SportsPro Magazine - July 2015 Edition

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BRAZIL: BETWEEN THE WORLD CUP AND THE OLYMPICS www.sportspromedia.com

July 2015

JULY 2015 | Issue 78

Real Madrid: Reaching the world Page 80

Sponsorship: A new fleet of partners Page 86

Security: The wearable revolution Page 94

OLEG TINKOV

“WHAT? THEY THINK THAT IF A GUY HAS US$1 BILLION OR SOMETHING, HE NEEDS TO BE SERIOUS ALL DAY?”

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CONTENTS | JULY 2015 - ISSUE NUMBER 78

Contents Cover Story 42 Toy story Oleg Tinkov has quickly become one of the most colourful figures in world cycling. The Russian owner of the Tinkoff-Saxo road cycling team is more Richard Branson than Roman Abramovich in his business career. He is a self-publicist and a scandaliser, but underneath the mischief-making lies a steely determination to improve his team and the sport as a whole.

Insights 30 Mini Insights 34 WPP acquires Two Circles and forges new agency oering GroupM, global marketing giant WPP’s media investment management company, acquired London-based sports data marketing agency Two Circles in May, and rolled it into a new global agency brand called ESP. 36 Corruption crisis leaves Fifa in limbo The arrest of a troop of senior officials and marketing executives and the impending departure of its longstanding president, Sepp Blatter, has left the future of Fifa in complete uncertainty. Even by the remarkable standards of recent years, it has been a tumultuous month for world soccer’s governing body.

Features

42 Cover photo: Sang Tan/AP/Press Association Images

50 New cycle Brian Cookson swept to victory at the 2013 UCI presidential election on a ticket of change. Just over 18 PRQWKV LQ KH UHà HFWV RQ D WHQXUH WKDW has been characterised by a landmark investigation into the sport’s recent past, and discusses the consultative approach to leadership that should result in the rubber-stamping of structural reform at the top end of professional cycling.

SportsPro Magazine | 3

CONTENTS | JULY 2015 - ISSUE NUMBER 78

International Fencing Federation (FIE)

Contents

58 58 One year to go There was barely time to watch the German celebrations at the end of last year’s Fifa World Cup before preparations began in Rio for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Now, with just over 12 months remaining and the bulk of test events imminent, the pressure is on to complete a rare sporting double.

80 A Real revolution Real Madrid are perhaps the biggest soccer team in the world, with a trophylittered history which includes a record ten European titles, an estimated 450 million fans worldwide and a valuation of US$3.26 billion, according to Forbes magazine. In May, the club revealed plans for a digital revolution to keep them at the top of the game.

70 Building a legacy The projected spend for stadium construction ahead of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil was R$6 billion. Ultimately, the country spent over R$8.5 billion on building new arenas, and renovating old RQHV $ \HDU DIWHU ZRUOG VRFFHU¡V à DJVKLS event, SportsPro investigates how much each stadium cost, and how they are now being used.

86 The new eet The car partner has been a key element in major sponsorship portfolios for decades. Now, however, some of the biggest positions in VSRUW DUH EHLQJ ÀOOHG E\ FRPSDQLHV unfamiliar to the sector. SportsPro takes a look at three manufacturers making moves in recent years.

72 One year on It may have ultimately ended in humiliating fashion for the hosts, but last year’s Fifa World Cup was the biggest sports event Brazil had ever staged. One year on – and one year out from doing it all over again – sport in South America’s dominant economic IRUFH LV ÀQDOO\ UHDOLVLQJ LWV SRWHQWLDO

94 Wearing protection Much has been made in recent years of the potential implications of wearable technologies on sporting performance but that is not the limit of what such devices can achieve in the industry. The security sector is now switching on to their possibilities, with farreaching effects.

Company ProďŹ le 102 Canadian cycle Organiser Serge Arsenault explains the model for the one-day cycling road races Quebec City and Montreal, popular Ă€[WXUHV RQ WKH HOLWH FDOHQGDU VLQFH

Regulars 6 8 10 12 14 15 16 18 20 28 110 112 114

Editor’s Letter Notes and Observations The Martyn Ziegler Column Digest Thought Leader: Tom Thirlwall Thought Leader: Ben Nichols Premature Facts Movers and Shakers Gallery SportsPro World Index Show me the money: Lexi Thompson Jottings

Deals 104 Deals Review 106 Sponsorship Deals

SportsPro (ISSN 1756 5340), (July 2015 edition) is published monthly by SportsPro Media Ltd and distributed in the USA by Mail Right Int., 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway, NJ 08854. 3HULRGLFDOV 3RVWDJH 3DLG DW 3LVFDWDZD\ 1- DQG DGGLWLRQDO PDLOLQJ RIĂ€FHV POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SportsPro, SportsPro Media, C/o 1637 Stelton Road B4, Piscataway NJ 08854

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EDITOR’S LETTER

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR James Emmett EDITOR Eoin Connolly SUB EDITOR Adam Nelson DIGITAL EDITOR Michael Long STAFF WRITER Mike Kennedy ART DIRECTOR Daniel Brown PHOTOGRAPHIC AGENCY Action Images MEDIA PARTNER Press Association MANAGING DIRECTOR Nick Meacham COMMERCIAL CONSULTANT Richard Partridge BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS Jon Abraham, Bobby Hare, Sam Renshaw SUBSCRIPTIONS Bhav Sahota BUSINESS OPERATIONS MANAGER YĂŠwandĂŠ ArulĂŠba

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SportsPro magazine is published by: SportsPro Media Ltd 5 Prescot Street, London E1 8PA, UK Tel: +44 (0) 207 549 3250 Fax: +44 (0) 207 549 3255 Email: info@sportspromedia.com Web: www.sportspromedia.com (SportsPro Media Ltd is part of the Henley Media Group Ltd - www.henleymediagroup.com) NOTICES: July 2015 Issue No 78 SportsPro Magazine ,661 LV SXEOLVKHG PRQWKO\ RQ WKH À UVW 7KXUVGD\ RI WKH SULRU PRQWK WR WKH FRYHU GDWH 3ULQWHG LQ WKH (8 68%6&5,37,216 $YDLODEOH DW D FRVW RI 8.… 3ULQW VXEVFULSWLRQ DQG 8.… 'LJLWDO 6XEVFULSWLRQ %DFN LVVXHV DUH DYDLODEOH IRU 8.… DQG GHOLYHUHG DQ\ZKHUH LQ WKH ZRUOG DW QR H[WUD FKDUJH 6XEVFULSWLRQV DUH DYDLODEOH E\ ORJJLQJ RQ WR ZZZ VSRUWVSURPHGLD FRP (',725,$/ &23<5,*+7 7KH FRQWHQWV RI WKLV PDJD]LQH ERWK ZRUGV DQG VWDWLVWLFV DUH VWULFWO\ FRS\ULJKW DQG WKH LQWHOOHFWXDO SURSHUW\ RI 6SRUWV3UR 0HGLD &RS\LQJ RU UHSURGXFWLRQ PD\ RQO\ EH FDUULHG RXW ZLWK ZULWWHQ SHUPLVVLRQ RI WKH SXEOLVKHUV ZKLFK ZLOO QRUPDOO\ QRW EH ZLWKKHOG RQ SD\PHQW RI D IHH $UWLFOH UHSULQWV 0RVW DUWLFOHV SXEOLVKHG LQ SportsPro 0DJD]LQH DUH DYDLODEOH DV UHSULQWV E\ SULRU DUUDQJHPHQW IURP WKH SXEOLVKHUV 1RUPDO PLQLPXP SULQW UXQ IRU UHSULQWV LV FRSLHV DOWKRXJK ODUJHU DQG VPDOOHU UXQV DUH SRVVLEOH 3OHDVH FRQWDFW XV DW LQIR#VSRUWVSURPHGLD FRP

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W¡V P\ Ă€ UVW LVVXH LQ WKH HGLWRU¡V FKDLU KHUH VR LW¡V SUREDEO\ Ă€ WWLQJ WKDW LW¡V been the kind of month that leaves you with no idea where to start. There’s always a moment of incongruity when a major story, particularly an ‘industry’ story, slips out of the sports media bubble and into the rushing air of the mainstream. Sometimes it brings distortion, as news journalists look at a subject, well, from the wrong angle. But more often it brings clarity. Three such stories broke out this PRQWK DW OHDVW LQ WKH 8. 7KH Ă€ UVW ZDV the Fifa scandal, which continues to shock and surprise beyond the point anyone thought possible. The second was the discomfort caused by Baku’s hosting of the inaugural European Games, as Ilham Aliyev’s regime proved that some publicity is bad publicity. And the third concerned the doping allegations that emerged surrounding distance runner Galen Rupp and his coach, Alberto Salazar, who also trains world and Olympic champion Mo Farah and others under the auspices of the Nike Oregon Project. Each case is very different, and compelling in its own way. The scale of Fifa’s cataclysm is such that one wonders how many apparently honest people are implicated; the dense web of economic and geopolitical interests in play should smother the old lie about sport and politics for good, even if it won’t. The Azeri authorities’ predilection for turning away sceptical journalists – those it can’t lock up, anyway – sharpens the debate about how enthusiastically sport allows governments to project change, rather than pursuing it. The Salazar issue is very much a live one at the time of writing, but what has been troubling so far is that the FRQĂ XHQFH RI VSRQVRUV DQG VSRUWLQJ bodies has cast more shadows than light.

Same old new beginnings Cycling has its own recent history of grand deception but when cover subject Oleg Tinkov – in a boisterous interview with newly minted editorial top brass -DPHV (PPHWW ² WDNHV SDLQV WR GHĂ€ QH his Tinkoff-Saxo team as a hobby, it is GLIĂ€ FXOW QRW WR V\PSDWKLVH ZLWK KLP Sport is supposed to be about escape. It’s a confected realm of ideals and simple rules, and straightforward enjoyment. Even those who earn a living out of sport, and not as players, will often profess to pinching themselves at their own unvarnished luck. But reality is always there, lurking at the edges. It always has been. It will always intrude but if you recognise it then when it does, at least it seems a little less like the entire world has burst. None of this is new to sport, and none of it is unique to it either. Every industry gets a little complacent; nothing is immune from system shock. From Brazil at last year’s Fifa World Cup to Brazil at next year’s Olympic Games, modern, elite sport exists within and next to every other messy thing there is. 6SRUWV3UR is a little different this month – slightly retooled, slightly renewed – and there is plenty more to come from us across print, digital and events in the months ahead. We’ll still always aim to cover the global sports industry in the breadth and the depth it deserves, and with the balance it demands, still paying heed to the conditions that shape it. It’ll be fun. Most of the time, anyway.

Eoin Connolly Editor

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NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

The saga, continued Michael Long

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OMNIGON.COM

THE MARTYN ZIEGLER COLUMN

On the beat with Martyn Ziegler Press Association’s chief sports reporter has a Woodward and Bernstein moment as Fifa’s cover is blown. “

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t’s not the crime that gets you‌ It’s the cover-up.â€? Richard Nixon’s famous phrase is perhaps overused, but it was RQH RI WKH Ă€ UVW WKLQJV WKDW FDPH WR PLQG when Fifa went into meltdown over the FBI investigation that led swiftly to Sepp Blatter’s momentous announcement that he is to step down as the president of the organisation. From the moment the FBI’s indictment revealed former executive committee member Chuck Blazer had admitted that a US$10 million payment from Fifa’s bank account, sent on 7th March 2008 on the instruction of South Africa, was a bribe for he and Concacaf president Jack Warner to vote for the 2010 World Cup, the game looked up for Fifa’s ruling executives. The indictment was released by the US Department of Justice on 27th May this year, a few hours after the arrest of seven )LID RIĂ€ FLDOV LQ =XULFK DQG DPRQJ DOO the astonishing details of corruption and backhanders, it was the US$10 million payment that led directly to Fifa’s door. I, no doubt along with a host of others, emailed Fifa’s media department asking who had authorised the payment: clearly something of this size was not left to the person in charge of the petty cash. David Gill, Fifa vice president-elect, was in no doubt that from his experience at Manchester United and in business, any payment of this amount would need to go right to the very top. The inference was that JĂŠrĂ´me Valcke, Fifa secretary general since 2007, and Blatter himself would have had to have been in the loop. For 24 hours there was no reply from Fifa. On 28th May, after some pestering, )LID¡V KHDG RI PHGLD Ă€ QDOO\ LVVXHG D statement, saying, helpfully: “Please understand that we cannot comment on investigations that are ongoing.â€? On Friday 29th May, Blatter brushed DVLGH WKH FULVLV WR EH UH HOHFWHG IRU D Ă€ IWK term as president, beating his challenger Prince Ali by 133 to 73 votes. His delight 10 | www.sportspromedia.com

was to be short-lived. Over the weekend, questions over the US$10 million payment refused to go away. On the Monday night, reports emanated from the US that Valcke was being investigated in connection with the payment. The pressure was mounting. Despite their previous insistence that they could not comment, shortly after midnight Fifa issued a statement claiming Julio *URQGRQD WKH IRUPHU Ă€ QDQFH FKDLUPDQ had authorised the payment. Grondona, conveniently, had died last year. The statement added that ‘Valcke nor any other member of Fifa’s senior management were involved in the initiation, approval and implementation’ of the programme for which the money had been destined. If Fifa thought they had lanced that particular boil, they were to be disappointed. On the morning of Tuesday 2nd June, a contact in South Africa emailed me a copy of a letter sent on 4th March 2008 from the South African Football Association (SAFA) president to Fifa. It instructed the deduction of US$10million from the 2010 World Cup budget for the Diaspora Legacy Programme to be ‘administered and implemented directly’ by Warner. I skim-read the letter, noting it took care to mention not once but twice the money should be ‘administered and implemented directly’ by Warner. Then it struck me: the letter was addressed WR -pU{PH 9DOFNH )RU WKH Ă€ UVW WLPH this document proved there was full knowledge of the payment directly at the KHDUW RI )LID¡V H[HFXWLYH RIĂ€ FH I realised the letter was dynamite, but I was not prepared for the explosion of interest: it was the lead item on all the news programmes and my tweet with a picture of the letter had almost one million impressions on Twitter. Unprompted, Fifa sent me another email saying the letter was consistent with their VWDWHPHQW DQG WKDW WKH Ă€ QDQFH FRPPLWWHH KDG PDGH WKH œÀ QDO DSSURYDO¡ ² VOLJKWO\

strange as the SAFA letter was sent on 4th 0DUFK WKH Ă€ QDO SD\PHQW WRRN SODFH RQ WK 0DUFK DQG QR Ă€ QDQFH FRPPLWWHH KDG VDW between those two dates. Four hours later, Fifa announced a news conference would be held later that GD\ LQ =XULFK WR EH VWUHDPHG OLYH RQ LWV ZHEVLWH 7KH PHVVDJH IURP =XULFK ZDV WKDW VRPHWKLQJ ´VLJQLĂ€ FDQWÂľ ZDV JRLQJ to happen, and there was plenty of speculation that Valcke’s departure was LPPLQHQW ² KHLJKWHQHG ZKHQ KLV QDPH did not appear next to Blatter’s on the rostrum for the conference. Even when Blatter uttered the words, “I have decided to lay down my mandateâ€?, there were two or three seconds of disbelief that he really had announced his decision to quit. The link to Warner was the tipping point. Blatter had not just handed over World Cup TV rights and tickets over the years to the man from Trinidad in return for the Caribbean’s bloc vote; he was now directly linked to a US$10 million bribe for World Cup votes. Whether he knew it was a bribe or not was pretty irrelevant. Like Nixon, Blatter could probably have survived, if only he had been open from the very start about the payment and Fifa’s involvement. Instead, Fifa’s decision to obfuscate, mislead and blame a dead man meant that when the true involvement was revealed, Blatter had little option but to go. It is unlikely to be the end of the story. The FBI indictment also states that in 2004, Blazer learned from Warner that ÂśKLJK UDQNLQJ RIĂ€ FLDOV RI ),)$ WKH 6RXWK African government, and the South African bid committee’ were prepared to arrange for US$10 million to be paid for their World Cup votes. Who were those ‘high-ranking RIĂ€ FLDOV RI )LID¡" 7KH )%, NQRZV ² VR watch this space. 3UHVV $VVRFLDWLRQ LV DQ RIĂ€ FLDO SportsPro media partner.

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DIGEST | JULY 2015

Next month in Summer is back, in the northern hemisphere at least, so next month SportsPro will return to the middle for another bash at the business of cricket, ZKRVH RUGHU KDV EHHQ VKXIÁ HG DIWHU WKH

: The summer edition Cricket World Cup. Elsewhere in the August edition, there’ll be a look at emerging sports and word from Berlin on the making of a modern event in modern pentathlon.

Sailing is on the agenda again, and ahead RI WKH 5XJE\ :RUOG &XS ZH À QG RXW how top-tier English rugby union club Wasps have fared after their move from London to Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.

Williams F1 With up to 75 personnel required at each Formula One Grand Prix, the Williams F1 team don’t travel lightly. A travelling party of technicians, mechanics, marketing personnel and chefs, in addition to the drivers and management, are flown commercially to each race destination.

For the races held on European soil, a number of Mercedes Actros MP4 GN14 WMD trucks will travel by road, packed with the Williams Mercedes FW37 cars, spare parts, tools and other race supplies. For flyaways to races further afield the team rely on a combination of air and sea freight, and Williams work closely with DHL, the official

12 | www.sportspromedia.com

Formula One logistics partner, to coordinate this. Items that might need modification throughout the season, including the cars and spares, are sent by air freight. The team have five sets of sea freight containing the cheaper, more general items needed throughout a Grand Prix weekend, including electrical cabling and catering equipment. These, along with the heaviest items, are shipped to the various countries as required throughout the Formula One season. Williams try to be completely self-sufficient and since the team can be away for up to 17 days at a time – such as the for the recent backto-back Grands Prix in China and then Bahrain – supplies ranging from Tensa crowd-control barriers and patio umbrellas to an industrial oven are among the items that travel. A deal with Mercedes sees the team supplied with cars to ferry the drivers around at race destinations. The 6,000-square-foot motorhome is made up of ten cases – which store equipment in between races – and is assembled into a structure to house offices and driver rooms on race weekends.

On the tarmac:

Mercedes Actros MP4 GN14 WMD – Eddie Stobart/Williams F1 trucks

Team cars supplied by Mercedes via partnership or rented

Air freight

Sea freight

Commercial flights

Life after sport - Posy Musgrave Then: British Olympian in cross-country skiing Now: Athlete manager at GMR Marketing

What attracted you to the role at GMR and how long had you been thinking about something like this? ,·G GHÀQLWHO\ EHHQ WKLQNLQJ DERXW PRYLQJ on from skiing and into the ‘real world’ of work, if you call it that. I wanted to be in sport, but – and I think a lot of athletes would tell you the same – I wasn’t too aware of what was out there. So in a way it was a bit of luck that this role came up at the right time. This just seemed like a really perfect ÀW EHFDXVH ZKDW , ZLOO EH GRLQJ LV DWKOHWH management. I’m still going to be really involved in Olympic sport, which in a way is actually quite niche. So I’m still using that knowledge. Plus, because it’s working all over Europe, I’ll be using languages and travelling a lot. Languages is what I actually studied at university. Do you think that athletes put enough preparation into what they are going to be doing after their careers? ,W·V D GLIÀFXOW RQH , WKLQN ZKHQ \RX get to the really top level, a lot of the time I would say no. That’s just because when you’re competing at an elite level internationally, you have to just close your whole life. It’s all you can think about. But on the other hand what I would say from my experience of pretty niche sports – like skiing – is that in those kind of sports people are more aware that it’s going to be hard to make a career out of, so a lot people work in other things or they are at university.

How has your sporting career prepared you for life in work? There’s actually lots of crossovers. I think it’s something that athletes could be better about remembering because it can be hard ZKHQ \RX ÀQLVK EHLQJ DQ DWKOHWH <RX IHHO like you don’t have a lot else to give, but there are a lot of skills I feel cross over. 7KH ÀUVW ² WKRXJK LW·V D ELW RI D FOLFKp ² LV the hard work and the determination it takes to be a really good athlete is going to transfer into anywhere you work. The other thing is I’m quite selfdisciplined. I often used to train by myself so I’m used to structuring my time and don’t need chasing up to do things. Also I have learned to analyse things because I did quite a technical sport, cross-country skiing, so I used to break down technique. I’ve learned to look for faults and try to improve on things. In what ways has life been different and how have you found that transition? Completely different. Good things and bad things. It’s nice to be able to go KRPH DIWHU D GD\ LQ WKH RIÀFH DQG VZLWFK off and do whatever you want with your time. When you’re an athlete, everything you do affects your performance. The bad thing is you’re never going to get the same sort of highs you get from being an athlete, like having a good race or qualifying for the Olympics. It’s an DPD]LQJ IHHOLQJ DQG LW·V SUREDEO\ GLIÀFXOW to replicate in any other job. SportsPro Magazine | 13

THOUGHT LEADER | SOCCER

Forget Fifa: remember fans Tom Thirlwall

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s the scandalous drama of Fifa continues to unfold and the ugly side of our beautiful game rears its head, many have speculated about where this leaves the sport, the players, the clubs and their sponsors. I would argue that we should take this chance to look at who and what really matters here – the fans – and to make sure that the future of the game and WKRVH ZKR GHFLGH LW SXW IDQV À UVW For too long fans have been sidelined whilst the game has been packaged and commercialised to make it as appealing as possible to an ever-increasing TV audience. But the broadcast model is being disrupted on a dramatic scale that few truly appreciate. A new football experience has emerged: one that belongs not to the media companies, the grubby administrators or the clubs, but to the fans. The new rulers in this world are the technology platforms that are enabling young, connected fans to capture, share and distribute content that matters to them. Adaptive and reactive social media has already leapfrogged traditional linear broadcasting in football. The goals, penalty decisions and nail-biting moments that fans care about can be isolated into a tailor-made stream, without the time commitment and physical restriction of watching a full game in front of a television. In the same way that demand has shifted away from the ‘shared experience’ of traditional TV scheduling, fans will

increasingly have the power to isolate the HOHPHQWV RI IRRWEDOO WKDW WKH\ À QG PRVW engaging, without having to consume wholesale a pre-packaged product. In the long run, fans will be rewarded with an all-round better footballing experience – and in turn, they will engage with the sport more than ever before. Fans will no longer just watch their team every weekend – they will witness the best moments from football across the globe. Look at the lessons in music. In ten years the music business has moved from a traditional product retail model to an almost unrecognisable streaming and digital download-only experience, where any song or album can be accessed via your mobile phone at the touch of a screen. Tech businesses like Apple, Spotify and Sonos have created a new landscape for music, driven by fan appetite for on demand, anytime, anywhere music, and although the record labels have suffered, the live event experience has boomed. Technology hasn’t ruined the music business as label execs once claimed it would. The value has moved elsewhere, and crucially people are listening to more music and going to more live gigs than ever before. The fans have won. )DVW IRUZDUG À YH \HDUV DQG WKH VDPH will have happened in football. Your humble mobile device will be able to access football content from around the world. Live games, highlights and original programming from your favorite

Soccer fans are using mobile technology to capture and share more and more of their experiences

14 | www.sportspromedia.com

leagues, teams, talent and creators will be ready and waiting to be handpicked from an extraordinary pool of content. What was once a linear, prescribed service will be blown open to individual preference. The fan who wants to watch the Guatemalan superclásico today and the Dutch amateur league Spakenburg derby tomorrow will be able to – and not only will they watch the game, they will be able to immerse themselves in the surrounding story. They will read personal accounts from fans on Twitter, experience the terraces through the eyes of the fans on SnapChat, Vine and Periscope and engage in discussion with likeminded fellow fans from across the world on fan-owned communities like Reddit. The niche will become the norm, as tailor-made content streams replace dictated linearity. With it the balance of power will change, be sure of that – and the value will follow. Rights packages that have traditionally been contested by terrestrial broadcasters will become the hunting ground of global tech players creating new routes to audiences with vastly different economic terms. Players will become media brands in their own right and their connection to their fans will become even more important and valuable. Regardless of the seismic changes in the media landscape, the 3.5 billion football fans worldwide mean that football’s position as the world game is cemented. What remains to be seen is how the industry and administration of the game recovers and responds. For football to truly save itself – both morally and commercially – the game must listen to and act upon the interests of those who made it: the fans. Fans are ultimately who players want to perform for, who clubs want a relationship with, and who the sponsors want to reach – we need to remember them. Today, football’s biggest stakeholder is being failed. In the words of Jock Stein, “Football is nothing without fans.” Tom Thirlwall is the chief executive of Copa 90 – The Global Fan Network.

THOUGHT LEADER | ANTI-DOPING

Media: the fourth estate in anti-doping Ben Nichols

A

s the global anti-doping community becomes more accustomed to the rule changes that took effect on 1st January with the introduction of the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code, there FRQWLQXHV WR EH PXFK UHĂ HFWLRQ RQ the direction that clean sport is taking. Since they were agreed on by both sport and government in Johannesburg 18 months ago, and more so since they were introduced, the enhancements to the rules have been widely reported by media across all continents. This has helped foster a greater understanding of where the focus now lies in anti-doping and how the changes are being enacted: above all, through collaboration and transparency. Greater collaboration that brings all partners together in the fold was the underlying theme throughout the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Anti-Doping Organization Symposium in Switzerland in March. There were discussions on anti-doping organisation/ laboratory relationships; how athletes can FRQĂ€ GHQWO\ VSHDN XS DERXW GRSLQJ DQG Ă€ QDOO\ RYHUFRPH ZKDW ZDV RQFH NQRZQ in cycling as the ‘omerta’; an interview from renowned New York Times reporter Juliet Macur with the most outspoken of clean sport proponents, Betsy Andreu; panel sessions on how anti-doping organisations can develop partnerships; and an engaging discussion on how media can help anti-doping organisations and vice-versa. All of these topics pointed towards a world in which so much more can be achieved through sharing ideas, mutual assistance and transparency about the challenges faced and the solutions needed to counter them. It was the latter discussion panel that signalled how far we have progressed in anti-doping from the early days, when an underlying distrust existed between journalists and the anti-doping community; an era in which the anti-doping community was perceived by some as a ‘closed shop’. As was agreed by members of the panel in Lausanne, there is now a much better understanding of anti-doping rules

and processes – and the importance of the athletes’ rights that underpin those processes – and this has resulted in improved interaction between the two communities. If sport, government and athletes are seen as the three estates central to clean sport, then surely now the media could be considered the fourth estate. As the title of the WADA Symposium PHGLD SDQHO ZRXOG VXJJHVW DQG FRQĂ€ UPHG by the consensus of the panellists, the media certainly has an impact on the work of anti-doping organisations. Historically, and as recent events have shown, the media plays a role in not only educating the public but also in bringing doping scandals to wider attention. As with any societal issue, the antidoping community needs doping scandals from time to time to help shine a light on areas where problems may exist or need further investigation. The recent BBC Panorama documentary in the UK, detailing allegations against distance-running coach Alberto Salazar, is just one example of this in action. Investigative journalism plays a part in ensuring that sport doping scandals become visible, but revelations must be backed up by concrete evidence that can be used by anti-doping organisations if they are to prove more than just good television. It is interesting that in Germany, an anti-doping department was initiated within the broadcaster ARD in 2007, giving its journalists greater funding to investigate doping stories. Initiatives such as this are to be welcomed. Of course, when it comes to this complex area, what is seen as being in the public interest must be balanced with what is in the rights of athletes. It is every athlete’s right, following a positive test, to have their ‘day in court’ outside of public display, or, ultimately, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). All athletes are innocent until or unless proven otherwise through the established legal process and World Anti-Doping Code rules. This area of public interest was the subject of extensive debate during the media panel at WADA’s symposium. The public must realise that anti-doping

organisations are not hiding behind ‘the process’ as a reason for not revealing an athlete’s identity following a media ‘leak’. It is simply right and fair for the athlete that these organisations are able to carry out their work without having to react to abundant rumour and speculation. The editor of Inside the Games, 'XQFDQ 0DFND\ ² RQH RI Ă€ YH SDUWLFLSDQWV in the media panel – alluded to the fact that there was a much greater understanding of anti-doping rules today than in years gone by and, importantly, the transparency and working relationship between anti-doping and media communities had vastly improved. This is true. Indeed, the World Anti-Doping Code rules today give the responsible ERG\ D GHJUHH RI Ă H[LELOLW\ ZKHQ LW FRPHV to publicly reporting an anti-doping rule violation. They may announce an athlete’s asserted rule violation after a ‘B’ sample FRQĂ€ UPDWLRQ EXW WKH\ must announce the rule violation no longer than 20 days after WKH Ă€ QDO KHDULQJ GHFLVLRQ There are two other areas where the media can really have an impact on the antidoping cause. Firstly, in reporting instances of doping publicly at the appropriate time, WKH PHGLD FDQ KHOS VLJQLĂ€ FDQWO\ LQ GHWHUULQJ athletes and their entourage from doping LQ WKH Ă€ UVW SODFH :$'$ EHOLHYHV WKDW LQ many instances, the fear of being ‘named and shamed’ would strongly dissuade athletes from contemplating doping. The risk would outweigh the reward. Secondly, media can also play a role in promoting the positive initiatives in anti-doping. We are beginning to see this more and more. Athletes across the world – through bodies such as the WADA Athlete Committee and through outreach initiatives – are communicating the clean sport message to thousands of current and aspiring athletes. They are letting them know not only their rights and responsibilities, but why doping is dangerous and wrong, and that there is a better way: the clean sport way. Ben Nichols is the senior manager for media relations and communications at WADA. SportsPro Magazine | 15

Ready for my close-up

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irst came the release of Gascoigne, a documentary about the saintly gifts and haunting sorrows of former England soccer international Paul Gascoigne (above). Then came the news that Fifa Ballon D’Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo ZRXOG EH WKH VXEMHFW RI D À OP E\ WKH creators of Senna and Amy. Meanwhile a feature is in production based on the autobiography of tennis star Li Na, with her WME|IMG stable-mate Peter Chan pegged to direct. At what point, SportsPro wonders, does the movie deal pre-empt the book deal?

RICHARD DREW/AP/Press Association Images

Ian West/PA Wire/Press Association Images

PREMATURE FACTS

‘King weird

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f it was peculiar to see the eponymous Burger King turn up in Floyd 0D\ZHDWKHU¡V HQWRXUDJH IRU KLV œÀ JKW RI the century’ bout against Manny Pacquiao in May, it was downright bizarre to see him looming behind racehorse trainer Bob Baffert as he watched one of his charges – American Pharoah – scoop the Triple Crown at Belmont Park in June. The restaurant chain had paid US$1 million to Mayweather and US$200,000 to Baffert to have its grinning monarch – almost as creepy as Ronald McDonald when it comes to corporate mascots – stand near them. It could be a pioneering form of product placement. It could be, simply, odd.

Out Infront of the story

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KH SROLFH UDLG RI WKH RIÀ FHV RI Infront Italy may have lacked the drama of the FBI-requested incursion in to Zurich’s Baur au Lac, but it might QRW EH ZLWKRXW VLJQLÀ FDQFH ,WDO\ V antitrust authority, AGCM, has begun investigating the sale of Serie A soccer rights to Sky Italia and Mediaset, conducted by Infront. All parties insist the tender was carried out properly and are cooperating with the inquiry, which should conclude by April 2016. But any irregularities found could reopen one of soccer’s biggest TV markets.

Juiced up

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ance Armstrong’s (second right) ongoing court battle with the US Postal Service (USPS) provides a cautionary tale for sponsors who like to talk up the success of their partnerships. With the US federal government seeking damages of up to US$100 million in the wake of Armstrong’s doping confession, the cyclist’s lawyers have claimed his Tour de France victories were worth far more to the USPS than Armstrong KLPVHOI 'RFXPHQWV Ă€ OHG E\ WKH ODZ\HUV UHIHU WR WKH 3RVWDO 6HUYLFH¡V RZQ FRPPLVVLRQHG studies which estimate their sponsorship to be worth up to US$140 million in positive 35 UHYHQXH DQG SURGXFW VDOHV 2QH 8636 GRFXPHQW HYHQ VDLG LW ZDV ÂśRQH RI WKH PRVW effective public relations ventures’ it had ever undertaken. Marketing execs, beware.

Official turncoat

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hey say player loyalty is dead in modern soccer but it seems the saying holds true for sponsors, too. Intuit QuickBooks’ decision to switch its allegiance from Premier League side West Bromwich Albion to cross-town rivals Aston Villa in early June left many questioning the US company’s motive. Didn’t it understand that jumping into bed with a partner’s bitter foe is the gravest act of betrayal there is? That the company claimed to have been “incredibly impressedâ€? by “perfect clubâ€? Villa only rubbed salt in West %URP ZRXQGV 6RPH VD\ PRQRJDP\ LV QRZ QR ORQJHU GHĂ€ QHG DV ÂśRQH SDUWQHU IRU OLIH¡ EXW ÂśRQH SDUWQHU DW D WLPH¡ 6WLOO LQĂ€ GHOLW\ ZLOO JHW \RX QRZKHUH LQ WKH VSRQVRUVKLS JDPH

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MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Movers and Shakers: May 2015 Mary Wittenberg

Dean Barker

Mary Wittenberg has departed her role as president and chief executive of New York Marathon organiser the New York Road Runners (NYRR) to become global chief H[HFXWLYH RI 9LUJLQ 6SRUW D QHZ À WQHVV focused enterprise under Richard Branson’s Virgin Group umbrella. Wittenberg leaves NYRR after ten years.

