Hello and welcome to this week’s Digital Café Blog. In this edition we’re going to take a look at the Twitter fall-out from a major Premier League upset, how the internet of everything is now coming to stadia and how soccer is dominating the six-second Vine experience.

Wearable Technology: Your Band

We begin with a Premier League club’s first foray into the internet of everything. The internet of everything? Well it’s when technology and hardware uses the internet to – in theory – make our lives easier. The most obvious recent example in has been wearables like the Google Glass or Apple watch. Well Southampton FC has taken this on board and partnered up with Barclaycard to produce the bPay band as a cash-less way for fans to pay for anything costing under £20 within St Mary’s stadium. Of course, the Southampton connection is just one outlet where these can be used, there are 300,000 terminals across the UK where these operate including Starbucks and McDonald’s. And while Southampton has always been one of the more progressive clubs in terms of digital innovation, the adoption of the bPay may arguably be more beneficial to the club in terms of generating headlines and marketing data than the fans themselves. Although, to be fair fans using the band will be able to use dedicated ‘contactless bPay lanes’ on match day to beat the hot dog queues inside the stadium.

Twitter Trouble: Not So United

Manchester United’s defeat at the hands of Leicester City at the weekend had a lot of fall-out both for United’s new manager and on social media as well. It seems the Foxes faithful weren’t the only ones to enjoy the 5-3 victory. BBC commentator Gary Lineker and former Manchester City striker Mario Ballotelli both took to Twitter to express their surprise (Lineker) and their pleasure (Ballotelli) at the result. Both found themselves in the news, Lineker because he used language not safe for work, which annoyed several UK newspaper journalists (it really isn’t becoming of a man from the BBC) and Ballotelli became the target of racist abuse. The latter is unforgiveable, and is now a criminal matter. The Lineker saga was swiftly resolved, and, as the former Leicester City player said if he can’t swear when Leicester come from two goals down to beat Man United 5-3, then he never can.

Vine Countdown: Liverpool’s Loops

 

One marketing website has been charting the Vines of the week and six of the top ten have been sports-related. The Drum’s Brand Vine Chart highlights which Vines create by global brands have seen the largest shift in loops, or plays each week. Top of the charts this week was one of sports top social media performers Liverpool Football Club. The English Premier League side Liverpool had an increase of more than 54% to 3,359,858 loops, after it released its most recent Vine which shifted between each of its player profile pictures. This beat US racing series Nascar into second place, following an increase of 42.56 per cent with 108,104,299 loops. Also in the top ten were Manchester City, the NBA, Lakers and ESPN.

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Having spent eight seasons in Formula One managing the digital channels for world champions Red Bull Racing, David Granger now runs Fact 51, a social and digital content agency.

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Yorkshire’s hosting of the opening stage of the Tour de France has proved to be popular on television, overnight buy as well as with attendees, ampoule as British Eurosport reported a 60% increase in its average live audience in the UK compared to the 2013 opening weekend.

The 2014 Tour de France saw millions of people line the streets in Yorkshire and London to welcome the opening stages of the race, asthma after the 2013 event departed from Corsica.

Eurosport broadcasted a total of 10 live hours during the opening stages which saw victories for Marcel Kittel and Vincenzo Nibali.

The pan-European broadcaster is celebrating its 25^th consecutive Tour de France this year, with a record 350 hours of coverage across Eurosport and Eurosport 2.

Their broadcast will be beamed across 54 countries with 90 hours coming live.

Ten of the 21 stages will be broadcast in full, and all of them will be live.

Ever wondered what the World Cup is worth? When Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga designed the current trophy in 1971, it was worth US$50,000. Now the trophy is estimated to be worth US$10m. The World Cup is, however, worth much more than two human figures cast in 18 carat gold.

The way nations battle to put on the tournament implies there is considerable worth to a country in hosting football’s biggest competition. Commonly used estimates indicated the past three World Cups would generate a positive economic impact of US$9 billion (Japan and South Korea in 2002); US$12 billion (Germany in 2006) and US$5 billion (South Africa in 2010).

