NFL Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks along with MLS team Seattle Sounders FC have announced a new multi-year partnership with Skyview for their inventory management systems.
Skyview, pills an integrated play-by-play broadcast specialist, will provide its AdView Inventory Management software and Live Read Service to the franchises’ traffic department. The system will streamline advertiser contract fulfillment, managing both teams’ inventory in the same system. Skyview’s Live Read Service will also serve to track all live mentions in the broadcast, bringing them into the billing process, which is especially important for sponsor mentions dominant in the MLS broadcast format.
Skyview’s Live Read Service will serve to capture and catalogue the Seahawks and Sounders FC on-air advertiser mentions, debuting the system for the first time in MLS. With this system, the franchises have full access to a personalized web database of time stamped air checks that are fully searchable by client name, feature name or date range. These air checks can be played, downloaded and exported, allowing the franchise to bill live reads through the affidavit and invoicing process.
“We are proud to enter into the Pacific Northwest with these very exciting franchises; we congratulate the Seahawks on their success and look forward to collaborating with them in future seasons,” said Matt Stys, Vice President of Business Development for Skyview Networks. “For Sounders FC, they will benefit from our live read service, which is a natural fit with the MLS broadcast format of in-broadcast advertiser mentions. We look forward to building a long relationship as we continue to partner on play-by-play broadcast solutions.”
The United States Olympic Committee has agreed a partnership with The Foundation for Global Sports Development (GSD), treatment to launch a three-year pilot program aimed at enhancing career development for Team USA athletes.
The program is the latest step taken by the USOC to implement the recommendations of its Working Group for Athlete Career, abortion | Education and Life Skills.
“As sport administrators, we are committed to creating a sustainable program that emphasizes athlete development,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “This pilot program is fundamental to our mission, and we are extremely grateful to our partners at GSD for their generous support.”
Based on recommendations from the working group, the USOC will hire dedicated staff charged with guiding career development for Team USA athletes and assisting with the transition away from elite sport. The staff – featuring a director of athlete services and three career development coaches – will report to Benita Mosley, USOC chief of organizational excellence.
“The USOC is in a unique position to lead a culture that values and addresses how elite athletes transition from competition to their next endeavor,” said Mosley. “As a former athlete, I am thrilled to be a part of this new program, which will support American athletes by providing them with the skills they need to be successful, both on and off the field of play.”
GSD joins the USOC’s Official Career Management Services Sponsor, Adecco, and Official Education Provider, DeVry University, as the latest supporter of the USOC Athlete Career Program. The ACP was established in 2005 to provide career training and job placement assistance to both current and retired Team USA athletes.
“At Global Sports Development, our focus is supporting elite athletes who dedicate their time to inspiring youth around the world,” said Steven Ungerleider, GSD executive board member. “We are honored to support the long-term needs of Team USA athletes, and enhance their opportunities to achieve excellence beyond the world of sport.”
A long-time supporter of the Olympic Movement, GSD is dedicated to delivering programs that promote sportsmanship, education, fair play and ethics to youth around the world.
“One of GSD’s core values is teamwork and we are delighted to join the USOC in supporting Team USA,” said David Ulich, GSD executive board member. “These athletes spend their formative years preparing to represent their country at the highest level, and the Athlete Career Program recognizes a vital resource that will help American athletes prepare for life after competition.”
The cities of Brasov (Romania) and Lausanne (Switzerland) have both submitted their applications to the International Olympic Committee before the 28 November deadline to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “We are delighted that Brasov and Lausanne are in the running for 2020 and want to bring the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games to their cities. Both candidates have signalled their strong interest in hosting the YOG, ed and we look forward to receiving each bid’s vision on how these Games can best reach young people and benefit their communities in a sustainable way. It promises to be a close race all the way to the election in 2015.”
The first edition of the Winter YOG was held in Innsbruck in 2012, with the second edition scheduled to take place in Lillehammer in 2016. Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Olympic Winter Games, while Lillehammer held the 1994 Olympic Winter Games.