Dean Barker has been named as chief executive and skipper of SoftBank Team Japan America’s Cup challenger. The New Zealander has 15 years of America’s Cup experience, and won the prestigious sailing competition with Team New Zealand in 2000.

Carl Schloessman Incoming Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion team Los Angeles Football Club have hired Carl Schloessman as chief RSHUDWLQJ RIĂ€ FHU 6FKORHVVPDQ ZLOO EH UHVSRQVLEOH IRU DOO RSHUDWLRQV DQG UHYHQXH JHQHUDWLQJ LQLWLDWLYHV +H MRLQV IURP /LYH Nation Entertainment, where he spent six years as executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Dariusz Marzec Dariusz Marzec has been appointed the new president of Ekstraklasa SA, the supervisory board which oversees the (NVWUDNODVD ² WKH WRS SURIHVVLRQDO VRFFHU GLYLVLRQ LQ 3RODQG +H has been the managing director of Polish club Legia Warsaw since October 2014.

Robert Faulkner Italian soccer team Inter Milan have appointed former Uefa executive Robert Faulkner as their new chief communications RIÀ FHU )DXONQHU MRLQV WKH 6HULH $ FOXE from Leidar Communications, where he was a senior consultant working across the company’s sporting and corporate divisions.

Steve Pagliuca %RVWRQ &HOWLFV FR RZQHU DQG %DLQ &DSLWDO PDQDJLQJ GLUHFWRU Steve Pagliuca has been installed as the new chairman of the Boston 2024 Olympic bid committee. Pagliuca, vice chair of the Boston bid since February, replaces John Fish as chairman. Fish had led the bid since 2013 but now steps into the role of vice chairman.

Arn Tellem Palace Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Detroit Pistons National Basketball Association (NBA) team, has hired Arn Tellem as vice chairman. Tellem will join the organisation on 3rd August from his current role as vice chairman of Wasserman Media Group.

Greg Peters Greg Peters is to step down from his role as chief executive of Sanzar, the governing body of Super Rugby, to become general manager of the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR). In his new role, the New Zealander will oversee Argentina’s introduction into an expanded Super Rugby competition next year.

Thierry Thullier Thierry Thullier has been appointed as the new director of sports at Canal Plus. Thullier, 52, leaves his current role as news director at France TĂŠlĂŠvisions and director of France 2 to commence his new position with the )UHQFK FDEOH 79 EURDGFDVWHU LQ PLG -XQH Thullier will report to Maxime Saada, the deputy general director of Canal Plus Group.

Paul Bush Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) has DSSRLQWHG 3DXO %XVK DV LWV QHZ FKDLUPDQ +H takes over from Michael Cavanagh, whose HLJKW \HDU VWLQW FDPH WR DQ HQG IROORZLQJ ODVW year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Bush has been on the CGS board for the last IRXU \HDUV DV DQ LQGHSHQGHQW QRQ H[HFXWLYH GLUHFWRU +H KDG SUHYLRXVO\ EHHQ 7HDP Scotland chef de mission in 2006.

Oris Stuart The National Basketball Association (NBA) has hired Oris Stuart to the role of chief GLYHUVLW\ DQG LQFOXVLRQ RIÀ FHU &',2 6WXDUW joins from his role leading the inclusion and GLYHUVLW\ SUDFWLFH DW H[HFXWLYH VHDUFK À UP Korn Ferry.

Andreas Rettig

JĂźrgen Krucker

Andreas Rettig has been appointed the new managing director of 2. Bundesliga soccer side FC St Pauli. Rettig, the serving managing director of the German Football League (DFL), will OHDYH WR FRPPHQFH KLV QHZ UROH ZLWK +DPEXUJ EDVHG 6W 3DXOL on 1st September, replacing the departing Michael Meeske, who will join FC NĂźrnberg.

7KH 6ZLVV +DQGEDOO $VVRFLDWLRQ 6+9 KDV DQQRXQFHG WKDW LW KDV appointed JĂźrgen Krucker as its new managing director, starting IURP VW -DQXDU\ .UXFNHU ZLOO MRLQ WKH 6+9 IURP VSRUWV ULJKWV PDUNHWLQJ DJHQF\ 6SRUWĂ€ YH ZKHUH KH LV FXUUHQWO\ ZRUNLQJ as a hospitality sales consultant for the Uefa Euro 2016 soccer tournament in France.

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Executive search partner:

Brian Mair The Scottish Golf Union (SGU) has appointed Brian Mair DV LWV QHZ FRPPHUFLDO PDQDJHU \HDU ROG 0DLU WKH FXUUHQW secretary of The PGA in Scotland, will begin his new role at the end of June, tasked with growing the SGU’s commercial income through sponsorship and other revenue streams.

Alex Hayes )UHQFK VRFFHU FOXE )& /RULHQW KDYH QDPHG $OH[ +D\HV DV WKHLU QHZ H[HFXWLYH YLFH SUHVLGHQW 7KH \HDU ROG (QJOLVKPDQ ERUQ in Paris, joins the Ligue 1 side after working as an adviser to a number of professional footballers, including former Arsenal SOD\HUV 5REHUW 3LUqV DQG -pUpPLH $OLDGLqUH %HIRUH WKDW +D\HV enjoyed a long career in sports journalism, taking in spells at Sky Sports, Setanta, TPS and L’Equipe.

Mover of the month Brian Mair, commercial manager, Scottish Golf Union

What is the single biggest responsibility in your new role? The recent amalgamation of the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) and the Scottish /DGLHV¡ *ROĂ€ QJ $VVRFLDWLRQ 6/*$ JLYHV us a huge opportunity. It’s been very well received by all who have an interest in golf in Scotland. It’s given us a platform to make golf even more appealing to existing and potential sponsors and partners. This is a new role and I see it as a critical one to take full advantage of the historic amalgamation.

Michel Gotlib +DYDV 6SRUWV (QWHUWDLQPHQW KDV DSSRLQWHG 0LFKHO *RWOLE DV FKLHI RSHUDWLQJ RIĂ€ FHU RI LWV )UHQFK GLYLVLRQ *RWOLE ZLOO be tasked with the daily management and development of the DJHQF\ DORQJVLGH FKLHI H[HFXWLYH *LOOHV 3RUWHOOH +H MRLQV WKH DJHQF\ IROORZLQJ D \HDU FDUHHU DW &RFD &ROD ZKHUH KH PRVW recently served as director of marketing communications for QRUWK ZHVW (XURSH DQG WKH 1RUGLF UHJLRQ

Klaus Filbry The German Football League (DFL) has appointed Klaus Filbry to its board as RSHUDWLRQV GLUHFWRU \HDU ROG )LOEU\ general manager of German club SV Werder %UHPHQ ZLOO UHSODFH +HULEHUW %UXFKKDJHQ and will also assume Bruchhagen’s membership of the Licensing Committee.

Nathalie Zimmerman-NĂŠnon Global media monitoring company Kantar 0HGLD KDV DSSRLQWHG 1DWKDOLH =LPPHUPDQ NĂŠnon as the new managing director of LWV VSRUW EXVLQHVV =LPPHUPDQ 1pQRQ effectively replaces Richard Brinkman, who left Kantar in February.

What do you expect to find most challenging about your new role? Consumer behaviour is changing, and we all have an increase in the range of leisure activities available. That is giving golf a huge challenge but one I think they have addressed well. The ODWHVW À JXUHV VXJJHVW WKDW SDUWLFLSDWLRQ KDV VWDUWHG WR LQFUHDVH again after a tough last couple of years. The biggest challenge that we’ve got is to maintain and grow golf club membership in Scotland. We’ve got over 200,000 members in Scotland, and that makes it the largest sporting audience in the country. How are you going to look to stamp your footprint on this role? Firstly, you have to work with a great team and I’m very fortunate to know the team at the SGU and at the SLGA. There’s no doubt they’re a fantastic team. Working with these guys, and also the partners – and again I’m fortunate to know many of the partners that are already in place; I’ve got some ideas about who else should come to the party. How will you measure success? First of all, you have to understand what the key objectives of your partners are and obviously your colleagues as well. Then it’s just a case of regularly reviewing them, and making sure that our performance is not just achieving but exceeding them.

Charlie McEwen Charlie McEwen has been appointed as the new chief operating RIĂ€ FHU RI WKH %ULWLVK ,ULVK /LRQV UXJE\ XQLRQ WHDP 0F(ZHQ steps up from his previous position as director of sales and marketing for the Lions, a role he took up in July 2010 having previously worked for Octagon and the Essentially Group.

This is an edited selection of appointments made in the weeks before publication. For daily updates on the movers and shakers in the sports industry, visit www.sportspromedia.com Please email industry appointments to: info@sportspromedia.com

What was your dream job growing up? I can’t say that as a wee boy I wanted to become the commercial manager of the SGU. I wanted to be a professional golfer. I was born and raised in Ayrshire, where golf is part of the social fabric. At the age of 17 I became the school champion, which was when, unfortunately, I peaked in my golf career. I would say I have been lucky enough to forge a career so I am in fact living the dream. Where do you see yourself in five years? 2K ER\ 7KH REYLRXV WKLQJ WR VD\ LV KRSHIXOO\ LQ Ă€ YH \HDUV¡ WLPH ,¡OO EH FHOHEUDWLQJ WKH Ă€ IWK DQQLYHUVDU\ RI 6FRWWLVK *ROI Ltd, continuing to work with a great team and hopefully still living the dream. SportsPro Magazine | 19

Deltatre director Hugo Sharman

Welsh hurdling legend and sports media professional Colin Jackson

Mette Stannow, head of performance marketing at IBM Europe

The digital media panel in discussion

IOC Women’s Commission member and former swimmer Donna de Varona

Philippe Furrer, head of the Youth Olympic Games and senior manager at the IOC

Olympic medallist and president of NGU Consultants Charmaine Crooks

Sergei Aschwanden, director of Villars Sports Centre

SĂŠbastian Leclerc, former head of Uefa club competitions and commercial operations

SportsPro Gallery

WISE 2015 The Expo Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland played host to the second annual Work in Sports Education (WISE) International Convention for Careers in Sports on 6th and 7th May. The conference invites leaders from several disciplines to discuss working opportunities in the sports industry.

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Former soccer player and current media personality Robbie Savage

Gareth Griffiths, Mark Cameron, Peter Thompson, Nathan Homer and Ben Wright

Laurent Colette, chief marketing officer of FC Barcelona

Sarah Hunter, Jennie Price, Helena Morrissey and Clare Balding

Matthew Carter, Rob Bloom, Alejandro Agag, Daniel Johnson on the motorsport panel

Olympic sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie in conversation with TV presenter Jake Humphrey

Mark Lichtenhein from the PGA European Tour

BBC director of sport Barbara Slater

David Grevemberg, Sally Bolton, Christopher Lee and Sue Thearle are joined by Simon Clegg on screen for the legacy of mega-events panel

Lord Sebastian Coe during his opening speech

Giles Morgan, global head of sponsorship and events for HSBC

Jake Humphrey (right) hosts Simon Green, Richard Arnold and Richard Bevan to discuss the evolving business model of soccer

Sports presenter Clare Balding

Rob Mason, managing director of IMG

Ian Ritchie, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, delivers his keynote address

Telegraph Business of Sport The Telegraph’s Business of Sport conference was held at the BT Centre in London on the 13th and 14th May 2015. Delegates from 240 senior brands, broadcasters and rights holders from across the industry were in attendence.

SportsPro Magazine | 21

Cleia Guilhon, one of Brazil’s top fencers

Coraline Vitalis of France faces Francesca Boscarelli of Italy in the épée Grand Prix finals

Competitors watch a demonstration

Boscarelli defeats Yiwen Sun of China in an earlier round

Brazilian trio Cleia Guilhon, Athos Schwantens and Amanda Simeão

The Grand Prix drew a healthy crowd

Fencing trial in Esgrima na Lagoa

Arno Périllier Schneider, fencing and wheelchair fencing manager for Rio 2016

Switzerland’s Max Heinzer faces Yannick Borel of France

As well as the competitive Grand Prix, the FIE invited people to try fencing for the first time

A fencing demonstration gets underway

Schneider interviews young fencers

SportsPro Gallery

FIE Grand Prix Rio Over the weekend of 22nd to 24th May, the FIE, in conjunction with the Brazilian Fencing Confederation, held its Grand Prix in Esgrima na Lagoa, Rio de Janeiro. 348 top-level male and female épée fencers gathered in Brazil, as the race to qualify for next year’s Olympics hots up.

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Stan Wawrinka celebrates his victory in Paris

France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga makes la une

British fans support Andy Murray, who was frustrated in the semi-finals by Djokovic again

French singer Patrick Bruel and actor Jeremie Elkaim in the audience for the men’s final

British actor Clive Owen at the men’s final

A home fan enjoys Tsonga’s semi-final run

It’s not Wimbledon, but rainy weather brings the umbrellas out in force

Jean Dujardin, the French actor, watches the men’s final with his partner Nathalie Pechalat

Serena Williams celebrates her third French Open title

Lucie Safarova and Bethanie Mattek-Sands kiss their women’s doubles trophy

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, takes in the women’s final

Novak Djokovic congratulates Wawrinka after a four-set victory for the Swiss

French Open The French Open, the second Grand Slam of the tennis year, took place between 24th May and 7th June. Stan Wawrinka stunned top seed Novak Djokovic in the men’s final, while in the women’s, Serena WIlliams added to her already vast trophy collection.

SportsPro Magazine | 23

A Catalan flag marks Barcelona territory

Luis Enrique, the Barcelona manager, with his daughter after the game

Barcelona legend Xavi played his final game for the club

Barcelona celebrate their second goal

Neymar seals victory with the game’s last kick

Barcelona’s Gerard Piqué takes a souvenir

Barcelona are champions of Europe again

DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach, German president Joachim Gauck and Uefa president Michel Platini

Florentin Pogba (centre) watches brother Paul of Juventus miss out

Champions League winners Clarence Seedorf and Ronaldo

A giant inflatable version of the trophy is prepared on the roof of the stadium

A performer in the opening ceremony

SportsPro Gallery

Uefa Champions League Final Saturday 6th June saw the flagship event of European club soccer take place in Berlin’s Olympiastadion. Barcelona’s star-studded team managed a 3-1 victory over Italy’s Juventus to secure their fourth Uefa Champions League title in nine years.

24 | www.sportspromedia.com

BBC Top Gear presenter Chris Evans

The safety car on the track at Monte Carlo

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg leads the race

Rosberg celebrates his victory

Not everyone got dressed up

Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife, Princess Charlene

Lewis Hamilton prepares for the race

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive of Renault-Nissan

Model and actress Cara Delvigne was in town

Model Kendall Jenner arrives prior to the action

Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo in attendance

paimages.co.uk PAImages

Monaco Grand Prix The most glamorous circuit on the Formula One calendar is always sure to bring out a few celebrity fans and this year’s race, on 24th May, was no different. Despite starting in pole position, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished in 3rd, behind teammate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

SportsPro Magazine | 25

SPORTSPRO WORLD | HOSTINGS AND HAPPENINGS

SportsPro World

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3 C 4

1 2

A F D E

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Conferences 1

San Francisco, USA The ninth annual Sports and Entertainment Alliance in Technology (SEAT) Conference will be held at San Francisco’s Westin St Francis Hotel between 19th and 22nd July. The National Football League’s (NFL) San Francisco 49ers will host a behind-thescenes technology and networking tour of their Levi’s Stadium as part of the event. 2

Los Angeles, USA The 2015 Doha Goals Forum in Los $QJHOHV ZLOO EH WKH ÀUVW HGLWLRQ RI WKH event to take place outside Qatar. Between 25th and 27th July, leaders from business, governments and the sports world will meet at the Marriott Hotel to discuss furthering social initiatives through sport. IAAF presidential candidate Lord Sebastian Coe (right) is among the speakers. 28 | www.sportspromedia.com

3

London, UK London’s Armoury House will be the venue for the 2015 edition of the Black Book Race Forum on 30th June. The event offers an opportunity for networking, debate and discussion with some of the biggest names in Formula One and motorsport, a few days ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

4

Venice, Italy Delegates from across the business world will gather in Venice for the International Summer School in Sport Marketing Management between 27th July and 7th August. The school offers a two-week intensive course in developing marketing and management techniques for sport. 5

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The 128th IOC Session will meet from 31st July to 3rd August in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, where, among other issues to be discussed, they will vote for either Beijing or Almaty to stage the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and choose the host of the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, with Brasov, Romania and Lausanne, Switzerland the candidates.

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Hosting A

Louisville, USA Louisville, Kentucky is set to host a new WTA Tour event from 2016. Taking place between 22nd and 28th August 2016, the week prior to the US Open, the tournament will feature 32 entrants playing on a hardcourt surface. The site of the event is not yet known but the Louisville Professional Tennis LLC has said it is planning a new stadium complex. B

Ireland The 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup is to be held in Ireland, after the tournament was brought forward a year to avoid clashes with the Women’s World Cup Sevens series. Group games will be played in Dublin, with the knock-out stages taking place in Belfast, DQG WKH ÀQDO VHW IRU WKH UHYDPSHG 5DYHQKLOO Stadium, home to Ulster Rugby.

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Milan, Italy Milan’s Mediolanum Forum will host an intercontinental basketball match on 6th October, when 17-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champions the Boston Celtics travel to play 26-time Italian league champions Olimpia Milano as part of NBA Global Games Europe 2015. The Celtics previously played in Milan in 2012. D

Doha, Qatar The Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) has agreed a deal with Dorna Sports, the promoter of MotoGP, to keep a race in the country for another 10 years. The Qatar Grand Prix at the Losail International Circuit has been the MotoGP season opener since 2007, and will now remain as such until 2026.

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UAE Former West Indies batsman Brian Lara and the great Pakistani fast bowler Wasim $NUDP DUH DPRQJ WKH KLJKHVW SURÀOH SOD\HUV WR KDYH EHHQ FRQÀUPHG IRU WKH UAE’s inaugural Masters Champions League T20 cricket tournament, set to take place in February 2016. Six teams will enter the competition, and all players must be retired from international cricket. F

Shanghai, China 6KDQJKDL FRXOG EH WKH ÀUVW &KLQHVH WHDP to enter the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) as it looks to expand into Asia. The Russia-based KHL has added teams from eastern and central Europe, but new president Dmitry Chernyshenko believes a potential winter Olympics in Beijing could offer the opportunity for growth in China. SportsPro Magazine | 29

MINI INSIGHTS | HORSE RACING/FEDERATIONS/OLYMPICS

$PHULFDQ 3KDURDK RZQHUV FDVK LQ American Pharoah became only the 12th horse in history – and the Ă€ UVW LQ \HDUV ² WR ZLQ WKH SUHVWLJLRXV Triple Crown in US thoroughbred racing in June. The last horse to win the three Triple Crown events – the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes ² LQ RQH VHDVRQ ZDV $IĂ€ UPHG LQ When Secretariat achieved the feat in D FHOHEUDWRU\ SRVWDJH VWDPS ZDV produced to mark the occasion. For American Pharoah, owned by the Zayat Stables, the level of commercialisation following the historic win was far more advanced. Even before the 2015 racing season began, the colt’s stud rights were sold to the Coolmore breeding operation for around US$20 million. After winning WKH Ă€ UVW WZR OHJV RI WKH 7ULSOH &URZQ =D\DW KLUHG WKH /HYHUDJH $JHQF\ WR Ă€ QG sponsorship and merchandise deals for WKH KRUVH DKHDG RI WKH Ă€ QDO UDFH Sponsorship deals with private jet membership company Wheels Up and 0RQVWHU (QHUJ\ ² D Ă€ UVW LQ KRUVH UDFLQJ

American Pharoah completed the prestigious Triple Crown in June with victory in the Belmont Stakes

– were signed in the days preceding the Belmont Stakes, while a licensing deal with Fanatics was put in place. Post-win, Fanatics has been marketing commemorative American Pharoah-

branded hats and T-shirts, while dirt from the Belmont Park track can be bought IRU 86 SHU EDWFK )XUWKHU OLFHQVLQJ deals have been struck with All Pro Championships and Steiner Sports.

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Marius Vizer (second on the left) resigned as president of SportAccord, but refused to go quietly

Marius Vizer has resigned as president of SportAccord. His decision comes just weeks after his sensational and public criticism of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – and, in particular, its president Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 recommendations – in his opening address at the SportAccord 30 | www.sportspromedia.com

Convention in Sochi, Russia, in April. The aftermath of Vizer’s speech saw Olympic federation after Olympic federation announce its suspension or withdrawal from SportAccord, starting with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the International Shooting Sport Federation

(ISSF). With more than 20 bodies having cut or suspended their ties with SportAccord – the union for Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations – the announcement of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) of its suspension on 31st May appeared the Ă€ QDO VWUDZ IRU 9L]HU 7KH ),$6 ZDV WKH Ă€ UVW QRQ 2O\PSLF IHGHUDWLRQ WR VXVSHQG its SportAccord membership. Vizer, who will retain the presidency of the International Judo Federation (IJF), wrote in his SportAccord resignation announcement of ‘courage’ at standing up for one’s principles, while citing a ‘a dirty game, with huge stakes’ on the dark side of the international sports movement. In the days following his departure, Vizer sent a coruscating open letter to Francesco Ricci Bitti, president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), as a response to the Italian’s criticism of Vizer’s ‘misplaced’ remarks about the international federations.

7RN\R WR XQYHLO HYHQWV VKRUWOLVW

The baseball/softball bid for inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is considered the favourite

The make-up of the sporting programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will move closer to completion when the Additional Event Programme 3DQHO FRQĂ€UPV WKH ,QWHUQDWLRQDO Federations (IFs) shortlisted to submit additional disciplines. Following International Olympic Committee (IOC)

president Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 reforms in December 2014, the hosts of the 2020 Games may include one or more extra events. The organisers were due to reveal their shortlist on 22nd June, from among the 26 formal applications made before the 12th June deadline. The baseball/softball pitch

is considered the overwhelming favourite, given the sports’ popularity in Japan. The two now share a federation but failed in a joint bid to return to the Olympic programme in 2013. Squash, karate, wushu, sport climbing, roller sports and wakeboard – all of which have submitted bids – also missed out two years ago. The other sports up for consideration DUH $PHULFDQ IRRWEDOO QHWEDOO VXUĂ€QJ ZDWHUVNL GDQFHVSRUW Ă RRUEDOO Ă \LQJ GLVF korfball, orienteering, polo, racquetball, tug of war, underwater sports, air sports, billiards, bowls, bowling, bridge, chess, and sumo. The shortlist will be drawn up by the seven-strong Additional Event Programme Panel, with those IFs invited to submit further details and make a presentation before the panel makes its recommendations to the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee. The IOC will PDNH WKH Ă€QDO GHFLVLRQ EDVHG RQ WKH ORFDO RUJDQLVHUV¡ SURSRVDOV DW LWV WK 6HVVLRQ in Rio in August 2016.

'XWFK OHDYH (XURSHDQ *DPHV LQ GRXEW In a blow to the European Olympic Committee (EOC), the Netherlands withdrew from its FRPPLWPHQW WR KRVW WKH (XURSHDQ Games less than a month after being formally announced by EOC president Pat Hickey as the setting for the second edition of the Games, and just two days before the opening ceremony of the inaugural event in Baku. The Netherlands had stood as the only formal bidder in the process, but in an DERXW WXUQ LW FLWHG LQVXIÀFLHQW EDFNLQJ DW local, provincial and national level to put up the near-₏60 million costs involved in hosting the event. Concerns were also raised over the lack of top-class athletes likely to compete due to timetabling clashes with the world championships for the draw-card swimming and athletics disciplines – concerns which also dogged the 2015 event, which only offered a junior swimming competition and a meeting of teams in the third-tier of European athletics.

The Baku European Games are now underway, but the next event in four years time is under threat

The likes of Istanbul and Mersin in Turkey, along with Kazan and Sochi in Russia, are rumoured to be interested LQ Ă€OOLQJ WKH SRVLWLRQ YDFDWHG E\ WKH 1HWKHUODQGV +LFNH\ UHPDLQHG FRQĂ€GHQW WKDW D KRVW ZRXOG EH IRXQG IRU D edition. “I have no doubt that we will

be able to present a strong host for WKH (XURSHDQ *DPHV Âľ +LFNH\ said before the Baku Games opened, “but right now our focus remains on ensuring this inaugural edition is the best possible launch pad for Europe’s Ă€UVW FRQWLQHQWDO JDPHV Âľ SportsPro Magazine | 31

MINI INSIGHTS | BASKETBALL

$GLGDV VWHSV RII FRXUW IRU 1LNH DW 1%$ The National Basketball $VVRFLDWLRQ 1%$ FRQĂ€UPHG an eight-year global merchandising and marketing deal with sportswear manufacturer Nike in June. The US FRPSDQ\ ZLOO UHSODFH $GLGDV DV WKH RIĂ€FLDO on-court apparel provider of the league at WKH VWDUW RI WKH 1%$ VHDVRQ LQ an agreement believed to be worth around US$600 million more than the US$400 million Adidas paid last time around. Under Armour was also understood to be in the running for the contract alongside Nike, but Adidas made it known earlier this year that it would not be seeking a renewal to the deal it initially signed in 2006. After Adidas lost its position as the second-largest sports apparel brand in the US last year, marketing chiefs at the German giant decided that the NBA partnership was no longer working. Thomas Van Schaik, Adidas’ outgoing global brand director, shed some light on the company’s motives in an interview with SportsPro at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi in April. “Footwear products are more lucrative WKDQ DSSDUHO SURGXFWV Âľ 9DQ 6FKDLN explained. “Margins are simply higher. The game is about shifting footwear. And individuals shift footwear. Which is why these athlete deals are so fundamental, and why we are switching to more individual contracts in the NBA as opposed to the apparel deal

Nike’s eight-year deal with the NBA is believed to be worth up to a billion dollars in total

with the NBA. That’s that mechanic at work. Which means it makes the footwear market in US sports even more competitive because we are going to be a player. We weren’t a player, with our NFL and NBA deals. Our money was elsewhere. And now we’re saying we want D VLJQLĂ€FDQW VKDUH RI WKH Ă€HOG “We’ve just lost our second place to Under Armour in the US footwear market, and our interpretation is that that was partly due to that phenomenon. ´1%$ SOD\HUV LQĂ XHQFH WKH IRRWZHDU market. You wear basketball shoes as leisure shoes. It’s a streetwear product. 7KH\ DUH VW\OH LFRQV LPPHGLDWHO\ Âľ

Adidas has said it will target more individual athlete endorsements after Nike took over at the NBA

32 | www.sportspromedia.com

Adidas currently has standout endorsement deals with Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose, but with at least US$36 million a year, as well as activation money, freed up after the conclusion of the league deal, the mandate has been set to go large on personal deals. Nike, meanwhile, will now act as the RIĂ€FLDO XQLIRUP SURYLGHU WR ERWK WKH NBA and the National Football League (NFL), effectively replacing Adidas in both deals. Team socks, which were part of the Adidas package, have been removed from the rights Nike has bought. In April, California-based Stance became WKH Ă€UVW RQ FRXUW VRFN SURYLGHU RI WKH NBA. The company will also have the right to use its logo on all on-court sock designs. A marketing partner of the WNBA VLQFH LWV LQFHSWLRQ LQ 1LNH ZLOO QRZ have an expanded presence at WNBA All-Star and other events throughout the VHDVRQ $OVR IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH 1LNH ZLOO become a marketing partner of the NBA Development League. “In Nike, Jordan and Converse we have three of the most connected brands in the world, and look forward to making the global growth of the game a successful strategy for both the NBA DQG 1LNH Âľ VDLG 1LNH SUHVLGHQW DQG FKLHI executive Mark Parker.

THE ANNUAL REPORT 2015

BIDDING, HOSTING, VENUES & LEGACY Examining the role of sport as a major economic driver for cities, regions and countries.

THE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Destinations Report 2015 Middle East

ABU DHABI’S SPORTING STAGE By David Cushnan

As the owner of many of Abu Dhabi’s most prized sports facilities and the operator of many of its most important events, Zayed Sports City has established itself both as a global events hub and a focal point of the community.