For this year’s tournament in Brazil, various forecasters have identified the positive economic impact could range from US$3 billion to US$14 billion.

(Source: Reuters)

Positive reports suggest the tournament would add nearly US$30 billion to Brazil’s GDP between 2010 and 2014, generating 3.63m jobs per year and raising an additional US$8 billion in tax revenues. FIFA’s showcase event may draw an additional 3.7m tourists the country, each of whom will spend an average of US$2,488.

A “feel good” factor associated with the World Cup can have positive effects too, and research backs this up. Prior to the 2006 World Cup 70% of British men and 62% of women said the tournament would have an impact on their working lives. In turn, 62% of men and 52% of women suggested that if their national team did well, it would boost their morale. Away from work, the British retail sector has typically experienced a US$2 billion sales boost as people have bought beer, pizzas, barbecue equipment, televisions and so forth.

There is also value in the World Cup for FIFA – it is the principle revenue earner for football’s world governing body. Over the four-year period up to the 2002 tournament, FIFA reported a “positive result” (note: FIFA reports do not refer to “profit”) of US$129m. At the end of the next four year period in to 2006, this figure had risen to US$339 million. By 2010, FIFA’s “positive result” had almost doubled to a massive US$705 million.

While many will question the ethics and morality of such revenue growth, FIFA would no doubt counter by emphasising that in 2013, the organisation spent US$183m on development projects. Mention would no doubt be made too that this year’s World Cup winners will earn US$35m from a victory in the final.

FIFA’s official commercial partners should be happy as well. In the run-up to the last tournament in South Africa, Adidas sold 6m football shirts, up from 3m during Germany 2006. Similarly, Visa’s 2010 World Cup YouTube channel was viewed 7.5m times, 50% more than it was expecting.

In short, there is a seductive argument that says: “the World Cup is worth a lot”.

But…

Still, there is significant evidence that could lead one to question this rosy assessment. The positive impact estimates quoted above are generally produced by governments or their hired consultants, all with a vested interest in delivering good news. After all, no politician hires economists to tell them a tournament will be a waste of money.

So while optimistic forecasters look forward to the predicted US$3 billion+ economic bounce in Brazil, critics point out that hosting the tournament is actually costing the country US$11.5 billion. The estimated cost of stadiums, for instance, has tripled to $3.68 billion.

(Source: Reuters)

There are also indirect economic and social costs. Since last November, an average of one construction worker a month has died while working on World Cup related construction projects. This is not just Brazil’s problem either; in Qatar figures show one worker per daydies working on projects relating to the 2022 tournament.

During the Federations Cup in Brazil last summer, a World Cup warm-up tournament, there were massive and frequent protests across the country as people challenged anything from corruption to tax breaks given to FIFA to increased bus fares. Such protests add further costs to the budget; indeed, the Brazilian government is now believed to be spending around US$855m to beef up national security.

This comes on top of significant existing expenditure on a favela clearance programme – Operation Pacification – that has resulted in countless gang leaders, drug barons and other criminals being killed. But in spite of rising security expenditure, crime in Brazil continues to rise. For example, in January this year there were 420 reported muggings on Rio de Janeiro buses, compared to 195 cases in the same month last year.

Legendary footballer turned politician Romario (pictured above) has become a prominent critic, arguing the costly tournament is “crippling” the country. Whether they be favela dwellers, bus passengers or World Cup winning strikers, it is clear many Brazilians think the tournament is simply not worth it.

Many of us tend to conveniently forget such matters when the World Cup starts and everyone celebrates the football feast ahead. Yet the problems do not necessarily stop; commentators are expecting trouble in Brazil, with FIFA events having already been attacked in the run-up to the tournament.

