MEDIA
BBC MOTION GALLERY diversified its sports portfolio by agreeing a partnership with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to represent its entire archive of cricket programming. BBC Motion Gallery, BBC Worldwide's clip licensing business, will become the exclusive global representative of an archive that features all England home Test, One-day & Twenty20 matches right up to the most recent tours and includes 64 separate tours of England by countries including Australia, India, South Africa and the West Indies. The deal opens the door to footage of cricket legends past and present including Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Ian Botham, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff.
EVENTS
THE SRU (Scottish Rugby Union) withdrew from its attempt to joint-host the Rugby World Cup in either 2015 or 2019 after “mixed messages” from the English Rugby Union (RFU). Scotland wanted to be part of a joint-bid from the four home unions, but according to SRU chief executive Gordon McKie, over the last few days it became clear that the English rugby authorities were intent on a solo bid. The Scottish Government had agreed to underwrite part of the cost of a joint-bid. The SRU had ruled out a solo bid and a Celtic bid with Ireland and Wales months ago. It is believed that the RFU’s preference is to stage a tournament almost entirely within England, using Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and a number of football grounds.
THE ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) announced plans to restructure the domestic county Twenty20 competitions with plans to launch two new leagues in June 2010. The first of the two competitions, P20, will consist of two divisions, each with nine teams. The ECB also announced that there are plans to have another Twenty20 competition in the later part of the 2010 season, which will follow in the same format as the current Twenty20 Cup – the only existing domestic county competition being played in this format.
THE WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP will remain at the Crucible in Sheffield until 2014, it was announced by tournament organisers, despite talks to host the tournament in Asia and the Middle East. According to UK newspaper the Guardian, World Snooker's deal with the Crucible was due to expire after 2010 but a three-year extension has been agreed between the sport’s governing body and the Sheffield venue. Sir Rodney Walker, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, held talks with interested parties in China to host the event. Abu Dhabi had also expressed interest that the tournament could go to the Middle East for the first time.
MAYOR OF LONDON Boris Johnson unveiled his plans to create a sports legacy for London following its staging of the 2012 Olympics including the provision of mobile swimming pools, street athletics and sport for disabled children. The initiatives will be introduced by Sport England and local authority members of a new forum. The new London Community Sports Board will be chaired by Kate Hoey MP, Commissioner for Sport in London.
THE SOCCEREX LONDON FORUM confirmed Keith Harris, Alan Keen and ITV Controller of Sport Neil Sloane will speak at the event on 13 May. Keith Harris, executive chairman at investment bank Seymour Pierce and the man at the centre of some of the most high-profile acquisitions in English football including Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester City, will speak on club ownership and the financial state of the British football industry. The fifth edition of the event takes place on the 13 May at Wembley Stadium and brings together senior delegates from across the football industry for one intensive day of discussion, networking and business.
THE IOC Co-ordination Commission for the London Olympics in 2012 said it is “greatly impressed” with the city’s preparations for the Games. “We have been greatly impressed by the good progress that London 2012 has made since our visit last year, particularly in moving from planning to operational delivery,” said Commission Chairman Denis Oswald. Oswald added that the organisers should pay attention to ticket allocation in order to avoid the empty seats that blighted some of the Beijing Olympics events last year.
FOOTBALL BUSINESS EVENT Leaders in Football re-launched its website to coincide with the release of a new weekly newsletter called ‘The Leader’. ‘The Leader’ is a free weekly independent football business newsletter delivered online to 10,000 delegates worldwide.
FINANCE
SCOTTISH CHAMPIONS Celtic could join the English Premier League within a decade, said club shareholder Dermot Desmond. The Irish billionaire financier said that the idea of inviting Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers into the English top-tier would help generate more broadcasting revenue for the Premier League and that it was ‘inevitable’ that the Scottish Premier League leaders would eventually compete against the bigger English clubs. “They will open up some time to us but I would think it could be in the next 10 years,” he said in an interview with local radio station Newstalk.
PREMIER RUGBY announced that regular season crowd attendances in the Guinness Premiership rugby union top-flight for the 2008-09 season have risen by 10 per cent on last year. The average attendance for a Guinness Premiership game during the 2008-09 season was 11,414 compared to 10,382 in 2007-08. Cumulative attendance has risen from 1,373,363 in the 2007-08 season, to 1,506,639 in the 2008-09 season, the first time the figure has gone through the 1.5 million mark.
GRANDHI MALLIKARJUN RAO, the billionaire owner of Indian Premier League (IPL)’s Delhi Daredevils, held talks into buying Liverpool FC, according to UK newspaper The News of the World. The paper reported that representatives of Rao’s GMR group were guests at Anfield for Liverpool’s 4-4 draw with Arsenal last week. Rao, 58, made his fortune in the airport and construction industry and recently formed his GMR company to specifically invest in sport.
