activities. All 1,400 publicly-funded athletes must agree to the terms to qualify for Lottery grants, but it is thought there are around 80 who have questioned the idea.
UK-BASED marketing and sponsorship agency brandRapport was appointed to provide international media and PR services for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, to be played in China later this year. The event has been won by names such as Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, will be played from November 26-29 at Mission Hills Golf Club in China.
OLD SPECKLED HEN became the official shirt sponsor of English Twenty20 cricket team Northants Steelbacks, the limited overs team of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. The ale brand will also receive extensive branding around the team's stadium in Northampton during the Twenty20 Cup.
VEMUK (Volvo Event Management UK), organisers of the Volvo Ocean Race, appointed UK sports marketing agency The Sports Consultancy (TSC) to manage the host post procurement process for the 2011-12 edition of the event. The agency has taken on the role twice before, including for the current edition of the race. Each port pays a fee in the region $2.5 million to host a leg of the race and it is believed TSC can expect to collect a commission of $2 million from the anticipated nine or ten sports it will engage.
SLAZENGER S1 announced a further sponsorship deal with the England Basketball League to become the official sports drink at the national Final Fours championship in April. Aimia Foods, the drink’s manufacturer, secured the deal for the hypotonic drinks to be supplied to players throughout the finals weekend on Saturday 18th and Sunday the 19th April at Manchester’s Amaechi Basketball Centre.
EVENTS
SPORT AND TECHNOLOGY: The Conference 2009 announced Bernard Ross, Head of TV Production at UEFA Media Technologies, will be making the closing address at the event on 4 June. The event has formerly been closed by the International Cricket Council, Avaya and FIFA. Confirmed speakers also include representatives from BetFred, BT London 2012, Chelsea Digital Media, NFL UK, Nike UK and Ireland, Tottenham Hotspur and Wembley Stadium.
A NEW 15-TEAM National Softball League, which has secured major sponsorship from European softball equipment supplier Covee, was announced. The League will be played over three tournaments starting in June, including the Windsor Tournament, the largest of its kind in Europe with 52 teams in a range of different formats. All 15 teams will also compete in the Premier Nationals tournament being held in Reading this summer with the winners going on to represent the UK in the European Championships next year.
THE CONTRACT to construct enhanced rowing and canoe sprint facilities for the London 2012 Games was been awarded to Morrison Construction, the Olympic Delivery Authority announced. The rowing and canoe sprint events during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place at the Eton College Rowing Centre at Dorney Lake near Windsor, Berkshire. The venue’s existing facilities will be enhanced to provide improved facilities for athlete warm-up and Canoe Sprint events during the London 2012 Games.
FINANCE
THE EIB (European Investment Bank) approved a £255 million loan to help fund construction of the 2012 London Olympic Games Village. The EIB said the loan, requested in February, was approved on Tuesday. The Olympic Village and the International Broadcast and Media Centre have both had their funding suffocated by the worsening credit crunch, with developers failing to attract private investment to cover their share of the costs.
MANCHESTER CITY FOOTBALL CLUB recorded a loss of nearly £30m in the 12 months to 31 May last year. Despite the loss, £135 million spent on bringing players such as Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Shay Given to Eastlands, offset only by the £16 million raised for selling Georgios Samaras, Vedran Corluka, Andreas Isaksson and Rolando Bianchi. The accounts detail the period when City was under the control of Thaksin Shinawatra, although it has since changed hands to the Abu Dhabi United Group. During the 11 months of Shinawatra’s ownership documented in the accounts, City's wage bill rose 50% to £54.2 million.
ACCORDING TO FORBES, the average value of the world’s top 25 football clubs was up 8 per cent on last year to $597 million, with three British clubs in the top 5. The five clubs worth over $1 billion are Manchester United, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. Only the NFL has more billion-dollar teams.
PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB made losses of £16.66 million for the 2007-08 financial year, despite winning the FA Cup for the first time in 69 years. The English Premier League club said however the deficit was nearly £7.0 million less than the previous year and the club is optimistic the loss will be reduced again next year. Plans for a new stadium have been shelved for the foreseeable future and instead Portsmouth will redevelop their Fratton Park home by the 2011-12 season when it should hold about 10,000 more than the current capacity.