Civil unrest, crime and the costs they impose are only one concern. Evidence from previous global sporting mega events indicates that they crowd out other tourists from host nations. In other words, tournaments like the World Cup can be a zero-sum game: fans will come, but other tourists are put off travelling and won’t visit. Consider South Africa: 309,000 visitorsentered the country during the 2010 World Cup; the monthly average for rest of the year was closer to 620,000 entrants. One university allocated 92,000 “bed-nights” worth of rooms to the World Cup. Just prior to the event, FIFA’s booking agency returned 91,000 nights unused.

Another negative effect of the World Cup extends far beyond the host nation. In Europe, many games will kick off late in the evening; in North America they fall in the middle of the working day; in Asia, the middle of the night. Watching football may be fun, but no boss wants to see half their workforce turn up late, tired or drunk. Research into the expected rate of work absence found the tournament may cost the UK economy £4 billion.

What’s the World Cup worth? Well, there’s no easy answer to the question and it depends who you ask. For the likes of FIFA, it is a cash cow and a commercial bonanza. A favela dweller in Rio could well see it as a waste of money, cash that should have been spent on housing, public transport and welfare programmes. As the tournament’s first ball is kicked, you might therefore reflect upon an alternative question: is the tournament worth it?

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Professor Simon Chadwick holds the position of Chair in Sport Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University Business School, where he is also the founder and Director of CIBS (Centre for the International Business of Sport). Simon is the founding Editor of ‘Sport, Business and Management: An International Journal’, is a former Editor of the ‘International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship’ (he continues to serve as an editorial board member for several other sport journals), and has authored and published more than 600 articles, conference papers and books on sport. His academic research has appeared in journals including Sloan Management Review, the Journal of Advertising Research, Thunderbird International Business Review, Management Decision, Marketing Review and Sport Marketing Quarterly. Simon has co-edited the books ‘The Business of Sport Management’ and ‘The Marketing of Sport’ (both Financial Times Prentice Hall), ‘Managing Football: An International Perspective’ (Elsevier), ‘Sport Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice’ (F.I.T.), and ‘International Cases in the Business of Sport’ (Routledge). Alongside his books, Chadwick has created a Sport Marketing talk series for Henry Stewart Publishing, is Editor of a Sport Marketing book series for Routledge (Taylor and Francis), and is a visiting academic at IESE and Instituto de Empresa in Spain; the University of Paris, France; the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi, and the University of Pretoria in South Africa.

Follow Simon on Twitter @Prof_Chadwick

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Nissan’s new deal with UEFA, worth around $75m p.a. places the carmaker in the big league of global sponsors.

The Japanese giant, which replaces Ford as a Champions League sponsor, clearly sees the opportunity to boost its profile in both Europe and Asia, where the big TV audiences for European football are to be found. Although it arguably represents a step-change in the sponsorship activities of Nissan, certainly in terms of rights fees, it is interesting to consider the cost-benefits. 

To receive the same level of exposure in such a range of countries could cost an average of around $2m to $10m per territory for major local rights. However, there would be additional costs in creating a huge range of local activation collateral and in setting up sponsorship teams and employing agencies to manage and monitor such rights. The Champions League could, therefore, be argued to be a good economy of scale as well as making a powerful brand statement.

The challenge for Nissan, however, will be two-fold. First, to replace Ford, which has held the rights for 21 years and is firmly established in minds of football fans, will not be easy. Past research has suggested that replacing well established incumbents is difficult. Ford had become part of the Champions League furniture and a significant proportion of fans will still associate the two for several years to come.

Second, Nissan needs to stand out from the crowd. The current Champions League sponsor roster has some very experienced players who know how to make a big impact with their activations.

In the shadow of Heineken’s Star Player?

Heineken in particular has succeeded through its Star Player app, which is seen as one of the most successful sports-related marketing programmes ever. Similarly, MasterCard, Adidas and Sony are all very creative sponsors with experience of operating globally. It is arguable that Gazprom and UniCredit have failed to create such a high profile association with the event, certainly on a wide international platform, so there is some room for Nissan to make an impact.

Player endorsements – easy but bigger strategy needed?

