By Christian Radnedge in Rio

Paris’ bid to host the 2024 Games will stick closely to their projected budget of 3 billion Euros, co-chairman Tony Estanguet told ISportconnect in Rio on Friday.

After a joint press conference in the Barra Olympic Park alongside France president Francois Hollande and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, Estanguet spoke about learning lessons from previous bid budgets that have inflated when it comes to Games time.

For example the London 2012 budget at the time of the bidding phase was around £2bn – but that rose to more than £9bn once the Games started four years ago.

But Paris, bidding to host its third Games, would not stray far from its promised figure Estanguet said.

“It’s true, you’re right in saying that every time it’s the same story with the bids and their budget increases,” he said. “On our side, what is very strong is that we have 95 per cent of existing venues. We have public transport, we have all the hotels because we have 140,000 rooms in hotels so we have a big margin in terms of hotels.

“So I don’t see how we could go from 3bn to four or five because we have only the Olympic village to be built and the aquatics centres and except those two we have everything. So we took 3bn for those two and we took a margin because we know there might be challenges. But also we want to be transparent, we want to change the way of bidding like president Hollande said earlier, it’s not just our fourth bid it’s a different bid.

“We tried to start from scratch to have a new strategy. In our budget also we took people from outside to evaluate really deeply the cost. So I feel we are quite strong on our figure.”

Questions from reporters to president Hollande focused on security and safety in light of the recent spate of terror attacks that have occurred in France, and the shootings that happened in Paris itself last year.

Asked whether he could assure the international community that France would be a safe host for the Games, Hollande said: “Every candidate city faces the question of terrorism. No country is immune.

“Indeed the threat is there, but our country is ready to face up to it. And who knows what the world will look like in 2024?”

The president also listed the amount of sporting events France has hosted this year, all without incidents. “We hosted a very successful Euro 2016,” he said. “During the Euro Cup we had not one single [terrorist] incident.”

The race to be chosen as host for the 2024 Games by the International Olympic Committee in Lima next year is a hotly contested one with Budspest, Los Angeles and Rome also bidding.

The fact though that Hollande took time out from a tense time in Europe to fly the flag for Paris 2024 in Rio shows the level of commitment he personally invests in the bid.

Estanguet assured ISportconnect that the vast majority of the public of France and Paris were behind the bid as well, saying that levels of support had not dropped beneath the “70 per cent” level that was present when Paris launched its bid in 2015.

“It’s quite surprising for us that we have the same level of support since we began the bid and it’s higher than in previous bids,” Estanguet said. “Right now it is around 70 per cent and for us it’s a very good figure. Even after the attacks we maintained this level.

“It will be interesting to have a poll after the Games in Rio to see how they have had an impact on people in France. Maybe they will make a link between our bid and what they watched at Rio 2016.”

It appears that French businesses are on board too as airport authority manager Groupe ADP signed on as the latest Paris 2024 sponsor last week. It follows the announcement in June that Air France had joined as an official supplier with 10,000 planes set to fly around the world bearing the Paris 2024 logo.

Estanguet said that businesses in Francs were “very excited” about the international opportunities that could be afforded them if Paris was chosen as the host of the Games.

The winning city will be chosen at the IOC session in Lima, Peru in September of next year.

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino committed “no violation of the FIFA Code of Ethics” following the investigation from the independent Ethics Committee.

FIFA this afternoon, dosage ed released a statement in which it was stated that Infantino was “pleased” with the outcome and that the administration will “continue to focus on developing football as well as their efforts to improve the organisation.”

They also stated that “Tangible progress has been made in key areas such as ensuring that those who have acted against the interests of football are identified and held to account, price improving FIFA’s governance and repairing its reputation, and restoring trust with its stakeholders.”

There was no official reason given for what the potential violation of the FCE was, but it comes as a relief for FIFA following the recent banning of  FIFA council member Wolfgang Niersbach from football activity.

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The RFU and Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) have agreed a new partnership for the next eight years until July 202.

The agreement for club and country will see Premiership clubs benefit from the successful financial performance of England Rugby for the first time, as PRL and the RFU have agreed an appropriate share of rugby revenues as a basis for the investment over the life of the deal.

This will enable both the RFU and the clubs to continue to grow together on and off the pitch, and to ensure all parties work together to make the domestic game and England international teams stronger in the future.

The partnership is worth over £200 million, with the first four-year payment fixed at £112 million. The second four-year payment could potentially be higher than £112 million subject to financial performance under the rugby revenue share partnership approach. The funding model for the clubs is based on the English Qualified Player (EQP) threshold being met, the Elite Player Squads (EPS) and standards for club academies being achieved.

The Professional Game Agreement will see the England Elite Player Squad (EPS) increase from 33 to 45 players and greater flexibility during core international periods so 36 players can be selected for the camp instead of 33. The England Head Coach will now also be able to make the final selection of 45 squad members in the first week of October. A reduced number of 20 players will be selected as part of a Next EPS squad for training camps and possible Saxon fixtures.

Ian Ritchie, RFU Chief Executive said: “This is a true partnership focussed on making English rugby the best in the world for club and country. A strong partnership between the RFU and the PRL  is critical if we are to grow professional rugby across the country for the benefit of the players, fans and the game.

