21st Century Fox in Bid Approach for Sky

US media giant 21st Century Fox has made a takeover approach for Sky that values the company at £18.5bn.

21st Century Fox, order which is owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, already owns 39.1% of the British broadcaster, and has made an offer to purchase the remaining 60.1% for around £11.25bn.

Sky have confirmed the companies have reached agreement on an offer price of £10.75 a share, but added that negotiations continue regarding the terms of the deal.

In the wake of the British referendum result on June 23 which indicated a majority supported Britain leaving the European Union, the Pound Sterling has dropped 16% against the US Dollar, making investment in British companies more financially viable for foreign companies.

Fox Chief Executive James Murdoch, son of owner Rupert, was named Chairman of Sky earlier this year.

Eurosport agrees drone racing distribution deal

Eurosport have announced a partnership with DR1 Racing, the international drone racing series, to distribute content for broadcast in 70 countries across Europe and Asia-Pacific.  

The first episode of the DR1 Invitational from Los Angeles will air on Eurosport 1 on Tuesday, 8 November at 11pm CET.  

Drone racing, which sees competitors navigate remote control aircraft through complex obstacle courses as quickly as possible, will provide further support to Eurosport’s innovative strategy of showcasing contemporary content, and its ongoing efforts to engage a broad demographic of fans through a combination of the most exhilarating sports on all platforms.

Eurosport will televise three additional racing series next year, including the DR1 Champions Series set for debut across iconic global cities in 2017, and the DR1 Micro Series. Eurosport.com will also host Micro Events and additional video content featuring extra footage, outtakes and interviews with some of the most talented and daring drone racers in the world.

Eurosport CEO Peter Hutton said: “Eurosport is constantly looking to innovate and we believe new technology, be it Virtual Reality content in our coverage or innovations within emerging sports, is a great driver of engaging fans in sport.  It has been fascinating to see the continued growth in popularity of eSports and the way DR1 combines this with the more traditional nature of sporting competition is an exciting model.

“We are looking forward to working with DR1 and offering fans the chance to follow the twists and turns of this exciting news sport on all Eurosport’s platforms.”

Brad Foxhoven, Founder of DR1 Racing, said, “We are thrilled to be bringing this exciting sport that combines Formula 1, NASCAR and eSports to an audience as broad as Eurosport’s.

“Eurosport showed a genuine appetite to not only broadcast drone racing through its linear broadcast channels but also play an important part in growing the sport via its social and digital platforms too. The growth opportunities of drone racing, both from a high performance and an innovation standpoint, are endless.”

RSM and European Tour team up to improve performance

RSM, an audit, tax and consulting firm, and the European Tour are collaborating on a new player performance study designed to help golfers at all levels improve their performance.

The new academic study, launched at the British Masters, will be led by Dr Matt Bridge from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham.

It will explore a number of factors with the potential to affect golf performance, including:

  • ·         Time spent at address – is there an optimal amount of time to spend over the ball?
  • ·         Player behaviour – number of looks at target, increased practice swings, negative reactions, etc.
  • ·         Patterns of the time spent on the practice ground and players’ pre-round routines

David Gwilliam, Chief Operating Officer at RSM said: ‘This study promises to provide a fascinating insight into the factors that can affect golf performance. While RSM’s expertise lies in helping our clients improve their business performance, we hope that by supporting this study we can help golfers of all abilities to improve their game.’

Keith Pelley, CEO of the European Tour said: ‘We are always looking at ways to better understand the numerous factors which contribute to player performance. This study, in conjunction with RSM, will provide vital insights which will help inform our future decisions and we look forward to receiving the findings next year.’

The study results will be released after the conclusion of the 2017 golf season.

Big Leagues Turn To SAP Analytics

Fans want to know more about the sports they follow and iSportconnect partner SAP is supplying many top rights-owners with the tools they need to deliver richer content and enhance fan engagement.

The NFL is using big data and analytics from SAP for fantasy football to provide recommendations to fans with a player comparison tool. 

SAP sees its SAP Cloud for Analytics solution powering the analytics applications of the future. However, that doesn’t mean the company will take its eye off the ball when it comes to on-premise analytics solutions. SAP will continue to invest in its existing on-premise portfolio as its builds the future for sports-focused software.