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ounded and inaugurated by the 8QLWHG $UDE (PLUDWHV¡ Ă€UVW president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayhan, Zayed Sports City has been a focal point of Abu Dhabi’s sporting landscape since 1980. In the SDVW Ă€YH \HDUV RU VR KRZHYHU QHZ IRFXV KDV EHHQ IRXQG XQGHU WKH RZQHUVKLS RI Abu Dhabi Entertainment Company. =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\¡V FDOHQGDU RI HYHQWV international and local, has expanded DORQJ ZLWK LWV VWDWXV DV RQH RI WKH 0LGGOH East’s premier sports destinations. ´ ZDV DQRWKHU JUHDW \HDU SUREDEO\ WKH EXVLHVW ZH¡YH HYHU KDG Âľ UHSRUWV general manager Barry Bremner. “Our JURZWK IURP D Ă€QDQFLDO SHUVSHFWLYH FRQWLQXHG DQG LW ZDV DERXW SHU FHQW

BUY TODAY

KLJKHU WKDQ :LWKLQ WKDW ZH DOVR DGGHG D QXPEHU RI QHZ IDFLOLWLHV WR WKH FRPSOH[ $W WKH HQG RI WKH \HDU ZH DGGHG D VTXDUH PHWUH SDLQWEDOO SDUN DGGHG JROI VLPXODWLRQ ZLWKLQ WKH WHQQLV FRPSOH[ DQG ZH¡UH MXVW Ă€QLVKLQJ RII DQ LQGRRU GRPH ZKLFK LV DERXW VTXDUH PHWUHV :H¡YH DOVR DGGHG DQRWKHU IRRWEDOO SLWFK WR WKH FRPSOH[ Âľ It is this process of continued expansion DQG FORVH DQDO\VLV RI ZKLFK HYHQWV DQG SDVWLPHV ZLOO WUDQVODWH LQWR LQFUHDVHG UHYHQXH DQG SDUWLFLSDWLRQ WKDW KDV NHSW Zayed Sports City at the forefront of sport LQ $EX 'KDEL RYHU WKH GHFDGHV ERWK DV D national brand-builder on the global stage and as a local, community hub. 2I WKH HVWLPDWHG HYHQWV WKH

IDFLOLW\ KROGV LQ DQ\ JLYHQ \HDU EHWZHHQ DQG DUH ZKDW %UHPQHU GHVFULEHV DV ´PDUTXHH W\SH HYHQWVÂľ OLNH WKH 1LWUR &LUFXV ::( RU WKH DQQXDO 0XEDGDOD World Tennis Championship. “The other SOXV DUH DOO YHU\ ORFDOO\ EDVHG ´(YHQW VSRQVRUV DQG RUJDQLVHUV DUH JHWWLQJ VPDUWHU Âľ KH DGGV ´7KH\ DUH QRW MXVW SXWWLQJ PRQH\ LQWR HYHQWV DQG looking for publicity, they are seeking SURJUDPPHV DQG HYHQWV WKDW KDYH elements that contribute to the health of WKH FRPPXQLW\ Âľ 7KH =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\ RI LV PDGH up of an eclectic mix of facilities. The ,QWHUQDWLRQDO 7HQQLV &HQWUH ZKLFK RSHQHG LQ FRPSULVHV QLQH FRXUWV LQFOXGLQJ D VWDGLXP FRXUW IRU VSHFWDWRUV DQG

Soccer training camps are a vital revenue stream, while 2014 and 2015’s events calendar includes major championships in tenpin bowling and tennis

also consists of four beach tennis and YROOH\EDOO FRXUWV WKUHH EDVNHWEDOO FRXUWV D J\P Ă€WQHVV VWXGLRV VKRSV DQG IRRG RXWOHWV .KDOLID ,QWHUQDWLRQDO %RZOLQJ &HQWUH PHDQZKLOH ZDV EXLOW LQ DQG LV WKH ODUJHVW ERZOLQJ DQG WDEOH VSRUWV YHQXH LQ WKH 0LGGOH (DVW DQG 1RUWK $IULFD UHJLRQ ,W LQFOXGHV IXOO\ HTXLSSHG ODQHV and billiard and table tennis facilities. %RWK YHQXHV KDYH EHHQ SXW WR JRRG XVH RYHU WKH SDVW PRQWKV DQG ZLOO EH WHVWHG DJDLQ WKURXJKRXW WKH International Tennis Centre is the host RI WKH DQQXDO 0XEDGDOD :RUOG 7HQQLV Championship, a three-day exhibition WRXUQDPHQW ZKHUH 1RYDN 'MRNRYLF 5DIDHO 1DGDO $QG\ 0XUUD\ DQG 6WDQ :DZULQND FKRVH WR VWDUW WKHLU VHDVRQV at the turn of the year, and this year DOVR ZLOO LQFOXGH D YLVLW IURP WKH :RUOG :UHVWOLQJ (QWHUWDLQPHQW /LYH WRXU .KDOLID ,QWHUQDWLRQDO %RZOLQJ &HQWUH ZDV WKH KRVW RI WKH 0HQ¡V :RUOG 7HQSLQ %RZOLQJ &KDPSLRQVKLS DQ HYHQW ZKLFK %UHPQHU VD\V ZDV WKUHH \HDUV LQ WKH PDNLQJ DQG UHTXLUHG D PDMRU VSUXFH XS RI WKH EXLOGLQJ 7KH ZRPHQ¡V YHUVLRQ LV D KLJKOLJKW RI =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\¡V FURZGHG HYHQWV FDOHQGDU 7KLV \HDU¡V 0XEDGDOD :RUOG 7HQQLV &KDPSLRQVKLS ZDV D VHOO RXW RYHU DOO three days, but the planning for the next edition has already begun. “The debrief is LPSRUWDQW Âľ %UHPQHU H[SODLQV ´LQ WHUPV RI ZKDW ZRUNHG DQG ZKDW GLGQ¡W ZRUN +H DGGV ´(YHU\ HYHQW ZH GR ZH GR customer satisfaction and customer

VXUYH\V ZKLFK ORRNV DW HYHU\ HOHPHQW RI WKH HYHQW IURP WLFNHWLQJ H[SHULHQFH WR JHWWLQJ DFFHVV LQWR WKH YHQXH KRZ WKH YHQXH ORRNHG FOHDQOLQHVV FDWHULQJ facilities, the price of catering and ticket pricing. We act on the results of these VXUYH\V ZKLFK KDV OHG WR D \HDU RQ \HDU LPSURYHPHQW LQ RXU VDWLVIDFWLRQ OHYHOV Âľ %UHPQHU VD\V UHTXHVWV IRU FRUSRUDWH HYHQWV DFURVV D UDQJH RI VSRUWV KDYH LQFUHDVHG DQG WKDW DURXQG SHU FHQW RI DWWHQGDQFH DW WKH YHQXH FRPHV IURP GDLO\ WUDIĂ€F ZKLOH HYHQW DWWHQGDQFH DFFRXQWV for the rest. $ IXUWKHU FRQVLVWHQW UHYHQXH VWUHDP LV SURYLGHG E\ WKH (XURSHDQ VRFFHU FOXEV DQG LQWHUQDWLRQDO VRFFHU WHDPV ZKR YLVLW =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\ IRU ZLQWHU WUDLQLQJ or pre-tournament camps. “They’re a NH\ FRPSRQHQW Âľ %UHPQHU VD\V ´:H¡YH UHDFKHG WKH VWDJH QRZ ZKHUH ZH¡UH DFWXDOO\ WXUQLQJ WHDPV DZD\ Âľ $URXQG teams, predominantly from England’s Premier League or Germany’s Bundesliga, KHOG FDPSV DW WKH YHQXH LQ SOD\LQJ RQ SLWFKHV ZKLFK KDYH EHHQ VSHFLDOO\

Zayed Sports City’s world-class tennis facilities

WHVWHG DQG YHULĂ€HG WR PHHW )LID VWDQGDUGV DQG IRU ZKLFK =D\HG 6SRUWV &LW\ KDV UHFHLYHG ZLGHVSUHDG SUDLVH 0RUH JHQHUDOO\ WKH HYHQWV FDOHQGDU IRU LQFOXGHV SOHQW\ RI WKH ´UHSHDW EXVLQHVVÂľ ZKLFK %UHPQHU VD\V LV YLWDO QRW RQO\ IRU UHDVRQV RI UHYHQXH EXW DOVR WR instil a sense of consistency for the local SRSXODWLRQ 7KH ::( DQG WKH WHQQLV ZLOO UHWXUQ ZKLOH RQH RIIV OLNH WKH :RUOG *DHOLF *DPHV LQ )HEUXDU\ ZLOO FRPSOHPHQW ORFDO HYHQWV VXFK DV WKH 8$( &URVVĂ€W &KDOOHQJH In the longer-term, Bremner and his team DUH FXUUHQWO\ UHYLVLWLQJ D PDVWHUSODQ IRU H[SDQVLRQ DQG LPSURYHPHQW ZKLFK ZDV FUHDWHG LQ EXW QHYHU H[HFXWHG +H LV also keeping a close eye on other sports and disciplines, trampolining to cite one, that could one day be included as a Zayed Sports City offering. ´:H YHU\ PXFK ORRN WR WKH IXWXUH – looking to add additional partners, LPSURYH RXU FXVWRPHU VHUYLFH DGG QHZ IDFLOLWLHV Âľ %UHPQHU FRQWLQXHV ´<HV ZH KDYH D OHJDF\ DQG ZH VKRXOG UHVSHFW WKDW OHJDF\ EXW ZH VKRXOG EXLOG XSRQ LW DV ZHOO :H GR WKLV E\ GHYHORSLQJ QHZ DWKOHWHV DQG GHOLYHULQJ PRGHUQ KLJK WHFK VHUYLFHV :H KDYH VHYHUDO FDSLWDO SURMHFWV LQ WKH SLSHOLQH WKDW ZH QHHG WR GHOLYHU WKLV \HDU )RU PH LV DERXW FDSLWDOLVLQJ RQ WKH IDFLOLWLHV ZH KDYH ,W¡V DERXW WKH Ă€QH GHWDLOV RI UXQQLQJ WKH IDFLOLW\ ² WKH customer interaction and client satisfaction HOHPHQW ZKLFK ZH FRQVWDQWO\ ZRUN RQ 0\ VXFFHVV ZRXOG EH JHWWLQJ DOO RI WKH YHU\ YHU\ VPDOO GHWDLOV FRUUHFW Âľ

32 | www.sportspromedia.com

The Destinations Report 2015 | 33

Destinations Report 2015 Asia-PaciďŹ c

THE SHOW NEVER STOPS By David Cushnan

Two World Cups and a return visit from the Volvo Ocean Race fleet are the highlights of Auckland’s 2015 calendar, but they are but one element of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development’s well-established, well-honed events strategy.

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ith a population of just 1.4 million, Auckland doesn’t make it onto the list of the world’s largest cities, but New Zealand’s biggest certainly punches well above its weight when it comes to bidding for and staging major events. As 2015 began, it was poised to welcome the Cricket World Cup and, in June, the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Volvo Ocean Race, meanwhile, was due to make a return visit in late February for a 17-day stopover. Combined with an annual V8 Supercars date (the ITM500 Auckland) and the recently-launched Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines, which sees every team in Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) make the short hop to New Zealand to compete in a nine-aside tournament, plus a multitude of non-sport and community-focused projects, Auckland’s event strategy has long been regarded as one of the most sophisticated on the planet. Since 2010, the city’s events acquisition arm has been part of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), an organisation formed when eight council bodies were amalgamated into one ‘super council’. It was one of several new bodies created as part of the administrative changes and was immediately thrust into action as Auckland staged 15 of the 48 matches at the Rugby World Cup 2011. Major events planning, tourism and wider economic development now fall under the ATEED umbrella. The approach to major event bidding, acquisition and hosting has been honed

ever since, event by event. In 2014, that translated into a dual approach: international events designed to drive tourism and stimulate the economy, and domestic events with a more local and community focus. “For us, we have a consistent approach ZKHUH ZH FRQVLGHU YHU\ VSHFLĂ€F DWWULEXWHV for the hosting of both major sporting and non-sporting eventsâ€?, explains Rakel Liew, ATEED’s general manager of major events, who joined the organisation in December 2013. “But because we take a whole-of-portfolio approach when it comes to measuring our outcomes, each type of event may contribute in a different way towards achieving targetsâ€? “To provide some examples, cultural events like the Auckland Diwali Festival, $XFNODQG /DQWHUQ )HVWLYDO DQG 3DVLĂ€ND >D FHOHEUDWLRQ RI 3DFLĂ€F ,VODQG FXOWXUH@ capture the attention of the diverse Auckland audience and contribute towards our liveability targets. We FDQ JHQHUDWH VLJQLĂ€FDQW *'3 LPSDFW through concerts and business events. In WHUPV RI LQWHUQDWLRQDO SURĂ€OH VSRUWLQJ events tend to be the best way to achieve our targets. Obviously we always try to make sure we have balance in the portfolio and that all events held in Auckland are relevant to our city.â€? Auckland is one of 14 host cities for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, played across Australia and New Zealand. The responsibility for securing the event sat with the central governments and cricket bodies of New Zealand and Australia; ATEED then led on the process to secure four matches during the

Auckland will welcome back the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015, an event which is designed to showcase the city’s harbour and marine sector

tournament at the city’s 48,000-capacity Eden Park, including a clash between WKH FR KRVWV DQG RQH RI WKH VHPL Ă€QDOV Liew says there are many ways in which Auckland can optimise the opportunities of playing host to one of the largest sporting events of 2015. “What it does present is a very good platform to collaborate with the other cities and at the same time work on attracting more people to Auckland. “Our plan is to activate across the tournament as a whole, not just during the Auckland games, to showcase the city to the world and reinforce our brand positioning, because the world will be watching us.â€? Liew adds that opportunities exist to showcase the city to business leaders

We ensure that every year we have events that globally reinforce our positioning.

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and to “demonstrate strength as one of the leading cities around the regionâ€? throughout the tournament. That is consistent with Auckland’s positioning for the Rugby World Cup 2011. The elongated format of the Cricket World Cup – the tournament begins on Valentine’s Day and does not conclude until the end of March – means that EHWZHHQ WKH Ă€UVW JDPH DQG WKH Ă€QDO WKH

�

9ROYR 2FHDQ 5DFH Ă HHW ZLOO KDYH DUULYHG in Auckland, spent 17 days there and left, bound for the Brazilian coastal resort of ItajaĂ­. The race came to Auckland, a city sometimes nicknamed the City of Sails, during its 2011/12 edition, a stopover so successful that ATEED promptly signed up not only for 2014/15 but also the next event, in 2017/18. Again, there are VSHFLĂ€F UHDVRQV IRU GRLQJ VR

“We have been very deliberate in looking at the race as a catalyst for Auckland’s marine sector,� Liew explains. “To a great extent, it’s about showcasing our harbour, our marinas, and our marine expertise. The success of 2012 did not just capture the attention of New Zealanders who have a passion for sailing, it also reinforced the position of Auckland as a destination for all things marine and for a return of the Volvo Ocean Race stopover.� This year’s stopover, which begins on 27th February, is scheduled to be longer than in 2011/12, allowing for more footfall in the race village. “We’re anticipating about 400,000 people to come through the race village,� suggests Liew.

50 | www.sportspromedia.com

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INSIGHT | AGENCIES

WPP acquires Two Circles and forges new agency offering By James Emmett

G

roupM, global marketing giant WPP’s media investment management company, acquired London-based sports data marketing agency Two Circles in May, and rolled it into a new global agency brand called ESP. ESP will consist of two separate businesses – ESP Properties and (63 %UDQG ² DQG ZLOO EH *URXS0¡V Ă€UVW company dedicated to serving sports and entertainment rights holders. ESP Properties will ‘offer a thorough assessment of commercial programmes, and advise how to grow the revenue they generate through a full range of services across data, digital and content development. It will also offer global partnership sales on behalf of rights holders, both to existing WPP brand clients and beyond.’ GroupM-owned, Chicago-based sponsorship agency IEG will also be rolled into ESP Properties, which will launch with over 150 staff in hubs across New York, Chicago, London and Singapore, plus additional teams in Los Angeles, SĂŁo Paulo and Dubai. Existing clients include Spanish soccer club Valencia and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) – both long-term Two Circles clients – as well as New Zealand’s national rugby union team, the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers, Brazilian former soccer star PelĂŠ, and City Football Group, the Abu Dhabi-backed suite of soccer teams led by Premier League side Manchester City. ESP will work closely with Bruin Sports, the George Pyne-run organisation that recently secured investment from WPP, to provide its clients with media and sponsorship opportunities. John Kristick, global chief executive of GroupM since 2011, will continue to lead the business in its new guise. Jonathan Hill will lead in the EMEA region, while Laren Ukman will do so in North America, along with Jin-Wei Toh in the $VLD 3DFLĂ€F UHJLRQ 34 | www.sportspromedia.com

Matt Rogan, the chief executive of Two Circles, and the ESP global chief executive, John Kristick

ESP Brands will be managed regionally in North America by Bryce Townsend and through the individual GroupM agencies in other regions. ´7KHUH LV VLJQLĂ€FDQW DQG JURZLQJ demand on the part of clients to invest more in content and sports but few in our industry have had a serious response to this,â€? said WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell on the occasion of the launch. “Our new ESP Properties will bring creative power and commercial insight to ULJKWV KROGHUV IRU WKH Ă€UVW WLPH SURYLGLQJ unmatched opportunities to better tailor their offerings to the needs of today’s brand sponsors.â€? “ESP Properties provides rights holders around the world with a very powerful combination of strategic services and sales expertise,â€? said Pyne. “The ability to access the group’s unmatched global resources and corporate client base will be very helpful as we create value for the relevant businesses Bruin operates.â€? The acquisition of Two Circles, itself only founded in 2011, came at the end of a hugely competitive process. Speaking to SportsPro in the wake of the announcement, Two Circles chief

executive Matt Rogan, who will retain his position at the agency, explained that he had received “double digitâ€? serious approaches for Two Circles before settling on the WPP proposition. “We were pretty immediately compelled by the vision that the guys at WPP had,â€? Rogan said. “I think the two things that struck us immediately when they talked to us about what they ZHUH ORRNLQJ WR GR ZHUH Ă€UVWO\ EHOLHYLQJ passionately in the opportunity for a sports marketing agency that focused entirely on the rights holder side – and that that could be done with critical mass and international scale. The second thing was to be able to create that with none of the legacy necessities of a sports marketing agency of the past. “Our proposition, which is synthesising and understanding data and helping rights holders monetise and use that to commercial advantage, underpins the three component parts of the ESP Properties offering: consulting, sales and ultimately investment. We didn’t want to be the IXOO\ Ă HGJHG VSRUWV PDUNHWLQJ DJHQF\ DV a whole. Intel don’t make laptops. We wanted to be the analytic power that drives

the best laptop in the world.â€? Although the ESP Properties business is essentially a start-up, it is a start-up with a sizeable number of employees, a global VSUHDG RI RIĂ€FHV DQG DQ H[WDQW FOLHQW EDVH )RU 5RJDQ RQH RI WKH FKLHI EHQHĂ€WV RI bringing his organisation under the WPP umbrella lies in the potential to upscale and globalise the Two Circles operation. For Kristick, who worked for Infront Sports & Media and then helmed USA’s bid for the 2022 Fifa World Cup before joining GroupM in 2011, Two Circles represented WKH Ă€QDO FUXFLDO SLHFH RI D SX]]OH KH KDG been putting together for some time. “Since I joined WPP/GroupM almost four years ago, I had been keeping my eye on the space as it relates to a rights holder-facing type of business, because it really wasn’t something within the group that we had,â€? Kristick told SportsPro. “I started to uncover where a number of really strong existing assets were – things like IEG – and it became clear to me that we could build something that

would be able to compete effectively in this space. But clearly the differentiator is with regard to digital and with regard to understanding the notion of fan engagement and how to monetise those touch points from the rights holder’s perspective, and how that can ultimately be made attractive to commercial partners, whether they be sponsors or something else.� Enter Two Circles. Kristick cited the company’s 2014 triumph in the agency of the year category at the BT Sport Industry Awards as the point when Two Circles’ reputation made it impossible to ignore. “Emails were circling around the group about how this agency really does seem to be quite special,� Kristick said. “They really had a key piece of what I felt our offering needed to include,� he continued, “and it complemented the advisory and consulting teams at IEG, who have really been helping to shape a good part of the sponsorship industry for many years, but where IEG was seeking

Spanish soccer club Valencia are a long-term Two Circles client who will migrate to the new agency

ESP will represent LeBron James’ Cavaliers

to expand a lot was also in that space of digital and CRM capability. IEG are known internationally, but really their home is here in North America, and then you look at Two Circles who have more of a European footprint to start, yet certainly see the capability to expand in other markets, so that also ticks the box of geographically scaling opportunities for both of them when we combine them together. “It provides us with a solid backbone as we look at being able to speak to rights holders across all of their intellectual properties in terms of how we can optimise assets; how we can look to develop new assets; how we can look to package those in more creative ways for potential commercial partners, putting the right price on them and now ultimately taking them to market.� As part of the deal, Rogan will join Kristick on the ESP Properties executive committee. “We’re going to look from day one to integrate their thinking into new business opportunities that ESP Properties are taking to the market, so that we can make sure that the Two Circles capabilities are factored into our offerings,� explained Kristick. “I think for new clients that we’ll be approaching, they will see from day one that the skills and innovation coming from Two Circles are factored into the ESP Properties offering and our outlook towards how we can generate business for properties.� SportsPro Magazine | 35

INSIGHT | SOCCER

Corruption crisis leaves Fifa in limbo The arrest of a troop of senior officials and marketing executives and the impending departure of its longstanding president, Sepp Blatter, has left the future of Fifa in complete uncertainty. Even by recent standards, it has been a tumultuous month for world soccer’s governing body. By Eoin Connolly

F

ifa, the governing body of world soccer, remains at a crossroads after the most dramatic, eventful and controversial month in its modern history. Sepp Blatter is to step down from his role as its president, bringing to an end the reign of one of the most powerful men in global sport. The 79-year-old Swiss, head of the organisation for the past 17 years, announced his decision at a hastily arranged press conference at Fifa headquarters in Zurich on 2nd June, just four days after seeing off the challenge of Jordan Football Association president Prince Ali Bin Al+XVVHLQ WR VHFXUH D Ă€ IWK WHUP LQ RIĂ€ FH ´, KDYH EHHQ UHĂ HFWLQJ GHHSO\ DERXW P\ presidency and about the 40 years in which my life has been inextricably bound to Fifa and the great sport of football,â€? said Blatter. “I cherish Fifa more than anything and I want to do only what is best for Fifa and for football. I felt compelled to stand for reelection, as I believed that this was the best thing for the organisation. That election is over but Fifa’s challenges are not.â€? On announcing his resignation, Blatter asked the Fifa executive committee to arrange an extraordinary congress to elect his successor “at the earliest opportunityâ€?, adding: “This will need to be done in line with Fifa’s statutes and we must allow enough time for the best candidates to present themselves and to campaign.â€? The next ordinary Fifa congress is due to take place on 13th May 2016 in Mexico City. However, Fifa audit and compliance committee chair Domenico Scala has said the election could take place anytime from December of this year to March of next year. 36 | www.sportspromedia.com

A Fifa executive committee meeting has been scheduled for 20th July in Zurich. The dates for the extraordinary elective congress will be set there, with 16th December mooted as a likely date by several media outlets. Prince Ali has stated his intention to stand again for the Fifa presidency, as has former France international David Ginola, who entered the race this time round but dropped out after failing to garner enough support. Liberian FA president Musa Bilaty and Brazilian legend Zico have also steppded forward. Uefa president Michel Platini, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, Kuwaiti powerbroker Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, and South Korea’s Chung Mong-joon are among those to have been mooted as possible contenders, although none has yet formally declared his candidature. Following Blatter’s resignation, Fifa is now expected to enact a series of reforms, including the introduction of WHUP OLPLWV IRU HOHFWHG RIĂ€ FLDOV DQG WKH publication of salaries. Commenting in his resignation statement, Blatter acknowledged Fifa is in need of “a profound overhaulâ€?. “While I have a mandate from the membership of Fifa, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football – the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at Fifa,â€? Blatter added. “Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective congress. I will continue to exercise my functions as Fifa president until that election.â€?

Despite his election victory, Blatter had come under increasing pressure following a dramatic sequence of events that began with the arrest of nine Fifa RIĂ€ FLDOV DPRQJ WKHP FXUUHQW &RQFDFDI president and Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb, at the luxury Baur au Lac hotel on the eve of Fifa’s 65th congress in Zurich. The arrests were made as part of an investigation led by the US Department of Justice and the FBI into the activities of international soccer bodies including Fifa and Concacaf, with senior administrators accused of participating in racketeering and bribery schemes worth US$150 million over 24 years. Announcing the details of the investigation, Loretta Lynch, who became US Attorney General in April, said: “The indictment alleges corruption that is

Recent events have turned Fifa upside-down, and saw the previously untouchable Blatter “laying down his mandate� just days after re-election

rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted both abroad and here in the United States. “It spans at least two generations of VRFFHU RIĂ€ FLDOV ZKR DV DOOHJHG KDYH abused their positions of trust to acquire millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. “It has profoundly harmed a multitude of victims, from the youth leagues and developing countries WKDW VKRXOG EHQHĂ€ W IURP WKH UHYHQXH generated by the commercial rights these organisations hold, to the fans at home and throughout the world whose support for the game makes those rights valuable.â€? $V HDUO\ UHSRUWV RI WKH DUUHVWV Ă€ OWHUHG through the global newswires and across social media, Swiss police also announced a separate investigation into the process by which Russia and Qatar

“The indictment against Fifa alleges corruption that is rampant, systemic, and deep-rooted.â€? were awarded the 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups. Uefa president Michel Platini, who had led calls for Blatter to resign when the arrests were made and supported his presidential rival Prince Ali in the election, welcomed Blatter’s decision to step down. ´,W ZDV D GLIĂ€ FXOW GHFLVLRQ D EUDYH GHFLVLRQ and the right decision,â€? said the Frenchman. Prominent Fifa sponsors also welcomed the news. In a statement Adidas, one of the organisation’s top-tier partners, said: “We

welcome Fifa’s commitment to change. As stated before, the Adidas Group is fully committed to creating a culture that promotes the highest standards of ethics and compliance. Today’s news marks a step in the right direction on Fifa’s path to establish and follow transparent compliance standards in everything they do.� A statement from Coca-Cola said: “We believe this decision will help Fifa transform itself rapidly into a much-needed 21st century structure and institution.� SportsPro Magazine | 37

INSIGHT | SOCCER

Prince Ali of the Jordan FA was defeated by Blatter in the presidential elections, 133 votes to 73

Meanwhile Visa, which had been the PRVW YRFDO RI )LID¡V Ă€YH WRS WLHU SDUWQHUV in its pre-election warnings to the body, VWDWHG ´7KLV LV D VLJQLĂ€FDQW Ă€UVW VWHS towards rebuilding public trust, but more work lies ahead. “We repeat, however, that it is our expectation that Fifa will take swift and immediate steps towards addressing the issues within its organisation to quickly rebuild a culture with strong ethical practices that will restore the reputation of the game for fans around the world.â€? Another party to applaud Blatter’s resignation was FIFPro, the worldwide representative organisation for all professional soccer players. “This creates an overdue and unique opportunity to fundamentally reform the governance of football,â€? the body said in a statement. “The world’s professional footballers, through FIFPro, have a pivotal role to play in the structural overhaul of football. “We are deeply committed to achieving this critical outcome in conjunction with all of the game’s key stakeholders. FIFPro LQVLVWV WKDW RQO\ Ă DZOHVV JRYHUQDQFH ZLOO be acceptable to protect the wellbeing of the players and the integrity of the game.â€? Blatter’s resignation came just hours after Fifa general secretary JĂŠrĂ´me Valcke was linked in reports to a US$10 million bribe made to secure votes for the 2010 World Cup, held in South Africa. Fifa rejected the accusation that Valcke had knowledge of or had allowed the transfer 38 | www.sportspromedia.com

of an illicit payment in 2008 from then South African Football Association 6$)$ SUHVLGHQW 0ROHĂ€ 2OLSKDQW WR Trinidad and Tobago’s Fifa vice president Jack Warner through a Fifa bank account. This was despite the publication of a 2008 letter requesting the payment from 2OLSKDQW¡V RIĂ€FH DGGUHVVHG WR 9DOFNH which was discovered and published by the Press Association chief sports reporter Martyn Ziegler. The publication of the letter had initially cast doubt on Valcke’s future at Fifa, with speculation swirling when it emerged he would not be present at Blatter’s snap press conference, but his position looks relatively secure for the time being. The same cannot be said for Walter De Gregorio, the Fifa director of communications and public affairs who was given the unenviable task of fronting up to the world’s media in the hours after the raid on the Baur au Lac. De Gregorio left his post ‘with immediate effect’ on 11th June, though he will be retained as a consultant

Blatter (right) shakes hands with Domenico Scala

until the end of the year. The change was publicly presented as a resignation but reports indicate that he was forced to step down, in part because of a joke he told about the scandal in a Swiss television interview but also due to criticism of his handling of the affair by key Blatter aides. Tellingly, the tributes to De Gregorio were led not by Blatter, but Valcke. Blatter himself is now reported to be XQGHU LQYHVWLJDWLRQ ZLWK 86 RIĂ€FLDOV quoted in the New York Times saying they hoped to gain the cooperation of some of WKH )LID RIĂ€FLDOV XQGHU LQGLFWPHQW WR WU\ WR build a case against the outgoing president. The FBI investigation, meanwhile, is now said to have expanded to include the 2018 and 2022 bid process, while other reports have indicated misgivings about the award of 1998, 2006 and WRXUQDPHQWV 6FDOD FRQĂ€UPHG in an interview with Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung on 7th June that the award of the next two tournaments could be rescinded in the light of “evidence that the awards to Qatar and Russia came only because of bought votesâ€?. But, he added: “This evidence has not yet been brought forth.â€? In another separate development in the days after Blatter’s announcement John Delaney, the president of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), revealed that Fifa had paid the FAI a â‚Ź5 million settlement to prevent legal action over the Republic of Ireland’s defeat in a qualifying play-off for the 2010 World Cup. The Irish were eliminated following a 2-1 defeat to France in Paris with the second goal, scored by William Gallas, coming after a clear handball by French striker Thierry Henry. A further embarrassment came later in June with the US opening of the Fifa cinematic history, United Passions. Fifa reportedly contributed close to US$25 million of the project’s budget of just XQGHU 86 PLOOLRQ 7KH Ă€OP KDG premiered at the Cannes Film Festival before last year’s World Cup but had SUHYLRXVO\ VWUXJJOHG WR Ă€QG GLVWULEXWRUV LQ key markets for reasons that would soon become clear. Despite the presence of a hitherto respected cast – with Gerard Depardieu playing World Cup inaugurator Jules Rimet, Sam Neill appearing as JoĂŁo Havelange and Tim Roth portraying Sepp Blatter – reviews were almost uniformly

dire. Audiences stayed away, too, as the Ă€ OP WRRN 86 RQ LWV RSHQLQJ ZHHNHQG in America, and a record-low US$918 in total before being pulled from cinemas. Another ongoing sideshow, which has entertained rather more viewers in the US and around the world, has seen the disgraced Warner become embroiled in a spat with the American-based but Britishborn comedian John Oliver, the presenter of HBO’s weekly satirical show Last Week 7RQLJKW 2OLYHU KDV EHHQ D SUROLĂ€ F FULWLF RI Fifa and in June turned his attentions to Warner, even buying airtime on Trinidad and Tobago’s TV6 to call the 72-year-old’s bluff on threats to expose further evidence of corruption. Warner, in turn, issued a rambling monologue on YouTube, set to a dramatic score, decrying the intervention of a “comedian foolâ€? and adding: “It is really incomprehensible how a local TV station, a national TV station, could allow a foreigner, most of all an American foreigner, to come into this country, to embarrass its citizens, to embarrass our people.â€? The episode may have no material importance but it has illustrated the GLIĂ€ FXOW\ )LID KDV LQ EUHDNLQJ FOHDU RI LWV SDVW DQG LQ FRQWUROOLQJ WKH SURĂ€ OH RI Ă€ JXUHV OLNH :DUQHU +LV UHVLJQDWLRQ IURP all soccer administration in the wake of Mohammed Bin Hammam’s tainted 2011 presidential bid has done little to diminish interest in him – or eradicate his PDQ\ KLVWRULF OLQNV WR VHQLRU RIĂ€ FLDOV DQG initiatives throughout the soccer world. The increasingly toxic nature of the Fifa brand has led to inevitable questions about the viability of its sponsorship programme, with the carefully worded statements of public relations departments being heavily scrutinised in the days either side of the election and Blatter’s resignation. That has become a popular media pastime in recent years in the wake of scandals surrounding not only Fifa’s ethical transgressions but also concerns over the plight of migrant workers in Qatar and the foreign and domestic policies pursued by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Patrick Nally, the founder of the West Nally agency who was one of the architects of Fifa’s commercial revival in the 1970s, was circumspect about the prospect of sponsor desertion in an interview with the Financial Times. “Broadcasters and sponsors are not going to be dissuaded from supporting the

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch is heading up the Department of Justice’s investigation into Fifa

World Cup, a massive global event, which will go on and on,â€? he said. Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) marketing director Michael Payne has also noted a tendency to focus too greatly on Fifa’s sponsors. “Technically, Fifa can survive without sponsorship revenue without too much trouble,â€? he told World Football Insider. “The broadcast media revenue is so big. The media is all focused on the sponsors VD\LQJ WKH\ FRQWURO DQG LQĂ XHQFH EXW WKH sponsor revenue is less than 25 per cent.â€? Payne, whose tenure at the IOC included the organisation’s rebound from the scandal surrounding the Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 winter Olympics, also suggested that sponsors were being held to a different standard from other Fifa stakeholders. ´7KH VHFRQG LVVXH ZKLFK , Ă€ QG somewhat hypocritical, is looking at all of the politicians, jumping on the bandwagon saying that Fifa must change, without in any way wanting to condone or defend the practices that have taken place,â€? he argued. “Those same politicians don’t think twice about using billion-dollar trade UXOHV WR LQĂ XHQFH YRWHV IRU PDMRU HYHQWV Look at the billion-dollar deals the French government was striking with Qatar in the days before the vote. “There are a few other issues that need to be looked at as to how votes are SXUFKDVHG DQG LQĂ XHQFHG Âľ Fifa made US$5.7 billion in the four years leading up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, US$1.6 billion of which came from sponsors. US$2.4 billion came

from broadcast revenues. The value of World Cup rights is such that US broadcaster Fox was persuaded to drop its objections to a Qatar tournament in the northern hemisphere winter – in a period which would clash with the National Football League (NFL) season – by an extension of its new deal until after the 2026 competition. Sponsors’ reactions to Fifa’s declining reputation have differed, with global partners Sony and Emirates among those to have chosen not to renew partnerships at the end of 2014. “When unsavoury allegations, such as corruption, are targeted at federations, clubs or individuals within the context of sports sponsorships, more risk-averse sponsors will often swiftly distance themselves in an attempt to protect their reputation and brand,â€? explains Alex Kelham, managing associate in the sports JURXS DW /RQGRQ EDVHG ODZ Ă€ UP /HZLV Silkin. “Fifa has not been immune to this in the past, with Sony indicating that it won’t be renewing its UKÂŁ178 million sponsorship deal. It is unsurprising therefore that the dawn raids led to speculation about the tenability of Fifa’s key sponsorship agreements. “The majority of large sponsorship agreements now include a ‘morality’ or ‘good citizen’ clause that allows the sponsor, and in some cases the rights holder, to end the partnership if they feel the sponsorship is dragging them through the proverbial mud. But while some sponsors may have a legal right to cut ties, actually exercising that right is a big commercial decision. Sports SportsPro Magazine | 39

INSIGHT | SOCCER

sponsorship deals remain lucrative and extremely sought after. The Fifa scandal illustrates that while tarnished individuals may come and go, the passion for and popularity of the sport, which is what the sponsors wish to associate with, will remain strong. As a result, it may be well worth riding out the turbulence.” Kelham points out that Blatter’s popularity in many emerging markets, as well as the lesser coverage the corruption story received outside Europe and the Americas, will have persuaded some

partners to take a more pragmatic view. “The potential for negative association rubbing off on sponsors would have had been far less in emerging markets, such as Africa, where support for Sepp Blatter remained strong,” she adds. “On the other hand, utilising a morality clause and pulling out of a sponsorship agreement might be the business savvy decision for a brand looking to present itself as a moral leader or, perhaps cynically, for a sponsor which was looking for a way out anyway.” For those sponsors who have remained

Timeline 2nd June: Blatter announces intention to resign as president, pending assembly of extraordinary Fifa congress. 3rd June: FBI confirms its investigation is to be expanded to include campaign for 2018 and 2022 World Cups. 26th May: Fifa officials and sports marketing executives arrested on corruption charges in dawn raids at Baur au Lac hotel in Zurich, facing extradition to the US at the request of the FBI. Swiss police confirm investigation into awards of 2018 and 2022 Fifa World Cups. 28th May: Fifa congress opens as scheduled. 29th May: Sepp Blatter re-elected for fifth term as president of Fifa, winning 133 votes to 73 secured by rival Prince Ali of Jordan. 1st June: Fifa ethics committee suspends Concacaf general secretary Enrique Sanz and Congolese Football Association (Fecafoot) officials Jean Guy Blaise Mayolas and Badji Mombo Wantete. New York Times report connects Fifa general secretary Jérôme Valcke with US$10 million payment from South African Football Association to Jack Warner in 2008, which is alleged to have been a bribe. Report is corroborated by letter addressed to Valcke obtained by Press Association’s Martyn Ziegler.

