MARKETING
A SPONSORSHIP ROW marred UK Athletics' inaugural Super8 competition in Cardiff. 24 hours before the event sports manufacturer Nike withdrew three leading athletes in a row over logos and kit. Nike wanted Kelly Sotherton, Hannah England and Greg Rutherford to wear its own branded kit, but the Super 8 vest carries just the event logo and team name. The ‘city versus city’ Super8 concept was dreamed up by UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos and is marketed as the athletics version of cricket’s Twenty20.
EMIRATES company president Tim Clarke said that he is satisfied with the airline’s sponsorship deal with Arsenal as long as the club finishes in the top 10 of the Premier League. Arsenal, who signed a 15-year deal with the Dubai airline in October 2004 in a deal believed to be worth £100 million, have not won a trophy since lifting the FA Cup in 2005 and last won the Premier League in 2003-04. “We didn't expect them to win the Champions League or the Premiership,” Clarke told Reuters. “So long as they finish in the top half.”
THE NBA (National Basketball Association) and the English Premier League held talks over a commercial tie-up targeting new international markets, according to the Financial Times. The newspaper reported that representatives from both parties met in London to discuss working together, and discussed their respective media rights strategies, particularly in Asia. “We are unapologetic imitators,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern. “The Premier League's ability to negotiate their [media] deals and the way they split their packages [of media rights] .... is something we can learn from.” Stern added that the Premier League is “a bit ahead” in terms of attracted foreign investment.
BOOKMAKER WILLIAM HILL said it will consider stopping odds on certain football matches next season due to concerns over suspicious betting patterns. Spokesman Graham Sharpe said the company may consider the move to prevent it becoming a victim of suspicious betting patterns. “This country always had a reputation for the integrity of the game... but if we start to feel all is not well with every game you may well end up with a situation where bookmakers will start to be selective about some of the matches they decide to bet on and may restrict people from betting on certain games,” he said.
EVENTS
THE FA (English Football Association) revealed it could lose £1 million after it agreed to issue a full refund to fans unable to get to Wembley Stadium because of a 48-hour Tube strike in London. There were fears that many of the 63,000 ticket-holders would not be able attend the England-Andorra 2010 World Cup qualifier. The match attracted an attendance of 50,000. According to UK newspaper the Times, areas of Soho Square mooted the idea of taking legal advice to recoup some of the losses, but it is believed such action will not be taken.
LEADERS IN FOOTBALL announced that former FIFA Executive and President of the Chilean Football Federation Harold Mayne-Nicholls will speak at its conference at Chelsea FC on 7 and 8 October 2009. Mayne-Nicholls will deliver an exclusive interview at the football business event covering the specific challenges faced by Chile, and other developing football nations, within a region dominated by some of the most successful countries in the world.
THE RACE OPERATORS at UK race circuit Donington Park reached an out-of-court settlement with the track owners Owners Wheatcroft and Son Limited, after the latter had threatened to cancel the lease because Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd (DVLL) owed £2.47 million in rent. Donington has a 10-year contract to host the British grand prix, starting in 2010, taking over from Silverstone which will stage its final Formula One race later this month.
THE HEAD OF LIVERPOOL's 2018 bid committee said Liverpool and Everton must share a new stadium for it to be included in England's 2018 football World Cup bid. Warren Bradley, the leader of Liverpool City Council, told UK newspaper the Observer that currently “Anfield and Goodison Park do not fit FIFA's criteria”. The prospective Stanley Park stadium would be situated half-way between the two clubs, where Liverpool has said it would like to build its own new ground. The ground-share is an idea backed by the North-West Regional Development Agency, a major stakeholder in the city's bid.
MEDIA
SETANTA, THE UK pay-television sports broadcaster, underwent emergency talks to refinance the business and save it from administration. The group is a privately-backed company whose shareholders include its management team and investors. UK media reports have said that Setanta has been trying to sell an equity stake to companies including BT and Disney's ESPN, in an attempt to raise between £30 million and £50 million. Setanta's business model was thrown into trouble this February after it lost a package of Premier League rights it currently holds from 2007-08 to 2009-10.
THE PREMIER LEAGUE will offer free-to-air coverage of top-flight games to emerging markets as it restructures its sales approach to overseas rights, according to UK newspaper the Guardian. The move is believed to be part of a drive to further grow the appeal of the Premier League in emerging markets such as China, Africa and India. It is believed the Premier League will look to make at least one package of live matches available to a free-to-air broadcaster in a bid to expand its reach.
THE IEC IN SPORTS agency agreed a deal to distribute the media rights for Manchester United’s matches in an upcoming Asian Tour. IEC in Sports will distribute the rights to all territories except the UK and Ireland. Between July 18 and 28, Manchester United will play matches against a Malaysian XI in Kuala Lumpur, an Indonesian XI in Jakarta, FC Seoul in Seoul, and Zhejiang Greentown FC in Hangzhou, China. IEC will also co-ordinate international television production and transmission.
FINANCE
NEWCASTLE UNITED owner Mike Ashley officially put the club up for sale £100 million, £300 million less than the asking price just over half a year ago. The sale of the club was advertised in a small statement on the team's website. Ashley tried to sell the club for £400 million last September but could not find a buyer. Ashley bought the club for £134 million and ploughed in another £100 million of his own money to pay off debts. Last month Ashley said he had made "terrible decisions" in the running of the club.
THE JOCKEY CLUB, the UK authority that owns and manages 14 racecourses including Cheltenham and Aintree, announced a record operating profit of £18.8 million at its courses in 2008. According to UK newspaper the Guardian, the figure is up from £10.9 million in 2007. The news is encouraging for horse racing, as it appears to be weathering the recession and the profits made by the Jockey Club will re-invested back into the sport. The Jockey Club has been keen to stress that its money-making commercial potential has been greatly improved since it decided to hand over its regulatory function of the sport to the British Horseracing Authority in 2006.
WEST HAM UNITED was bought for an undisclosed sum by CB Holding, a unit of Iceland's bailed out Straumur-Burdaras bank, the Premier League club said on Monday. The takeover follows the collapse of the business empire of former owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson, who bought West Ham in 2006 for around £85 million and had borrowed heavily from the Straumur. On Friday Straumur asked its creditors for a six-month delay in servicing and repaying its debt to have more time to secure an agreement with lenders.
THE PARENT COMPANY of the Premier League club Liverpool’s two US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, was revealed to have lost £42.6 million in the last financial year. The loss, in the year running to August 2008, was mainly due to the £36 million of interest payments that Kop Football Holdings had to make to service the debt taken on to buy the club. The parent company's loss came despite the £10.2 million pre-tax profit reported by the football club in the same period.
APPOINTMENTS
SPORTS MANUFACTURER Nike named Gino Fisanotti as its new marketing director heading up UK and Ireland. Currently, Fisanotti is EMEA brand director at Nike and has been with the company since 1996. He has held a number of senior marketing positions including marketing director for Latin America. Fisanotti replaces Simon Pestridge, who is promoted to the role of global brand director.
