ESPN Signs Broadcast Deal with Arena Football League

The Arena Football League (AFL) has announced a multi-year agreement with ESPN that will begin in 2014.

ESPN will showcase 10 regular season and postseason games on television, bronchi including one conference title game and the ArenaBowl.

ESPN will also air 75 other games on its web streaming service, apoplectic ESPN 3. ESPN’s video player will also appear on the AFL’s website. The league used CBS Sports’ video player last season.

“ESPN has a long history of working with the Arena Football League and this new agreement is a great opportunity to showcase the AFL as part of out year-round commitment to football,” ESPN director of programming and acquisitions Matthew Volk said in the release.

The multi-year agreement marks the first time since 2008 that the AFL will have televised games on ESPN. The league folded in 2009 and returned in 2010.

“The AFL’s return to ESPN is the latest example of the strides our sports has made in recent years,” AFL commissioner Jerry Kurz said. “Having the ArenaBowl on the ESPN family of networks for years to come puts our championship game alongside some of the most prominent events in television.”

At the end of a press release sent by the AFL, it notes that CBS Sports Network is still a television partner with the league.

“Reuniting with a great partner like ESPN is a clear sign of the positive progress we have made over the past couple of seasons,” said Soul owner and ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski. “They are the ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports’ for a reason and this renewed relationship validates our credibility, brings us more exposure and confirms what other partners like CBS have seen with the recent efforts we have made to grow our game in a positive direction. We are excited with these partnerships and happy to be teamed with organizations that share our vision for the bright future of our sport.”

Glen Nager Re-Elected United States Golf Association President

Glen D. Nager, generic | has been re-elected for the second one-year term as the 62nd president of the United States Golf Association.

Nager, 54, will continue to lead the Association’s 300-plus professional staff and more than 1,200 volunteers who serve on more than 30 committees.

“I am honored to serve another year as the president of the USGA, and continue to work with our talented staff, dedicated volunteers and experienced Executive Committee members,” said Nager. “Golf continues to face complex challenges on a global level. As the sport’s governing body in the U.S., it is our obligation to focus on areas that make the game better and that are necessary to sustain the game well into the future.”

During his first term, Nager, a Houston native, has focused the Association’s priorities and resources to address the issues confronting the game: stagnant participation, the challenges of financial and environmental sustainability, the game’s globalization, and the need to make golf more welcoming to a diverse audience.

“Over the past year, along with Executive Director Mike Davis and guided by the priorities set forth in our new five-year strategic plan,” said Nager, “we have established great momentum in our work to preserve and protect the game; developing new initiatives to make the game more fun, less expensive, and more welcoming; and working with our partners throughout the golf community to ensure that the game that grows worldwide is essentially the same game that we are entrusted to protect.” 

In his Annual Meeting remarks, Nager said that he will continue to work to preserve and protect the game, while strengthening the Association’s core functions of hosting premier national championships, building a greater appreciation for the Rules of Golf, promoting the game to broader, more diverse audiences, advocating a more environmentally responsible vision, and embracing the increased globalization of the game.

“We look forward to Glen’s continued leadership as we work to provide stronger governance and take stronger action for the game,” said Davis. “Given his organizational skills and business knowledge, Glen is ideally suited to lead the organization into the future and our progress in the past year reflects his many contributions to the USGA and the game.”

Key Olympic Sponsors Say Games Delivered Value for Money

Three of the major sponsors of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, pharm who spoke at Future Sponsorship in Istanbul today, stomach said the sponsorship delivered huge value for money.  BT, Lloyds and Cadburys confirmed successful staff engagement and revenue growth which delivered measureable return on investment for their brand.

Sally Hancock, Director of Olympic Marketing and Sponsorship, Lloyds TSB, said, “The Games for us represented huge value for money.  We signed up as the earliest partner and we got out of the blocks early, leveraging for the full five years which was key to our success.  Before the Games started, the sponsorship already delivered return through new business generated.”

“We delivered against our objectives of brand reputation and staff motivation, spending 50% of our focus on internal activation.”

BT’s Marketing and Brand Director Suzi Williams, said, “BT’s objectives used the sponsorship to transform the brand, generate revenues and engage staff and we exceeded all of these objectives. The Paralympics delivered huge ROI with 85% of our staff wanting BT to stay involved.”

“Sponsorship of events will be a big part of BT’s future sponsorship strategy – sport will be central to this but culture and the continuation of the Cultural Olympiad will be important too,” said Williams.