It will be interesting, therefore, to see how the company activates its new deal. The temptation may be to recruit brand ambassadors from among the current elite crop of European footballers. It would, of course, represent a quick and easy win, but these mega-sponsorships now demand a much clearer strategy with a strong overall theme. That is what has worked so well for Heineken and also for P&G’s Olympic partnership in which the ‘Mums’ campaign gained strong global traction.

Developing such concepts are, of course, easier said than done, but given that Nissan has presumably had months of planning this acquisition, it will be interesting to see if its activation team have been using that time to develop a ground-breaking concept.

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Simon Rines is editor in chief at specialist sponsorship publisher, IMR Publications whose titles include the International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship and Sponsorship Today. He is author of the best-selling report, Driving Business Through Sport and a regular presenter on the international sponsorship conference circuit.

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Italy and Trentino organized the 26th edition of the FISU Winter Universiade in 2013 last December.

It has been a great challenge, an opportunity to be seized in order to demonstrate that a small mountainous region can express unique potential . OC has shown to all participants and to the millions of people who have seen us on television and in Trentino you live , study and work with an excellent quality of life .

OC did not have time and resources to invest in promotion to attract large numbers of the public, but we focused on the preparation and the safety of facilities and the optimal management of sport organizations and then tried to highlight the excellence of the territory between the services to athletes ( healthcare, hospitality , food and wine , universities, technology) . All while remaining within the budget targets . This was the mandate of the members of the Committee, and in this direction we operated .

Athletes have found perfect conditions. In the venues, local committees have held events at the highest technical level with 78 medals awarded , and a preview for the Universiade which slope style , which came in the Olympic disciplines in Sochi. No competition was cancelled due to favourable weather conditions and good snow .

The ” uniqueness ” of the event due to the limited time available did not allow Trentino OC to manage the hospitality in an athletes village but in hotels (more than 100) in the 6 clusters of race.

The Universiade Trentino 2013 edition has tried to be innovative, enabling many projects with and for young people, through the University and the public administrations and private entities who have believed . It ‘ was a way to network and create the spirit of cultural exchange and active participation that is part of the moral legacy of the event. It ‘ was the genesis of the project with schools in Trentino that brought more than 2,000 children to see competition in the stadiums, and prepare projects and work through competitions and exhibitions . The Student Staff Project involved more than 200 of the best high school students to work in three strategic areas of the Committee: communication , info and credits .

We have launched a crowd funding platform, probably for the first time linked to a sporting event.

In the ten days of competition 1,300 articles have appeared worldwide with 300 million readers estimated only in Italy. TV shows have covered 70 countries with over 10 million viewers. The Universiade innovation and social media with a fantastic team that has achieved a series of incredible records as 1,495,039 people reached with the theme ” Universiade ” on Facebook, the 3,700,000 estimated audience on Twitter, like 3,644 received on Instagram, over 18,000 views on YouTube , and 1.341 million pages viewed on the official website www.universiadetrentino.org . Large numbers also for the 4 Mobile App on Your all 2013 Trentino able to intercept more than 1,000 users in a few days .

Trentino is already a major tourist destination in the world by number of overnight stays (30 million) and visitors ( 5 million) , and thanks to the Universiade has had a chance to introduce yourself to new markets and strengthen its reputation as the ideal place for sports winter . Achieved thanks to about 30,000 overnight stays during the Universiade .

“Inspired by you” was the motto of Trentino , 2013, together with the mascot Teagle and an innovative and creative concept of the Look of the Games have permission to distribute the images and spirit of the Trentino in many countries of the world.

The Universiade torch arrived in Trento at the opening ceremony, after traveling 7,000 kilometers across the various Italian universities and European cities of cultural and institutional framework for college sports. On November 6, in the Vatican City , Pope Francis has turned on the flashlight and kicked off the torch relay.