Approximately 1,000 athletes take part in the Winter YOG, which last a maximum of 10 days and are held at a time of year that best suits the sporting calendar and climate of the host region. YOG hosts are encouraged, wherever possible, to use existing venues to stage the Games.
The next deadline in the 2020 bid process is 12 December 2013, the date when Brasov and Lausanne must submit the signed 2020 YOG Candidature Procedure.
Timeline – 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games 2020 Bid Process:
– Signature of the 2020 YOG Candidature Procedure: 12 December 2013
– Submission of the YOG Candidature File and other documents: 17 June 2014
– Shortlist of YOG Candidate Cities by the IOC Executive Board: 2-3 December 2014
– Report by the IOC Evaluation Commission: April-May 2015
– Election of the Host City of the 3rd Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2020: July/August 2015
iSportconnect, the world’s largest private network of sport business executives, last night hosted an impressive panel of high-profile executives at the iSportconnect Directors’ Club London.
The event, in Question Time format, covered a range of pertinent topics ranging from the recent doping scandal in Australia, the exponential increase in sports broadcast and sponsorship rights. to the benefits of foreign investment in UK sport.
The event, in partnership with Generate Sponsorship, was hailed a huge success, with the esteemed speakers including Sir Craig Reedie, Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, Ian Ritchie, the RFU Chief Executive Officer, Tim Ellerton, Global Sponsorship Manager of Heineken and Nigel Howe, Chief Executive of Reading FC.
The event opened with a question about what the ‘game-changer’ in the sports industry was likely to be and the answers focused around digital advancements and innovations, particularly when it is around stadia and how to improve fans’ experience. Digital Replacement Technology was discussed as an interesting way for sponsors to capitalise in regions they don’t have a physical presence.
The conversation turned to discussing the value of broadcast rights and sponsorship rights and whether the industry was going to hit a ‘glass-ceiling’. The debate discussed sports from football to tennis and the recent significant deals being brokered in the industry (i.e. BT Vision).
Tim Ellerton: “There was a lot of passion in the room around broadcast rights and sponsorship rights and whether the bubble is about to burst – from tonight’s evidence, it would look like probably not, but time will tell.”
Sir Craig Reedie: “I enjoyed the interaction between the broadcast and sponsorship elements and the analogy of what is happening in the United States – we tend to think nationally, whereas in fact, there are a lot of very good messages from international conduct and international business that might be of value to your business here.”
John P Campbell from Visa Europe
The debate carried on with an interesting conversation around measurement and how to truly value your sponsorship – the consensus was the Advertising Equivalent Rate model was only part of assessing the true value of our sponsorship package.
Ian Ritchie summed up things nicely with this statement: “It is about balancing the objectives of your organisation – is it there to make profit (like a football club) or to aid a game as in governing bodies and invest into that sport (like the RFU). There is not a common solution for everybody because people have different objectives to what they are trying to achieve – that’s fine, as long as we recognise the difference.”
Founder and CEO of iSportconnect Sree Varma, said, “The iSportconnect Directors Club is going from strength-to-strength and we enjoyed our biggest ever attendance of sport industry professional at last night’s event. The feedback from delegates has been overwhelmingly positive and the Question Time style format continues to get the best insights out of our panellists. We look forward to welcoming the sports industry to future iSportconnect events.”
More pictures here:
iSportconnect chairman Michael Cunnah with Nic Coward, Premier League and Paul Vaughan
Directors’ Club attendees all listening intently
The debate rolls on…
Attendees include:
Top executives across the industry will be attending, including: English Premier League, The FA, RFU, IRB,ITF, Manchester United FC, Liverpool FC, Arsenal FC, Chelsea FC, Tottenham FC, LTA, UK Athletics, West Ham FC, English & Wales Cricket Board, UK Athletics, Liverpool, QPR, Ascot Racecourse and WMRT and a string of sponsorship brands including Visa, Heineken, Jaguar, Thomas Lyte, Red bull, Paddy Power, HotelPlanner.com and many more.