Cadbury’s  London 2012 General Manager, Norman Brodie, said the sponsorship also delivered return for the brand, even during a time of a major company takeover.  “We measured an increase in brand engagement by 5%, as well as colleague engagement during a time that major changes and redundancies were taking place.  Our community Spots and Stripes programme delivered an ROI of £3.39 for every pound invested, 2.8 million people were engaged via social media and we made 25 new business relationships as a result of the sponsorship.”

When asked how the sponsors worked with LOCOG, Sally Hancock said, “On the whole LOCOG did an outstanding job.  We took the decision early that we would not rely on LOCOG for marketing initiatives so we became very inward focused and we only had one dispute in five years.  However, generally sponsors are regarded as the necessary evil and really don’t receive enough recognition of the value sponsors bring which LOCOG didn’t manage well.”

Moderator Rupert Pratt from Generate Sponsorship summarised the session, “The clear legacy for sponsors from the Olympics has been the valuation and measurement of success for sponsors.  The industry can now finally move on from media value and focus on demonstrating clear measurable return on objectives which engage with the sponsors target audience.”

Welcome Boost for England 2018 World Cup Bid

Fears of a negative effect on England’s World Cup bid after a BBC’s Panorama documentary have been boosted substantially in a report issued by FIFA’s executive committee. The report revealed that if England were to win the bid to host the 2018 World Cup they would generate the highest income over their rival bidders.

England’s bid achieved a maximum rating over the areas of ticketing, television and media rights, sponsorship, hospitality and merchandising and licensing.

With regards to England’s rivals in the bid to host the 2018 World Cup, Spain and Portugal were their closest competitors receiving a rating of 91 per cent whilst the current favourites to host the tournament, Russia achieved the lowest score of 86 per cent. The remaining bid nation of Holland and Belgium achieved an 87 per cent rating in the report.

The boost will be a welcome result to all involved with the England World Cup bid after the BBC Panorama special was thought to have dented the bid’s chances of approval. The programme has come under criticism from a wide range of sources which believe the content to be dated and the timing to be detrimental to the nation’s hosting hopes.

The bid team is now eagerly anticipating the decision which will be made on Thursday with the likes of Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and David Beckham all backing the bid amongst the presentation team.

CBS Outdoors becomes London 2012 sponsor

UK outdoor advertising company CBS Outdoor has become the 33rd domestic sponsor of the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, stuff it has been announced.

The company, rx which has become a Tier Three provider for the games, will provide the event with outdoor media space to support its major marketing campaigns between now and the games.

The advertising space will include the London Underground, national rail, bus and tram networks and major retail areas in London.

London 2012 chief executive, Paul Deighton, said: “With just over two years to go, we are reaching out to people all over the country and building our fan base for 2012 including the recruitment of thousands of volunteers and educating people about tickets going on sale in 2011.

“The quality and reach of the CBS Outdoor network will help us to communicate to the whole country about what London 2012 is doing and how people can get involved. This is a significant deal for us because it marks a shift in gear in our marketing plans which will help us reach millions of people over the next couple of years.”

Eurosport & IMG Ink Joint Media Rights Deal for LTA Events

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), site the governing body of tennis in Great Britain, has revealed today that Eurosport and IMG Media have signed a new joint five-year media rights partnership with the tennis body. 

Eurosport and IMG Media will distribute the rights, outside of the UK, across all media platforms for the LTA-run ATP tournaments. These currently include the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club in West London and the Aegon International Championships at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne.

The deal also includes the new WTA international event to be held in Nottingham from 2015, during the new three-week gap between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. 

Eurosport will continue to broadcast the LTA tournaments across its pan-European network, while IMG will for the first time manage media rights distribution outside of Europe. 

Simon Long, Chief Commercial Officer at the LTA said:  “This is very welcome news as it builds on our successful, long-standing partnership with Eurosport and, in collaboration with IMG, offers fans from across the world the opportunity to enjoy coverage of world class grass court tennis in the UK.” 

Geraldine Filiol, Deputy Managing Director, Rights Acquisitions at Eurosport said: “We are very pleased to retain the rights to these popular events for the next five years. The tournaments enhance Eurosport’s tennis offer and perform well in our programming calendar at the start of the grass court season.” 

Ed Mallaburn, Vice President, Head of Tennis at IMG Media added: “We are delighted to be working with the LTA and Eurosport to help establish the global significance of the extended grass court season.” 

