NFL Super Bowl Champion, unhealthy Justin Tuck, added to Global Sports Forum Barcelona line-up, 7-9 March 2012

New research released today by brand engagement agency, Havas Sport & Entertainment, for  the Global Sports Forum Barcelona (GSFB) – www.globalsportsforum.org – shows that the majority of sports fans across Europe believe league games played overseas ‘do a good job of promoting their sport’.

The findings are announced as two-time NFL Super Bowl winner, Justin Tuck, of the New York Giants is confirmed as the latest speaker to take part in the GSFB, 7-9 March, 2012.  This month, Tuck won his second Super Bowl, and just as impressively, the defensive end’s charitable initiatives have resulted in more than $1 million (USD) raised and 45,000 books donated to students in need.  Tuck played for the Giants in the NFL International Series at Wembley Stadium in 2007, giving him the authority to discuss with the GSFB’s 1,000 delegates how increased exposure, such as overseas competition, can expand an athlete’s philanthropic reach.

When European sports fans were asked about their perception of domestic club matches being played in foreign countries:

• 65% agree that it does ‘a good job of promoting the sport in question’
• 63% claim these matches ‘do a good job of attracting new fans to their team’.
• 59% feel that foreign fixtures do ‘nothing to take away from the local identity of the club’
• 61% believe fixtures played abroad have ‘little effect on alienating the club’s loyal fan base back home’

George Atallah, Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs of the NFL Players Association, said:

“Athletes across the world, such as Justin Tuck, already use the platform of sport to affect positive change. The findings released by Havas Sport & Entertainment show how humanitarian efforts of players will broaden with the globalisation of competition.”

The fans were surveyed across seven European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and UK) as part of the Global Sports Forum Barcelona’s study on the Globalisation of Sport.  Overall, it is Spanish fans who think that foreign fixtures are most useful for their team, with German sports fans having the most negative opinion of international club matches.

The findings of the study, along with many other issues affecting the sports industry – including Gambling in sport, football and finance and event bidding – will be discussed at the fourth edition of the GSFB, which will be attended by many of the sport industry’s leading rights holders, governing bodies, brands and athletes.

Lucien Boyer, President and CEO, Havas Sport & Entertainment and General Commissioner of the Global Sports Forum Barcelona, said:

“In recent times, we have seen a rise in the number of regular season fixtures being played abroad, with some of the biggest leagues in the world, including the NFL, NBA and English Rugby’s LV Cup all taking domestic fixtures into foreign territories. 

“The effect this has had on the loyal fans back home has been a topic of great debate and has prevented some leagues from expanding in this way, so it’s interesting to see what European sports fans think of this trend.  Our findings suggest that fans are not averse to seeing their teams play on foreign soil.  It may be that they believe that larger fan bases could generate revenue to spend on improving their teams.

“NFL players have been pioneers in playing domestic league fixtures overseas so it is apt that we have Super Bowl Champion, Justin Tuck, with us to discuss this trend and the importance of philanthropic works by athletes at the Global Sports Forum Barcelona.”

GolTV, health a bilingual soccer network, treatment has secured the exclusive broadcast rights to three pre-season summer matches and tournaments that will include top teams from England, order Germany, Italy and Spain. 

GolTV will air the Champions League winner Bayern Munich from Bundesliga vs. the top ranking team from La Liga, Barcelona FC in The Uli Hoeneß Cup; the Chelsea Asia Tour that will début Jose Mourinho, formerly with Real Madrid, in his new role as the Chelsea manager; and the Tim Trophy, which will feature Italy’s Serie A top teams: Juventus, AC Milan and first time Serie A team, Sassuolo.

The Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona FC match is a pre-season football tournament that will be played on Wednesday, July 24^th in Munich, Germany.

The Chelsea Football Club will tour Asia this summer with three exciting matches being played in Thailand, Malaysia and, for the first time, Indonesia. The tour will kickoff on Wednesday, July 17^th with the Chelsea vs. Thai All-Stars game. On Sunday, July 21^st, Chelsea will face the Malaysian All-Stars; and they will end their Asian tour on Thursday, July 25^th when they play the Indonesian All-Stars. The Tim Trophy is also a pre-season tournament played by the most successful EPL teams, Juventus and AC Milan, as well as newly promoted to Serie A, Sassuolo. The teams will play 3 round-robin 45-minute matches on Tuesday, July 23^rd.