40 | www.sportspromedia.com

10th June: Fifa confirms decision to suspend voting process for 2026 World Cup. Valcke admits to authorising US$10 million payment but denies any wrongdoing. Swiss police retrieve IT data from Fifa headquarters in Zurich. 11th June: Walter De Gregorio leaves role as Fifa director of communications and public affairs. 15th June: Fifa issues statement dismissing claims of former Blatter adviser Klaus Stoehlker that its president could go back on his decision to resign. 20th July: Fifa executive committee meeting to be held in Zurich to confirm date of elective congress. 16th December: Likely date of extraordinary elective congress to choose new president.

Jérôme Valcke remains as general secretary

in place, the departure of Blatter could now provide an opportunity to be part of a more positive story. “The sponsors can now position themselves as companies ready to help Fifa reform and, provided they aren’t themselves implicated as further wrongdoings come to light, the value of their investment may just have increased,” suggests Kelham. “It seems they were right to weather the storm, although increased scrutiny of Qatar 2022 could mean it’s not all plain sailing.” While Fifa’s commercial associates may have been persuaded to wait out the scandal, others have been less forgiving. Interpol received a €20 million gift from Fifa in 2011 at the outset of a ten-year collaboration to combat corruption but it will return around a quarter of that sum – the €3 million as yet unspent from the €11 million received so far – after suspending the partnership. In a move which will be seen as personally damaging to Blatter – who is believed to covet the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in fostering football development and furthering dialogue between the likes of the Israeli and Palestinian soccer bodies ² WKH 1REHO 3HDFH &HQWHU DOVR FRQÀ UPHG it would terminate its association with the Fifa ‘Handshake for Peace’ initiative. In the period before he makes way for a successor, Blatter expects to lead the process of reforming Fifa, making WKDW KLV À QDO OHJDF\ UDWKHU WKDQ WKH FKDRV of recent weeks. In a statement given after a meeting with Scala in Zurich on 4th June, he said: “I am pleased to take advice and guidance from Mr Scala. I want a comprehensive programme of reform and I am very aware that only the Fifa Congress can pass these reforms. Furthermore, the executive committee has a particular duty to share the

responsibility of driving this process.” An image shared on social media also showed Blatter, pen in hand, revealing that he was ‘working hard on reforms’. He is also still expecting to make a trip to the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada, though Valcke has cancelled a planned visit. The Blatter era has been pockmarked by reports of corruption. Two executive committee members – Amos Adamu and Reynald Temarii – were suspended ahead of the vote on the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Presidential rival Mohammed Bin Hammam was expelled from Fifa and given a life ban in 2011. The 2001 collapse of marketing partner International Sport and Leisure (ISL) brought Fifa to its knees; the later discovery that it had been SD\LQJ EULEHV WR )LID RIÀFLDOV LQFOXGLQJ then-president João Havelange, during Blatter’s time as general secretary but without his apparent knowledge, led the authors of an internal 2013 report to describe Blatter as ‘clumsy’. Yet such has been Blatter’s resilience that Scala and Fifa were both moved to dismiss the suggestion of Zurichbased communications consultant Klaus Stöhlker – who advised Blatter on his Fifa presidential campaign – that his resignation could be overturned due to support from Africa and Asia. Though he has made his decision to step down, support for Blatter lingers in pockets throughout the world of soccer. This is largely the result of a reputation for delivering development funds that has grown almost in parallel with innuendo about high-level corruption. %ODWWHU ZDV ÀUVW HOHFWHG WR WKH )LID presidency in 1998 when he defeated Lennart Johansson, the Uefa president of the day, to succeed João Havelange. Before then, he served as the body’s general secretary, a role he took on in 1981 having joined as technical director in 1975. Havelange succeeded England’s Sir Stanley Rous as president after courting the support of emerging soccer nations that had been neglected in previous years, and despite enduring his own allegations of serious corruption, he and Blatter are credited by supporters with turning Fifa into a truly global organisation. It is unclear, as yet, whether Blatter will have the time and the clout remaining to allow a preferred successor to emerge from the pack ahead of the election. Nonetheless,

The arrests

Jack Warner, Eugenio Figueredo and Jeffrey Webb have all been implicated in the scandal

ARRESTED AT BAUR AU LAC

OTHER ARRESTS

Jeffrey Webb – president of Concacaf, Fifa vice president

Jack Warner, the former Concacaf president and Fifa vice president, surrendered himself to police in Trinidad and Tobago.

Eduardo Li – president of Costa Rica Football Federation (Fedefut), memberelect of Fifa executive committee Eugenio Figueredo – Fifa vice president and executive committee member, former president of South American confederation Conmebol Julio Rocha – Fifa development officer Rafael Esquivel – president of the Venezuelan Football Federation José Maria Marin – former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) Costas Takkas – attaché to Jeffrey Webb Alejandro Burzaco – controlling principal of Argentinian sports marketing firm Torneos y Competencias SA Aaron Davidson – president of Traffic Sports USA, chairman of the board of governors of the North American Soccer League (NASL) Hugo and Mariano Jinkis – controlling principals of Argentinian sports marketing firm Full Play Group SA

it is likely that any debate over the future of Fifa will once again be characterised, however accurately, as being between the Eurocentric and globally minded.

Nicolas Leoz, the president of Conmebol until 2013 and a former member of the Fifa executive committee, was placed under house arrest in Paraguay. Former Concacaf general secretary Chuck Blazer, who was arrested and pleaded guilty to a ten-count indictment in 2013, entered into a plea bargain with the American authorities. This included acting as an informant to the FBI and agreeing to pay a fine of at least US$2.5 million, in addition to back taxes he owed, with penalties. Jose Hawila, the founder of Traffic Sports, also pleaded guilty after a prior arrest and agreed to forfeit US$151 million. Brazil’s Federal Police have asked prosecutors to indict Ricardo Teixeira, the former CBF president and Fifa executive committee member, on charges of money laundering and tax evasion, alongside former FC Barcelona president Sandro Rosell. Job titles current as of time of arrest. Several individuals have since been replaced in their roles.

Before that happens, however, there may be more to come in this crisis that plenty had foreseen but that still caught so many unprepared. SportsPro Magazine | 41

COVER STORY | CYCLING

Oleg Tinkov has quickly become one of the most colourful figures in world cycling. The Russian owner of the Tinkoff-Saxo road cycling team is more Richard Branson than Roman Abramovich in his business career. He is a self-publicist and a scandaliser, but underneath the mischief-making lies a steely determination to improve his team and the sport as a whole. By James Emmett

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Oleg Tinkov (front) celebrates Tinkoff-Saxo team’s victory in the 2015 Giro d’Italia, led by Alberto Contador (pictured here holding the trophy)

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COVER STORY | CYCLING

Tinkov takes a hands-on role at races, turning up to support his team – going so far as dying his hair pink to celebrate Contador’s Giro victory

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COVER STORY | CYCLING

Bjarne Riis, former owner of Team Saxo Bank, in 2012, before he was bought out by Tinkov

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Contador and Froome during the Tour de France

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COVER STORY | CYCLING

Tweet when you’re winning “Let them think it’s fake – because it is fake!â€?, Oleg Tinkov says of his often amusing, almost always irreverent Twitter account. A recent exchange with Swiss cycling star Fabian Cancellara gives a avour of his output: Oleg Tinkov

Football : Russia-Austria 0:1 , fuck... this is like I’d drop @f_cancellara on Arenberg forest, insane. Russian National team is a shame Tinkov has proposed rule changes to improve the safety of riders and prevent crashes such as this one

Fabian Cancellara

@olegtinkov little note for you. Austria football team has even a suisse #MarcelKoller

Oleg Tinkov

@f_cancellara swiss is quality by default )) Italian Fabio Capello had an epic fail with Prussians though

“I don’t have a lot of time to watch TV, so I don’t see any comedy on TV,� says Tinkov, explaining his approach to Twitter. “I don’t see stand-up comedy. I have no time for humour, so sometimes I have to do it myself on Twitter. Unfortunately, some people don’t get it and they’re too serious. I feel sorry for them. “What? they think that if a guy has US$1 billion or something, he needs to be serious all day? It’s not the case and I’m just having fun.�

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FEATURE | CYCLING

50 | www.sportspromedia.com

NEW CYCLE Brian Cookson swept to victory at the 2013 UCI presidential election on a ticket of change. Just over 18 months in, he reflects on a tenure that has been characterised by a landmark investigation into the sport’s recent past, and a consultative approach to leadership that should result in the rubberstamping of structural reform at the top end of professional cycling. By James Emmett. Photographs by Tom Lakeman.

SportsPro Magazine | 51

FEATURE | CYCLING

B

rian Cookson’s presidential election victory in September 2013 ushered in a new era for cycling. The Briton, who defeated Irish incumbent Pat McQuaid in a vote at the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) Congress in Italy that year, moved from his British Cycling base in Manchester to the global governing body’s headquarters in Switzerland and began his process of change immediately. Under his reign, his manifesto had decreed, the UCI would become a more professional and more transparent organisation, and, in order to rid the sport of its doping demons, cycling’s chequered recent past would be confronted head-on. First on Cookson’s to-do list was to bring in some key allies. He appointed his trusted lieutenant, British Cycling’s policy and legal affairs director Martin Gibbs, as the UCI’s new director general; retained the services of Vero Communications, the agency that had masterminded his presidential campaign; and smoothed the way for key UCI employees to get on board or ship out. “The hard decisions were taken right at WKH VWDUW Âľ VD\V &RRNVRQ UHĂ HFWLQJ RQ WKH Ă€UVW PRQWKV RI KLV SUHVLGHQF\ LQ DQ April interview with SportsPro. “We changed the director general and we changed the OHJDO FRXQVHO VWUDLJKW DZD\ ,Q WKH Ă€UVW ZHHN )URP WKDW RWKHU WKLQJV Ă RZHG :H KDG some adjustments, some new appointments, some people have been promoted within the organisation. We’ve brought in some good new people. Seb [Gillot, who joined from boxing’s global governing body as head of communications in April 2014] is one of them, of course. “This strange thing I read the other day about a climate of fear within the organisation – I don’t think that’s true. After I’ve gone you can ask Seb if it is! ,Q DQ\ RUJDQLVDWLRQ LQ DQ PRQWK two-year period, you get some natural turnover. When you have a change of leadership at the top of the organisation, that process is accelerated. And people would have been surprised if we hadn’t brought in new people in new positions.â€? The “strange thingâ€? Cookson had read was in fact a letter to the UCI management committee, published in full by a Belgian newspaper, from former UCI president Hein Verbruggen. Unhappy with the Ă€QGLQJV RI WKH &\FOLQJ ,QGHSHQGHQW 52 | www.sportspromedia.com

Reform Commission (CIRC) report – an investigation launched by Cookson into cycling’s nefarious recent history – Verbruggen believes that Cookson is on something of a witch hunt. The CIRC report – compiled by an independent three-man commission – found no evidence to prove that the UCI had deliberately covered up a positive test from Lance Armstrong at the 2001 7RXU GH 6XLVVH LQ H[FKDQJH IRU D ÀQDQFLDO donation from the American. However, it did condemn Verbruggen, who was president of the UCI from 1991 to 2005 and retains honorary presidency today, and his leadership, citing numerous examples that prove that Armstrong EHQHÀWWHG IURP WKH SUHIHUHQWLDO WUHDWPHQW from the UCI.

“We will try to have a structure that defends the heritage but that seeks new opportunities in new territories where the economy is strong enough and people are interested.â€? At the time of writing, Verbruggen is believed to be considering legal action against the UCI, and the words of his April letter were certainly incendiary. ‘It is well known that the atmosphere in the 8&, RIĂ€FHV LV DW DQ DOO WLPH ORZ WKDW WKHUH is a climate of fear,’ Verbruggen wrote, adding that ‘the UCI’s image at the level of the Professional Teams and Organizers has seriously been damaged over the past 19 months as a result of a Cookson policy that drifts from left to right and is characterized by a total lack of decisions. I have been told by a number of you that also the Board is only too aware of this.’ For his part, Cookson refuses to be drawn into a public slanging match. ‘I think Mr Verbruggen’s letter speaks for itself,’ he said in a statement at the time.

‘Those who have read the CIRC report will understand where the UCI went ZURQJ LQ WKH SDVW LQFOXGLQJ WKH FRQĂ LFWV it needlessly got into and which seriously damaged its credibility. I was elected to change the way the UCI conducts itself and I won’t be drawn into this kind of SXEOLF FRQĂ LFW ¡ During this interview, the only reference Cookson will make to Verbruggen’s complaint is in his description of the letter as a “strange thing.â€? He is, however, certainly prepared to defend the credibility of the CIRC report, which is a landmark of his presidency so IDU 7KH SDJH GRVVLHU ZDV FRPSLOHG RQ WKH EDFN RI Ă€QGLQJV PDGH E\ 'U 'LFN Marty, a former Swiss state prosecutor; Ulrich Haas, an expert in anti-doping laws; and Peter Nicholson, a former PLOLWDU\ RIĂ€FHU ZKR VSHFLDOLVHV LQ FULPLQDO investigations. The commission conducted a 13-month investigation, which was funded by the UCI, and undertook 174 interviews with UCI personnel, teams, federations, doctors, riders and former riders, sponsors, event organisers and journalists. The dossier was published in its entirety in March and stirred headlines, not least through the words of one anonymous interviewee who claimed that 90 per cent of the current professional peloton is still doping. “I think there are some things in the report that people aren’t happy with; some things that people are happy with,â€? &RRNVRQ UHĂ HFWV ´2Q EDODQFH LW¡V DQ independent report; it demonstrates that we absolutely lived up to the commitment that we publish what they gave us. We haven’t – I haven’t – interfered in any way at all. “When I look at it, I think there are things that many of us wish it hadn’t said – for instance, the quote about 90 per cent of cyclists still doping. But I think to be fair to the authors, they put that in a context quite clearly, but when the media picked up on it they didn’t put it in any sort of context. That’s part of the rationale of the doper – I’m still doing it because they’re all still doing it as well. I think we can all of us put that in context but I think we’d all have preferred if that wasn’t there or if it had been attributed. ´%XW HYHQ LI WKH Ă€JXUH ZDV WHQ RU per cent, there’s still 20 guys lining up at the Tour de France who are doping, and that’s still far too many. What’s really interesting is that this is not a

UCI president Brian Cookson, pictured at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi on Tuesday 21st April

SportsPro Magazine | 53

FEATURE | CYCLING

Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen has claimed a ‘climate of fear’ is developing within the body

problem that’s gone away. It’s changed and morphed into something else. It’s gone underground. I’m convinced that there are a large number of riders now competing cleanly and within the rules. But equally I’m convinced that there are a given number – I don’t know how many ² ZKR DUH WU\LQJ WR Ă \ ORZHU XQGHU WKH radar. The current situation, set out in the CIRC report, is that it is now possible to win the biggest races without doping, and there is evidence for that. “That doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there still doping,â€? he adds. “There are. But we’re catching them, and where we’re not catching them, we’re lowering the possibility of them having a major LQĂ XHQFH RQ HYHQWV , UHDG WKLQJV RQ WKH internet with people making all sorts of bizarre accusations, but I don’t think there are miraculous new substances or methods out there that aren’t detectable. I think the kinds of things that worry me more are the old methods, and the old practitioners of those methods who have gone underground.â€? Cookson is talking to SportsPro at the SportAccord Convention in Sochi in April. Marius Vizer, then president of SportAccord, had just stirred up a major controversy in the world of global sports politics by attacking International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach in his opening address, two days before this interview takes place. Cookson can empathise with Bach. The Briton has been on the sharp end of Vizer’s tongue before. In an 54 | www.sportspromedia.com

interview with the Press Association at the SportsPro Live conference in March 2014, Cookson had suggested that one idea to free up some space in the summer Olympic Games programme would be to move some indoor summer sports – and he name-checked track cycling and judo as two of them – to the winter version in the interests of balance. Vizer, who is also president of the International Judo Federation (IJF), was not amused. “I have always admired British humour and I can say now that certainly the UCI president is not lacking it,� Vizer said. “As a new president of an international federation, I wish Mr Cookson good luck and I am available anytime to support him in better understanding the world sports movement and in avoiding press communications at times when he actually does not have any message to transmit.� Cookson has clearly learned from that exchange. Despite the schadenfreude he’d be forgiven for feeling, he does not give in to the temptation to feed Vizer’s advice back to him via this interview. “I don’t want to get into a spat with Mr Vizer,� he says. “The Olympic movement has gone through a process for Agenda 2020. The federations were involved. Some people might not like some of the outcomes from it but I think to force that kind of confrontation is not the best way forward. “Within the Olympic movement there are problems of capacity, numbers and costs. Those can’t be resolved by dispute; they have to be addressed by discussion, debate and consensus

building. Sometimes we have to give a little to gain a little. There’s no reason why SportAccord can’t be anything other than a collaborative association of international federations, working to the PXWXDO EHQHĂ€W RI 2O\PSLF DQG QRQ Olympic sports. But if the president of 6SRUW$FFRUG ZDQWV WR KDYH D Ă€JKW ZLWK the president of the IOC, that’s just not going to help anybody.â€? Management via consensus-building – straightforward diplomacy – is ingrained in Cookson’s leadership style. It represents something of a change from his predecessors in the UCI’s top job. Verbruggen and McQuaid were both HQRUPRXVO\ UHVSHFWHG Ă€JXUHV LQ 2O\PSLF circles, but they tended to exercise their power more absolutely than Cookson now does within the cycling world. As a consequence, Cookson’s tenure so far has not been characterised by the type of public spats that pockmarked the reigns of those before him. This type of approach, favouring compromise over dictatorship, has won Cookson support across many facets of cycling’s mish-mash group of stakeholders – riders, teams, sponsors, broadcasters, fans, and event organisers. Serge Arsenault is one such stakeholder. Arsenault is the owner of Groupe Serdy, the organisation that runs the only two North American races – the GP Cyclistes Montreal and Quebec – currently on the top-level WorldTour calendar. A veteran race organiser, and a broadcaster and broadcast executive by trade, Arsenault has played a key role in a set of discussions that should lead to the reform of the professional road cycling circuit, its team structure and global calendar. Instigated by McQuaid, these discussions have dragged on into Cookson’s presidency, and have struggled with numerous setbacks as each stakeholder group attempts to look after its own interests. Although precise details of the discussions have never been published, a new WorldTour calendar has been imagined, with two races never held at the same time, and cycling’s three three-week grand tours cut down in size. The number and size of the WorldTour WHDPV ² FXUUHQWO\ WHDPV ZLWK D VTXDG limit of 30 riders – is also expected to change. A salary cap and serious rule

Women of the road

W

hether by accident RU GHVLJQ WKH Ă€UVW PRQWKV RI Brian Cookson’s presidency have coincided with a surge in the opportunities available to toplevel female cyclists. Last year saw the inaugural editions of the Women’s Tour of Britain, and La Course by Le Tour GH )UDQFH ERWK RI WKHP KLJK SURĂ€OH events in their own right. Tangentially, there has also been a shift of attitude towards the chauvinistic trappings that have historically come with cycling events. An advert – featuring a cyclist’s hands reaching to pinch a woman’s rear – for this year’s E3 Harelbeke race, a WorldTour event in Belgium, was roundly condemned. So too was the ill-judged podium ceremony at the Lotto Cycling Cup, a women’s race in the same country, which saw the winners of the race Ă DQNHG E\ IRXU ELNLQL FODG ÂśSRGLXP JLUOV¡ “One of the things I was very keen to do as quickly as possible was to put women’s cycling in the hands of women who knew what was needed – with some men as well, of course,â€? explains Cookson. “We established a women’s commission. We have now WKH Ă€UVW IHPDOH YLFH SUHVLGHQW RI WKH UCI in Tracey Gaudry, and we have changes in the interests of rider safety are also understood to have been discussed. Through the fug of the setbacks and the squabbling, Arsenault believes there is a clear end in sight to the debate, and LV FRQĂ€GHQW &RRNVRQ DQG WKH 8&, ZLOO be in a position to roll out changes well in advance of the 2017 season for which they are slated. “Mr Cookson and Martin Gibbs understand what is going on,â€? Arsenault says. “We have to think about what cycling needs, and if we succeed in bringing the cycling world where it should EH WKHQ HYHU\RQH ZLOO EHQHĂ€W ² ULGHUV teams, UCI, even the Tour de France. “We won’t change the order of things. Wimbledon will always be Wimbledon. The Monaco Grand Prix will always be the Monaco Grand Prix. I fully agree with that. We need that. But we need the

The UCI is working to build greater coherence into the global women’s road racing calendar

at least one woman on every specialist discipline at the UCI. They’re not there as token women, they’re there because they’re knowledgeable, they’re expert and they contribute. “We’ve made investments in broadcasting the Women’s World Cup on our YouTube channel; we’re helping HYHQW SURPRWHUV E\ ORRNLQJ DW Ă H[LELOLW\ in the calendar – and I think already LQ WKH Ă€UVW \HDU ZRPHQ¡V F\FOLQJ KDV developed very strongly. Some great events came along like La Course and the women’s tour in Britain. All of those things are coming together really well.

“So we’re helping the sport grow. We’re looking at restructuring the calendar, allowing it to grow incrementally, in a sustainable way. And I think we’ll have something in a couple of years that’s the equivalent of the WorldTour for women – a combination of one-day races and stage races. And I think we can then look at having a different structure for the teams; encouraging a more professionalism, more sponsorship, and get ourselves into a situation where we can make sure that more women are paid properly for their endeavours.�

full collaboration with an open mind of ASO. And I believe they will collaborate. , KDYH ORWV RI FRQĂ€GHQFH LQ WKHVH SHRSOH No-one will win on every little aspect of what they would like to have. That’s normal. I’m sure that by 2017 the reform will be in place. It’s maybe cycling’s last chance to be where it belongs. We are all business people. “The next three months will be really, really important. By the next world championships in Richmond, USA, I believe most of the big issues will be solved. We have to do it. We have to stop competing between ourselves. Our real competitors are the other sports that take airtime and sponsors.â€? Cookson, too, is aware that the time for talking is almost over. “We’re looking at something that is less UHVWULFWLYH WKDQ WKH Ă€UVW VHW RI SURSRVDOV

that go back to before my presidency,â€? he explains. “I can’t really say any more than that, but I’m hoping that by early June we’ll have agreed with the Pro Cycling Council and the stakeholders group and that by the end of June we’ll have cleared it with the management committee and we’ll hopefully make some sort of announcement around Tour de France time about the future for 2017 and beyond. “We’ve done a lot of talking here,â€? he adds, explaining the delays, “and I was very DQ[LRXV WR DYRLG JHWWLQJ LQWR D FRQĂ LFW situation again between ASO and the teams, between ASO and the UCI, etc. So we’ve had people round the table; we’ve had our so-called stakeholders meetings at different levels, different frequencies. I think we’re close to something that’s going to be acceptable and take the sport SportsPro Magazine | 55

FEATURE | CYCLING

The Germans are back

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idway through the 2014 Tour de France, the second-tier NetAppEndura team announced it had signed a new title sponsor. %DYDULDQ Ă€UP %RUD ² D PDQXIDFWXUHU RI cooktops and cooktop extractor systems ZKLFK GLVWULEXWHV LWV SURGXFWV LQ European countries, plus Australia and 1HZ =HDODQG ² KDG VLJQHG D Ă€YH \HDU FRQWUDFW PDUNLQJ WKH Ă€UVW WLPH VLQFH 2010 that a German professional team has had a German title sponsor. As of the beginning of 2015, the team has been known as Bora-Argon :LOOL %UXFNEDXHU WKH IRXQGHU DQG chief executive of Bora, explained the thinking behind the deal.

Why sign a title sponsorship deal with a cycling team?

I founded the company in 2007, so we’ve had only seven years. We produce cook tops and down-draft systems, nothing else. At the moment we have a product that everyone needs to create a kitchen. Our down-draft systems are better than every competitor’s, especially in the markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands; there, we have almost every premium kitchen dealer using Bora more or less daily. But we don’t have awareness in the market. We’d like to go B2C and to do that we need awareness. I think it’s easier to get awareness with a cycling team than in normal TV commercials. It’s too expensive for us. I checked three different offers. One offer was football, the second offer was winter sport and the third offer was a cycling team. There was a really big gap and the best offer was a cycling team. Football was the lowest on value for money – one to four. Skiing was next. And then cycling. If you spend â‚Ź1 then you get â‚Ź10 back in media value. forward in a way that’s going to be – to use one of my favourite words – sustainable, and builds the economy. It won’t be as radical as some of the proposals that have been tabled by various individuals. “I just think those kind of ‘closed league’ ideas of ‘let’s make everything a similar

Willi Bruckbauer of new cycling sponsor Bora

How much is the deal worth?

Contracts are between two people only and Ralph Denk, the owner of the team, is one of my best friends. We are a small, young, healthy company, but we are not a rich company. The money we invested in cycling is not a problem for us. It’s a good investment and we made D FRQWUDFW IRU ÀYH \HDUV )LYH \HDUV DV number one sponsor of the team. There is an escalator in the contract. I always say it’s between ₏1 million and ₏10 million per year, but it’s much closer to ₏1 million!

The baby has to walk before it can run. 7KH Ă€UVW VWHS ZH ZLOO JR MXVW ZLWK RXU dealers. The dealers are duplicators – less expensive than end customers. We have also invested in a Bora cooking truck. It’s the best cooking truck in the peloton. It’s a 40-tonne truck with the trailer. It’s the largest one. In the front we changed the trailer for a glass cube with a Bora kitchen in it. At the big cycling races we’ll take our chef, who cooks for our team. My idea was to create every cooking truck for every WorldTour team with Bora. But it was too late for most teams when we made the offer. But I think next year we will try to have every cooking truck for every WorldTour and ProContinental team with Bora. You are the ďŹ rst German title sponsor in cycling for four years. Is the sport’s reputation softening in Germany?

We’re investing more than the budget for the team for the activation. We’re doing a lot of hospitality. We were a smaller sponsor of the team in the past, and we visited the last three years the Tour of Flanders in Belgium. We visited the Vuelta in Barcelona. We visited Paris for the last stage of the Tour. We’ve been to the training camp in Majorca twice with 30 to 50 of our dealers. We do sales training, product training, and then in the morning we do cycling tours with all 50 dealers and the riders. We’ve booked 100 places in the Tour de )UDQFH WKLV \HDU -XVW DFURVV WKH ÀQLVK line. We’ll do the same three days of sales training and product training, and do the cycling tour only with the dealers.

Cycling is still a little toxic, not only in Germany and Austria. I’m not sure if the riders were the problem, or the team VWDII DQG À[HUV RU WKH VSRQVRUV The sponsors now have another function. It’s not just important to us to win, to win, to win. A successful day in the group can create more brand awareness than one winning sprint, for example. Ralph’s been leading professional cycling teams for more than ten years. He had the world number one mountain biking team for six years, and then he changed to road racing. He has never had one case of positive doping in his team. He has always stated his philosophy. It is very good to win, but not at any price. If there’s any structured doping programme, we can leave our contract. And also if there are more than three doping cases, it’s allowed for us to go.

format of three or four-day races’; I think those kind of ideas would destroy cycling. Cycling is not Formula One; it doesn’t take place on a circuit at a certain time. The beauty of cycling is its geography, its heritage, its history. To simply say we want the best riders riding against each other

every weekend is a nonsense because the best riders in the cobbled classics are not even the same as the best riders in the hilly classics, who aren’t generally the same riders as the best riders for the grand tours. “Yes, we want the best teams riding against each other week in, week out,

Media value is important to you, but how else will you activate?

2015 UCI WorldTour calendar Date

Event

Country

Organiser

20-25 Jan

Santos Tour Down Under

Australia

Events South Australia

8-15 Mar

Paris-Nice

France

ASO

11-17 Mar

Tirreno-Adriatico

Italy

RCS

22 Mar

Milan-Sanremo

Italy

RCS

23-29 Mar

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya

Spain

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Associació Esportiva

27 Mar

E3 Harelbeke

Belgium

E3 Harelbeke

29 Mar

Gent-Wevelgem

Belgium

Flanders Classics

5 Apr

Ronde van Vlaanderen

Belgium

Flanders Classics

6-11 Apr

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

Spain

Organizaciones Ciclistas Euskadi

12 Apr

Paris-Roubaix

France

ASO

19 Apr

Amstel Gold Race

Netherlands

Amstel Gold Race Foundation

22 Apr

La Flèche Wallonne

Belgium

ASO

26 Apr

Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Belgium

ASO

28 Apr-3 May

Tour de Romandie

Switzerland

Chassot Concept

9-31 May

Giro d’Italia

Italy

RCS

7-14 Jun

Critérium du Dauphiné

France

ASO

13-21 Jun

Tour de Suisse

Switzerland

InfrontRingier

4-26 Jul

Tour de France

France

ASO

1 Aug

Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian

Spain

Organizaciones Ciclistas Euskadi

2-8 Aug

Tour de Pologne

Poland

Lang Team

10-16 Aug

Eneco Tour

Bel/Ned

Golazo

22 Aug-13 Sep

Vuelta a España

Spain

ASO/Unipublic

23 Aug

Vattenfall Cyclassics

Germany

Lagardère Unlimited

30 Aug

GP Ouest France-Plouay

France

Ouest-France/ Fêtes de Plouay

11 Sep

Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec

Canada

Groupe Serdy

13 Sep

Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal

Canada

Groupe Serdy

19-27 Sep

UCI Road World Championships*

USA

N/A

4 Oct

Il Lombardia

Italy

RCS

* Not a UCI WorldTour event

but that doesn’t necessarily mean the best riders. I don’t accept this idea that everything has to be dumbed down so that Joe Bloggs wherever can switch on his telly and understand what’s going on. The beauty of sports is the heritage, it is that it takes some understanding; it’s why tennis takes place on grass and clay, and has a bizarre scoring system. So what? That’s what makes it interesting to watch sport, to be a supporter of a particular sport. “I grew up in the north of England; we read magazines back then, way before the internet, and we’d just look at the pictures of the Alps and the Pyrenees and go, ‘Wow – these guys are like mythical heroes!’ To me, that’s the beauty of a sport like cycling.

The Tour de France will remain at cycling’s core

It takes place in astonishing environments – whether it’s the Alps, the Pyrenees or the cobbles of northern France and Belgium. We don’t want to destroy that. “We will try to have a structure that defends the heritage but that seeks new

opportunities in new territories where the economy is strong enough and people are interested. We’ve seen some of that. You’ve seen the Tour Down Under, you’ve seen the events in the Gulf; there’s a sequence of events in North America. I think we can build on those; I think we can still go back to China at some point, and the rest of Asia, to try to help them. “As there are challenges in some economies, there are opportunities in others. If we are going to make our sport VWURQJ ÀQDQFLDOO\ VR WKDW WHDPV FDQ EH more sustainable and the riders – male and female – can be paid properly then we have to do that, but not at the price of destroying our own beautiful heritage.” SportsPro Magazine | 57

FEATURE | OLYMPICS

58 | www.sportspromedia.com

There was barely time to watch the German celebrations at the end of last year’s Fifa World Cup before preparations began in Rio for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Now, with just over 12 months remaining and the bulk of test events imminent, the pressure is on to complete a rare sporting double. By Eoin Connolly

SportsPro Magazine | 59

T

FEATURE | OLYMPICS

60 | www.sportspromedia.com

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Nawal El Moutawakel and Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Arthur Nuzman

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The Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro’s Barra da Tijuca region, under construction in June 2015, one year ahead of the opening of the Games

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RSHUDWLRQV GXULQJ WKH :RUOG &XS WKDW LV not a realistic option for the two fortnights RI DQ 2O\PSLFV DQG 3DUDO\PSLFV ´7KHUH DUH D QXPEHU RI RWKHU IDFWRUV WKDW KDYH VRPH NLQG RI GHOLYHUDEOHV µ VD\V *DUFLD ´DQG RI FRXUVH WKLV SXWV D ORW RI SUHVVXUH RQ DOO RI RXU PHPEHU ERGLHV EHFDXVH ZH KDYH WR GHOLYHU WKH YHQXHV RQ WLPH WR KRVW WKHP µ $FURVV WKH ERDUG WKHUH DUH D wide range of challenges that will EH FRQIURQWHG IRU HDFK HYHQW ´,Q some cases we have challenges on the FRQVWUXFWLRQ WLPHOLQH µ VD\V *DUFLD ´6RPHWLPHV ZH KDYH LVVXHV ZLWK WKH RSHUDWLRQ RI WKH YHQXHV WRJHWKHU ZLWK WKH VSRUW :H KDYH IRFXVHG RQ KDYLQJ WKH VSRUWV RXWGRRUV IRU WKH RQH \HDU to go, so the athletes can feel the same HQYLURQPHQW WKDW WKH\ ZLOO EH FRPSHWLQJ LQ GXULQJ *DPHV WLPH µ *DUFLD IHHOV D SDUWLFXODU VHQVH RI UHVSRQVLELOLW\ WR WKRVH HYHQWV ZKLFK DUH QHZ IRU 5LR ² JROI DQG UXJE\ VHYHQV LQ WKH 2O\PSLFV SDUD FDQRH DQG SDUD WULDWKORQ LQ WKH 3DUDO\PSLFV ² ´EHFDXVH WKH\ ZLOO EH VFUXWLQLVHG DIWHU 5LR µ DV WKH\ VHHN ´WR EH NHSW RQ WKH 2O\PSLF SURJUDPPHµ %XW HTXDOO\ LPSRUWDQW LV SportsPro Magazine | 61

With accommodation being in short supply Rio 2016 presents many challenges to sponsors, federations and the media alike. There are simply not enough rooms in Rio. Innovative agency KhayaMedia is the leader in providing apartments within walking distance to the Olympic *>À ° / i À iÝ«iÀÌ Ãi Ì Ã w i ` à à } w V> Ì° ÀÕ *> Ì> i ë i Ü Ì KhayaMedia CEO Volkhard Bauer (49), a former sports commentator.

