January 2007 Edition

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Beckham will be leaving Real Madrid to join US Western Standings team, "LA Galaxy" in a five year contract worth around US250 million.  Worth his weight in gold, even his portraits make a fortune.  In this case, a painting of Beckham by artist Sacha Jafri fetched US$250,000 for Beckham's football academy and the purchaser still remains a mystery.  Zidane may always be remembered for the headbutting of Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the final of the 2006 World Cup.   An attempt by two groups of French fans to investigate why he was then sent off resulted in an unsuccessful legal action and an order to pay the legal fees of both FIFA and the French Football Federation. The landmark venue Earls Court has been bought by Iranian born, Ardeshir Naghshineh.  His company, Targetfollow paid around US$800 million which included the acquisition of the exhibitions business which is on track to make a profit of around US$24miiion in the latest operating year.  Slated as one of the host venues for the London 2012 Olympics its future appears undecided.  With around seven Premier Football Clubs due to be under foreign ownership, many Everton fans will have heaved a sigh of relief as super, supermarket chain Tesco signed an exclusive agreement with the Club and the local government to build a 50,000 seater stadium. Dwain Chambers (see December 2006 issue) continues his path towards his new career in American Football as he survives the first round of trials to play for an NFL Europe club. The impact of the Olympics has few boundaries; as illustrated by the raft of new legislation introduced into the Greek educational sector as the government continues to infuse the economy, etc. with the 'spirit of excellence' displayed during the staging of the Athens Olympics.

spotlight on: the architects

All change once again as London 2012 struggle with the budget, while looking for new design talent capable of 'balancing the books'.  
Next up is Peter Cook. With a career lasting around 50 years and five buildings to his credit, Cook achieved recent success when he was nominated as a candidate for the prestigious Sterling Prize for Architecture. 

The building in question - the new Kunsthaus in Graz, Austria - celebrated Graz' year as the European City of Culture in 2003.  The building - known as "the friendly alien" stands out as a modern backdrop to the very classical architecture in the historic city - definitely a recommended destination for a weekend trip - however, the venue failed to achieve its primary purpose:  despite the very creative use of new materials, the 'fluid' design is not well suited to art exhibits. 
Cook will likely be reporting to the new London 2012 Olympic design guru, Ricky Burdett who does NOT design buildings.  Burdett is considered a 'doyen' in his advisory capacity as part of the selection of architects for new iconic buildings.  His track record includes Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge.  He is reputedly is a big fan of the city of Barcelona. 
Having worked closely with Richard Rogers - who has been somewhat critical of the 'design and management' process for new builds for the London Olympics - Burdett and his new team will have their work cut out as they inject new life into the 2012 projects.  But whether they stick to budget is another question......

hot spot:

hot shot: transferable assets?

The complex nature of big business and foreign ownership rears its head once again as it is all change at the Racing Post - the only remaining UK trade daily that covers the sport.   While online betting remains under the spotlight, perhaps the traditional newspaper is the latest 'safe haven' in the industry. 
The sale of the newspaper is encumbered by a complex history.  In 1998, Sheik Mohammed - ruler of Dubai - sold the license to publish the Racing Post to Mirror Group Newspapers for one pound, with a US$20 million forfeit payable in the event of closure.   Trinity Mirror then inherited the Racing Post's assets from Mirror Group Newspapers with the Sheik still retaining titular ownership. 
Two years ago the Racing Post showed a profit of over US$30 million and had a valuation of close to US$400 million.  Now the future of the paper and its assets - which include two weekly publications, a publishing house, and a 24/7 website - are potential candidates for sale - but who has the authority to take any deal forward is open to question.    

sidelines charitable instincts

fashion icon......sisters
in the superleague

A sport knows when it has entered the big league.  It is when SkySport picks it up for a regular weekly slot.  And there is always a new 'first' in the world of sports.
Since November 2006, Sky has shown weekly coverage of the 2006/7 season of the women's netball SuperLeague. (See netball court dimensions.) It is the first women's sport to get a regular slot and must be recognized as a huge acknowledgement of the internationalization of the sport of netball.
The impact of a TV deal is always significant.  It not only raises the profile of the sport to almost celebrity status; it also brings an injection of funds to both individual athletes as well as sponsorship deals for the top teams in the competition.
Other sports can only look on, and weep!