GolTV’s primary focus is to provide the highest level of quality programming to its subscribers. “We are excited about adding these new properties to our summer line-up and offering our viewers such a unique and rare opportunity,” said Rodrigo Lombello, GolTV’s Chief Operating Officer. “We know our viewers will look forward to watching these amazing matches on GolTV.”

Dalian Shide Group is reportedly negotiating the sale of its Chinese Super League football club, with Red Bull and Dalian Haichang Group being mooted as potential buyers.

It has been rumoured since May that the club will be sold.

Red Bull is apparently the club’s preferred buyer, but the local government is adamant the club should remain in the city and is concerned that Red Bull would relocate the club.

Dalian Shide Group has struggled financially since the disappearance of its Chairman, Xu Ming, earlier this year in connection with the expelled Communist Party leader Bo Xilai scandal.{jcomments on}

Following his resignation last week Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) acting CEO, seek Jacques Faul has bactracked on his decision and will stay on at his position.

Faul had handed in his resignation last week after bemoaning differences of opinion on operational matters with the board but was asked to hold off on his decision until yesterday’s meeting.

“I’ve withdrawn my letter of resignation because I now feel I have the full support of the board going forward and carrying out my duties,” he said.

“I wasn’t sure if I had it previously, so that’s why I initially tendered my resignation. I’m grateful for that and will continue to do the job to the best of my ability.”

Dutch full service sport and media company Infostrada Sports will be responsible for video production at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) Utrecht 2013 after signing an agreement with the event in which approximately 2, physician 300 athletes from across Europe will be competing for medals in nine sports.

Infostrada Sports will produce live coverage for both TV and online of the opening and closing ceremonies and sport events themselves in addition to daily VOD clips and highlight shows.

Infostrada Sports’ Sports Event Services will also provide biographical information on a selection of participating athletes as well as being responsible for the Event News Service which will feature a team of event specialists.

CEO of Foundation EYOF 2013 Utrecht, discount Henny Smorenburg, said: “We are proud that a professional partner like Infostrada Sports has committed to our organisation. This guarantees that we will bring our beautiful festival into the limelight in the best possible way.”

Danny Menken, CEO Inforstrada Sports, also expressed his enthusiasm on working with the festival, saying “We are delighted that EYOF Utrecht 2013 has chosen Infostrada Sports as their Host Broadcast partner. It is a unique opportunity to help this fantastic event, which takes place in our backyard, really stand out on a European scale. At the beginning of the year Infostrada Sports announced it signed a multi-Games service provider contract with the International Olympic Committee for the provision of biographies, historical results and records for all Olympic Games through to 2020. In addition many National Olympic Committees are customer of our Data Services. Through these projects Infostrada Sports continues to raise its Olympic profile.”

Infostrada Sports’ production of EYOF 2013 Utrecht will begin July 14 with the Opening Ceremony at Stadium Galgenwaard and end July 19.

Richard Caborn, order the former British sports minister, is set to be upgraded to the new chairman of the Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABAE).

Caborn, who is currently president of the organisation, will take a more active role as chairman. 

Caborn said: “Boxing is one of our most successful sports in its ability to deliver the twin goals of increased grassroots participation and elite medal success and we want to ensure that we continue to build on that.

Caborn has been invited by the Government to be an ambassador for the London 2012 Olympics in recognition of his part in helping securing the Games.

“The London 2012 Olympics will provide a unique shop window for the sport where we are hopeful that our boxers will do well and we want to ensure the ABAE is set-up to maximise the opportunities that will come from this in terms of attracting new people to the sport,” he added.

Caborn will replace outgoing chairman Keith Walters who will in turn assume the position of president of the ABAE.

ESPN3, herbal |  an online streaming service provided by ESPN Inc., health have announced they have struck a sub-license deal with Zee TV to provide exclusive live coverage of the West Indies tri-series in the US.

The agreement, which includes additional series from the Pakistan and Sri Lanka cricket boards, will give fans in the US access to the matches through the end of the year. Featured opponents in the tests, ODIs and T20s include India, South Africa and New Zealand.