FC Dallas in Talks with Sponsors About Getting Naming Rights to Stadium

Following their impressive start to the Major League Soccer (MLS) season, medical FC Dallas have revealed they are moving closer to finding a new sponsor for the naming rights of FC Dallas Stadium, erectile according to Dan Hunt, vice president of Hunt Sports Group.

“We’re working on three [potential sponsors] right now … for this season,” Hunt told MLSsoccer.com this past weekend. “It would be a partial deal for this season and a full deal next season. If I do my job, I hopefully will get one of them to put their name on the stadium and complex and get the others to support the team through another sponsorship.”

The 20,500-seat soccer-specific stadium and adjoining 17 practice fields was originally called Pizza Hut Park when it opened in 2005. But in what was termed a “shift in sports marketing philosophy,” the well-known pizza chain ended its sponsorship agreement in January of last year, leaving the stadium in its current eponymous state.

Hunt says interest in corporate sponsorship is very high right now due to increased attendance and local media exposure (the club is also on track to reach its goal of 7,000 season-ticket holders, Hunt added). He declined to mention any of the potential suitors by name, but did say that the city of Frisco has been integral in helping the club identify potential partners.

“One’s an international company who has a very big presence in the Texas market, one has subsidiaries headquartered here and offices on the East Coast and one is headquartered here,” said Hunt.

Hisao Shuto Appointed International Communications Director of Tokyo 2020

Tokyo 2020 today strengthened its team with the appointment of marketing and communications expert Hisao Shuto as the Bid Committee’s International Communications Director.

Shuto brings nearly three decades of sport and communications experience, including 12 years in Japanese Football.

Shuto will use his vast skills and know-how to drive Tokyo 2020 international and national communication, and will play a key role in the IOC Evaluation Commission visit to Tokyo (3-7 March).

With more than 20 years of experience in the communications and marketing industry, Shuto directed communications for a variety of sporting events, including the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan during his time at JAWOC (Japan Organising Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan). In this role he also handled domestic and international media relations. 

More recently during his tenure at the Japan Professional Football League, Shuto handled internal communications for athletes and was also the project manager for increasing stadium attendance numbers.

Tsunekazu Takeda, IOC Member and President of both the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and Tokyo 2020, said: “Our Bid is leveraging the talent of many people from diverse backgrounds, and we are thrilled to add Hisao Shuto to our team. He is an experienced marketing and communications professional and an enthusiastic sports fan. The whole of Japan is looking forward to the arrival of the IOC Evaluation Commission early next month, and our newest appointment underscores our readiness to welcome our international friends. Our Bid team is full of passionate, driven individuals united by a clear passion to deliver a dynamic celebration right in the heart of Tokyo.”

Hisao Shuto said: “It is a great honour for me to join Tokyo’s Bid. I have seen and felt first-hand the true passion for sport that exists throughout Japan during the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. Ever since, I have hoped that Japan could one day host the world’s most inspirational celebration of sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I aim to use the experience I have built up over more than 20 years to ensure that we create momentum behind what I hope will be a winning campaign for Tokyo.”

City Events 2012: Bidding to Host a Sport Event is Not Only a ‘technical’ Beauty Contest

 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – On 14-16 November 2012, cities gathered with International Sport Federations and sport events stakeholders in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital. 

Over 235 participants and 20 journalists from 42 different nationalities gathered to discuss about ways to implement winning bids to host international sporting events. Under the theme “Preparing to bid and bidding to win”, the international conference City Events was a success in sharing experiences and ideas, through debates and networking opportunities, thanks to top level speakers and a high quality audience!

Bidding: a project with many challenges

From the first evening, the tone was set. Martin KALLEN (UEFA Operations Director) and Michael R. PAYNE (Former IOC Marketing Director and Special Adviser to F1’s Chairman/CEO) shared their experience and vision: “The bidding exercise to host a sport event has evolved, but does not boil down to a simple technical beauty contest”, said Michael R. PAYNE. Martin KALLEN shared the same ideas: “A mega event must be seen as an investment […] You must consider aspect both from inside and outside the event!” Michael R. PAYNE also dwelled on the case of London 2012 in his keynote speech: “You can never win against Paris if it is a technical review. You must present a vision” and London had the idea to highlight youth. A bid is first and foremost a story with its legacy and benefits to all stakeholders and local populations.