DAVID GOLD, chairman of Birmingham City FC, outlined a plan to UK newspaper the Guardian by which the 72 clubs could collectively reduce all their ticket prices by half over a three-year period, a move he believes would see crowds across the three divisions increase by 25 per cent. "To have an impact in these difficult economic times we need to reduce ticket prices by 50%,” he said. “This couldn't be done overnight as all clubs have contracted expenditures and overheads they need to see through, but it could perhaps be introduced for the start of the 2010-11 season and be carried out incrementally at roughly 17% per season for three seasons. Based on past experience, I genuinely believe this would eventually result in crowds rising by at least a quarter, maybe more."
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE club Hearts reduced its debt by around £6m in the last financial year, despite making a pre-tax loss of £3.5 million. The club's arrears now sit at £30.48 million, compared to the previous figure of £36.25 million, with pre-tax losses reduced by £8.92m for the year to July 2008.
FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN David Beckham topped The Sunday Times Rich List for sports stars with a personal fortune estimated at £125 million, unchanged from last year. The list, which is not restricted to British citizens but those who either live or predominantly work in Britain, assesses the value of assets held by the wealthy elite on these shores. Lennox Lewis, despite now being retired from boxing, is second on the list with former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine third. Jenson Button, the Brawn GP F1 driver currently leading the driver’s championship, is the highest placed new entry as well as topping the young sportsmen rich list with wealth of £40 million.
THE OWNERS of Donington Park, the venue for the British Formula One grand prix from 2010, issued legal proceedings against the circuit’s operators, endangering the future of the race. The International Herald Tribune newspaper reported that Wheatcroft & Son, the owners, issued proceedings at Derby County Court seeking £2.5 million in unpaid rent and for forfeiture of the circuit lease, from Donington Ventures, the operator. Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said he was saddened but not surprised at the latest development, and pointed to a lack of commitment in Britain to hosting the race compared to other countries.
MARKETING
MCCANN ERICKSON, a subsidary of the US Interpublic Group, beat Sir Martin Sorrell’s UK-based WPP advertising group for the contract to promote the 2012 London Olympics, according to a source ‘close to the process’. It is the first time firms have been invited to pay for the privilege. It is believed that McCann Erickson offered around £10 million worth of marketing services in return for becoming a tier-three sponsor, thus meaning it was in the strongest position to be named as the official provider of advertising to the Games.
BATH SOFTWARE COMPANY IPL was revealed as Bath Rugby's main sponsor for next season. The company, which employs 245 people, will be the club's sponsor. Bath-based accident assistance company Helphire announced last week that it would not be renewing its sponsorship deal with Bath Rugby. As part of the one-year deal, the East Stand at The Rec will be renamed The IPL Stand.
BRAND DESIGN CONSULTANCY Elmwood was announced was the company developing the brand strategy for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The games’ organising committee has briefed Elmwood to base the brand’s personality, values and positioning on the initial bid branding, created by Tayburn and Navyblue. “Once you win, there is a need for slightly different branding. It’s a different phase. It’s now about celebrating Glasgow, Scotland and the experience of the games in 2014,” said Jo Coomber, managing director at Elmwood’s Edinburgh office.
UNILEVER-OWNED deodorant brand Sure Men struck a deal to become an official partner of the Test Match Cricket Grounds. Under the terms of the deal, brokered by the Essentially Group, Sure Men will gain a wide range of commercial opportunities at every Test Match Ground throughout the summer including perimeter and tri-vision signage, hover cover branding, sampling and experiential activity, ticketing and hospitality, and washroom and concourse advertising.
NORWICH-BASED iSport International, the team that raced in the GP2 feeder series last year, announced it is considering entering a team into Formula One next season. iSport founder Paul Jackson told Germany's motorsport-magazin.com website that his team is a serious contender for entry on the basis that a budget cap will be introduced for the 2010 season. “I aim to give a few people in Formula One a kick up the backside and to show them that they are chucking money out of the window for nothing,” he said. “The existing teams aren't structured to operate within a £30 million budget, so it would probably be better to start with a blank sheet.”
RICHARD BRANSON, owner of the Virgin Group, is considering extending his current partnership with Formula One team Brawn GP into a title sponsorship, it was reported. Virgin’s current deal with Brawn – finalised half way through the Australian grand prix around a month ago - is believed to be worth as little as $250,000 a race. “At the moment we are negotiating, as are other people, and we may or may not end up doing a full-branding exercise,” said Branson, according to Eurosport. “If we don’t do it we will obviously be the sponsor for this year and would be delighted with the way it has gone, and if we end up doing it, even better."