What can organisations expect from the Olympics in regards to their accommodation? More than a year before the Games Rio is pretty much sold out already. If you haven’t secured your accommodation it is getting pretty tough to do so as only a few expensive hotel rooms are left. We therefore developed a niche product, which has taken off beyond our wildest dreams. We are exclusively providing apartments within walking distance to the Olympic Park. We branded it “KhayaMedia Village”, and it represents accommodation at affordable rates.

How does it work? The residential area around the Olympic Park has only been developed over the last few years. This means the apartments are new

and the interior modern and chic. Apartments belong to individual owners, young professionals or families, who are moving out for the duration of the Games. All the apartments are in condominiums with doormen and security is very tight. We arrange everything from check-in to housekeeping to breakfast. We also have some hotel rooms available but the main focus is on the KhayaMedia Village.

Who are your clients? Anyone who wants to avoid travel times of an hour or more to get Ì Ì i Ûi ÕiÃt / i w ÀÃÌ >«>ÀÌ i Ì was occupied last week by a media company. Our clientele consists of federations, such as tennis coaches from European countries. And we also have numerous bookings by tour operators catering to sponsors.

Can you guarantee a high level of service? Managing apartments is something we started at the 2010 FIFA World

Cup in South Africa. KhayaMedia’s operations increase with each event. "ÕÀ vw Vi À>â Ã Üi «Ài«>Ài` as they managed 40 000 room nights during the World Cup.

What, in your experience, do people need to be aware v Ài}>À` } À>â ¶ À>â Ã i > V Ì i Ì Ü Ì ÌÃ own rules and its own language. You have to adapt, and need to have a local partner. KhayaMedia established its branch in Rio four years ago. We know the ins and outs and can offer everything companies who are attending the Olympics need. With operations also in France for the 2016 UEFA EURO KhayaMedia is quickly becoming a trusted partner at big sports events around the globe. We also had guests at the Women’s World Cup in Canada recently. U

For further information, contact Volkhard at

bauer@khayamedia.net

WHEREVER YOU ARE ... WE ARE THERE TO ASSIST

2016 SUMMER OLYMPICS Rio de Janeiro

2016 UEFA EURO France

2017 FIFA CONFED CUP Russia

KhayaMedia is a global accommodation, travel and logistical support company. Operating on all continents, we are renowned for our tailor-made solutions. We offer accommodation, travel and other services to media clients and corporate sponsors during major sports events.

2018 FIFA WORLD CUP Russia

2018 WINTER OLYMPICS South Korea

A charasteric of our service, is that KhayaMedia has ofƂces in all host countries. We train local staff to be able to offer our clients the same service level wherever they go. Our global footprint already includes ofƂces in Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Funchal and Moscow.

Wherever you are, we are able to assist. Part of our service is creating an environment in which you feel as comfortable as you do in your own home. Khaya is the Xhosa word for ‘home’ and as the company was founded in 5outh #frica, we thought it Ƃtting to build the company name on that.

info@khayamedia.net / www.khayamedia.net RIO DE JANEIRO / PARIS / MOSCOW / CAPE TOWN / FUNCHAL

FEATURE | OLYMPICS

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Fencing up early

encing will not have its test event for Rio 2016 until next April but the International Fencing Federation (FIE) has had an early taste of what a Brazilian Olympics will be like. From 22nd to 24th 0D\ WKH Ă€QDO LQVWDOPHQW RI WKH VHDVRQ in the FIE Grand Prix series took place at the Escola de Educação FĂ­sica do ExĂŠrcito. The epĂŠe was the weapon being contested, with 191 men and 163 women from 41 countries taking part. As FIE director of sport KrisztiĂĄn KulcsĂĄr, speaking to SportsPro in midJune, points out, the Grand Prix was contested at a different venue, using different equipment, from next year’s Olympic tournament. “On the other hand,â€? he adds, “we had two meetings with the Rio team and I tell you that our Ă€UP LPSUHVVLRQ LV WKDW WKH RUJDQLVHUV are proceeding according to the plans, so they will deliver the Olympics – at least from fencing’s perspective – perfectly. This is my opinion.â€? The tournament itself was accompanied by a major promotional effort called Rio Fencing Grand Prix Week, which featured demonstration bouts and displays and gave locals the chance to try the sport for themselves. Younger passers-by were even given balloon swords to use. The event attracted hundreds of visitors and, perhaps more importantly, media attention from Fox Sports, Globo Sports, and newspaper La Dia. In effect, the week served as the launch

the need to generate enthusiasm and a receptive atmosphere. August will EHJLQ ZLWK DQ 2O\PSLF TXDOLĂ€HU LQ triathlon and the para-triathlon test event at Fort Copacabana. “The expectation for this event is really high,â€? Garcia says. “It’s a 100 per cent temporary venue but in Copacabana Beach, so you can imagine how this will be. We are expecting a huge crowd supporting the athletes so the challenge here is to work together with the city on the operation.â€? Particularly with construction still ongoing, there may still be unforeseeable 64 | www.sportspromedia.com

The FIE and CBE held a fencing Grand Prix event Rio in May, giving locals a chance to try the sport

of a concerted campaign by the FIE and the Brazilian Fencing Confederation (CBE) to build an audience for the sport ahead of next year’s Games. Brazil is not a traditional fencing market and the local RUJDQLVHUV IRU 5LR KDYH D VLJQLĂ€FDQW ticketing challenge ahead of them. “In London, we had 8,000 seats in the venue; in Rio we are going to have 10,000 places for spectators,â€? explains KulcsĂĄr. “It is not easy to sell 180,000 tickets – because we have nine days, two sessions, it’s actually 180,000 tickets.â€? The CBE will make further attempts to promote the sport over the coming months, particularly in Rio, which will host two upcoming national championships. “The CBE is preparing

now to teach the public what fencing is, how to watch it and how to have fun with the sport,â€? says CBE president Arno PĂŠrillier Schneider. “On the operational side we have technical courses in fencing, referees and technical material, making through this the beginning of a major transformation in fencing in the country.â€? April’s test event will bring together another Grand Prix with the sport’s world championships, which also recognises athletes from outside the Olympic disciplines. There will be much at stake for all involved but for fencing, it will also be a major opportunity. “We still have something to hit for next year,â€? says Schneider, “but I believe it will be a great success.â€?

hurdles ahead. Still, Garcia expects most of the plans to unfold as advertised. “There are a lot of venues that are being built within the proper requirements for the Olympic Games and we cannot foresee any kind of major issue, postponing events or requests for changes to the competition schedule,� Garcia insists. “I would say probably more than 90 per cent of the sports that we have already assigned will be where they are scheduled today, the schedule will not change.� There are a few exceptions. Water polo has been moved from the Julio Delamare aquatic park. Construction had

stalled due to disagreements between the Rio state government and the private company which manages the facility on its behalf. The main swimming arena has been mooted as a replacement, with Garcia revealing that the local organising committee were working with global aquatics body Fina in “trying to optimise the existing venues�. That process, as Garcia sees it, is in keeping with the Agenda 2020 reforms that were issued by the IOC last year. It is a matter of personal regret to him that those reforms will not have a more profound effect on Rio 2016.

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FEATURE | OLYMPICS

Rugby’s return

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early 100 years since its last sojourn at an Olympic Games, rugby is one of two sports returning to the programme at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, albeit in its truncated seven-a-side format. “We believe it’s going well, that’s what we’re told,â€? says World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper, speaking to SportsPro in May about the state of preparations for rugby sevens’ arrival on the Olympic stage. “We [Gosper, Bernard Lapasset, World Rugby’s chairman and Mark Egan, its head of competitions and performance] are going to see for ourselves in June. It’s always good to go out there and see for yourself as there’s D Ă XUU\ RI DFWLYLW\ ZKHQ \RX JHW WKHUH You’re able to put pressure on when you’re out there and then things hopefully happen when you leave.â€? After initial uncertainty over the venue for rugby sevens at Rio 2016, the organising committee eventually settled on the Deodoro Zone. Both the men’s and women’s events will take place in a temporary 15,000-seater stadium within the inland cluster, which will also host eight other sports. “We’re not that concerned [over the venue],â€? says Gosper. “We’ve got a stadium that will be built; made to measure. Actually, it will only go up three months before the Games themselves. That helps to a certain extent. “We just want to make sure that at WKH IDQ ]RQHV DQG WKH Ă RZV SHRSOH coming out there have got things to do in between events, because you’ll want there to be good links between the sports. People might buy a ticket to the rugby and go to the hockey in the next session and then come back to the rugby.â€? “The impact on Rio 2016 is really small – unfortunately, I would say, because as you can imagine there is a lot of recognised international federations, and even the international federations that are already part of the Olympic programme, that would love to change from this event,â€? he says. “So this could be a great opportunity to us to showcase events or 66 | www.sportspromedia.com

Rugby sevens will make its Olympic debut in 2016, a first appearance for the sport since 1924

The sevens tournaments will be split into two sessions per day over six days, with three days for the women’s competition and three for the men’s, and the pressure is on to ensure the event is a hit, with World Rugby conscious that it must come out of the Games in a strong position ahead of the IOC’s 2017 vote on the sports programme for the 2024 Olympics. “They [the IOC] have a series of criteria to judge the sport and it’s quite a long list, from percentage of the stadium Ă€OOHG WR WHOHYLVLRQ DXGLHQFH Ă€JXUHV WR social media impact, to atmosphere in the stadium, to the behaviour of athletes in the village,â€? says Gosper. “We want big crowds, good television audiences, good production. We are working with the Olympic broadcaster, OBS, to ensure our expertise and theirs meld and weld so there is a great production on television, too.

“The IOC are ensuring that we’ve got enough resources to do what we need to do to put on the right show; to exist LQ 5LR RII WKH Ă€HOG DV ZHOO WR PDNH VXUH that we can promote and receive visitors and really make our presence felt in a positive way during the whole two weeks of the Olympics. It is a very unique opportunity that we’ve got and we’ve got to seize it.â€? Preparations for last year’s Fifa World Cup in Brazil were hampered by missed construction deadlines and with the days counting down to Rio 2016, the main concern is ensuring there is no repeat for the Games. “The biggest challenge is to make sure that everything that’s been said and promised is actually there,â€? admits Gosper. “That we have the infrastructure in the park, the transport for getting people there, the hotels for the teams, and hospitality for our guests.â€? MK

sports that are much more popular in our region, in South America, that you ZRXOG UHDOO\ IHHO WKDW LW¡V WKH Ă€UVW 2O\PSLF Games in South America, with the same environment. I can point, as an example, VXUĂ€QJ LQGRRU IRRWEDOO IXWVDO “There are a number of sports that have already approached us but we have to work with the framework that

was established to us. But we are trying to get, as a concept internally here, to really be aligned with Agenda 2020. Our mantra is that we would like to deliver D FOHDQ *DPHV D Ă€W *DPHV DQG ² ZLWK what we think that we know better – a funny Games, so bringing a lot of fun to spectators, to all stakeholders that will be in Rio.â€?

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FEATURE | OLYMPICS

Some of those stakeholders, like the city itself, will be doing it all again after the World Cup. A handful of sponsors will be making a reappearance but Visa is one of just two, along with Coca-Cola, that sits in the IOC TOP sponsorship programme and Fifa’s suite of global partners. For Ricardo Fort, Visa’s senior vice president of global brand, product and sponsorship marketing, the experience of one sporting mega-event will feed into the other. “It does in a lot of different ways, from the operation of the event standpoint,â€? he says. “There were issues with infrastructure that we had to cover on our own, mostly related to connectivity and access to data lines and these types of things. We struggled and had to rush to get everything working well for Fifa; now knowing how the infrastructure is or is going to be in Rio, we can prepare better for that. “We also, with the experience that we have, started to promote the Olympic Games earlier to our clients than we did with the World Cup. And then also we are organising promotions and hospitality in a different way, just knowing that the interest and the access to tickets and the access to events – the demand is going to be much greater than what the organisers can offer. We are preparing to expand our activation.â€? Fort welcomes the opportunity to return to Brazil and as Visa prepares its sponsorship activities for the Games, Fort LGHQWLĂ€HV ´D IHZ GLIIHUHQFHVÂľ EHWZHHQ the World Cup and the Olympics, “mostly from a geographic standpointâ€?. He predicts that “the presence and the visibility and the interaction with peopleâ€? will be “greater than during the World Cupâ€? for Visa. What remains to be seen, however, is how the commercial activity around the Games will be received. The mass protests that greeted the World Cup and the preceding Confederations Cup – insofar as they were related to Fifa – were animated primarily by the high level of public spending on sporting infrastructure, but there was some notable discomfort about the demands being made by related businesses. A particular grievance arose from the passage of the World Cup General Act, which was held up in the Brazilian parliament due primarily to concerns over the suspension of laws banning the 68 | www.sportspromedia.com

Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff has been under pressure due to the Petrobras corruption scandal

sale of alcohol at soccer grounds – a change made at the behest of World Cup sponsor Budweiser. “The act took care of the protection and exploit of the commercial rights related to the football entity, ambush marketing, visas and work permits at the Brazilian territory, tickets for the matches and other topics relevant to the event,â€? explains Mariana Rossignoli, a sports lawyer at S. Santos 5RGULJXHV $GYRJDGRV D Ă€UP EDVHG LQ Belo Horizonte and Brasilia. Other points of contention in the Fifa-mandated legislation, “hotly debated by the publicâ€?, included an exemption from taxes at a considerable cost to the public purse. Similar accommodations are being made for the Olympics but, as Rossignoli points out, these were already made law in Brazil when Rio was submitting its bid. “The application of the city of Rio de Janeiro as the host was PDGH RIĂ€FLDO LQ 6HSWHPEHU DQG DW the time the Brazilian government was aware of the commitment that it should take, and published the act that tied it to the requirements of the IOC,â€? she says. “Unlike the World Cup, where the law was not changed before the country has EHHQ FRQĂ€UPHG DV WKH KRVW Âľ While Rossignoli recalls the merits of both acts being the subject of considerable discussion, she adds that it was the “the acceptance of these impositions by the Brazilian government, which hurts its sovereigntyâ€?, that drew most consternation.

´$W WKH WLPH RI WKH FRQĂ€UPDWLRQ Âľ she says, “the country entered into bilateral instruments with Fifa and the IOC and agreed about its obligations and responsibilities. What that doesn’t mean is the Brazilian submission to the international interests of those entities. Brazil, at that time, could also impose what were their conditions as a host and they didn’t do that.â€? The Rio Olympics, then, could prove WHVWLQJ IRU WKRVH SXEOLF RIĂ€FLDOV VHHNLQJ WR EDVN LQ LWV UHĂ HFWHG JORU\ ,I WKH PRRG around the Games is positive, that may not be indicative of a restored trust in government. The Brazilian political agenda has been overwhelmed in recent months by the Petrobras scandal. The state-backed oil giant is alleged to have SDLG EULEHV WRWDOOLQJ 86 ELOOLRQ WR DV PDQ\ DV VHQLRU %UD]LOLDQ SROLWLFLDQV LQ return for key contracts. The episode has been economically GDPDJLQJ WR WKH FRXQWU\ DQG WKH 5LR organisers have been compelled to issue assurances that its suppliers would not be affected. Petrobras was forced in April WR ZULWH GRZQ 86 ELOOLRQ ² 86 billion as an impairment charge on its assets, which have been further hit by falling oil prices, and the rest to cover its corruption charges. Its share price was a third in March of what it had been last September, though it is now recovering, and despite the departure of its senior leadership, it may be some time before the investors’ faith is restored.

3UHVLGHQW 5RXVHII ² ZKR ZRQ SHU cent of the vote in October’s election, the closest in a quarter of a century – has a similar problem. She was the chairman of the Petrobras board for much of the period in which the illicit payments are alleged to have been made and while Brazil’s attorney general has cleared her of wrongdoing, the people are XQFRQYLQFHG SHU FHQW RI %UD]LOLDQV polled by MDA in March believed 5RXVVHII NQHZ RI WKH FRUUXSWLRQ SHU FHQW WKRXJKW KHU UHVSRQVLEOH SHU cent wanted her impeached. With exquisite timing, Brazil has also been dragged into the corruption farrago being played out at Fifa, South American soccer confederation Conmebol, and North and Central American confederation Concacaf. The former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), JosĂŠ Maria Marin, was among those arrested as part of the )%,¡V LQYHVWLJDWLRQ LQWR D 86 PLOOLRQ bribery and racketeering ring related to marketing and TV rights. An indictment is also being sought by Brazilian police against his immediate predecessor, Ricardo Teixeira, on unrelated corruption and tax evasion charges. 5RVVLJQROL FRQĂ€UPV WKDW WKH FRPELQHG weight of the scandals have led the public to become “more attentive to government attitudesâ€? and that “the receipt of these sports events has been seen with more suspicionâ€?. Certainly, it is easy to imagine the casual cynicism that has often greeted

ISAF held the first test event in Rio in August 2014

construction delays around the Olympics in Brazil will be further nourished by these scandals. Nonetheless, there has been little indication of a fading appetite for the sport itself. 7KH Ă€UVW URXQG RI WLFNHW VDOHV ZDV FRPSOHWHG LQ HDUO\ -XQH ZLWK PLOOLRQ of the 4.5 million places available to QDWLRQDO UHVLGHQWV VROG RI WKH sessions at the Games have now sold out, and Sydney-based ticket sales agent Kingdom Sports Group will open a second round at the start of July. While these statistics are encouraging, the number of applications for tickets fell some way short of those for London DW WKH VDPH VWDJH 7KHUH DUH VHYHUDO UHDVRQV IRU WKLV ² WKH UHODWLYH DIĂ XHQFH of the two populations being a clear one – but Garcia also admits to a need to foster greater enthusiasm among Brazilian fans for sports with which they are unfamiliar. The local organisers, he says, “are working in close collaboration with the international federations on how to promote those sportsâ€?.

Commuters hang out of a train passing in front of the Olympic rings at Madureira Park in Rio

´7KHQ ZH RSHQ DJDLQ IRU D Ă€QDO UHTXHVW where, knowing a little bit of Brazil and Brazilians, we always leave those kind of requests for a late stage, the last moment,â€? he says. “So this is a little bit different from other countries, so we can also expect at, the last stage, to have a lot of requests.â€? The collision between Brazil’s famously relaxed culture and the fevered logistical demands of international bodies has been a recurring theme of almost a decade spent planning two of the world’s biggest events. In just over PRQWKV ZLOO EH WKH Ă€QDO SD\ RII EXW before that comes one last push. His countrymen may make their plans for the party late but Garcia and his colleagues are well aware by now that they have no such luxury. “What I would say is that probably in July I will have my last ten days of vacation for the next year because it will EH SHU FHQW IXOO WKURWWOH 7KH VSRUWV department is really one of the key deliverables, if not the key deliverable of the Olympic Games, so we have all sport managers on board with us, with their teams already being brought on board. Event management is also is at full power now so we are really, really, busy on a daily basis, with major issues from the tests being solved. So the level of attention and stress here, inside the team, is high. “We can expect the hard work, I would say, in the next eight months and this is the one thing that we are always saying. It’s really hard to deliver an Olympic and Paralympic Games but in an organising committee, the test events are much more stressful than the actual Games, simply because for Olympic and Paralympic Games you have all functional areas, all stakeholders, everybody prepared for the big show. But when you are delivering test events sometimes you have to adapt, you have to be creative, you have to work with constraints on budget. So as we are doing both things in parallel – delivering test HYHQWV DQG SODQQLQJ DKHDG IRU WKH Ă€QDO stretch for the Games – that six months I think it will be much more stressful than the last three or four months delivering WKH *DPHV ZKHUH LW¡V UHDOO\ Ă€QH WXQLQJ things that are going wrong. “You don’t have much too space to change so it’s really to try to plan, have the right contingency plan and then just enjoy the Games.â€? SportsPro Magazine | 69

FEATURE | SOCCER

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Arena Amazonia/Manaus NEW BUILD Projected spend: R$499 million Actual spend: R$669.5 million Percentage of budget spent: 134.17% Capacity: 40,549 Funding source: Public funds Current ownership: Regional government but looking for buyer Current tenancy: Nacional, though rarely, due to high rental costs Upcoming events: Olympic soccer in 2016

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Estadio Castelao/Forteleza RENOVATED Projected spend: R$519 million Actual spend: R$519 million Percentage of budget spent: 100.00% Capacity: 60,348 Funding source: Public funds/private investment/BNDES (Brazilian Development Fund, loan to be repaid) Current ownership: State of Ceará Estadio das Dunas/Natal NEW BUILD Projected spend: R$400 million Actual spend: R$423 million Percentage of budget spent: 105.75% Capacity: 39,971 Funding source: Public funds/private investment/BNDES Current ownership: Public/private partnership Current tenancy: America de Natal/hosting weddings and parties

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Arena Pernambuco/Recife NEW BUILD Projected spend: R$532 million Actual spend: R$650 million Percentage of budget spent: 122.18% Capacity: 42,583 Funding source: Public funds/private investment/BNDES Current ownership: Part-owned by Clube Náutico Capibaribe

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Arena Pantanal/Cuiaba NEW BUILD Projected spend: R$342 million Actual spend: R$646 million Percentage of budget spent: 188.89% Capacity: 41,112 Funding source: Public funds Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha/Brasilia RENOVATED Projected spend: R$696 million Actual spend: R$1400 million Percentage of budget spent: 201.15% Capacity: 69,432 Funding source: Public funds Current ownership: State government Current tenancy: Reportedly being used as a bus depot Upcoming events: Olympic soccer

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The projected spend for stadium construction ahead of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil was R$6 billion. Ultimately, the country spent over R$8.5 billion on building new arenas, and renovating old ones. A year after world soccer’s flagship event, SportsPro investigates how much each stadium cost, and how they are now being used.

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Arena Fonte Nova/Salvador NEW BUILD Projected spend: R$400 million Actual spend: R$592 million Percentage of budget spent: 148.00% Capacity: 51,708 Funding source: Public funds/private investment/BNDES Current ownership: Bahia state government Current tenancy: EC Bahia Upcoming events: Olympic soccer Estádio Mineirão/Belo Horizonte RENOVATED Projected spend: R$750 million Actual spend: R$695 million Percentage of budget spent: 92.67% Capacity: 58,259 Funding source: Public funds/private investment/BNDES Current ownership: Minas Arena Current tenancy: Cruzeiro Upcoming events: Olympic soccer Arena da Baixada/Curitiba RENOVATED Projected spend: R$184.6 million Actual spend: R$360 million Percentage of budget spent: 195.02% Capacity: 39,631 Funding source: Atletico Paranaense Current ownership: Atletico Paranaense Current tenancy: Atletico Paranaense Arena de São Paulo/São Paulo NEW BUILD Projected spend: R$820 million Actual spend: R$1200 million Percentage of budget spent: 146.34% Capacity: 63,321 Funding source: Corinthians/BNDES/ rumoured $400m public funds Current ownership: Corinthians Current tenancy: Corinthians Upcoming events: Olympic soccer Estádio do Maracanã/Rio de Janeiro RENOVATED Projected spend: R$706 million Actual spend: R$1050 million Percentage of budget spent: 148.73% Capacity: 74,738 Funding source: Public funds Current ownership: Complexo Maracanã Entretenimento S.A: Odebrecht (90%) IMX (5%), AEG (5%) Cost of purchase: R$5.5 million per year; R$192.5 million over the 35 year period Current tenancy: Fluminense and Flamengo ’officially’, though they frequently play elsewhere to avoid high rental fees Upcoming events: Olympic opening and closing ceremonies, Olympic soccer

Estádio Beira-Rio/Porto Alegre RENOVATED Projected spend: R$200 million Actual spend: R$330 million Percentage of budget spent: 165.00% Capacity: 43,394 Funding source: SC Internacional/private funding/BNDES Current ownership: SC Internacional Current tenancy: SC Internacional

SportsPro Magazine | 71

FEATURE | SOCCER

ONE YEAR ON

It may have ultimately ended in humiliating fashion for the hosts, but last year’s Fifa World Cup was the biggest sports event Brazil had ever staged. One year on – and one year out from doing it all over again – sport in South America’s dominant economic force is finally realising its potential. By Michael Long

72 | www.sportspromedia.com

Brazil defender Dante slumps to the turf at the end of the hosts’ 7-1 semi-final defeat to eventual champions Germany in the 2014 Fifa World Cup

SportsPro Magazine | 73

FEATURE | SOCCER

The build-up to Brazil’s World Cup was marked by protests, as the state spent billions on preparations while much of the population was mired in poverty

his wasn’t in the script: 5-0 down inside 29 scarcely believable minutes, the Germans, baying for blood, pouring forward again and again, attack after relentless attack, home supporters in tears, an entire nation speechless in shock. In front a sell-out crowd inside Belo Horizonte’s Estadio MineirĂŁo, and before the eyes of the world, Brazil’s dreams of ZLQQLQJ D VL[WK )LID :RUOG &XS DQG D Ă€UVW on home soil ended in brutal fashion, a FUXVKLQJ VHPL Ă€QDO GHIHDW WKH ZRUVW LQ their illustrious history. A year on and, though the humiliation of that torrid night remains a painful memory, Brazil has moved on. Wounds have been licked, inquests concluded, expectations reassessed. The country’s beloved national team, the Seleção, have won all eight of their matches since the World Cup. Belief is returning to the %UD]LOLDQ IDLWKIXO DQG WKHUH LV Ă€QDOO\ KRSH for what lies ahead. Now, there is a Copa AmĂŠrica to be won and, just 11 months away, an Olympics in Rio to host. All, it seems, is not lost. $IIRUGHG WLPH WR KHDO DQG UHĂ HFW the Brazilian sports industry can now take stock of the biggest sports event

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74 | www.sportspromedia.com

the country has ever hosted. A full 12 months after the Seleção’s devastating exit, WKH Ă€JXUHV DSSHDU WR SDLQW D SLFWXUH RI growth and transformation. According to Statista, an online statistics portal, revenue generated in the Brazilian sports market grew from an estimated US$2.89 billion in 2006 to US$4.19 billion in 2015. In 2014, WHQW SROHG E\ WKH :RUOG &XS WKH Ă€JXUH peaked at US$4.61 billion. In the run-up to the tournament, national investment in infrastructure and venues was unprecedented, with some US$3 billion spent on World Cup stadia, and the Brazilian sponsorship market boomed DV FRPSDQLHV DQG DJHQFLHV Ă RFNHG WR D country that would be at the centre of the sporting world for many months to come. 2QH RI WKH FKLHI EHQHĂ€FLDULHV RI WKDW LQĂ X[ RI PDUNHWLQJ GROODUV ZDV WKH Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the country’s national soccer association. Heightened corporate interest ahead of the tournament enabled the body to more than double its sponsorship revenue RYHU WKH Ă€YH SUHFHGLQJ \HDUV IURP DQ estimated R$107.4 million (US$46.3 million) in 2008 to R$235.5 million (US$101.6 million) in 2013. In the three

years under JosĂŠ Maria Marin, president of the body from March 2012 to April 2015, the CBF signed eight new partners in Sadia, Samsung, Gol, MasterCard, EF Englishtown, Unimed Insurance, Michelin and Chevrolet. Yet those deals do not tell the whole story. As editor of Meio & Mensagem, a trade publication for the Brazilian advertising and marketing industry, Jonas Furtado closely monitors sponsorship and brand activities on the ground in Brazil. Speaking to SportsPro in May, KH LGHQWLĂ€HV WKUHH GLVWLQFW SKDVHV WKDW GHĂ€QHG KRZ EUDQGV DFWLYDWHG their association with the World Cup. 7KH Ă€UVW KH VD\V FDPH SULRU WR WKH tournament when public outcry over the amount of state money being spent on staging it led to violent protests on the streets of several host cities. “When protests started in June 2013, Coca-Cola’s billboards, Hyundai’s car stores and Itaú’s bank agencies became a target for those who were putting the VWUHHWV OLWHUDOO\ RQ Ă€UH Âľ UHFDOOV )XUWDGR “Many of the sponsors chose to not be loud about their connection with the event – actually lots of them even tried WR KLGH LW Âľ

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FEATURE | SOCCER

Brazil’s heavy 7-1 defeat against Germany in their home World Cup had a strong effect on the sponsors of the national team as well as its supporters

“Many of the sponsors chose to not be loud about their connection with the event – lots of them even tried to hide it.” 7KH SURWHVWV WKDW Á DUHG XS GXULQJ WKH )LID &RQIHGHUDWLRQV &XS %UD]LO ·V SUHSDUDWRU\ SUHFXUVRU PDGH KHDGOLQH QHZV DURXQG WKH ZRUOG PDNLQJ OLIH GHFLGHGO\ XQFRPIRUWDEOH IRU RUJDQLVHUV DQG VSRQVRUV DOLNH %XW DV %UD]LO·V RSHQLQJ :RUOG &XS GDWH ZLWK &URDWLD GUHZ QHDUHU WKH IXURUH WHPSRUDULO\ GLHG GRZQ 3XEOLF VXSSRUW DV )XUWDGR REVHUYHV VKLIWHG IURP D SROLWLFDO FDXVH WR D VSRUWLQJ RQH DQG WKH IRFXV FRPH NLFN RII WLPH ZDV À UPO\ RQ JHWWLQJ EHKLQG WKH Seleção ´:H KDG WR ZLQ WKH :RUOG &XS µ VD\V )XUWDGR ´7KDW ZDV WKH JROGHQ WLPH IRU WKH VSRQVRUV 6RPH RI WKHP HYHQ UHJUHW WKH IDFW WKH\ KDG EHHQ VR ORZ SURÀ OH XQWLO WKDW PRPHQW 5HDOO\ :RUOG &XS VSRQVRUV ZHUH GHVLUDEOH HYHU\ZKHUH DQG WKH RQHV ZKR ZHUH VSRQVRUV RI WKH QDWLRQDO WHDP ZHOO WKH\ ZHUH LQ EUDQG KHDYHQ µ $V WKH WRXUQDPHQW JRW JRLQJ EUDQGV EHJDQ WR À QG WKHLU YRLFH 7KH SHUHQQLDO SRZHU VWUXJJOH EHWZHHQ $GLGDV DQG 1LNH IRXQG LWV ZD\ LQWR PDLQVWUHDP GLVFRXUVH ZKLOH %HDWV E\ 'UH GLG LWV EHVW WR VWHDO WKH WKXQGHU RI )LID·V DXGLR VSRQVRU 6RQ\ 5HDFWLRQDU\ PDUNHWLQJ FDPSDLJQV SUROLIHUDWHG LQ ZKDW ZDV GXEEHG WKH À UVW VRFLDO :RUOG &XS ² SDUWLFXODUO\ ZKHQ 76 | www.sportspromedia.com