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SAP also has a multi-year North American partnership with the NHL, which will give fans, broadcasters and media the ability to analyze official team and player stats. SAP’s real-time data solution includes advanced visualizations that will tell stories to engage fans and deepen their understanding of the sport.

SAP led the NHL through a series of design thinking workshops to overhaul its statistics solution on NHL.com, leading to the transformation of the existing static and limited stats page into a much more comprehensive, interactive and personalized experience.

The NBA uses the SAP HANA platform to handle the many thousands of fans who interact concurrently with the unprecedented statistical experience on NBA.com. 

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Thanks to SAP, in a first for any league, the NBA is now able to offer fans direct access to the league’s entire history and its entire database of situational stats – more than 4.5 quadrillion combinations of statistics!

SAP and City Football Group, parent company of Manchester City and teams in New York, Melbourne and Yokohama, also have a global, multi-year partnership that will deliver data analytics to every level of CFG and its international football clubs, from business operations to fan engagement to player and team performance.

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Tokyo elects new governor to oversee 2020 Olympics

Yuriko Koike will oversee Tokyo’s hosting of the 2020 Olympic Games after she was elected as Tokyo’s first ever female governor.

The 64-year-old replaces Yoichi Masuzoe as Governor of Tokyo. Masuzoe resigned in June following allegations that he had used political funds for personal purposes.

Koike is expected to visit Rio to see how the Games are staged this summer.

The election was overshadowed by anger over the rising cost of hosting the Games. Organising committee president Yoshiro Mori last week said that the cost of developing seven temporary venues for the Games has risen to an estimated $2.6 billion, order up from an initial forecast of $690 million.

Work on the new national stadium, clinic which will serve as the centrepiece of the Games, has also fallen behind schedule after its initial design was scrapped, while Tokyo 2020 was also forced to commission a new logo after its original was at the centre of a plagiarism scandal.

European and Asian Tour announce strategic alliance

The Asian Tour and European Tour have announced a ‘Strategic Alliance’ which officially ratifies the relationship between the two Tours.

The alliance follows on from a detailed period of negotiations between the two organisations, sick which began last August, pharm and whose joint vision laid the groundwork for the announcement.

The formalisation of the partnership will see the two Tours now work together to develop professional golf in Asia from a new joint office in Singapore.

The Tours will retain their own separate identity in terms of brand and logo, and will still be managed by their own individual Boards.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “Following successful discussions over the past year to develop our joint vision, we are delighted to announce this ‘Strategic Alliance’ which we believe will be of immense benefit to both organisations.

“We have enjoyed a very strong and prosperous relationship with the Asian Tour over the past 17 years, and this formalises that partnership, representing an exciting new era in our association.”

Kyi Hla Han, Commissioner of the Asian Tour, said: “The Asian Tour is delighted to formalise our ‘Strategic Alliance’ with the European Tour. This is a very positive step forward in our desire to further grow professional golf in Asia and around the world and we believe it will also greatly enhance the careers of our membership, who have embraced this exciting development.

“We are also confident a greater collaboration between the Asian Tour and European Tour will deliver a stronger product to our partners and appeal to new sponsors to get involved with the game. The future looks very exciting for the Asian Tour and European Tour.”


Sir Hugh Robertson and Adidas’ Lee Gibbons added to Directors’ Club – Olympic Special Edition

iSportconnect, the world’s largest private network for sport business professionals, is pleased to announce Lee Gibbons, Director of Sports Marketing, Adidas and Sir Hugh Robertson, former Minister of Sport, as panelists for our Directors Club – Olympics Special Edition in partnership with the British Olympic Association.

The event will take place at the BOA’s offices in London on the 11th July – less than a month before the start of the Rio 2016 Games.

Gibbons and Robertson will be joined as panelists on the day by:

–       Sir Keith Mills, Former Deputy Chairman of London Organising Committee of Olympic Games (LOGOC)

–       Dame Tessa Jowell, Former Olympic Minister (London 2012)

–       David Sparkes, General Secretary of European Swimming (LEN)

–       Bill Sweeney, CEO of the BOA.