Follow us on @iSportconnect and carry on the debate through #iSCDirectorsClub.
The Capital Improvement Board has voted to extend the contract with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers for one year for the use of Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The deal will give both sides the time to come up with a long-term agreement.
“The main charge of the Capital Improvement Board is to equip, run, and keep tenants in our facilities, and that is what we’re doing by locking in the Indiana Pacers for another season,” said Ann Lathrop, CIB President.
“I did it with the understanding and hope that we are going to get dollars for public safety, and this is what this has all been about for me and the majority of the members,” said Maggie Lewis, Indianapolis City-County council president and CIB board member.
“Mayor Ballad believes this is a good solution. It helps move the city forward,” said Marc Lotter, spokesman for Mayor Ballard. “We have some serious financial challenges both at the city level, but also with the CIB, and so giving this one-year extension with the Pacers, and having them agree to that, is very important because it gives us time to solve the longterm fiscal issues that we face.”
The Chinese National Olympic Committee has rejected a request by the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) to include Rugby Sevens in next year’s East Asian Games in Tianjin.
Top ARFU officials, vice-president Trevor Gregory and secretary-general Ross Mitchell, put forward the sport’s case for inclusion at the Games to senior Chinese Olympic officials at the recent Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly in Macau.
“We were told there was no room for inclusion of sevens. It is very disappointing as we had hoped sevens could continue to be a medal sport at the East Asian Games,” said Gregory, who is also the chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union.
Hong Kong, which hosted the last East Asian Games in 2009, included sevens. But mainland officials said the programme for Tianjin was full with 22 sports to be played. Nine countries will take part.
“We cannot understand China. On the one hand they find it difficult to field their best team in international sevens competitions because their PLA players are not allowed permission to go overseas, and yet when they host an international event which will feature all the top Asian countries in rugby, they turn down the chance,” said Mitchell.
“If the International Rugby Board had stepped forward and said they would fund the whole tournament, then I’m sure the Chinese would have been happy to include sevens. But the IRB has already said they don’t have the budget for this.”
At the 2009 Games, the HKRFU paid for the entire cost of staging the rugby competition for men and women at the Hong Kong Stadium.{jcomments on}
KSL Capital Partners, capsule LLC (“KSL”) announced today that it has acquired The Belfry, a renowned hotel and golf resort in Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, North Warwickshire, England.
Located near England’s two largest cities, London and Birmingham, by both car and train, The Belfry features seven food and beverage outlets, a 25,000-square-foot fitness center, a spa and 20,000 square feet of meeting space. Spread across 550 acres, the 324 room property is the world’s only four time host of The Ryder Cup, having held the tournament in 1985, 1989, 1993 and 2002, on its world famous golf course, The Brabazon. The Belfry is also home to the PGA National Golf Academy and, in addition to The Brabazon, features two additional golf courses – PGA National, England’s only PGA branded golf course, and The Derby.
KSL plans a comprehensive renovation of the hotel, including the public areas, guest rooms, dining outlets and meeting spaces to enhance the overall guest experience. Given the unique and expansive nature of the resort campus with multiple guest room buildings, conference locations and food and beverage outlets, The Belfry will remain fully open during the renovation.
The resort will be managed by a subsidiary of the De Vere Group, which through its brands De Vere Hotels, Venues and VILLAGE, owns and operates 62 refreshingly different locations with a modern British flavor throughout the United Kingdom. The De Vere Group previously owned and managed the resort prior to its sale in 2005 to the seller, an affiliate of The Quinn Group.