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FEATURE | SOCCER

Thiago Silva (left) and Neymar (right) were absent for Brazil’s defeat to Germany, and emerged with their reputations – and marketability – unscathed

offensive and in a creative way. Actually, CBF lost some of its sponsors.â€? Though the manner of Brazil’s exit could not have been predicted, Furtado believes there is a clear lesson to learn for national team sponsors across the board. “I think the biggest lesson is that they cannot rely on results to do marketing,â€? he says. “It has to be more about the event atmosphere than victories and defeats. “No matter how bad things are before, when the event kicks off people will be interested more in the sports side of the story and forget about politics. Be true to your strategy. If you try to hide your relationship with the event because of political issues, maybe it will be too late to create that connection once it starts.â€? If CBF sponsors were left reeling by %UD]LO¡V VHPL Ă€ QDO GHIHDW KXPLOLDWLRQ DW the hands of the Germans will have been an equally humbling experience for the stars of the Seleção, many of whom had been quick to cash in on their newfound popularity in the run-up to the World Cup. “All of them lost lots of credit,â€? says Furtado. “They enjoyed being highSURĂ€ OH WKH\ OLNHG WR VLQJ LQ ORXG YRLFH about how good they were. Now, they have to face the other side of the coin.â€? As the face of the host nation and indeed the World Cup itself, Neymar SURĂ€ WHG PRUH WKDQ DQ\ RWKHU SOD\HU LQ the Brazilian team, signing endorsement deals seemingly by the week prior to the tournament as the likes of Castrol, Police, Mentos and Drakkar Noir looked to capitalise on his burgeoning appeal. Indeed, the World Cup helped position the young striker as one of the most marketable – and marketed – athletes on the planet, and there has been no let-up in 78 | www.sportspromedia.com

the growth of his personal portfolio since. With one of the farthest-reaching and, quite frankly, most complex management set-ups in world soccer, more endorsement deals have inevitably come Neymar’s way in recent months. PokerStars and Listerine have both secured contracts with the 23-year-old, and even his club has looked to exploit the strength of his formidable corporate network back home in Brazil – last December FC Barcelona enlisted NR Sports, the marketing company run by Neymar’s father, to source sponsorship opportunities and manage partnerships on the club’s behalf in the country. $QRWKHU VLJQLĂ€ FDQW EHQHĂ€ FLDU\ RI a home World Cup was Thiago Silva, who found himself in the then-enviable position of captaining the Seleção in what, for many Brazilians, was meant to be the country’s crowning moment. Throughout the Confederations Cup and last summer’s showpiece the defender, a player otherwise largely overlooked by non-endemic companies, appeared in no fewer than nine campaigns for domestic and international brands. “Usually they were one and a half-year deals, from the Confederations Cup to the end of the year of the World Cup, so they were able to activate a little bit more,â€? explains Cesar Villares, the Brazilian who handles Silva’s image rights and marketing interests globally. “He was on TV for many months and that was great. It was probably the biggest time for sports in Brazil so far.â€? Like Neymar, Silva did not feature in the 7-1 mauling due to suspension and, like Neymar, he just so happens to have become a household name in Europe

since the tournament. His dominant performances for Brazil and Paris SaintGermain have earned him widespread acclaim across the globe, with many now putting him among the best defenders in the world. Such recognition has not gone unnoticed by multinational brands. For example, fresh off signing a new four-year deal to sponsor the Uefa Champions League, Nissan made Silva RQH RI LWV Ă€ UVW JOREDO DPEDVVDGRUV last August. The Japanese carmaker positioned him as the face of its ‘Engineers of Excitement’ campaign and, as Villares explains, plans are in the pipeline to use him in the company’s marketing activities around next year’s Rio Olympics, which Nissan is supporting as a national sponsor. “We are looking forward to activating this in South America,â€? says Villares. “There are a lot of things happening.â€? Coming so soon after the World Cup, Villares expects next summer’s Olympics to maintain the momentum within Brazilian sport for some time to come. For him, “one of the biggest legaciesâ€? of the two events is the way in which they have not only thrust Brazil on to the global sporting stage, but also served as a catalyst for the growth and development of the country’s sports industry within national borders. “In terms of sports marketing,â€? he says, “before when I was in the States, for years I used to deal with companies like American Express, Visa, all these companies, and they always had someone working in sports, which made it easier. They understood the deal, they understood the activation. “Before in Brazil it was just marketing

directors or managers, but now they have people working for the companies who are focused on sports. They are trained, they’ve studied sports, so it makes it much easier for us in the sports industry. Hopefully the companies are going to keep these people because they are the RQHV ZKR Ă€JKW IRU WKH LQYHVWPHQW LQ sports, athletes, events, everything. “They all have teams in sports marketing now, thinking about this 24/7. But I see that some others are also looking to have at least a marketing director that knows more about sport. They are really getting into it. They are seeing more and more the value of sponsoring athletes, sponsoring events, the activations. This is really good. We are really moving forward to improve this, which is great.â€? One company that used the World Cup as an opportunity to ramp up its operations in Brazil was Visa, a Fifa top-tier sponsor. Though already well established in the country, in 2011 the global payments company parachuted in its global marketing team to work on its World Cup activation from a new RIĂ€FH LQ 5LR GH -DQHLUR EHIRUH EXONLQJ out its on-the-ground workforce with local expertise. The majority of that team remains in situ, charged with overseeing Visa’s sponsorship of next summer’s Olympics and driving revenue in a market that generates more business for the company than any other outside the US. Yet major event sponsors like Visa are not the only companies to have

invested additional resources in Brazil. “The same goes to agencies and I think staff, personnel in general,â€? says Ricardo Fort, Visa’s senior vice president of global brand, product and sponsorship PDUNHWLQJ ´7KHUH LV D YHU\ YHU\ VLJQLĂ€FDQW improvement in the quality of the agencies. There were a lot of agencies going to Brazil, establishing their operations there – hospitality agencies, marketing activation agencies as well – so the overall industry EHQHĂ€WWHG IURP WKH HYHQW Âľ Fort believes increased corporate investment tied to the World Cup and the Olympics has served to enhance the scope and capability of Brazil’s sports industry. As well as bringing specialist sports marketing knowledge and expertise to the country, international companies have helped to establish new events like the Rio Open tennis tournament, run by IMG’s Brazilian joint venture IMM, formerly IMX, thereby creating new properties and platforms that Brazilian corporations can use to promote their respective brands and entertain clients. “Whether or not this is going to continue after the Olympics is another question,â€? continues Fort. “I’m optimistic because I think that the biggest impact and one of the legacies that few people are talking about is the awareness that the investments in the World Cup left with the management of other companies. “Companies that before had not done any work with sponsorships, now they are exposed to that: they saw the power of dealing with sports and hopefully they

Visa had a strong presence at the World Cup and will make an even bigger push in Brazil for the Olympics

will keep investing. So it’s a combination of better-trained people, a network of agencies which is more capable to serve the companies, and you have companies that are more aware of why they should do it. I think it is a very important thing for the market.â€? Though there remains some uncertainty as to what will happen to sport in Brazil once the Olympic circus packs up and leaves after Rio 2016, it LV LQHYLWDEOH WKDW KLJK SURĂ€OH VSRUWLQJ events will continue to be sought by the country as a way of developing and enhancing its national image. To that end, Fort believes South America’s dominant economic force is now far more capable than it was before its World Cup journey began, with any negativity – sporting, political or otherwise – set to fade as the UHDO ODVWLQJ EHQHĂ€WV RI VWDJLQJ WKH HYHQWV are eventually realised. “Of course, in terms of the overall economy and the investments the government has been making in other areas, there is a gap and there has always been a gap,â€? says the Brazilian. “The incremental investments that are necessary to hold an event like the World Cup or the Olympics just put some light on everything else that is happening. But the situation in Brazil is not different to ZKDW LW ZDV Ă€YH \HDUV DJR RU WHQ \HDUV DJR “The level of the investments that were made to host the World Cup, yes, you could claim they could be used in other parts of society, but I think if you look at the positive side of the World Cup – the number of jobs it generated, the visibility it gave the country, and the legacy that it will leave in terms of infrastructure for both the sport and tourism businesses – that is much greater than what was invested and this is why countries choose to host global events over and over again. “The general public is not looking at this impact because they have short-term problems that they want resolved, but in ten years’ time when you look at everything WKDW ZDV VSHQW DQG DOO WKH EHQHĂ€WV IRU WKH country because of what was invested, I still believe it is going to be positive. “Having said that, there is still a lot of work that the government has to do there and I think the public is right to put pressure on them to do what they have to do.â€? SportsPro Magazine | 79

FEATURE | SOCCER

80 | www.sportspromedia.com

A Real Revolution Real Madrid are perhaps the biggest soccer team in the world, with a trophy-littered history which includes a record ten European titles, an estimated 450 million fans worldwide and a valuation of US$3.26 billion, according to a recent estimate by Forbes magazine. In May, SportsPro paid a visit to the Spanish capital to find out about the club’s plans for a digital revolution to keep them at the top of the game.

Andres Kudacki/AP/Press Association Images

By Mike Kennedy

SportsPro Magazine | 81

FEATURE | SOCCER

“

here are few institutions in the world who can really talk to an audience of 450 million,â€? says JosĂŠ Ă ngel SĂĄnchez, the chief executive of La Liga soccer club Real Madrid. “What we have in front of us is a unique institution which can really develop relationships with hundreds of millions of people around the world. “These people are everywhere – they are in Asia, in America, they are in Europe, in Africa. We know that we have a huge audience, a tremendous audience, and it’s about being ready and being able to connect with them to understand who they are.â€? SĂĄnchez is speaking to SportsPro in the SOHDVDQW HQYLURQV RI KLV RIĂ€ FH KRXVHG within Real Madrid’s famous Estadio Santiago BernabĂŠu, an 82,000 capacity behemoth in the northern suburbs of the Spanish capital. He has worked for the club for 15 years, having initially joined in 2000 from his role as general marketing director for Japanese video game company Sega. While 12 managers have come and gone during his 15 years with Los Blancos – including, most recently, Carlo Ancelotti – SĂĄnchez appears relaxed in his surroundings, having had the EHQHĂ€ W RI D OHQJWK\ WHQXUH LQ ZKLFK WR become acclimatised. 6iQFKH] LV DWWHQGLQJ WKH RIĂ€ FLDO ODXQFK of Real Madrid’s new digital initiative, Realmadrid App, which has been developed by Microsoft. In November 2014 Microsoft struck a four-year, US$30 million agreement with Real Madrid, which VDZ WKH WHFKQRORJ\ Ă€ UP EHFRPH 5HDO¡V strategic technological partner. Sitting alongside SĂĄnchez is Orlando Ayala, the chairman and corporate vice president of emerging businesses at Microsoft.

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JosĂŠ Ă ngel SĂĄnchez, Real Madrid chief executive

The meeting is an opportunity to talk in detail about the app and the nature of the new expanded partnership between Real and Microsoft several hours ahead of the launch, which will occur on a stage being readied within the stadium’s executive seating area. The Santiago BernabĂŠu was built to realise the vision of its namesake, Real’s most famous president, of having a stadium that could accommodate more fans than any other soccer team of the GD\ JLYLQJ WKH FOXE D Ă€ QDQFLDO DGYDQWDJH over their rivals. The vision of this new digital project, SĂĄnchez explains, is founded on similar principles. “We are talking about certain exhaustion of the business model, and in fact this digital transformation is in the end the old dream of creating an endless Santiago BernabĂŠu stadium in which all the supporters and fans can go in,â€? states SĂĄnchez. “There is room for everyone. They can get in and interact with other supporters. It is the same idea 70 years later using the digital tools. This is the vision of the club.â€?

The Santiago BernabĂŠu stadium in Madrid, which served as an inspiration for the Realmadrid App

82 | www.sportspromedia.com

Just days prior to this trip, it remained unclear whether the last round of La Liga JDPHV RU WKH Ă€ QDO RI WKH &RSD GHO 5H\ Spain’s national knock-out competition, would go ahead. A league-wide strike, announced by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the players’ union, the AFE, was scheduled to take effect from 16th May 2015. The strike, the AFE argued, was a necessary response in objection to the collective bargaining regulations passed in April by the Spanish government, relating to the future handling of TV rights and the distribution of income in Spanish soccer. The AFE’s main concern is that the new distribution will produce an unacceptable split of money for players from lowerranked clubs within the league system. Set to come into force in 2016, the new regulations have the backing of the Liga de FĂştbol Profesional (LFP), the association which runs the top two tiers of Spanish professional soccer – the Primera and Segunda divisions. They will DSSO\ WR OHDJXH JDPHV LQ WKH Ă€ UVW DQG second divisions, in addition to games in the Copa del Rey and the Supercup, which pits the Spanish league champions against the cup winners each year. As it turned out, the strike was suspended by the Spanish High Court, pending a hearing on 17th June. Real Ă€ QLVKHG WKHLU VHDVRQ ZLWK D FRQVRODWRU\ 7-3 victory over Getafe, with arch-rivals Barcelona having already sealed the league title a week beforehand with a 1-0 victory over reigning champions AtlĂŠtico Madrid. By then, Real had also lost their hold on the Uefa Champions League title, secured LQ WKDQNV WR D VHPL Ă€ QDO GHIHDW against Italy’s Juventus. 2II WKH Ă€ HOG KRZHYHU 5HDO DUH NHHQ to ensure that their pre-eminence is not challenged. “The essence of the partnership with Microsoft is really about knowing and understanding who these fans are and what they are expecting to receive from us [in terms of] content, services, information,â€? says SĂĄnchez of an objective the club LGHQWLĂ€ HG DV LQWHJUDO WR WKHLU GHVLUH WR take their digital operations to the next OHYHO ´7KLV ZDV WKH Ă€ UVW DSSURDFK WR WKH policy with Microsoft.â€? This is a partnership designed to serve both parties and together they KDYH LQYHVWHG VLJQLĂ€ FDQW DPRXQWV

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FEATURE | SOCCER

Orlando Ayala, chairman and corporate vice president of emerging businesses at Microsoft

into it. The Microsoft Cloud platform upon which the app has been built has unlimited capability for computing and Microsoft have six digital subscriber lines around the world to help serve it, each of which costs a cool US$600 million. “The digital transformation will allow something which is completely new: it will allow fans who live in, I don’t know, a street in Osaka expecting interaction, a one-to-one relationship, and this is really a big strategic transformation,” says Sánchez. ´0LFURVRIW LGHQWLÀHG FOHDUO\ WKH LGHD RI putting the fan at the centre, which is maybe the most important strategic point. And the app we are launching today is the ÀUVW YHUVLRQ RI VRPHWKLQJ ZKLFK WULHV WR focus on this strategy. “It’s also linked to certain internal tools like the digital platform, which will help to get insight from those fans and to understand the social behaviours of these people.” In his 24 years at Microsoft, Ayala says, there have never been more than 200 people from the company employed on a single project, but there are presently 1,000 Microsoft employees working on Realmadrid App, including a large number of data scientists, data specialists and graphic designers. For these two truly global institutions, this project is about embarking on a new digital revolution which they believe can deliver staggering results in terms of the fan data the app will be able to generate. No major soccer club has yet managed WR ÀQG D ZD\ WR SURÀOH WKHLU PLOOLRQV RI 84 | www.sportspromedia.com

fans around the world and both Sánchez and Ayala think this platform is the technological solution, enabling the club to collate data on their fans which will in turn allow interconnection through an interactive experience. “What’s going to be the magic here?” asks Ayala. “It’s IRU 5HDO 0DGULG WR KDYH WKH EHVW SURÀOHG number of their fans around the world bar none. That’s the idea.” $\DOD ODEHOV WKLV WKH ´ÁDJVKLS SURMHFW RI the company.” Sánchez adds, “Around 120 million [of our 450 million fans] are following us on social media. The amount of data we can really incorporate through the digital platform will also allow us to understand the behaviours of people depending on where they are, in order to answer in the form of experiences, premium content and services. So there is also a ‘big data’ approach to all these things.” The Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, is present at the launch to unveil the new app to the world, together with

the entire star-studded Los Blancos squad – an indication of the importance the club places on it. “Our strategic partnership with Microsoft allows us to transform into a digital club,” says Perez. “[The app] is complementing the experience of the match as a second screen. This club never stops and it is compelled to face the biggest challenges to create the best Real Madrid for the future.” The incoming collective bargaining rules will lessen the money Real Madrid will be able to secure from TV rights agreements, which has accounted for around 25 per cent of the club’s overall revenue in recent times, but Sánchez is optimistic they have the vision, enterprise and conviction to seek out new ways to generate substantial revenue and stay at the top. The new app is the primary vehicle with which they will look to do this. A club like Real Madrid must take a multi-faceted approach to how they interact with their fans, with those in Indonesia perhaps seeking a different level of interaction to those in the US. So the app will offer tiered levels, with a subscription charged to those fans who want access to premium content. “The new audiovisual regulations for the national competitions are freezing the revenues that Real Madrid is going to have for this concept for the next, let’s say, three to six years,” admits Sánchez. “So we cannot expect a growth for the club in this area. But this has always been B2B. We have sold the rights to a producer and a producer has produced a signal and taken the product to the fans. “The digital transformation allows us to completely change this into an enormous B2C. So we can deliver our own premium content one by one to people around the planet. And it is just a matter of size.

Fans will be able to watch cameras focused on the bench, the tunnel, and the press area during games

The whole of the Real Madrid first team were present at the launch of Realmadrid App, underlining how seriously the club is taking its digital commitment

“We understand that the answer to this situation for our need of growth is transforming the business, basically through the digital world,â€? SĂĄnchez continues. “They [Microsoft] came back with an idea of transforming the club in the digital world. Not only fan engagement but also business operations, and even team performance. [The app] contains basically everything which the fans are expecting to receive from us based on the research that has been done during the last few months.â€? Microsoft’s data team will be recording hundreds of statistics on each player during matches and feeding this into the app, so fans who might like to know, for example, how many yards Cristiano Ronaldo has covered or how many passes he has made midway through a game will be able to see this instantly. “Everything that the club makes and the players do is of interest to our supporters,â€? SĂĄnchez says. “And this is our content, we don’t need any kind of rights to it. We just need imagination to provide the content people are looking for. I understand the competition with La Liga will be very strong. The Champions League is very strong in their marketing, but there is room for the clubs because in the end the passion of the fans is with the clubs. “People give their heart to the club and to the players. It is usually not the type of relationship you have with the organiser of a competition: it’s not about La Liga; it’s not an emotional property itself. But the clubs are. We understand that the quality

of this relationship is our main point, it’s our strength in this development.â€? A major element of the app is ÂśJDPLĂ€FDWLRQ¡ ² WKH FRQFHSW RI DSSO\LQJ game mechanics in non-game contexts to encourage interaction which, in this case, sees users earn rewards through their participation with the app. In simple terms, this means that the more information a user gives about themselves – which provides the club with the PXFK VRXJKW GDWD SURĂ€OLQJ ² DQG WKH more interaction they have with the app, the more rewards they can earn. This is tailored to an extent to a fan’s locality, so for a fan in Indonesia it might mean the ability to earn a virtual kit to dress their DYDWDU SURĂ€OH ZLWKLQ WKH DSS ZKLOH IRU D fan in Madrid this could mean winning a trip to watch the team train live. Thus, location services are also a fundamental aspect of the app’s functionality and have got Microsoft thinking of a number of ways in which to keep fans who are not in the stadium engaged in supporting the team during games. One such example is the idea that the millions of fans around the world will be able to join with those sat in the stadium in waving their phones in the air displaying the club scarf. “These kind of experiences matter for passionate people,â€? says Ayala. “Especially this passion in soccer that you can’t explain, because soccer is all about that.â€? People want experiences and fans will be able to send content, upload and view videos and interact with other users

through the app. Yet a potential concern about feeding fans too much digitally led content during a match is that this might distract from the action taking place on the pitch. But does this really matter, particularly given that today’s young generation of so-called ‘millennials’ have JURZQ XS H[SHFWLQJ HIĂ€FLHQW DQG XVDEOH content delivered direct to the palms of their hands? “Today you are able to see three cameras [via the live streaming technology built into the app]: the bench, the press area and the tunnel,â€? says Ayala. “You can watch the app in English or Spanish. This is tailoring, which is so important. It’s all about what you want, which scenario you go for. “If you get distracted, if you’re continuing to be at Real Madrid because we’re giving you this experience, that’s what it’s all about. Certain fans just want to watch the game, and that’s perfectly Ă€QH %XW IRU RWKHUV KDYLQJ WKDW FDSDELOLW\ [to do more] I think is huge.â€? The app was designed for Real Madrid, but the platform it is built upon could be DSSOLHG HOVHZKHUH *DLQLQJ Ă€UVW PRYHU advantage in this new digital sphere in order to press ahead of rivals like Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich is something SĂĄnchez believes is crucial to future success, and with Microsoft alongside them, at least for the duration of the four-year contract, Real’s DWWHQWLRQV DUH QRZ Ă€UPO\ IRFXVHG RQ WKH digital world. Realmadrid App is at the very heart of the digital transformation they are striving to bring about. SportsPro Magazine | 85

FEATURE | SPONSORSHIP

THE NEW FLEET

The car partner has been a key element in major sponsorship portfolios for decades. Now, however, some of the biggest positions in sport are being filled by companies unfamiliar to the sector. SportsPro takes a look at three manufacturers making moves in recent years. By Eoin Connolly and Mike Kennedy

Nissan “We came after a sponsor that had been there for 21 years so it presents opportunities and challenges,� says Bastien Schupp, vice president of marketing for Europe at Japanese car manufacturer and Uefa Champions League sponsor Nissan. “The big opportunity is that people get bored and that if you’re there for 21 years you become part of the scenery and nobody notices you, so the fact that it’s different is a huge opportunity. The risk is that it takes time for people to notice. So that’s why we actually promote a lot – we write ‘Proud New Sponsor’ – for people to actually realise that there’s been a change, because otherwise it’s the same thing: people get confused. “Within the Champions League, it’s very well structured. We are the exclusive sponsor and Uefa is very strict in protecting that. But customers pay limited attention to that, and then you’ve got the Euro [soccer’s Uefa European Championship] which is sponsored 86 | www.sportspromedia.com

by someone else, the teams might be sponsored by someone else. To people, it’s all mixing. So that’s why it’s important that we keep it simple, we repeat our messages all the time, and we promote the fact that we’re sponsors of the Champions League separately.� Schupp is speaking in Berlin on the morning of the Champions League ÀQDO MXVW D IHZ KRXUV EHIRUH 6SDQLVK champions Barcelona beat their Italian counterparts Juventus 3-1 in European club soccer’s showpiece game. The day ahead will be a busy one: this is Nissan’s ÀUVW ÀQDO DV D VSRQVRU RI WKH HYHQW DW WKH HQG RI WKH ÀUVW VHDVRQ RI D IRXU \HDU deal, and it has had every intention of making its presence felt. The Japanese brand is part of a new à HHW RI YHKLFOH SDUWQHUV IRU PDMRU sporting events. In April of last year, it capitalised on the hesitancy of Ford – a Champions League sponsor since the 1992 relaunch of what was the European Cup, and a much more familiar presence in the space – signing a four-year deal with Uefa associate Team Marketing.

SportsPro Magazine | 87

FEATURE | SPONSORSHIP

The Champions League trophy was delivered to Berlin’s Olympiastadion stadium in a Nissan e-NV200

7KHUH DUH QR RIĂ€FLDO Ă€JXUHV DYDLODEOH EXW it would be fair to suggest it is putting up DQ DQQXDO VXP ZHOO LQWR HLJKW Ă€JXUHV )RU Schupp, it is money well spent. “We looked at various platforms based RQ WKHLU UHDFK EDVHG RQ WKH Ă€W ZLWK RXU brand,â€? explains Schupp. “And we knew via our agencies that the negotiation time for the Champions League was coming XS VR ZH MXVW JDYH LW D WU\ :H UHDOO\ ZHQW in proactively and gave it a try. To be perfectly honest, in the beginning we never thought we would pull it off. It was more of a dream, because Nissan was not used to going for all these big properties. So for us, all of a sudden, to be sitting there next to Adidas and Sony and these brands is a big moment for us. I think on top of the visibility, it brings credibility, externally but also internally – employee pride, the dealers. Everyone, when we announced we were taking over the Champions League‌ there was a big warming in the company.â€? Nissan had already been ramping up its sponsorship activities before beginning a year of negotiations with Uefa in 2013. By then, it had signed up as a top-tier domestic partner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and was a sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations, while its ,QĂ€QLWL OX[XU\ EUDQG KDG EHFRPH WKH title sponsor of the then Formula One world champions Red Bull Racing. The Champions League deal, however, is on another level entirely. It is Nissan’s biggest global sponsorship and Schupp readily admits that there was a “steep learning curveâ€? involved. 88 | www.sportspromedia.com

“We signed in January, we thought we had until the start of the season to get prepared – six months is already short – but in fact, Uefa is very strict and they ZDQWHG WR VHH WKH Ă€UVW PDWHULDOV LQ $SULO Âľ he recalls. “So that was a bit of a panic! %XW ZH¡YH OHDUQHG D ORW LQ WKLV Ă€UVW VHDVRQ both for ourselves and how to work with the other partners – which works really well, Uefa is really helpful in getting the partners together. We had some friction in the very beginning because the entire VSRUWV WHUULWRU\ DQG PRUH VSHFLĂ€FDOO\ football, is new to us. And even now for WKH Ă€QDO ZH¡YH LQYLWHG D ORW RI JXHVWV ² ZH¡YH EURXJKW JXHVWV WR WKH Ă€QDO ² and we’ve had a lot of issues, for instance, with the compliance rules. A lot of guests FDQFHOOHG EHFDXVH WKH\ MXVW FRXOG QRW accept that gift. So we’ve learned a lot in how we should invite these people, start earlier – these kinds of learnings.â€? That huge cohort of guests includes the great Marco van Basten, the former Netherlands striker and head coach, who has been drawing praise from the PR team for his enthusiastic stint as a brand ambassador. It also includes media – SportsPro DPRQJ WKHP ² EXW MXVW DV VLJQLĂ€FDQW LV WKH LQWHUQDO WURRS RI VWDII who have been brought along. “We’ve got three effects,â€? says Schupp. ´2QH WKH PDLQ REMHFWLYH LV WKH H[WHUQDO visibility and familiarity. But the secondary EHQHĂ€WV DQG WKH\¡UH QRW VPDOO DUH UHDOO\ about employee motivation. So we’ve KDG LQWHUQDO FRQWHVWV ZH¡YH KDG D Ă€YH a-side tournament with 93 teams across Europe and the two winning teams are

JRLQJ WR SOD\ WKH Ă€QDO WRGD\ LQ IURQW RI the Brandenburger Tor at the festival. And then we have a lot of dealer activity as well, both dealers with customers but also motivational things where we use it to issue challenges to the dealers or to the salesmen and the prize is to win tickets to RQH RI WKH PDWFKHV RU HYHQ WR WKH Ă€QDO Âľ The Champions League, for better or worse, has become a giddy kind of wonderland for its sponsors, and nowhere LV WKLV PRUH DSSDUHQW WKDQ DW WKH Ă€QDO The release of thousands of matchday tickets to Uefa partners is supported by the presence of the Champions Village, a tented VIP-only area by the stadium where sponsors can entertain their guests, and by the four-day Champions Festival, a public event which has been set up beneath the iconic Brandenburg Gate. It runs down the Strasse des 17. Juni, the Ă€UVW VHFWLRQ RI D ORQJ URDG WKDW OHDGV eventually, to the Olympiastadion. 7KHUH ZKHUH WKH VSRQVRUHG EHHU Ă RZV and the as-yet unsponsored snack foods are scoffed, Nissan has put together some experiential marketing installations based around its advertising campaigns with ambassadors Thiago Silva and AndrĂŠs Iniesta. Nissan is making the most of these opportunities to tell consumers more about its cars because, as Schupp explains, the many millions watching at home will get a shorter pitch. “What we’ve seen before,â€? says Schupp, ´DQG LW ZDV FRQĂ€UPHG LQ D UHFHQW VWXG\ again, is that complex messaging around the match is not effective. There’s only so much a consumer can get and they watch the match, they don’t watch the advertising. I mean, they don’t want to. So the easier the message, the better. We communicate Nissan as a brand, and ‘Innovation That Excites’. These are the only two messages we communicate around the pitch, and that’s voluntary. “The more complex messages and the innovative stuff we do around [the event], so we do it in the break-bumpers or in the real advertising or in the activation.â€? )RU WKH Ă€QDO LWVHOI WKDW PHVVDJLQJ has been built around Nissan’s electric Ă HHW $ )ULGD\ QLJKW SDUW\ LV KHOG IRU guests at EWerk, a nightclub-turnedHYHQW YHQXH EXLOW LQWR WKH FLW\¡V Ă€UVW electrical substation, the Abspannwerk Buchhändlerhof. Over 100 all-electric, Champions League-branded Nissan

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FEATURE | SPONSORSHIP

whether it’s the Africa Cup of Nations, or even using Usain Bolt as an ambassador – they are self-promoting, and that’s quite key to us.â€? Through the course of its new sponsorship activities, Schupp says Nissan has learned “to keep it simpleâ€? and to be wary of getting “carried awayâ€? with the possibilities of major partnerships. “Internally, it’s all run by one global partnership and sponsorship department, and then it goes into the regions,â€? he says. “And it’s really sticking to the key messages, promoting them no matter what the platform is, rather than starting WR EH YHU\ IRRWEDOO VSHFLĂ€F RU YHU\ $PHULFDQ IRRWEDOO VSHFLĂ€F 7KH OLQN LV really innovation and excitement.â€? EC A fan gets involved with one of Nissan’s experiential marketing installations at the Champions Festival

Chevrolet

Leafs are driven through the city in all their unnerving quietness, while the altogether louder Part e-Van thumps tunes through its built-in sound system outside the ground before the game. The trophy is carried from the fan park to the ground in another electric Nissan vehicle, an e-NV200 van with wide windows. “We could have talked about crossovers – we’re leaders in crossovers,â€? suggests Schupp. “We could have talked about our efforts in autonomous driving. All these things. But the more you say, the less SHRSOH JHW VR ZH¡YH GHFLGHG WKDW WKH Ă€QDO is about electric. It makes sense.â€? ,Q WKH HYHQW WKH Ă€QDO WXUQV RXW DERXW as well as Nissan could have imagined. A forecast thunderstorm does not materialise, Iniesta produces a man of the match performance, and there is even the happy accident of goals going in as 1LVVDQ EUDQGLQJ FLUFOHV WKH Ă€HOG RQ WKH LED boards. Those hoardings will be a feature of every game in the Champions League in 2015/16, with each sponsor getting an estimated 11 minutes of exposure per game. The “sheer sizeâ€? of WKH RSHUDWLRQ DURXQG WKH Ă€QDO PHDQV RQO\ a few members of staff have switched to next year’s activities, but Schupp is already clear about what the targets are. “Our prompted awareness in Europe is close to 95 per cent – so everybody knows Nissan, if you ask them,â€? he explains. “The issue is if you ask them what Nissan is, they have no clue. So it’s really about getting closer to people and

Chevrolet is a division of American manufacturer General Motors (GM), yet perhaps the biggest sponsorship deal in its global portfolio is with English soccer club Manchester United FC. Chevrolet Ă€UVW FDPH RQ ERDUG DV WKH 3UHPLHU /HDJXH VLGH¡V RIĂ€FLDO DXWRPRWLYH SDUWQHU LQ 0D\ LQ D Ă€YH \HDU GHDO 7KDW agreement included sponsorship of the club’s Carrington training ground and training kit, but was upgraded just two months later to a bumper seven-year deal which saw Chevrolet become United’s principal partner. Worth US$79.86 million a year to United, it remains a world record shirt sponsorship in soccer. Chevrolet replaced Aon – which took on the sponsorship of the Carrington complex and the team’s training kit – at the beginning of the 2014/15 season. At the time of the announcement, Richard Arnold, then Manchester United’s commercial director, said: “This is a fantastic, long-term deal for the club. We have been partners with Chevrolet for only six weeks, but already they have produced some fantastic ideas that will EHQHĂ€W ERWK WKH SDUWQHUVKLS DQG RXU million followers around the world.â€? This deal with Manchester United is a standalone for Chevrolet in Europe, which makes it all the more striking and speaks to the increasingly international appeal of English soccer’s top tier. Chevrolet’s three major markets are the US, Brazil and China, and the brand has focused its sponsorship energies in

90 | www.sportspromedia.com

you get that through frequency. You’ve got 17 match weeks through the season and it’s almost an entire year, so you get that repetition.â€? Nissan has added other properties to its sponsorship portfolio since the Champions League deal was signed, most QRWDEO\ DJUHHLQJ D Ă€YH \HDU GHDO ZLWK WKH City Football Group – the Abu Dhabibacked suite of soccer teams headed by Manchester City and including New York City FC, Yokohama F Marinos and Melbourne City FC – for a reported UKÂŁ20 million in July last year. In the US, it sponsors the Heismann Trophy for college football’s outstanding player, while Schupp also reveals an interest in getting involved in cricket. Nonetheless, it is Europe’s club soccer jamboree that remains the beacon for Nissan’s efforts, not only in terms of LWV SURĂ€OH EXW DOVR WKH ZD\ LW VLJQLĂ€HV D change in the company’s mindset when it comes to sports sponsorship. “It’s our biggest global sponsorship by far but the guiding principle, if you want, is to go where the excitement is, and to go to properties that have a big inherent media value,â€? explains Schupp. “So the issue with the extreme sports and the adventure sports we did before is that – especially when we did it, now it’s starting to get a bit more mainstream – these things don’t get large coverage, so you need to give your sponsorship the coverage. These properties – whether it’s this one, whether it’s the Rio Olympics,

Multifocal sensor technology watches over Singapore Sports Hub The multifocal sensor technology pioneered by Dallmeier is being used also in Asia: On the premises of the Singapore Sports Hub, Panomera® watches over the spectator terraces in the National Stadium. Occupying an area of 35 hectares, the Singapore Sports Hub is a state-of-theart, fully integrated sports, entertainment and lifestyle hub that allows everyone in Singapore to watch, play and support sports and entertainment. Beyond spectator events, the Singapore Sports Hub also offers community programming, Experience Sports initiatives and public facilities for everyday use. It features a cluster of affordable lifestyle facilities including The Kallang Wave Mall, restaurants, a skate park, a lawn bowl green, a climbing wall, a beach volleyball court, hard courts, a sports library and a museum. On track to become a leading destination in the region for sports and entertainment events, the heart of the facility is the National Stadium; which can hold up to 55,000 spectators under a retractable dome roof. This facility will enable elite athletes and world renowned artistes to enthrall both local and global audiences. MFS technology for highly detailed images In terms of video surveillance, the Singapore Sports Hub only wanted the newest equipment possible. The multifocal sensor technology Panomera® from Dallmeier watches over the spectator areas in the National Stadium. Unlike single sensor cameras, MFS technology utilises several sensors, each of which has a different focal length. Consequently, more distant areas can also be displayed with the same image quality as for objects close to the camera. Each sensor defines its own contrast, white balance, exposure, sharpness and focus. This enables the system to deliver a considerably more effective dynamic

response, and the highest possible image quality for the entire scene. In contrast to PTZ cameras, Panomera® records the entire scene all the time, even while only a section of the picture is being looked at live. So the operator can carry out his tasks without undue pressure, and without missing anything. Furthermore, the same scene can be viewed in live and playback modes at the same time. MFS technology uses H.264 compression and multicast capability for extremely economical bandwidth use.