This will be the third Directors’ Club of the year after a successful London Directors’ Club in March and the Paris Directors’ Club which takes place on 7th July.

Sir Hugh Robertson was the Minister for the Olympics where he oversaw the day to day preparations and delivery of The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games including all aspects of the budget, construction, operational management and legacy.

He was also the Minister for Sport during an unprecedented period of GB sporting success, including the medal haul at London 2012 and securing the most ambitious ever program of major sports events.

Earlier in his Parliamentary career, he was a Conservative Whip from 2002-2004 and Shadow Sports and Olympics Minister from 2004-2010 thus becoming, alongside Dame Tessa Jowell, one of the two UK politicians who saw London 2012 through from bid to delivery. 

Lee Gibbons has worked on every Olympic Games since Torino 2006. Initially as part of the IMG Consulting Olympic Division, Lee worked with TOP sponsors such as Johnson & Johnson and GE across their EMEA regions supporting markets in the activation their Olympic rights to drive brand and business objectives. This included in-market campaigns and also on the ground activation during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

In 2009, Lee joined adidas as Head of Event Operations for the London 2012 Olympic Games, where he managed the main LOCOG relationship along with key operational projects; Games Time Venues, Hospitality, Ticketing, Global/Local Business Alignment, Brand Protection, Crisis Planning etc.

In 2013, Lee became the Senior Director Sports Marketing for the adidas business in the UK and Ireland. The adidas portfolio includes long-term relationships with the British Olympic & Paralympic Associations.

iSportconnect Chairman Michael Cunnah: “We’re delighted to announce Sir Hugh and Lee as panelists for our very special Directors’ Club, as they will both be able to give great insight into preparation for an Olympic Games. I’m sure our delegates are looking forward to hearing from them with our event less than a month before Rio.”

iSportconnect Directors’ Club events are a gathering of exclusively invited director level delegates, partaking in a BBC Question Time-style discussion with a panel of well-established executives from the sports business industry.

Followed by networking, the discussion is held without the press and follows the Chatham House Rule, allowing for an open and free flowing debate.

Each Directors’ Club event offers an unrivaled opportunity to meet with some of the most influential people in international sport & sponsorship. These events are a testament to the “think global, act local” approach to doing business.

Invitation Policy: iSportconnect Directors’ Club is an invitation-only event open exclusively for chief executives, chairmen and director level executives from governing bodies, sports teams and sponsorship brands.

To register your interest in attending the Directors’ Club – Olympic Special Edition, please contact calum@isportconnect.com

Visit the official iSportconnect Directors’ Club website: http://www.directorsclub.biz/

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European Olympic Table Tennis Qualification moved from Turkey

The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) has decided to move the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) – European Olympic Qualification Tournament from Istanbul in Turkey to Halmstaf in Sweden.

The ITTF have said this is in light of the recent attacks in Turkey.

The qualification was due to take place from the 6th-10th April 2016 but will take place from the 12th-16th April instead.

ETTU President, arthritis Mr. Ronald KRAMER said: “It is with great reluctance that the ETTU Executive Board – in full cooperation with the ITTF – had to take this action.

“But under the current circumstances in Istanbul, doctor many of the European member associations, players, coaches and others have informed us of their great concern in this period of time to travel to Istanbul.”

“ETTU understands these concerns and also holds the opinion that from a human point of view it may even be unfair to ask our Turkish colleagues to continue preparing the event.”

 

Rugby League World Cup Bid Receives UK Government Support

The RFL have welcomed the support of the UK government as they bid to host the 2021 World Cup.

The decision by the Government to support a bid, usa cialis follows a successful 2015 international series.

The last time the tournament took place across the whole of the UK was in 2000, although Wales and England hosted the 2013 edition of the tournament.

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood, said: ‘We are pleased that the Chancellor has once again confirmed that the Government will support a bid to bring the 2021 Rugby League World Cup to the UK.

“We look forward to understanding in more detail how the Government will support a bid and will work closely with the Treasury, DCMS and UK Sport in the coming months to try and ensure that any bid we do prepare has the best chance of success.”