“A bid must always include an element of surprise!” Michael R. PAYNE

The second day, cities and sport events organisers shared and discussed their experiences. The City of London – which just hosted the 2012 Olympics, was represented by Iain Edmondson, (Director of Major Events, London & Partners). He unveiled an impressive strategy – “London, home of sports” – that led to the English capital to win the right to host the Olympic Games but also other major sporting events in the years to come. Alpaslan Baki Ertekin, General Manager of Spor AS, representing the City of Istanbul, explained the very active policy of Istanbul in terms of bidding for and hosting sport events, which aims to positioning the country in the heart of the geo-political exchanges. Finally, MEC Catharina Cronje, Minister of Finance of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, shared her experience of the hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Bidding: preparation, but not only

The City of Manchester, host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the City of Kazan, host of the 2015 FINA World Championships, the City of Amsterdam, host of the 2016 European Athletics Championships, and the City of Gwangju, 2019 FINA World Championships candidate, offered great insights of their bidding experiences. Additionally, the presentation of the City of Stockholm, unsuccessful candidate to host the 2004 Olympics, completed the vision on bidding explaining how the City managed to benefit from its unsuccessful bid through a great legacy. Annika MALHOTRA, Project Manager at Stockholm Events, explained how Stockholm managed to win even if it had lost the bid: “Even if we had not convinced the IOC, we had convinced ourselves. […] We unfortunately had overlooked two things: the public support and the negative media coverage.”

“Bidding is not about spending a lot of money, but just answer questions and expectations of the Federation precisely!” Sarah Lewis, FIS General Secretary

On the first day, Martin KALLEN reminded us that bid requirements are very demanding; procedures and deadlines need to be followed strictly, but also that a good bid dossier and presentation are key to success. In other words, he explained the importance of building a strong and experienced team to engage in such projects. Markiyan LUBKIVSKIJ, Head of UEFA EURO 2012 in Ukraine detailed both the reasons for the success of his country in bidding to host the EURO 2012 and in the event itself: “Manage your time and expenses, create a scalable and transferable project that can be understood and accepted by both foreign guests and local people.”

Bidding: the view of ‘alternative’ event organisers and International Federations

On the third day, the floor was given to organisers of ‘alternative’ events such as Iron Man Series, the X-Games, and Festival International Sports Extreme (FISE), which showed a different approach for cities to host sports events.

For the ‘Grand Finale’, Sarah LEWIS (FIS General Secretary), Jens Holm (WMGA), Tom DIELEN (World Archery General Secretary), Predrag BOGOSAVLJEV (FIBA Director of Events) and Marc VANDENPLAS (FISU Director for the Summer Universiade) came on stage for a round table dedicated to the view of International Federations. It was the opportunity to clarify that they do not want to see “aggressive competitions, with the risk of impairing relations with cities that would have failed.” All have also agreed on Michael R. PAYNE’s earlier statement: “The first question to ask before embarking on a bid to host the Olympics is: Why do you want the Games?”

City Events: Toolbox and Networking

All these testimonies were supplemented by rich advices and insights from specialised agencies and academic institutions. The presentation of two new Indexes – “Sports Cities Index” from Around The Rings and TSE Consulting and the “Sportcal GSI” (Global Sports Impact), were completed by the AISTS study: “Future Event Requirements of International Sports Federations.”

One of the highlights of this international conference was undoubtedly the success of the “One-to-one meetings session” which promoted over 140 meetings between International Federations, cities, organisers and sponsors. This unique networking opportunity was later completed by the FISU reception at the Rolex Learning Center.

For its 3rd edition, City Events 2012 was a great success and we hope that cities, International Federations and key stakeholders had set the basis for future projects and events.

FISU and GL Events are looking forward to welcoming you to the 4th edition of City Events, to take place next year, on 13-15 November 2013 in Lausanne (Switzerland).

Relive the highlights of 2012 CITYevents through pictures: Click-here. 

Find all speakers list and more information on: www.cityevents-sport.com

 

USOC to stick with BP providing quick solution can be found

The US Olympic Committee (USOC) has said that it is committed to its partnership with BP, so long as as it can find a quick solution to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has come under heavy criticism after an oil rig exploded on 20 April, killing eleven workers and doing huge damage to the surrounding wildlife and environment, and the USOC board discussed its partnership with the energy company at it quarterly meeting yesterday.

USOC Chief Executive, Scott Blackmun, said: “BP, like a lot of other sponsors, has to deal with complex issues and they’re dealing with a major issue now. Very hopefully, they can get this issue resolved sooner rather than later, and we’re pulling for as quick a solution as possible.”

BP signed the US$15 million deal with USOC back in February, which provides USOC with about 6 to 7 per cent of its sponsorship revenue.

In addition, BP also sponsors the London 2012 Olympic Games, who recently said they would also be continuing their partnership with them.