01 cover sbi 152.indd - FIFA/CIES International University Network

AGENDA
SHORTSTOP
Super 15: Melbourne was chosen as
the location for the 15th franchise in the
expanded Super Rugby competition from
2011. The Australian city was chosen by
independent arbitrators after SANZAR,
the body representing the rugby unions
of South Africa, New Zealand and
Australia, failed to reach an agreement
between Melbourne and a competing bid
from South Africa’s Southern Kings.
MLB: The New York Yankees win in the
MLB’s World Series was worth $59.6
million in direct spending to business
in New York City. Each of the playoff
matches played at the Yankees’ stadium
brought in $6.7 million from visiting
fans, players and media, according to
research by the Economic Development
Corporation.
Formula One: The Brawn GP F1 team
will be renamed Mercedes Grand Prix
from next season, after it was bought
by carmaker Daimler AG and Abu
Dhabi-based investment fund Aabar
Investments PJSC. Daimler bought
a 45.1 per cent stake and Aaber 30
per cent. Team manager Ross Brawn
retains a shareholding along with four
other directors.
BSkyB:UK pay-operator BSkyB said a
review panel’s recommendations on
protected sporting events for freeto-air
UK TV could have a “disastrous
impact” on the long-term health of UK
sports bodies. The panel, led by former
English Football Association executive
director David Davies, recommended
that Ashes Test matches, home and
away international football qualifiers,
the Open Championship, the whole of
Wimbledon, the entire Rugby World Cup
and Welsh Six Nations should be added
to the current list.
MCC: Marylebone Cricket Club chief
executive Keith Bradshaw denied
reports that the organisation is to
consider selling the naming rights of
the Lord’s cricket ground alongside
a massive redevelopment scheme to
modernise the stadium.
European Football: German police said
“high ranking European leagues” are
involved in a match-fixing operation it
has uncovered. Uefa has supported the
investigation, providing the police with
data on unusual betting patterns.
Premier League: Manchester United
manager Sir Alex Ferguson said the
growth of foreign ownership of English
Premier League clubs has made club
chairmen more impatient for results.
RAISING THE BAR
Paul Deighton, LOCOG chief
executive, said the Olympics and
Paralympics would generate around
£400 million from ticket sales.
DEIGHTON ALSO SAID that he was aiming for
between £600 and£700 million from private
sponsorship, with £550 million already secured.
Speaking at the Sport Event Management
conference, he said: “If you look at the revenue
we have yet to capture, the principal component
will be from ticketing. Something like £400
million will come through ticketing. We are
building business plans for each of the sports to
make sure that we can get tickets in the hands of
the people who most want to be there.”
Speaking before the announcement of BMW
as LOCOG’s seventh Tier 1 sponsor, Deighton
said it had been tough raising sponsorship cash
in the economic downturn. “If I can point to
the most gravity defying accomplishment of the
project so far it’s raising that money in the light
of extraordinarily difficult economic conditions.
“It says a lot about the power of the Olympic
and Paralympic brands, it says a lot about the
BRAND BUILDING
McCann Worldgroup promises to
communicate the ‘truth’ when it
takes control of the the ‘look and feel’
the London 2012 brand.
“NEVER BEFORE has the public had a greater
ability to scrutinise and control the messages we
send,” said Brett Gosper, President & CEO of
McCann Worldgroup EMEA. “Truth, more than
ever is a brand’s most valuable asset.”
As LOCOG’s Official Marketing Services
Provider, McCann Erickson, supported by
other Interpublic agencies, will be responsible
for advertising, promotion and digital
communications in relation to 2012. It will work
with Greg Nugent who took the newly created
role of brand and marketing director. Nugent is
tasked with building the 2012 brand, reporting
into Paul Deighton, who will concentrate on
driving further commercial revenue.
The agency will offer services worth up to
£10 million in value-in-kind in return for
obtaining third-tier sponsorship rights. It beat off
competition from rivals WPP Group.
“Every agency in London worth its salt went
for the first round of the tender,” said Nick
Sykes, managing partner, McCann Erickson. “It
became obvious that LOCOG were looking for
something quite different in terms of the tender,
a genuine partnership for three and a half years,
across every discipline”.
Not yet on sale - Getty Images Sport
appetite of this country to be involved in making
this an incredible success.” He also defended
the decision to abandon plans for a temporary
venue for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics
meaning athletes will journey across the capital
to compete at existing venue Wembley Arena.
“In this economic environment it’s not really
acceptable to taxpayers to build a temporary
venue when you already have an acceptable one.
“It’s hard to say we were not prepared to send
athletes another 15 minutes on the road... that
we’d rather spend a lot more money and build
something that we are then going to take down.”
Truth behind the brand - Getty Images Sport
It is the first time any Olympic Organising
Committee has ever secured such a groundbreaking
agreement for a marketing services
partnership. Success for McCann, Sykes says,
will be defined in three ways. “It will allow us
to showcase our work in front of a huge global
audience. Secondly, we will have proved the
business case for bidding for the work in the
first place. And thirdly, and this is more of a soft
measure, it makes us one of the most attractive
employers in the UK communications scene.”
Lord Coe, chairman of LOCOG, described
London 2012 as the two largest sporting events
on the planet and said “marketing them has to
be one of the most complex tasks that any agency
can face. McCann Worldgroup is one of the few
companies in the UK which has the breadth and
depth of capability to help us deliver the Games.”
8 SportBusiness International • No. 152 • 12.09