High availability of recordings The images are recorded on IPS 2400 appliances. The Dallmeier recording systems are notable for their unrivalled quality and reliability. The highest possible degree of availability is guaranteed by RAID 6 and redundant power supply units. The LGC Forensics certification means that the image material is admissible as evidence in a court of law. Mathew Lamb, Technical Director Singapore Sports Hub, is satisfied: “Working with Dallmeier as always has worked perfectly, both with their head office in Regensburg and with the local office here in Singapore. The result talks for itself with market leading images and control software: It delivers the result that the industry has been looking for for years. The ability to have multiple views in HD on one seamless screen is an ultimate users dream and provides us with the technology required to protect our stadium – even at a distance of 200 metres,

the faces of people on the terraces are still clearly identifiable.” And he adds: “I think this project will be used as a reference for many other Panomera® projects throughout Asia.” About Dallmeier Dallmeier has at its disposal more than 30 years of experience in transmission, recording as well as picture processing technology and is an outstanding pioneer of CCTV/IP solutions worldwide. This profound knowledge is used in the development of intelligent software and high quality recorder and camera technologies enabling Dallmeier to not only offer stand-alone systems, but complete network solutions up to large-scale projects with perfectly integrated components. Right from the beginning the company always focused on own innovative developments and highest quality and reliability. Dallmeier is the only manufacturer in Germany that develops and manufactures all components on its own. This includes the entire product range, from cameras to picture storage and transmission to intelligent video analysis and even individually adjusted management systems. Quality made by Dallmeier, made in Germany! Over the years, Dallmeier has repeatedly given fresh impetus to the market with new developments and extraordinary innovations. The world’s first DVR for example, which introduced digital recording to the entire CCTV industry, came from Dallmeier. The multifocal sensor system Panomera® will have a similarly groundbreaking effect: This unique and novel camera technology will revolutionise the market and open up completely new possibilities to the video security industry. This and the extensive experience in the CCTV and IP field have led to a top position in the international market for digital video surveillance systems. www.dallmeier.com www.panomera.com

FEATURE | SPONSORSHIP

Cruzeiro celebrate winning the Chevrolet-sponsored Brasileirão, Brazilian club soccer’s top flight

these regions in recent years, after pulling the bulk of its sales operations out of Europe in early 2014. Though it stuck with Manchester United, it ended its sponsorship of rivals Liverpool, having VLJQHG DV WKH FOXE¡V RIĂ€ FLDO DXWRPRWLYH partner in 2012 in a four-year deal worth D UHSRUWHG 86 PLOOLRQ SHU \HDU Chevrolet was replaced at Liverpool by DQRWKHU *0 EUDQG %ULWLVK FRPSDQ\ 9DX[KDOO ZKLOH WKH $PHULFDQ PDUTXH VHW its sights elsewhere. Chevrolet’s deal with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), signed LQ LV RQH VXFK H[DPSOH RI WKLV ,QGHHG &KHYUROHW KDV HVWDEOLVKHG D PDMRU SUHVHQFH LQ WKH %UD]LOLDQ VRFFHU PDUNHW LQ WKH ODVW WZR \HDUV Ă€ UVW DVVHUWLQJ LWVHOI

by agreeing sponsorship deals with 20 RI WKH VWDWH FKDPSLRQVKLSV LQ With a large tranche of regional league sponsorships in place, Chevrolet then secured a deal with the country’s elite VRFFHU FRPSHWLWLRQ WKH %UDVLOHLUmR WDNLQJ WKH QDPLQJ ULJKWV WR WKH OHDJXH LQ DQ undisclosed deal in April 2014. ,Q $XJXVW &KHYUROHW VWUXFN WHUPV ZLWK WKH &%) RYHU D Ă€ YH \HDU GHDO WR UHSODFH 9RONVZDJHQ DV D ÂśPDVWHU¡ VSRQVRU MRLQLQJ ,WD~ 9LYR *XDUDQi $QWiUFWLFD and Sadia. As a result of the deal Chevrolet’s logo is now on the national side’s training shorts. $QG LQ D PRYH WR IXUWKHU VWUHQJWKHQ its ties with Brazilian soccer, Chevrolet agreed a deal with CBF partner Pitch

Chevrolet’s US$80 million a year sponsorship deal with Manchester United is the biggest in world soccer

92 | www.sportspromedia.com

International in March to take the title sponsorship rights to the Brazil Global Tour (BGT), a series of international IULHQGO\ PDWFKHV SOD\HG E\ %UD]LO DURXQG WKH ZRUOG 7KH DJUHHPHQW JLYHV &KHYUROHW D SUHVHQFH DW WKH JDPHV WKURXJK EUDQGLQJ and activations, while it can also invite clients and guests. Chevrolet’s three-year deal with US 6RFFHU VLJQHG LQ VHHV LW VHUYH DV WKH RIĂ€ FLDO SDUWQHU RI WKH 86 PHQ¡V DQG ZRPHQ¡V QDWLRQDO WHDPV \RXWK WHDPV DQG WKH FRXQWU\¡V 2O\PSLF VRFFHU entries. With a huge player base to work ZLWK DW GHYHORSPHQW OHYHO WKURXJK this sponsorship – US Soccer engages ZLWK PRUH WKDQ FKLOGUHQ LQ LWV GHYHORSPHQW DFDGHPLHV DQG WHDPV DFURVV WKH 86 ² WKLV VHUYHV DV D PDMRU GHDO ZLWKLQ Chevrolet’s sport sponsorship roster for spreading its brand recognition. Chevrolet is also the founding sponsor RI 2QH :RUOG 3OD\ 3URMHFW IRUPHUO\ 2QH :RUOG )XWERO 3URMHFW ZKLFK EHJDQ LQ DV DQ LQLWLDWLYH WR SURYLGH H[WUHPHO\ GXUDEOH VRFFHU EDOOV WR LPSRYHULVKHG children in war-stricken countries around WKH ZRUOG &KHYUROHW¡V FRPPLWPHQW LQFOXGHV GRQDWLQJ PLOOLRQ EDOOV DQG WKH SURMHFW KDV UHDFKHG PRUH WKDQ countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the $PHULFDV MK

Toyota 7KH ELJJHVW FDU FRPSDQ\ LQ WKH world, Toyota now dwarfs all other PDQXIDFWXUHUV ZKHQ LW FRPHV WR VSRUW sponsorship, with a wide-ranging global SRUWIROLR RI DJUHHPHQWV IURP PRWRUVSRUW WR VXUĂ€ QJ The Japanese brand’s presence in VSRUW WRRN RQ QHZ VLJQLĂ€ FDQFH ZKHQ LW EHFDPH D WRS WLHU ,QWHUQDWLRQDO 2O\PSLF &RPPLWWHH ,2& JOREDO VSRQVRU LQ March 2015. The nine-year deal, which LV ZRUWK 86 PLOOLRQ SHU \HDU OHDYHV 7R\RWD DV WKH RQO\ FDUPDNHU LQ WKH ,2&¡V KLJKHVW WLHU RI SDUWQHUV DORQJVLGH WKH OLNHV RI 6DPVXQJ 0F'RQDOGV 9LVD DQG 3DQDVRQLF ,2& SUHVLGHQW 7KRPDV %DFK VDLG RI WKH GHDO ´,W LV WKH Ă€ UVW WLPH LQ WKH VXFFHVVIXO KLVWRU\ RI WKH 7KH 2O\PSLF 3DUWQHUVKLS SURJUDPPH WKDW ZH KDYH KDG D PRELOLW\ FDWHJRU\ ,W LV LQ WKH VSLULW RI WKH 2O\PSLF $JHQGD QRW MXVW LQ WHUPV RI LQQRYDWLRQ EXW DOVR LQ WHUPV RI VXVWDLQDELOLW\ LQ PRELOLW\

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Toyota became a top-tier IOC sponsor in 2015, in a nine-year deal worth an annual US$98.78 million

Toyota renewed its sponsorship as the RIÀFLDO WUXFN RI WKH 0RQVWHU (QHUJ\ AMA Supercross series, extending a deal ÀUVW VLJQHG LQ XQWLO DW OHDVW Toyota also has a broad presence in VRFFHU KDYLQJ UHDFKHG DJUHHPHQW ZLWK WKH Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as D ¶1DWLRQDO 3URJUDPPH· VSRQVRU LQ LQ D IRXU \HDU GHDO 7KLV DJUHHPHQW VHHV LW VHUYH DV DQ RIÀFLDO VSRQVRU RI $VLD·V QDWLRQDO WHDP WRXUQDPHQWV VXFK DV WKH $)& $VLDQ &XS DQG WKH $)& :RPHQ·V Asian Cup. In 2014, Toyota expanded its ties with the AFC by signing a two-year deal as a VSRQVRU RI LWV ¶&OXE 3URJUDPPH· 7KLV GHDO PHDQV 7R\RWD QRZ VXSSRUWV WKH

Toyota has sponsorship deals with both the England and Wales Cricket Board and Cricket Australia

YDULRXV $)& FOXE FRPSHWLWLRQV RQ WKH FRQWLQHQW VXFK DV WKH $)& &KDPSLRQV League, the AFC Cup and the AFC Futsal &OXE WRXUQDPHQWV DV ZHOO DV WKH QDWLRQDO WHDP WRXUQDPHQWV ,Q FOXE VRFFHU 7R\RWD LV DOVR WKH RIÀFLDO DXWRPRWLYH SDUWQHU RI WKH $EGXO /DWLI -DPHHO /HDJXH LQ 6DXGL $UDELD ZKLFK KDV EHHQ WKH VXEMHFW RI D PDMRU FRPPHUFLDO RYHUKDXO VLQFH LWV WLWOH VSRQVRU EHFDPH LQYROYHG LQ ,W QRZ KDV D WHQ \HDU US$1.1-billion TV deal in place with MBC Sports, and a reorganised branding inventory with Toyota at its core. ,Q WKH 86 7R\RWD KDV WKH QDPLQJ ULJKWV WR ERWK 7R\RWD 3DUN WKH KRPH RI &KLFDJR )LUH DQG )& 'DOODV· 7R\RWD 6WDGLXP %RWK WHDPV SOD\ LQ 0DMRU League Soccer (MLS). ,Q (XURSH 7R\RWD EHFDPH D SDUWQHU RI WKH (QJODQG QDWLRQDO FULFNHW WHDP in May, signing an initial two-year deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). That sponsorship will see Toyota supply vehicles to England’s PHQ·V FULFNHWHUV ² WKH ZRPHQ KDYH D VHSDUDWH DJUHHPHQW LQ SODFH ZLWK .LD ² while it will also be involved with both VLGHV LQ WKLV VXPPHU·V $VKHV VHULHV having signed up with Cricket Australia in 2012. )XUWKHUPRUH LQ D PDUN RI WKH GLYHUVLW\ of its sponsorship activities, Toyota VLJQHG D WKUHH \HDU GHDO WR EHFRPH 6XUÀQJ $XVWUDOLD·V RIÀFLDO YHKLFOH SURYLGHU in 2014. It acts as a sponsor and vehicle VXSSOLHU WR YDULRXV 6XUÀQJ $XVWUDOLD SURJUDPPHV MK SportsPro Magazine | 93

FEATURE | SECURITY

Wearing protection Much has been made in recent years of the potential implications of wearable technologies on sporting performance but that is not the limit of what such devices can achieve in the industry. The security sector is now switching on to their possibilities, with far-reaching effects. By Adam Nelson

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fter several years of maintaining ‘next big thing’ status, it appears that wearable technology might Ă€QDOO\ KDYH PDGH LWV PDLQVWUHDP breakthrough in 2015 with the release of $SSOH¡V ORQJ DZDLWHG :DWFK 7KH $SSOH :DWFK LV ULGLQJ WKH FUHVW of a wave of other wearables which KDYH HPHUJHG LQ UHFHQW \HDUV )LWELW DQG VLPLODU GHYLFHV ZKLFK UHFRUG WKH XVHU¡V vital health statistics; Memoto’s Narrative Clip – a tiny camera which attaches to the ZHDUHU¡V FORWKLQJ DQG WDNHV D SKRWR HYHU\ VHFRQGV ORJJLQJ WKHLU GD\ WR GD\ OLYHV DQG *RRJOH¡V *ODVV SURMHFW ZKLFK WKLV \HDU ZDV SXW RQ KROG EXW ZKLFK *RRJOH FODLPV LV VWLOO YHU\ PXFK DOLYH ,Q WKH FRPPHUFLDO VSKHUH WKHVH GHYLFHV DUH VWLOO OLWWOH PRUH WKDQ WR\V $OO RI WKHP however, have their equivalents in the ZRUOG RI KL WHFK VHFXULW\ ZKHUH ZHDUDEOH technology is increasingly being seen as a potentially revolutionising force, LQWURGXFLQJ QHZ ZD\V RI ZRUNLQJ DQG PDQDJLQJ D FURZG VLWXDWLRQ Both the American National Center IRU 6SHFWDWRU 6SRUWV 6DIHW\ DQG 6HFXULW\ 1&6 DQG WKH 8. EDVHG ,)6(& *OREDO an international security community, will KROG WKHLU DQQXDO FRQIHUHQFHV ZLWKLQ WKH next month; wearable technology will be RQ WKH DJHQGD DW ERWK :LWKRXW TXHVWLRQ WKHVH GHYLFHV DUH FKDQJLQJ WKH EXVLQHVV RI VHFXULW\ DW PDMRU VSRUWLQJ HYHQWV Of course, examples of wearable WHFKQRORJ\ KDYH EHHQ DURXQG DQG KDYH EHHQ D VWDQGDUG SDUW RI D VHFXULW\ SURYLGHU¡V DUVHQDO IRU \HDUV 6KRUW ZDYH UDGLRV DQG KHDGVHWV WKDW DOORZ VHFXULW\ staff to converse with one another are ÂśZHDUDEOH¡ EXW GLG QRW QHFHVVDULO\ KDYH D 94 | www.sportspromedia.com

transformative effect on the business of SURYLGLQJ VHFXULW\ )RU *DU\ 0DUVKDOO H[WHUQDO communications manager for Motorola 6ROXWLRQV LQ WKH 8. DQG ,UHODQG WKH EHQHĂ€WV RI WKH FXUUHQW ZDYH RI ZHDUDEOH WHFKQRORJ\ ODUJHO\ FRPH GRZQ WR RQH WKLQJ GDWD ´7KH PRUH GDWD \RX¡YH JRW the greater your ability to analyse that GDWD DQG SUHGLFW ZKDW PD\ KDSSHQ Âľ KH explains, stating that the greater goal of wearables in security from his perspective LV WR KHOS VHFXULW\ SURYLGHUV ´JHW EHWWHU DW SUHGLFWLQJ DQG SUHYHQWLQJ DV RSSRVHG WR GHWHFWLQJ DQG UHVSRQGLQJ ZKLFK LV ZKDW KDSSHQV QRZÂľ

“people behave very differently when they know that they’re being videoed, and that their behaviour and actions are being recorded.â€? +H DGGV ´7KHUH LV D ZLQGRZ EHIRUH DQ LQFLGHQW RFFXUV 7KH FORVHU \RX DUH WR WKDW LQFLGHQW KDSSHQLQJ WKH JUHDWHU \RXU DELOLW\ WR SUHGLFW LWV RFFXUUHQFH $ ORW RI WKH NLQGV RI GDWD DQDO\WLFV V\VWHPV ZH ZRUN ZLWK DUH DERXW SXVKLQJ WKDW ZLQGRZ further out, so we can give security teams D PXFK JUHDWHU SHULRG WR UHVSRQG WR GHYHORSLQJ LVVXHV EHIRUH WKH\ EHFRPH DQ DFWXDO LQFLGHQW Âľ

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SportsPro Magazine | 95

Ryan Browne/EMPICS Sport

Andrew Milligan/PA Archive/Press Association Images

FEATURE | SECURITY

The Betatrac eBodyGuard looks much like a traditional high-visibility jacket, but it is packed with technology designed to improve the standard of security

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Demonstration of Motorola’s Recon smartglasses

of the nature of the situations we can get LQYROYHG LQ Âľ Betatrac’s company slogan – ‘technology that creates the unfair DGYDQWDJH¡ ² VXJJHVWV D ORW DERXW WKH ZD\ ZHDUDEOHV DUH EHLQJ SURPRWHG E\ WKH FRPSDQLHV SURGXFLQJ WKHP $QG ZKLOH Motorola’s smartglasses are still a while DZD\ IURP EHLQJ UHDG\ IRU Ă€HOG XVH WKH ZHDUDEOHV SURGXFHG E\ %HWDWUDF KDYH DOUHDG\ PDGH D SRVLWLYH UHDO ZRUOG LPSDFW ZKLOH LQ WKH WULDO VWDJH

“The potential is enormous in how we can improve the safety of both the public and the individuals there to deliver securityâ€? ,Q RQH LQFLGHQW D JURXS RI PHQ ZHUH DSSUHKHQGHG DIWHU UREELQJ D FDVK PDFKLQH LQ -RKDQQHVEXUJ DQG ZHUH VXFFHVVIXOO\ SURVHFXWHG WKDQNV WR HYLGHQFH FDSWXUHG E\ WKH FDPHUD EXLOW LQWR WKH H%RG\*XDUG D FDPHUD WKDW D VHFXULW\ RIĂ€FHU ZLWKRXW D ERG\FDP ZRXOG QRW KDYH KDG WLPH WR XWLOLVH $FFRUGLQJ WR /DZUHQFH DW OHDVW RQH RWKHU SURVHFXWLRQ KDV EHHQ HQDEOHG WKDQNV WR WKH XVH RI %HWDWUDF ZHDUDEOH WHFKQRORJ\

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at8OÊ 8 X +Á´¼8 8F ¼ÊU *aXan t ¼|a ± a m ´ ±¼ ´aOÁ± ¼Ê 8 ± ´ ±¼ Ça Áa´ By Malcolm Tarbitt, Executive Director of Safety and Security at the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS)

“Over the last few years, the cost of major events has skyrocketed. As a result, in the midst of a global economic downturn, many countries have begun to shy away from the ´ t n O8 ¼ Ça´¼ a ¼ È ±a¦Á ±aX ¼ | ´¼ large scale major sport events. In response, sustainability has once again crept into the spotlight and is now a key component not just for bidding committees, but also major events rights holders, as they try to convince t Ça± a ¼´ È|Ê ¼|aÊ ´| Á X Ça´¼ ´ t n ~ cant time and resources into bidding for and hosting major sport events. Ï X ±a ±aOa ¼ ÊV È ¼| ±am ± ´ a Ïta ~ da 2020 now being implemented and the |Áta ´ ¼ t|¼ È Fa t 8OaX ¼|a at~ acy surrounding FIFA World Cup stadia, there is now an even greater focus on the debate m ± t~¼a± ´Á´¼8 8F ¼Ê 8 X aO O Ç ~ ability in sport, particularly when it comes to major sport venues. But what part does security have to play in this debate? And how can it contribute to a host’s legacy once a major event has come and gone? 8 Ê 8t±aa ¼|8¼ ´aOÁ± ¼Ê 8Ê´ 8 a´´a ~ tial role in the success of any major sport aÇa ¼ ± Ça ÁaV ¼|a Ça±8 ´ aO¼8¼ ± aÉ a± ~ ence as well as how a host nation or city is perceived. Gradually security is being seen as a responsible ‘must have’ instead of an expensive ‘nice to have’. It is not merely a basic human right or a moral obligation; it is also a key customer service that negatively affects the bottom line if applied incorrectly. ÈaÇa±V t ±a F± 8X Ê 8¼ ¼|a 8~ jor sport event landscape, security spending

Malcolm Tarbitt, Executive Director of Safety and Security at the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS)

has risen dramatically, particularly over the last decade. Security costs for three previous at8~´ ±¼ aÇa ¼´ 8 ¼ 8 È ±±Ê t O¼Á±a with spending estimated to be in the region of $1.6 billion for the London 2012 Summer Games, $3 billion for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games and around $1.9 billion for the 2014 Ï 3 ± X Á ±8Í ¡ ,|a´a 8±a 8´¼ ´|~ ing sums of money, which usually arrive from the public purse. As with many events at the moment, most ´aOÁ± ¼Ê ´ a X t Oa ¼±a´ 8± Á X ´| ±¼~¼a± n Éa´V 8±¼ OÁ 8± Ê m± 8 a±8¼ 8 ´ XaV that focusses on the successful delivery of an

event rather than looking beyond that and ¼| t 8F Á¼ ¼|a ´¼~aÇa ¼ at8OÊ ¼|8¼ ¼| ´ investment leaves. As part of our work at the ICSS, our team of ¼a± 8¼ 8 aÉ a±¼´ |8Ça XaX O8¼aX ¼|a ~ ´a Ça´ ¼ |a t Ça Áa´ 8 X aÇa ¼´ XaÇa ~ op a more cost effective approach to safety and security, as well as encouraging a more O ±X 8¼aXV ¼a± 8¼ 8 8 X t~¼a± approach in this area, particularly between sports and major events. With the various projects the ICSS has worked on since being established in 2011, it is clear that more can be done, not only to incorporate security into earlier phases of an aÇa ¼ ma OÊO aV È| O| È |a Xa ¼ mÊ ´aOÁ~ ± ¼Ê ± ´ ´ 8¼ 8 a8± a± ´¼8ta 8 X 8Ç X O ´¼~ Ê 8´¼~ Á¼a ´Á± ± ´a´V FÁ¼ 8 ´ 8´ ±a ¦Áa´¼ ´ 8F Á¼ ¼|a aO O Ç8 Áa 8 X ± a that earlier security planning can play in the longer term sustainability and legacy of an event or venue. 3 ¼| ´aOÁ± ¼Ê 8 X aÇa ¼ Xa Ça±Ê O ´¼´ O ~ ¼ Á t ¼ ± ´aV ¼|a±a ´ È 8 Á ¦Áa´¼ ~ 8F a aaX ¼ |8±Xa± 8¼ ¼|a ´¼~aÇa ¼ legacy that a venue delivers to sports clubs, as well its local community. As well, the many m8O ¼ a´ ¼|8¼ 8±a FÁ ¼ m ± 8 aÇa ¼V ±an ¼¼ t 8 X X mÊ t 8 Ça Áa ¼ ¼´ ´¼~aÇa ¼ mode can be an expensive task and can be even more so if security is not designed in from the very beginning. ϼ ¼|a ++V Èa Fa aÇa ¼|8¼ ¼at±8¼ t ´a~ curity from the beginning of an event life cycle, as well as it being embedded from the early ´¼8ta´ È ¼| ¼|a ´¼~aÇa ¼ at8OÊ 8 tV is essential if a venue or event is to avoid the

Stadio della Roma is AS Roma’s new US$400 million project, that will include a state-of-the-art 52,500 seater stadium in Tor di Valle

´ t n O8 ¼ n 8 O 8 8 X a±8¼ 8 FÁ±Xa that we have seen appear later down the line. Implementing security design from the Ça±Ê ´¼8±¼ m 8 Ê ´ ±¼ Ça Áa O8 ±a´Á ¼ ´ t~ n O8 ¼ ´8Ç t´ FÊ ±aÇa ¼ t ±aÈ ± V Xa 8Ê´V penalties and use of materials. a 8±¼ OÁ 8± ± aO¼ ¼|8¼ ¼|a ++ ´ OÁ±~ ±a ¼ Ê Ç ÇaX È ¼| ¼|8¼ | t| t|¼´ ¼|a ±~ ¼8 Oa m a8± Ê ¼at±8¼ m ´aOÁ± ¼Ê ´ Ï+ * ~ ma’s new US$400 million Stadio dello Roma project and precinct, located in Tor di Valle, south west of Rome’s historic city centre. ,| ´ ± aO¼V È| O| O ÁXa´ 8 oÀVoÎÎ ´a8¼~ er Serie A stadium, will incorporate a variety of other entertainment and wellness facilities, ±a´Á ¼ t 8 ½¸o~X8Ê 8 Êa8± Ça Áa ¼|8¼ È Fa Á´aX FÊ ¼|a O ÁF 8´ Èa 8´ ¼|a È Xa± ta ~ eral public. 8XX ¼ ¼ ¼| ´ Ç8¼ Ça Ça Áa O ~ Oa ¼V Á a 8 Ê ¼|a± ´ ±¼´ ± aO¼´ Fa~ ing built at the moment, Stadio dello Roma 8 X Ï+ * 8 |8Ça ±aO t ´aX ¼|a ´ t n O8 ¼ t~¼a± n 8 O 8 Fa an ¼´ ¼|8¼ 8 ammaO¼ Ça security design and implementation model O8 |8Ça ¼|a O ÁF®´ t~¼a± FÁ´ a´´ objectives. Time will tell, however this project should be applauded for its vision and I am

Security is a key aspect of the Stadio della Roma project

sure it will be held up as an example in the mÁ¼Á±a m | È ± a± t~¼a± ´aOÁ± ¼Ê 8 ~ ning can play a valuable contribution to the bottom line of sport venues, both in Italy and mÁ±¼|a± 8n a X¡ Looking more broadly, the AS Roma project 8 ´ Á Xa± a´ ¼|a t± È t 8 a¼ ¼a XaÇa ~ oping amongst major event organisers and

Stadio della Roma will include a brand new stadium and training facilities, as well as a shopping and entertainment precinct

rights holders for their venues to deliver a more ´Á´¼8 8F a 8 X n 8 O 8 Ê~Ç 8F a ´¼~aÇa ¼ at8OÊV 8´ Èa 8´ ¼|a t± È t Xa´ ±aV 8±¼ O~ Á 8± Ê m ± ´ a 8±ta± ´O8 a ÁF O8 Ê~mÁ XaX stadia, for venues to generate revenue away from when a match or event is taking place. 3| ´¼ ¼|a±a 8±a Ç8± Á´ O|8 a ta´ ´aOÁ±~ t ¼| ´ aÈ a±8 m Á ¼ ~ Á± ´aV Á ¼ ~a ¼a±~ ¼8 a ¼ ´ ±¼´ Ça Áa´ a¡t¡ 8±ta± Á´a± Xa~ t±8 | O a¦Á8 ´ t±a8¼a± ´aOÁ± ¼Ê ± ´ V ¼|a t~¼a± Fa an ¼´ m8± Á¼Èa t| ¼|a ± ´ ¡ Over the coming years, I expect these new ¼Ê a´ m Ça Áa´ È ±aXan a ¼|a È8Ê Èa ¼| 8F Á¼ Ça Áa ´aOÁ± ¼Ê 8 X ¼´ È Xa± O ¼± FÁ~ ¼ ¼ ¼|a ´ ±¼´ ´aO¼ ±¡ Ê ´ Ê O ± ±8¼~ ing security at an earlier stage of the venue Xa´ t 8 X aÇa ¼ ma OÊO aV Ça Áa´ O8 Xa~ ´ t ± ´ Á¼ m± ¼|a ´¼8±¼ 8 X ´8Ça 8 ´ t m~ icant amount of time, money and frustration ¼ a ´Á±a 8 ± n ¼8F a 8 X ´Á´¼8 8F a mÁ¼Á±a ¼|a ta±~¼a± ¡

Tony Marshall/EMPICS Sport

FEATURE | SECURITY

Wearables can enable security staff to target individuals who have been identified as troublemakers, hopefully preventing an incident before it occurs

There are, of course, privacy issues with this, but Marshall claims that a recent phenomenon has seen people volunteering pertinent private data from their devices in order to help safeguard their local area, wherever that may be at the time. “People can volunteer their data as part of a kind of ‘community outreach programme’,� Marshall adds, “so they’ll say, ‘Yes, I make my data available through my smartphone if you want to protect my local neighbourhood.’� Much of this, Marshall points out, is likely to be data that is freely available on the internet anyway, but if people are willing to volunteer their location, via a smartphone or watch, this gives security providers another invaluable stream of data for their analytic systems. All of this is part of what Marshall calls the “personal connected network� of wearable technology. He is also keen to stress the importance of the back-end system, and of the inter-connectivity between the devices. “A lot of what is going on is not in the wearables, but in the network behind it,� he says. Software now 100 | www.sportspromedia.com

exists that can analyse crowd movement patterns for signs that something is about to occur – this is where crowd-submitted data can be invaluable. Computers can also scan police databases and match them, through images being streamed from security staff ’s cameras, with members of the crowd who have a track record for causing trouble. This, however, also highlights a VLJQLÀFDQW GUDZEDFN WR LQWHU FRQQHFWHG wearables: the need for a stable network capable of handling the large amounts of data that could be carried across it. Most modern stadiums are likely to have a Wi-Fi network throughout, but their size means that signal strength could be an issue and it may lack the necessary bandwidth to carry any meaningful amount RI YLGHR $W ODUJHU ÀHOG HYHQWV WKLV becomes even trickier. This places greater importance on the decisions that are made about what triggers a photo or video being taken, and what is then stored for later use. This comes back, again, to the process relating to precisely what triggers what response. For all the advances in both hardware and software, it is still the

decisions made by the human operators that form the most important element of stadium security. It is a point technology manufacturers and security providers alike are eager to underline. “Not many cameras can see around corners and not all stadiums have every inch of ground covered by CCTV,â€? says Lawrence. “Where CCTV is merely a ‘dumb’ streaming device, we have created a camera that is fully mobile, with intelligence attached.â€? He is referring to WKH VHFXULW\ RIĂ€FHU WKHPVHOYHV Despite advances in computing techniques and data analysis, Lawrence is keen to point out that “there is no such thing as intelligent software that can detect bad behaviourâ€?, stressing the necessary subjective value judgements that are made every second by security RIĂ€FHUV 7KLV FKLPHV ZLWK 0DUVKDOO¡V Ă€QDO caution that the hope for technology is not to reduce the number of security RIĂ€FHUV UHTXLUHG RU UHSODFH SURSHUO\ WUDLQHG VHFXULW\ RIĂ€FHUV EXW WR DOORZ WKRVH RIĂ€FHUV ´WR GR PXFK PRUH DQG WR be better informed about what they need to do their job better on the groundâ€?.

John Minchillo/AP/Press Association Images

Smartglasses

Bodycams

Body-worn cameras are the most widespread of the new wave of wearable technologies, and are now in some use across most big security firms. Recording events from an up-close and personal perspective acts both as a deterrent to potential trouble-makers and increases the chances of a successful prosecution in the event of an incident occurring.

Tracking devices

Being able to see the precise location of all operatives in the field is a huge advantage, particularly at large-scale sport events, according to Keith Lawrence of Betatrac. A control centre can easily see where all its operatives are, and when necessary move only the closest officers to the location of an incident. This saves time by not sending officers who are far away on convoluted routes, and allows security officials to maintain an even presence throughout a stadium.

Richard Drew/AP/Press Association Images

Andrew Milligan/PA Archive/Press Association Images

While most smartglasses do carry an in-built camera, their primary function from a security perspective so far has been not to record data, but to relay information to the wearer. This can range from messages from other security operatives in the field or from headquarters, to things like which network they are attached to and the volume of their radios.

Personal statistics

More traditionally used by fitness fanatics, devices that monitor and record things like the individual’s heart rate and step count are being increasingly adopted by security controllers to gather information about their field operatives. A sudden increase in an officer’s heart rate, for instance, can signal the occurrence of a security violation immediately, before the wearer has even had the chance to report it.