“ESPN3 is proving itself to be a leading destination for live coverage of major cricket events in the US, and following the ICC Champions Trophy with the tri-series in the Caribbean continues on our mission to serve fans with access to the second most popular international sport,” said ESPN vice president of programming and acquisitions John Lasker. “We look forward to delivering these events across multiple platforms to veteran fans while also introducing this dynamic sport to new audiences.”

“We are very delighted to work with ESPN3 to distribute our cricket content,” added Asia TV USA GM Sameer Targe. “It is time south Asian programmers think outside the box to deliver their content that might otherwise not be seen on television across digital platforms to best serve sports fans.”

CCTV-IMG, a joint venture between CCTV, China’s state television network, and IMG Worldwide, has entered into a comprehensive, strategic, 10-year partnership with the Chinese Football Association Super League (CSL). 

CCTV-IMG and the CSL will work jointly to bring global best practices to capitalize on the enormous popularity of football in China. This includes developing the CSL, helping improve management of Chinese football clubs, advising on development of world-class training programs for young and future players, and bringing of corporate sponsors for CSL events. The CSL has continued to grow with the national telecasts on CCTV of nearly 70 matches this year as well as the continuing arrival of some the world’s top footballers and managers. 

As a result of this agreement, IMG is back in China’s professional football market after a ten-year hiatus. Through this new strategic partnership, CCTV-IMG will immediately launch a broad based marketing effort to bring new corporate partners to the CSL, including the title sponsorship of the league from 2014. CCTV-IMG will also create training programs for league and club management, interface with top international football entities, develop special football events and establish a high level global football forum in China. 

Michael Dolan, Chairman and CEO of IMG Worldwide, Mr. Wei Di, Head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Mr. Jiang Heping, Managing Director of CCTV Sports and Chairman of CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company, Mr. Zhu Qilin, Acting President of CSL, Mr. Adam Zhu, President and CEO of IMG China, and other guests attended the signing ceremony in Beijing. 

Before the signing, Chairman Wei said, “It is mutually beneficial and synergistic for CCTV-IMG and CSL to form this strategic partnership at this historic time in Chinese football. I am especially pleased that IMG is returning to Chinese football after a 10-year interval, and the Chinese Football Association (CFA) is happy to support this partnership to develop the CSL into a world-class league. I look forward to working with our partner to build Chinese professional football together.” 

“We believe this partnership can be very powerful,” said Michael Dolan of IMG. “As IMG is involved in all sports around the world, we know that football has become the one true international sport. Judging from the success of Chinese sports team in the Olympic Games, we believe that working together we can also develop world-class Chinese footballers and teams,” the IMG Chair continued. “CCTV-IMG and the CSL, combined with the reforms implemented by Chairman Wei, truly sets the table for international development of football in China. I pledge that all of IMG’s worldwide expertise and resources will be available to support this strategic initiative.” 

Mr. Jiang Heping, Managing Director, CCTV Sports and Chairman, CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company said “For CCTV, especially CCTV Sports, CSL is a valuable partner that provides important broadcasting content. CCTV is committed to our role in developing CSL in the long run, and CCTV Sports will invest more resources to support the CSL in the future. We view IMG’s return to football in China as a show of confidence in the CSL and the Chinese football market. Today is a new beginning; I wish our partnership great success.” 

Mr. Zhu Qilin, Acting President, CSL Co. Ltd added, “Twenty years ago IMG worked with CFA to start the first professional football league in China and achieved tremendous success. Today, at a time when the CSL is about to turn 10 and when Chinese football needs help and support most, IMG is coming back. We hope that through this strategic partnership with CCTV-IMG we will be able to secure CCTV’s continued support and leverage IMG’s expertise and resources in marketing and event execution. We believe that this partnership will be a very productive and successful one.” 

Yu Hongchen, Vice Chairman of CFA and Chairman of the CSL stated after the signing, “Chinese professional football, which was started with the tremendous support from IMG twenty years ago, has achieved great success and also experienced substantial challenges. Now our partnership with IMG is entering a new era. At a time when the CSL is coming into its tenth season, CCTV-IMG has now become our strategic partner. We look forward to working with our old friend and new partner to build a prosperous future for the Chinese football.” 

Adam Zhu, President and CEO of IMG China said, “The Chinese people take football very seriously, especially in the current situation. It’s a matter of patriotism and pride. Hence the urgency to build Chinese football to world-class standards. IMG and CCTV value this unique opportunity to partner with the CSL. It’s beyond business.”