“The Belfry has a proud heritage and is widely known as the ‘spiritual home of The Ryder Cup,’ and we are honored to be the next stewards of this great property,” said Richard Weissmann, one of KSL’s partners. “Given KSL’s experience owning and operating large scale golf and spa resorts across the United States, The Belfry is the perfect opportunity for our first resort investment in Europe. We believe De Vere’s familiarity with today’s European travelers combined with our planned renovations will provide guests of The Belfry a new level of luxury, service and amenities.”
In a recent survey two Olympic TOP sponsors were found to be in the “premier league” of agencies to work with in a survey.
The survey was conducted by UK research firm Bonamy Finch and given to 400 advertising executives from around the world. It asked them to rank 27 corporations on desirability to work with.
Adidas and Coca-Cola were the Olympic sponsors deemed easiest to work with, viagra sale while Apple, viagra Google, discount Nike, and Volkswagen rounded out the “premier league” of agencies.
TOP sponsors Procter & Gamble along with Visa were also included in the survey, but fell in the mid-range of the results.
Nike, a USOC sponsor, was the only company to not receive any “very undesirable” votes.
Nascar might be doing well on the track with high television ratings but with a plummeting economy, teams are struggling to compete in the sport with redundancies becoming a regular occurrence.
Several teams are contemplating layoffs during a downturn in the economy, when sponsorship has become harder to secure. The most prudent example came this week, when Turner Motorsports released Nationwide Series championship contender Reed Sorenson and advised employees it might downsize at the end of the season, after sponsor Dollar General announced it would not return in 2012.
Nascar Chairman Brian France said Sunday he’s not oblivious to teams’ financial concerns, but he remains optimistic the economy will not cause long-term problems for the sport.
“I’ve always said I’m not an economist,” France said, “but I know what you know, and it’s very difficult out there for companies, and people in general, and that has an impact on us.”
France said the one positive that comes from teams downsizing is it creates opportunities for other teams contemplating a move to NASCAR’s top tier.
“We’ll see in the offseason teams thinking about moving up that didn’t want to because there wasn’t availability or they couldn’t make an event,” France said. “I hope everybody comes back, I hope everybody gets what they need to compete, but if the economy is difficult, it does allow opportunities for others. I guess that’s the only silver lining to it.”
Also negotiations have begun with Sprint to remain the title sponsor of NASCAR’s top tier. Sprint is in the eighth year of a 10-year, $750 million contract.
The struggling wireless carrier, based in suburban Kansas City, posted its 15th consecutive quarterly loss in July. The nation’s third-largest carrier also reported more contract customers defecting to rivals AT&T and Verizon than some analysts had expected.
France said: “It’s a program that’s worked well for them and we’re in a time where we’re having those kinds of discussions about extending the relationship. My hope is that we will.”
The decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix may well prove to be a swiftly rescinded one according to Formula One rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone, who admitted yesterday, June 8, that the F1 teams opposition of the rescheduling is likely to see the race dropped from the 2011 calendar after all.
The International Motorsport Federation’s (FIA) voted to reschedule the previously postponed race, pegged to be the season opener in March, for October 30, in turn pushing the date and indeed preparation deadlines for the new Indian Grand Prix back until December 11, becoming the season-ending race.
The civil unrest in the Gulf nation which saw the initial Grand Prix postponed still hangs over Bahrain and Ecclestone has now acknowledged that the race’s precarious slot on the 2011 calendar looks doomed after F1 teams opposed the race being reinstated to the schedule.
Ecclestone told the BBC: “Hopefully there will be peace and quiet and we can return in the future, but of course it’s not on. The schedule cannot be rescheduled without the agreement of the participants…they’re the facts.”
The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) wrote to the FIA and Ecclestone with their concerns that, aside from security questions, the teams are against extending the season into December due to logistical reasons.
An FOTA spokesperson to Reuters: “The teams have discussed the 2011 calendar within FOTA and have expressed their considered views privately in a letter to the FIA, FOM (Ecclestone) and BIC (Bahrain Circuit). It would be inappropriate therefore to comment further at this stage.”