home and away  dizzy heights

Luol Deng is the perfect one-man example of the globalization of sport.  Fleeing Sudan to find sanctuary in Egypt and finally ending up in Britain, the 6' 8", 21 year-old is now set to sign a US470 million deal with the Chicago Bulls.
Known as 'Baby Bull', Deng began his career playing for the (London) Brixton Topcats and was soon picked up by the NBA scouts and offered a scholarship to the Blair Academy in New Jersey, USA.  Deng then went to Duke University in North Carolina and is now considered one of the best new US talents in his chosen sport.  If he is released from the Bulls, Deng plans to lead Team GB in the 2012 London Olympics.  If they win 'Gold' this will truly be a story that movies are made of.

sport culture: simply inspirational

The American Film Institute (AFI) is a US institution which celebrates excellence in the art of film, television and digital media. The annual AFI AWARDS honor the most outstanding motion pictures and television programs of the year. The organization also compiles a themed '100 Years' series and the latest Top 100 features "Inspirational Movies".
No surprises then, that Sports - in its broadest definition - scores highly on the list as follows:

POSITION: MOVIE: DATE RELEASED

4  ROCKY 1976 
8  BREAKING AWAY 1979 
13 HOOSIERS 1986 
19 THE RIGHT STUFF 1983 
22 THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES 1942 
24 NATIONAL VELVET 1944 
28 FIELD OF DREAMS 1989 
47 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968 
50 SEABISCUIT 2003 
54 RUDY 1993 
56 BEN-HUR 1959 
64 THE BLACK STALLION 1979 
69 THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS 1957  
96 SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER 1993 
98 THE KARATE KID 1984 
100 CHARIOTS OF FIRE 1981

How many of these have you seen?

starting blocks a race to the starting line?

Despite the somewhat 'unruly' behaviour of some of the teams who in recent months have made Formula One an unexpectedly challenging event to organize, the sport always has, and most likely always will be, a favorite for fans of fast cars and all things glamorous.
The recent termination of the love affair between tobacco companies and F1 came to a dramatic end with new sponsorship/advertising rules. 
Now the next tier of sponsors are lining up to seize the crown that is 'Formula One'.
The sport attracts around US$1.2 billion a year and it is the jewel in the crown for wealthy companies that have little to 'seduce' their customers other than their association with 'what's very hot'.
Take fast cars and mix them with models, celebrities and a sexy location like Monaco and the scene is set for banks, insurance and oil companies to pour some of their profits into a sport that oozes everything that is sexy.
ING have just done a deal with Renault; Santander is spending millions as one of the main sponsors of the McLaren Mercedes team, and RBS is two years into a three year deal with Williams. 
Most recently, the Formula One group of companies has restructured their financing by reportedly securing a US$2.9 billion high interest loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lehman Brothers.
This will effectively cover the loan taken out by owners CVC that facilitated the recent purchase of the the Formula One group and allow the group to acquire the SLEC, Allsport Management and APM companies and consolidate them into one firm.
Newco, Delta Topco has been set-up with new shareholders Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan, alongside CVC, the Ecclestone Family Bambino Trust and - of course - Bernie Ecclestone and will allow investors to take money out of the business, securing the cash on the future revenues of the sport.
The Formula One group has an agreement with the FIA to exploit the commercial rights of the sport until 2110. This includes the 'entertainment' of top executives from the sponsoring institutions and their guests. 

The next question is where are all those tobacco dollars heading next....?  Perhaps next to be seen en route towards some of the emerging markets where restrictions are not quite so onerous.

life after..... going global

There is only one place to go after winning the top accolades for sports coverage in the USA, and that is to branch out in a serious fashion into new geographic markets.  With this is mind and by making good use of their expertise, ESPN has bought NAN from owners Setanta Sport Holdings Ltd and Benchmark Capital Europe. 
The only European channel dedicated to North American Sports, NAN airs over 800 live and as-live sports events each year. They include over 200 live games from the National Hockey League including the All-Star Game and every game of the Stanley Cup, 60 live National Football League games in certain markets including the playoffs and Super Bowl, and 250 live Major League Baseball games including the All-Star Game and World Series. Subscribers can also view college basketball action and the celebrated NCAA Tournament, as well as NCAA Football including the Bowl Championship Series.
Although ESPN wee not prepared to release details of the deal, this is a clear indication of their ambitions to expand further into new markets.  NAN is only four-years old; however, the channel reaches over 6 million households in 26 European countries. 

ESPN has plans to deliver the best sports programming for its viewers, and reach even more sports fans in Europe. The company is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., - an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates is a Dow 30 company with annual revenues of over US$34 billion in its most recent fiscal year, and a market capitalization of US$68 billion as of Dec. 1, 2006. The Hearst Corporation holds the balance of the stock.  The ESPN brand can be seen in more than 190 countries/territories and ESPN International's network programming is transmitted in 15 languages.