They can say ” I was there” 2,600 volunteers from different countries , who have helped to make a reality the Winter Universiade Trentino 2013. They were the true backbone of the event and worked tirelessly in many areas and sectors have helped to make 2013 a success Trentino . It ‘ was an amazing experience to see all these people of many different nationalities and from many areas of Trentino gathered for the Winter Universiade .

The Dolomites Trentino helped make 2013 a special edition of the Universiade , which will help to create a new world university sports Youth Movement , a movement that will , in the words of the President of FISU Claude-Louis Gallien, the real legacy of Winter Universiade.

We are aware that we have traced a new route for the big events to “human scale”. In Italy and Trentino, we have experienced what it means to organize a big event with few resources and short time. Unknowingly we built a new model. Attention to detail through organizational tools and precise control master plan on time and budget, creativity. The exploitation of the existing plant is a condicio sine qua non for addressing a global challenge like that of a global event.

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Filippo Bazzanella acted as the Secretary General for the Trentino 2013 Winter Universiade Games. He held the same position for the 2017 bid, which was eventually awarded to Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Filippo was born in 1974, and has a Degree in Economics, two masters in international sport management at the University of Lyon and with the IOC and the University of Lausanne.

He has been a lecturer at the School of Sport of Italian Olympic Committee in Rome, and since 2009 has been the creator and director of the sport project for the University of Trento: Unisport. Filippo also has the required license to be a football player’s agent.

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FIFA’s ‘big decision’ about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar at its executive committee in Zurich was ‘no decision’ — beyond a reiteration that it will be played in the Gulf.

The world football federation, struggling to control a desert storm over the timing of the finals plus the added complication of workers’ rights, is to launch a ‘consultation’ to study all the pros and cons of moving from summer to winter.

To that extent, president Sepp Blatter expressed satisfaction that FIFA was responding to the need to canvas leagues and clubs, sponsors and broadcasters and all the game’s other stakeholders worldwide.

He may be disappointed that the exco stalled his original rush to have the concept of a winter World Cup approved but, if that were the case, he did not show it.

The decision about moving the finals will not be made until at least the autumn of 2014 with a choice of precise time slot probably in 2015. This had been suggested as an appropriate deadline by the Qataris and was noted by Blatter after the exco as the last possible date for a decision.

Perhaps, most significantly, Blatter clearly hoped that the decision to kick the issue into the long consultative grass would also remove the debate from the headlines in the run-up to, and staging of, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Blatter, on his Twitter account, said: “The ExCo decided to launch a consultation process among main stakeholders for Qatar 2022 dates. No decision will be taken before 2014WC.”

Presidential election

How the issue will then play into the presidential election in 2015 is an intriguing factor. UEFA president Michel Platini, considered the favourite if Blatter retires, could find European votes draining away if, close to the election, he is cast in the role of date-change villain.

The new president of the Asian confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain, will provide ‘light supervision’ for a consultation run by secretary-general Jerome Valcke.

Sheikh Salman is a junior member of the exco, having joined only last May after he had been elected at the head of the AFC and as one of its FIFA exco delegates.

Intriguingly he was supported powerfully by Asian Olympic leader Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah – who also played a key role in the recent accession of Germany’s Thomas Bach as new president of the International Olympic Committee.

This suggests that the task force may be steered well clear of the suggestion of Platini that the World Cup should move to January 2022, because this could overlap with the Winter Olympic Games.

Platini, who has openly stated that he voted for Qatar, has promoted the need to switch since almost immediately after the exco voted for the Gulf state in December 2010. Only in the last few months has Blatter become a convert to the idea of shifting the 2022 World Cup away from the searing summer temperatures.

Qatar won World Cup host rights after a five-way dispute with Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States. Australia’s FFA president Frank Lowy has claimed that the losers should receive financial compensation if the 2o22 finals are moved to winter since they all bid for the traditional June/July slot.

The circumstances surrounding the simultaneous bidding for the 2018 and 2022 finals are subject of an investigation by FIFA’s ethics investigator/prosecutor Michael Garcia. He has indicated he wants to visit all the 11 original bid nations to discuss the campaigns and events surrounding it.