“Player welfare, as ever, is a priority for us all, and so further rest periods have been built into the season. The RFU is focussed on investing in Premiership clubs, to ensure they are sustainable, thriving businesses, which will develop players for the national game.

“We look forward to working with Premiership Rugby over the next eight years to promote and support rugby in England.”

Mark McCafferty Premiership Rugby Chief Executive Officer said: “Success for England and the clubs depends on an effective partnership between the RFU and Premiership Rugby on many levels.

“We’ve seen that emerge from the last few years of the previous agreement and this new one is capable of setting the platform for a period of sustained success for both club and country, as we look to build on the strong finish to last season.

“The next year will also be very important in working together to secure the necessary improvements to the global season structure.”

Twitter launches @TwitterGaming

Last Thursday, sale Twitter launched @TwitterGaming, a hub for games, gamers and eSports. The account is expected to be a place where users can easily discover and join vibrant conversations about gaming.

Within 48 hours of the account being set up, it had over 95,000 followers. The global phenomenon of eSports just keeps growing!

Periscope broadcasts are now live on Twitter

Twitter announced last Tuesday that it would be “making it easier to see what’s happening by bringing Periscope broadcasts – both live and replays – directly into Tweets”.

The footage is still only available to view for 24-hours. This gives Periscope broadcasters the opportunity for their content to be seen by a massive new audience.

Goldman Sachs predict massive growth for VR over the next 10 years

In an analyst note published last Wednesday, Goldman Sachs predicted that virtual reality (VR) will drive more revenue than the TV market by 2025.

They estimate that advances in battery and cellular technologies will enable the current wires and accompanying computers to be ditched, making the devices more mobile.

The financial services company believes VR will generate $110bn by 2025 compared to TV’s $99bn.

Snapchat launches first official Story dedicated to Premier League Game

Last Tuesday, Snapchat launched its first ever Story officially dedicated to the Premier League in the match between Newcastle United and Manchester United at St James’ Park.

For 24 hours, all Snapchat users were able to watch a collection of photos and videos from other Snapchatters who were taking Snaps at the game.

This is another development underlining Snapchat’s enormous potential in the world of sport.

Twitter introduces ‘conversational ads’

Last Tuesday, Twitter allowed advertisers to drive more earned media and brand influence with new ‘conversational ads’.

This form of adverts, exclusive to Twitter, makes it even easier for consumers to engage with a brand and spread their campaign message and it is a powerful way for advertisers to build their reach on Twitter.

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has confirmed that Mary Pierce and Mark Woodforde have been appointed by the ITF Board to four-year terms as athlete members of the ITF Board of Directors.

Pierce and Woodforde will join the other 13 Board members alongside President David Haggerty.

Read more HERE. 

By Christian Radnedge

Commonwealth Games England ceo Paul Blanchard admits it is all about “changing perceptions” when it comes to securing partnerships for the federation.

Blanchard, therapy who was appointed to his role in June of this year, therapy was speaking to iSportconnect about the challenges of acquiring deals for Team England this far out from the next Games.

Following last year’s event in Glasgow, buy the next Commonwealth Games are due to take place in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018.

But the hard work starts now for Blanchard who has been brought in to drive up revenue for the team.

“It’s interesting, the perception is that most brands will say ‘OK the Games is in 2018, talk to me nearer the time’. There is a perception that the focus is on that,” Blanchard told iSportconnect.

“Which is completely understandable and to a degree there’s a strong element of that and we will drive a significant amount of commercial revenue in the last 12 months when the focus is at its height.

“What we’ve got to do is change perceptions and say no, actually the fact is we don’t just disappear for three and a half years and pop up six months before a Games to prepare. We’re here working with sports, we’re here developing coaching programmes, we’re here looking at how we can promote Team England and the Commonwealth ideals so there’s a number of ideas where actually we are relevant here.

“If your brand is associated with us there is value in three years out, two years out, one year out and there’s a lot of activity that can be done within that and then it obviously builds to a crescendo at Games time.”

Blanchard, whose experience includes commercial stints in cricket, football and rugby league admitted that it was not straightforward and “a less obvious sell than Premier League football for instance”.

However, the Englishman did reveal that discussions were already happening with a number of interested parties.

Blanchard said: “Our commercial programme is in better shape than it’s ever been, but we’ve got a hell of a long way to go and we’re out there talking to a whole number of brands and organisations and agencies and we are having to the conversation with a lot of brands does start from ground zero, their perception is you pop up for a couple of weeks in April 2018.

“So you have to walk brands through what we stand for, what we’re trying to achieve and what the programme looks over the next four years and how that might link with what they’re trying to achieve.”

Some of the partners Blanchard said Commonwealth Games England were working with include law firm Shakespeare Martineau, STA Travel, National Express and Grange Hotels, who also partner with iSportconnect.

Read the full interview with Paul Blanchard here.

Qatar hope to make a decision on the number of stadiums it will use for the 2022 World Cup by the end of the year, click according to a spokesman for the organising committee.

Full story HERE.