Blatter, asked about Garcia’s inquiries, insisted that the ethics commission was now entirely independent and he had no idea where Garcia was, what he was up to or where he might be planning to go.

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Keir Radnedge has been covering football worldwide for more than 40 years, writing 33 books, from tournament guides to comprehensive encyclopedias, aimed at all ages.

His journalism career included The Daily Mail for 20 years as well as The Guardian and other national newspapers and magazines in the UK and around the world. He is a former editor, and remains a lead columnist, with World Soccer, generally recognised as the premier English language magazine on global football.

In addition to his writing, Keir has been a regular analyst for BBC radio and television, Sky Sports, Sky News, Aljazeera and CNN.

Keir Radnedge’s Twitter: @KeirRadnedge

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The President of International Federation of Roller Sports (FIRS) believes that his sport is the favourite to land a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Roller Sports is one of eight sports on the short list to be included in the 2020 programme, health along with; Baseball / Softball, drug Karate, adiposity Sport Climbing, Squash, Wakeboarding, Wrestling and Wushu. Read more here >>

 

 

iSportconnectTV spoke exclusively to Jon Austin about Pentathlon GB and his hopes with the Olympic Games and the impact it can have.

Jon talks about the importance of Lottery funding and how it can be used towards the future of Pentathlon GB. There is also discussion about how the poor economic environment may have impacted on Pentathlon. We also ask Jon about how the image of modern pentathlon is perceived and how it can change for the better.

As Jon recently said in a statement, the Olympics for Pentathlon were a great success, especially with Samantha Murray’s silver medal. Jon also maintains praise for people behind the scenes and the hard work that has been put in over the years, something which he is keen to discuss within out interview.

We also take an intersting look at the ‘Whole sports plan’. To find out more click on the links below! 

Watch Part 1

Watch Part 2

Watch Part 3

The historic SPORTEL convention looks at close to 30 years of providing the most influential business meeting for the international sports marketing and broadcasting industry. With the headquarters in the Principality of Monaco, this unique annual meeting managed to unite the elite and still the world makes the effort to be at SPORTEL conventions every year. Exactly 20 years ago a new convention was born into the SPORTEL world, the spring convention SPORTELAmerica and soon after SPORTELAsia. The industry was in need of a meeting that was more territorial. The organization reacted, delivered and now 20 years later the SPORTEL Spring Conventions are an absolute necessity for the industry, building a bridge to better connect and build a future for sports.

 

With time comes change and the industry has seen new sports, federations and technologies that influence the industry. These influences and changes are often confusing and unsettling, as the speed of developments in the 21^st century is hard to keep up with. Especially with building business and a future for sports, it’s governing bodies and it’s events. In respect to these fast developments and the need to deal with the business essentials, the industry is once again in need of a platform to concentrate all aspects, take a step back to actually deal with industry issues.

 

Once again SPORTEL delivers the solution with its new addition of the “SPORTELSummit”!

 

The SUMMIT is an unprecedented two-day meeting designed only for an exclusive circle of international deciders of the sports marketing and media industry, which stands out in a world of conferences and will help shape the industry for tomorrow. True to the SPORTEL values it will showcase an illustrious selection of presenters and speakers and provide attendees a new understanding of current and future industry affairs. This summit will provide the luxury to really “Meet The Elite” in special networking sessions and build new business relations with real deciding partners.

 

Only at SPORTEL’S DECISION MAKERS SUMMIT you will have the privilege to witness industry leaders that stand out and shape the industry. Celebrities, Influencers, Federation Presidents and Politicians will present new projects and speak about their side of the business, which will later be elaborated in detailed discussion sessions. In its surroundings one will find the popular networking space with exclusive meeting spots to meet with other attendees at your level.

 

The very first Decision Maker’s Summit will be the SPORTELAmerica SUMMIT in May 2018, welcoming the world leaders in it’s American base Miami. The charm of business and Miami will complement the style and quality SPORTEL is famous for.