SportsPro Magazine | 101

COMPANY PROFILE

Canadian cycle Back-to-back one-day races in Quebec City and Montreal have been popular fixtures on the toplevel road cycling calendar since 2010. With a new deal securing the future of the events until 2019, organiser Serge Arsenault believes his is a model the rest of the cycling world should heed.

T

he Grands Prix Cyclistes QuÊbec and MontrÊal (GPCQM) is a cycling double-header that takes place each year in September. 7KH RQO\ 1RUWK $PHULFDQ À [WXUHV RQ the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) top-tier WorldTour calendar, the oneday races, which take place two days apart from one another, have been held annually since 2010. Run on loops of street circuits in the heart of Quebec City and then Montreal, the events typically attract hundreds of thousands of people to the side of the roads, and, in Montreal in particular, the list of previous winners is impressive. The Montreal circuit – which takes in 17 laps, each featuring three challenging climbs, and a total cumulative climb of around 4,000 metres, similar to that faced by riders on a mountain stage of the Tour de France – has been conquered by the likes of Simon Gerrans, Peter Sagan, and Rui Costa – all of them household names in the world of cycling. The nature of the racing and the position of the races in the calendar, in early-to-mid-September, have marked the

Simon Gerrans, the winner in Quebec in 2012 and champion of both GPQCM races in 2014

double-header out as a key preparation point ahead of cycling’s annual road world championships, which take place a week or so after the events each year. Despite the arduous travel involved for the Europe-based elite of cycling, the riders, by and large, have developed a fondness for the Canadian outpost. It is a fondness that Serge Arsenault, president of the GPCQM, is proud to have inculcated. “The Montreal and

Serge Arsenault, president of the GPCQM, has organised cycling races in every decade since the 80s

102 | www.sportspromedia.com

Quebec races are now what we call the riders’ races,â€? says Arsenault. “They feel at home and quite well.â€? Arsenault explains that a top-level race organised outside cycling’s European heartland costs the organisers as much as 400 per cent more to put on. That’s because in order to guarantee a quality Ă€ HOG WKH RUJDQLVHUV KDYH WR JXDUDQWHH D KDSS\ Ă€ HOG 7R GR WKDW WKH\ PXVW VWXPS XS IRU Ă LJKWV WUDQVIHUV DQG accommodation for the athletes and their support teams, even before race organisation and television production has been taken into account. In Canada, the teams – 18 of them compete in each of the races – are lodged at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City before transferring to the equally plush Delta Montreal. The teams are looked after, the quality of the organisation is high and so too – crucially as far as Arsenault is concerned – is the quality of the television production. Sold or distributed to 130 countries around the world, Arsenault’s in-house television production for each race takes up a sizeable chunk of his annual budget of between CAN$7 million and CAN$8 million. A former sports broadcaster and television executive, Arsenault knows of what he speaks when it comes to television production. The Serdy Group itself is centred on a network TV business, and Arsenault and his team were previously responsible for producing Tour de France coverage in Canada. “Being a TV guy myself, I believe that we have a tremendous product on TV,â€? he says. “We have a collaboration with cameramen from the Tour de France, and we have local producers who are used to producing the Formula One with Bernie Ecclestone. The bill is CAN$1.5 million if you want to do something OK. “We pushed very hard so that cycling could jump into the modern era in terms

The peloton rides into the final straight of the 2014 Grand Prix Cycliste de QuĂŠbec, in the picturesque surroundings of Quebec City, Canada

of technology. If you take Formula One, sometimes you can have 90 minutes with not much going on. They’re just going round the circuit. But the fact that they embrace new technology and they invent so many things, the spectators look at it on TV and they’re captivated. The product has to be good. And we believe ours is.â€? In fact, the parallels with Formula One run deep. Organisers of the Canadian Grand Prix struck a CAN$187 million deal with Formula One last year. That deal will see a Formula One race continue to take place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal every year until at least 2024. Such is the unilateral support for the event that funding for the deal was drawn from the Montreal tourist board as well as both the provincial and state governments. That belief at several layers of government in the power of sporting events extends to Arsenault’s cycling RSHUDWLRQ WRR ´7KH Ă€UVW SULRULW\ IRU PRVW RUJDQLVHUV LV Ă€QDQFH DQG WR PDNH sure the budget will be OK,â€? Arsenault explains. “Fortunately we have full support there. We have two cities – Quebec and Montreal. We have the Quebec government, and the Canadian government – equal partners in the Grand 3UL[ 7KH\ Ă€QDQFH DSSUR[LPDWHO\ SHU

cent of the costs. The other 50 per cent are private enterprise – local sponsors.â€? Aresenault recently struck a deal with all his stakeholders that sees funding for the two races secure until after the 2019 edition. “That’s a tremendous weight off our shoulders,â€? he admits. “Now we can concentrate on the public, now we can concentrate on pleasing the riders so that when they’re here they’ll be treated as top, global athletes, which is what they are.â€? With the future of his events secure, Arsenault has another goal in mind in the more immediate future. The Canadian has been around cycling for some time. Before the 2010 launch of the GP Cyclistes Quebec and Montreal, he organised the Grand Prix Cycliste des AmĂŠriques from 1988 to 1992 and the Tour Cycliste Trans-Canada in 1999. He was forced to shut down the former after it was bunted out of its position in the cycling calendar, forcing it to compete, ultimately unsuccessfully, with American football and hockey in the cluttered North American sports media market. The UCI is preparing to put the Ă€QLVKLQJ WRXFKHV WR D QXPEHU RI UHIRUP packages that look set to transform the WorldTour calendar from the 2017 season, and Arsenault has been playing

a key role in the multiple stakeholder focus groups and discussions that will inform those changes. Unsurprisingly, he believes the ongoing success of the races in Quebec and Montreal should form something of a blueprint for change as the UCI endeavours to elevate the sport to the top tier. Although his stance is Ă€UP ² KH EHOLHYHV KLV RZQ UDFHV QHHG to stay in their current position in the calendar, and retain their current top-level status in order to survive – he recognises that compromise is needed across the board. “Everyone will have to understand that we are in a process of negotiation and compromise and concession are inevitable,â€? he says. “You cannot win everything you want. It’s certain that everyone staying with their own positions won’t be a solution. ´:H ZLOO KDYH WR Ă€QG D VROXWLRQ WR respect everyone’s needs. Cycling is not the property of the organiser, or of the teams, or of the UCI: it’s the property of all the stakeholders. We have to have an agreement.â€? For more information, Visit: gpcqm.ca Contact: mleblanc@gpcqm.ca

SportsPro Magazine | 103

DEALS

DEALS REVIEW Sports industry deal-making highlights from May 2015 Open rights fee doubles in US as NBC ousts ESPN US network NBC Sports Group is to broadcast golf ’s Open Championship from 2017, after striking a major new rights agreement with The R&A. The 12-year deal, which runs until 2028, includes multi-platform coverage of The Open as well as The Senior Open, Walker Cup and The Amateur Championship. According to SportsBusiness Daily, NBC will pay an average of US$50 million per year over the course of the deal, which is around double the fee being paid by the Open’s current US broadcaster ESPN. NBC, which is said to have outbid both ESPN and Fox Sports for the rights, will provide coverage on its eponymous network as well as the specialist Golf Channel and its Spanishlanguage NBC Universo offering. 7KH GHDO PDUNV WKH À UVW WLPH WKDW Golf Channel, which NBC launched in 1995, has secured live rights to one of men’s golf ’s four major tournaments.

NBC already has a contract in place for the US rights to the Ryder Cup until 2030. The broadcaster’s latest agreement for the British Open comes after it lost out to Fox for the rights to the US Open in August 2013. NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus said: “The R&A is synonymous with the traditions and history of golf, and The Open is golf ’s original

championship. NBC Sports is proud to present The Open Championship, and to work with The R&A on their initiatives to grow the game around the globe.â€? ESPN has showcased The Open since DOWKRXJK LWV DIĂ€ OLDWH QHWZRUN $%& started carrying the tournament in 1962. Its current deal was signed in 2008 and had been due to cover 2017, however The R&A is believed to have opted out RI WKH Ă€ QDO \HDU WR VLJQ ZLWK 1%& (631¡V Ă€ QDO WZR 2SHQV ZLOO EH WKLV year’s tournament at St Andrews and next year’s edition at Royal Troon. In addition to agreeing terms with The R&A, NBC has also struck a deal with the Ladies’ Golf Union and IMG for the rights to the Ricoh Women’s %ULWLVK 2SHQ RQH RI Ă€ YH PDMRU tournaments in the women’s game, and the Curtis Cup amateur competition when it is played in Great Britain and Ireland. That deal also runs from 2017 to 2028 and includes coverage across the NBC network.

Bud Selig signs IMG representation agreement Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner emeritus Bud Selig (right) has signed a representation deal with :0(ɇ,0* The global agency will represent the 80-year-old, who formally retired in January, for all of his speaking and literary endeavours, with the aim of securing a book deal. “I am delighted to be working with Sandy Montag and IMG as I begin the next phase of my career,� Selig said. “They will be a great help to me as I begin writing my memoirs and explore new and exciting opportunities both inside and outside the world of sports.� For many years baseball’s most powerful man, Selig stepped down from his role as MLB commissioner following the 2014 season having led the league since 1992. He currently acts as an advisor to his successor, Rob Manfred. Selig’s book will focus on his more than

50-year career in baseball, with Montag set to start pitching prospective publishers within the next two months. According to SportsBusiness Journal’s Liz Mullen, ‘a book written by Selig could IHWFK D VHYHQ Ă€ JXUH DGYDQFH¡ ZKLOH

industry sources have said he stands to make between US$75,000 to US$100,000 per speaking engagement. Montag was keen to stress, however, that “this is not about money. We want to Ă€ QG WKH ULJKW SXEOLVKHU Âľ

104 | www.sportspromedia.com

Bell Canada and Kilmer Group acquire Toronto Argonauts Canadian telecommunications provider Bell Canada and Larry Tanenbaum’s Kilmer Group have announced that they have reached an agreement to jointly acquire Canadian Football League (CFL) team the Toronto Argonauts from current owner David Braley. 1R Ă€ QDQFLDO GHWDLOV ZHUH DQQRXQFHG ZLWK WKH GHDO H[SHFWHG WR EH Ă€ QDOLVHG RQ 31st December 2015. Bell Canada and Tanenbaum have already signalled their intention to move the Argonauts from their current home stadium at the Rogers Centre to a renovated BMO Field, a move seen as VLJQLĂ€ FDQW EHFDXVH RI WKH QHZ VWDGLXP¡V proximity to the Argonaut’s former home ground at the Exhibition Stadium, where the team played between 1959 and 1988. On behalf of Bell Canada and the Kilmer Group, Tanenbaum stated: “We’re delighted to invest in the most successful Canadian pro football team of all time,

and look forward to seeing the Boatmen play at beautiful BMO Field next year.� Outgoing owner Braley suggested that Bell Canada and Tanenbaum are “the best choice to move the Argos forward�. The Argonauts will begin the 2015 season at the end of next month against the Edmonton Eskimos, after enduring a disappointing 2014.

Ligue 1 selects GoalControl as GLT provider France’s Ligue 1 has selected GoalControl GmbH as its goal-line technology (GLT) provider. 7KH FRXQWU\¡V WRS Ă LJKW VRFFHU division will introduce the German system, which was used at last year’s Fifa World Cup, at the start of next season.

/LJXH EHFRPHV WKH À UVW WRS European soccer league to opt for GoalControl, with England’s Premier League, Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A all having awarded contracts to British-based Hawk-Eye. GoalControl’s appointment was announced following a meeting of the French Professional League’s (LFP) board of directors in May, at which the decision was also taken to revamp the promotion and relegation system in elite French soccer. The proposal, which remains subject to approval by the LFP’s Federal Assembly, will mean that from next season, two rather than three teams will be relegated from Ligue 1, with the top two sides promoted from the secondtier Ligue 2.

Cristiano Ronaldo joins Neymar as PokerStars ambassador Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo (below) has joined his Brazilian counterpart Neymar as a brand ambassador for PokerStars. The Portuguese will promote the game and the brand in global marketing campaigns whilst making special appearances at live events and in online poker tournaments. An event scheduled for later this year will offer fans the chance to meet and challenge the Real Madrid striker to a game of poker. “I like playing for winning teams and PokerStars is the perfect partner for me,� said the three-time Fifa Ballon d’Or winner. “As a brand, it is always looking at ways to improve and stay ahead of the curve, and as an athlete that is something I truly respect.� Amaya Inc, the company that operates PokerStars, said in a statement that Ronaldo’s signing is part of its ‘investment in attracting mainstream consumers to poker.’ “Ronaldo is part of a new generation of global superstar athletes that work hard, play smart and encourage their fans to share in their lives,� said Amaya chief executive David Baazov. “We’re proud that Ronaldo – and fellow elite player Neymar Jr – have chosen to make PokerStars a partner in their journey and to share their love of the game of poker with their legions of fans.� In addition to Ronaldo – in at number 16 in SportsPro’s list of the world’s most marketable athletes for 2015 – and Neymar, who joined the brand earlier this month, PokerStars also counts Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo and tennis great Rafael Nadal among its roster of endorsers.

For more information on these deals and daily updates from across the sports industry, visit

www.sportspromedia.com SportsPro Magazine | 105

DEALS

DIRECTORY OF SPONSORSHIP DEALS SIGNED IN MAY 2015 NBA confirms billion-dollar Nike deal The National Basketball Association 1%$ KDV FRQĂ€UPHG DQ HLJKW \HDU JOREDO merchandising and marketing deal with sportswear manufacturer Nike, who will UHSODFH $GLGDV DV WKH RIĂ€FLDO RQ FRXUW apparel provider of the league at the start of the 2017/18 season. The deal is said to be worth around US$125 million a year, which represents a 245 per cent increase RQ $GLGDV¡ SD\PHQWV ,Q D Ă€UVW IRU WKH league, Nike will have its logo on all oncourt uniform designs. Team socks, which were part of the Adidas package, have been removed from the rights Nike have ERXJKW DIWHU 6WDQFH EHFDPH WKH Ă€UVW RQ court sock provider of the NBA in April. A marketing partner of the WNBA since its inception in 1997, Nike will now have an expanded presence at WNBA All-Star and other events throughout the season. Length of contract: 8 years Annualised value: US$125 million Overall value: US$1 billion Sport: Basketball PepsiCo partners with Champions League US beverage giant PepsiCo has been announced as a new partner of the Uefa Champions League, acquiring a package of rights covering the three years from next season to the end of the 2017/18 season, commencing 1st July. Under the DJUHHPHQW 3HSVL&R¡V Ă DJVKLS EUDQGV Lays/Walkers, Gatorade and Pepsi Max will serve as lead brands for Europe’s top club soccer tournament. The US food and beverage corporation will also integrate its Doritos, Lipton and 7Up brands into the sponsorship programme. Current Champions League sponsor packages are reported to be worth as much as US$75 million a season. Ramon Laguarta, PepsiCo Europe’s chief executive, said: “Today’s announcement takes PepsiCo’s long-standing relationship with great soccer to another level.â€? Length of contract: 3 years Annualised value: US$75 million Overall value: US$225 million Sport: Soccer 106 | www.sportspromedia.com

Emirates seals FA Cup sponsorship (PLUDWHV $LUOLQH KDV EHHQ FRQĂ€UPHG DV the new title sponsor of England’s FA &XS 7KH WKUHH \HDU GHDO PDUNV WKH Ă€UVW time the country’s premier club knockout competition has had a title sponsor in its 144-year history. England’s Football $VVRFLDWLRQ )$ FRQĂ€UPHG WKH DJUHHPHQW Ă€UVW UXPRXUHG LQ ODWH $SULO DKHDG RI Arsenal’s 4-0 defeat of Aston Villa in this \HDU¡V Ă€QDO DW :HPEOH\ LQ 0D\ $FFRUGLQJ to numerous reports, Dubai-based Emirates will pay UKÂŁ10 million (US$15.38 million) per season to rebrand the world’s oldest soccer competition as the Emirates FA Cup. Though Emirates becomes the FRPSHWLWLRQ¡V Ă€UVW WLWOH VSRQVRU WKH )$ has previously held exclusive presenting sponsorships with E.On, Littlewoods and, most recently, Budweiser. Emirates is a major backer of soccer in Europe, supporting the likes of Arsenal, Paris Saint*HUPDLQ %HQĂ€FD DQG 5HDO 0DGULG Length of contract: 3 years Annualised value: US$15.38 million Overall value: US$46.14 million Sport: Soccer Hankook renews Europa League sponsorship South Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook has signed a new three-year deal with Uefa to sponsor the Europa League, Europe’s secondary continental competition. According to Sponsors.de, the deal is worth â‚Ź6 million (US$6.5 million) per season until the 2017/18 season, a 50 per cent increase over the amount paid in the previous period. Hankook will remain in the second-tier of Europa League sponsors, behind the competition’s primary partner FedEx, meaning their branding will be displayed on pitch-side LED displays and dugout areas. The Ă€QDO RI WKH (XURSH /HDJXH competition took place on 27th May, ending in a 3-2 victory for Spain’s Sevilla over Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk of Ukraine. Length of contract: 3 years Annualised value: US$6.5 million Overall value: US$19.5 million Sport: Soccer

Flamengo sign deals ahead of Brazilian kick-off Brazilian soccer club Flamengo have sealed sponsorship deals with Caixa and Jeep. According to reports in Brazil, the BrasileirĂŁo outfit’s board approved deals with the two brands on in early May and they will be announced in the coming days. Both deals are said to be valid for the duration of the 2015 season only, with the bank, Caixa, set to commit R$25 million (US$8.24 million), and car brand Jeep paying R$3 million (US$1 million). Rio-based Flamengo finished tenth in the top-tier Campeonato Brasileiro SĂŠrie A in 2014, and kicked off the 2015 season away to SĂŁo Paulo on 10th May. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$9.24 million Overall value: US$9.24 million Sport: Soccer Robi signs-up with Bangladesh cricket team The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has named mobile phone operator Robi Axiata Limited as a new sponsor of their national cricket team in a twoyear deal. The sponsorship rights were sold to Robi Axiata by media planning agency Top of Mind for BDT414.1 million (US$5.3 million), beating a rival bid by Grameenphone. The agreement will see Robi sponsor Bangladesh’s cricket team, the under-19 team and Bangladesh A-team. The chief operating RIĂ€FHU RI 5REL $[LDWD 0DKWDE 8GGLQ Ahmed, said: “We are very pleased to be a partner of the Tigers in their glorious journey and we think that the Tigers by applying their talent, upholding integrity and through hard work have H[HPSOLĂ€HG ZKDW LW PHDQV WR LJQLWH WKH power within.â€? The Indian national cricket team arrived in Bangladesh for a Test match and a series of three ODIs on 7th June. Length of contract: 2 years Annualised value: US$5.3 million Overall value: US$5.3 million Sport: Cricket

Vasco da Gama bank on Caixa renewal Vasco da Gama have become the latest Brazilian soccer club to renew their sponsorship agreement with Caixa Economica Federal. The state-owned bank will continue to have its branding displayed on the front of the Rio-based club’s shirt, although the new deal will run only until the end of the year. Caixa has renewed a number of sponsorship agreements in Brazilian soccer recently but none extends into 2016, fuelling speculation that the company will pull out of the sport next year. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$4.515 million Overall value: US$4.515 million Sport: Soccer X-Tip sticks with VfL Wolfsburg Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg have signed a new three-year sponsorship deal with sports betting company X-Tip. The agreement, announced in mid-May, sees X-Tip remain a second-level ‘top partner’ of the club and a ‘champions partner’ of their women’s team. X-Tip will continue to have advertising at Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena until the end of the 2017/18 season. Financial terms of the agreement have not been released but Sponsors.de estimates it to be worth around â‚Ź1.3 million (US$1.48 million) annually. Wolfsburg will play in the Champions League next season after Ă€QLVKLQJ VHFRQG LQ WKH %XQGHVOLJD Length of contract: 3 years Annualised value: US$1.48million Overall value: US$4.44 million Sport: Soccer Baxter Auto takes UNO arena naming rights Omaha-based automotive dealer Baxter Auto has taken the naming rights to the new University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) athletics arena in a US$4 million, ten-year deal. The new arena, set to be the home of the UNO Mavericks athletics teams, will be named the Baxter Arena in a deal which will net UNO US$400,000 per year. The 7,500-seat Baxter Arena is set to open in October and will serve as the new home for UNO’s hockey, basketball and volleyball teams. Length of contract: 10 years Annualised value: US$400,000 Overall value: US$4 million Sport: Athletics

Nike has signed a US$1 billion, eight-year global merchandising and marketing deal with the NBA

Borussia Dortmund score Hankook renewal Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund have reportedly agreed to extend their sponsorship agreement with South Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook. Hankook will continue as a second-level ‘champion partner’ of the German team for a further two seasons, until the end of the 2016/17 season. Hankook is thought to be paying Dortmund around â‚Ź1.2 million (US$1.35 million) per season under the terms of its deal. Length of contract: 2 years Annualised value: US$1.35 million Overall value: US$2.7 million Sport: Soccer

FSV Frankfurt sign with Ayondo Ayondo has become the lead sponsor of German soccer club FSV Frankfurt. The 2. Bundesliga side will wear a slogan promoting the social trading provider’s services across the front of their matchday playing shirts from the start of next season until the end of the 2017/18 campaign. The deal also grants Ayondo an advertising presence on LED boards around the team’s home Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion, as well as on 3D cam carpets next to each goal. Length of contract: 3 years Annualised value: US$500,000 Overall value: US$1.5 million Sport: Soccer

Freiburg extend sponsorship deal with Rafi German soccer team SC Freiburg have announced a three-year extension to their premium sponsorship deal with HOHFWURQLFV PDQXIDFWXUHU 5DÀ WDNLQJ the partnership through to the end of the 2017/18 season. The deal will see 5DÀ UHPDLQ DV WKH SULPDU\ VSRQVRU RI Freiburg’s youth training centre, with its name and logo displayed on the youth team’s shirts, as well as being a SURPLQHQW VSRQVRU RI WKH ÀUVW WHDP According to Sponsors.de, the deal will be worth in the region of ₏500,000 (US$560,000) per annum. Length of contract: 3 years Annualised value: US$560,000 Overall value: US$1.68 million Sport: Soccer

Corinthians shirt to carry taxi app branding Brazilian soccer side Corinthians have signed a sponsorship deal with 99Taxis. As part of the agreement the mobile app, which enables users to locate and hail nearby taxis, will be promoted through branding on the shoulder of WKH WHDP¡V VKLUWV &DU6\VWHP Ă€OOHG WKH position last year. According to Maquina do Esporte, the contract is likely to be worth three million Brazilian reals (around US$1 million), roughly half of the amount Corinthians were said to have been initially seeking from a shoulder sponsor. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$1 million Overall value: US$1 million Sport: Soccer SportsPro Magazine | 107

DEALS

Ford’s long-standing partnership with soccer club FC Cologne will continue into the 2015/16 season

Karlsruher SC renew deal with Klaiber German soccer club Karlsruher SC have renewed their shirt sponsorship deal with Klaiber. The weatherproof awning manufacturer’s logo will continue to appear on the front of the 2. Bundesliga side’s matchday jerseys for another year, until the end of the 2015/16 season. According to Sponsors.de, Klaiber will be paying around ₏700,000 (US$790,000), although this could double should the club be promoted to the top tier. Klaiber has been a KSC sponsor since 2010. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$790,000 Overall value: US$790,000 Sport: Soccer Grêmio renews Gatorade partnership Brazilian soccer team Grêmio have signed a two-year extension to their sponsorship deal with sports drinks company Gatorade. Under the new agreement, Gatorade will provide drinks to a new bar at the club’s Luiz Carvalho Training Centre, while the club will offer greater exposure to Gatorade across their media channels, including their FM radio station and social network pages. According to GloboEsporte.com, the deal is valued at a total of R$2 million (US$634,000), R$1 million per season. Length of contract: 2 years Annualised value: US$317,000 Overall value: US$634,000 Sport: Soccer 108 | www.sportspromedia.com

Ford sticks with FC Cologne for another year Ford has extended its long-standing support for German soccer side FC Cologne. Ford will continue to sponsor the Bundesliga club until the end of the 2015/16 season, extending an association that began in 1994. According to German reports, the new agreement is likely to be worth around ₏500,000 (US$547,000). As part of the deal, Ford, which reportedly fended off interest from rival carmaker Mazda, will continue to supply vehicles to FC Cologne players and staff. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$547,000 Overall value: US$547,000 Sport: Soccer Nascar’s BK Racing add Cosmo Motors support Nascar team BK Racing has signed Cosmo Motors as a sponsor. The family-owned vehicle seller will serve as the primary sponsor of BK Racing driver Matt DiBenedetto’s car in the Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway in late August. The company will also support the team as an associate sponsor for several other races, including events in Richmond, Charlotte and Martinsville. The deal is estimated to be worth around US$500,000 to BK Racing, based on comparable deals in Nascar. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$500,000 Overall value: US$500,000 Sport: Motorsport

Cologne Sharks extend deal with RheinEnergie Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) RXWÀ W WKH &RORJQH 6KDUNV KDYH DJUHHG a deal to extend their sponsorship arrangement with electricity and water provider RheinEnergie for a further season. According to reports in Germany, the one-year extension, to the end of the 2015/16 season, is worth ₏350,000 (US$389,000), and will see RheinEnergie continue as the main jersey sponsor of the Sharks. The forthcoming season will be the 16th year of partnership between the Sharks DQG 5KHLQ(QHUJLH ZKR À UVW EHFDPH D sponsor in 1999, and whose branding has appeared on the team’s jerseys since the 2004/05 season. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$350,000 Overall value: US$350,000 Sport: Ice hockey Sßdwestbank extends with SC Freiburg German private banking group Sßdwestbank has agreed a two-year extension to its sponsorship deal with German soccer side SC Freiburg. The deal sees the two parties continue a partnership which commenced in 2009, and is worth around ₏150,000 per year to the soccer club, according to sources in Germany. As a result of its expanded deal, the group will support Freiburg’s soccer school, as well as remaining a partner of the Sßdwestbank Lounge VIP area at Freiburg’s Dreisamstadion arena. Length of contract: 2 years Annualised value: US$170,000 Overall value: US$340,000 Sport: Soccer 3M secures Iowa Speedway race sponsorship 3M was named as the title sponsor for WKH ,RZD 6SHHGZD\ 1DVFDU ;À QLW\ 6HULHV race on 17th May. The deal saw the race retitled the 3M 250, and 3M, an American multinational conglomerate, says it will integrate its products throughout Iowa Speedway to help improve the experience for fans, partners, teams, and employees. Based on comparable sponsorships in Nascar, the deal is estimated to be worth around US$250,000. Length of contract: 1 year Annualised value: US$250,000 Overall value: US$250,000 Sport: Motorsport

INDEX

Index of companies and people ABDUL LATIF JAMEEL

86

Abramovich, Roman

42

Adamu, Amos

36

ADIDAS

30, 36, 72

BRAZILIAN FENCING CONFEDERATION (CBE)

58

De Gregorio, Walter

36

Fowler, Rickie

112

Iniesta, Andrés

DEFINITIVE EVENT POLICING

94

FOX

36

INSIDE THE GAMES

15

FOX SPORTS

58

58

Delaney, John

36

Demetriou, Alexander

86

INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION (FIE) INTERNATIONAL SAMBO FEDERATION (FIAS)

30

50

INTERNATIONAL SHOOTING SPORT FEDERATION

30

86

36, 58, 72, 86

28

BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL CONFEDERATION (CBF)

Aliyev, Ilham

6

Brinkman, Richard

18

Denk, Ralph

Aliadière, Jérémie

18

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS

18

DETROIT PISTONS

18

DHL

12

Akram, Wasim

Al-Khelaifi, Nasser

114

ALL PRO CHAMPIONSHIPS

30

Al-Thani, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad

114

BRITISH CYCLING

50

DISCOVERY

114

Bruchhagen, Heribert

18

DORNA SPORTS

28

Bruckbauer, Willi

50

DRAKKAR NOIR

72

BT

34

EA SPORTS

112

86

FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS

18

Froome, Chris

42

FULL PLAY GROUP SA

36

Furtado, Jonas

72

Gallas, William

36

Garcia, Rodrigo

58

Gascoigne, Paul

16

Gaudry, Tracey

50

INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY CORPORATION

42

INTUIT QUICKBOOKS

16

IOC

28, 30, 36, 50, 86, 114

Ancelotti, Carlo

80

BUDWEISER

58, 72

ECB

34, 86

GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT

Andreu, Betsy

15

BURGER KING

16

EDDIE STOBART

12

GENERAL MOTORS

86

APPLE

14, 94

Burzaco, Alejandro

36

EF ENGLISHTOWN

72

18

Bush, Paul

18

ISAF

58

Egan, Mark

58

GERMAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (DFL)

18

ARGENTINE RUGBY UNION (UAR)

Gibbs, Martin

50

ISL

36

Armstrong, Lance

16, 42

Gill, David

10

ISSF

30

Gillot, Seb

50

ITAU

72, 86 36

Arnold, Richard

86

Arsenault, Serge

50

ASIAN FOOTBALL CONFEDERATION (AFC)

36, 86

AMAURY SPORT ORGANISATION (ASO)

50

ASOCIACION DE FUTBOLISTAS ESPANOLES

80

ASSOCIATION OF SUMMER OLYMPIC INTERNATIONAL FEDERATIONS

30, 58

ASTON VILLA FC

16

AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

86

Ayala, Orlando

80

Bach, Thomas

30, 50, 86, 114

Cameron, David

58

EKSTRAKLASA SA

18

CANAL PLUS GROUP

18

58

Cancella, Fabian

42

El Moutawakel, Nawal

Carrard, François

114

EMIRATES

36

Ginola, David

114

Jinkis, Hugo

CASTROL

72

EOC

30

GLOBO SPORTS

58

Jinkis, Mariano

36

JOHNSON & JOHNSON

72

Cavanagh, Michael

18

ESP BRAND

34

GMR MARKETING

12

Chan, Peter

16

ESP PROPERTIES

34

GOL

72

28, 72, 86

Esquivel, Rafael

36

GOOGLE

94

Jordan Football Association

36

CHEVROLET

ESSENTIALLY GROUP

18

Gosper, Brett

58

KANTAR MEDIA

18

CHICAGO FIRE

86

30

Gotlib, Michel

18

KATUSHA

42

Chiellini, Giorgio

72

EUROPEAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE

Grondona, Julio

10

Kelham, Alex

36

Chung, Mong-joon

36

EUROSPORT

114

GROUPE SERDY

50

34, 86

FANATICS

30

GROUPM

34

KINGDOM SPORTS GROUP

58

CITY FOOTBALL GROUP CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

34

CLUB ATLETICO DE MADRID

80

Coates, John COBRA PUMA GOLF

72

CONCACAF

BEIN MEDIA GROUP

114

Bernabéu, Santiago

80

BETATRAC TELEMATIC SOLUTIONS

94

BORA

50

BOSTON CELTICS

18, 28

Boswell, David Branson, Richard

94 18, 42

18

Kreusler, Bobby

112

58

FC DALLAS

86

Kristick, John

34

112

FC INTERNAZIONALE

18

18

10, 36, 58

BEATS BY DRE

10, 36

KORN FERRY

18

18

15

112

50

HAVAS SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

18

BBC

BLUE GIRAFFE SPORTS

Haas, Ulrich

80

18

COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND

Blazer, Chuck

36, 80

FC BAYERN MUNICH

FC ST PAULI

18

10, 36, 114

FC BARCELONA

FC NÜRNBERG

Barker, Dean

Blatter, Sepp

28

28, 114

18

30

KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE

Coe, Lord Sebastian

BAIN CAPITAL

Bitti, Ricci

GUARANA ANTARTICTICA

86

18

FC LORIENT

16

112

6

Faulkner, Robert

18, 36, 58, 72

COCA-COLA

Baffert, Bob

Beyonce

Farah, Mo

CONGOLESE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (FECAFOOT) CONMEBOL Contador, Alberto Cookson, Brian COOLMORE

Felli, Gilberto

42 50, 114 30

58

Feltrin, Stefano

42

FIFA

6, 10, 14, 34, 36, 42, 58, 72, 94, 114

36

36, 58

18

36

Krucker, Jürgen

Hawila, Jose

36

Kulcsár, Krisztián

58

Hayes, Alex

18

LA DIA

58

HBO

36

Lapasset, Bernard

58

Henry, Thierry

36

Lara, Brian

28

Hickey, Pat

30

Lawrence, Keith

94

Hill, Jonathan

34

LEGIA WARSAW

18

Howard, Dwight

30

18

HYUNDAI

72

LEIDAR COMMUNICATIONS

IAAF

28, 30, 114

Leoz, Nicolas

36

L’ÉQUIPE

18

IEG

34

LEVERAGE AGENCY

30

IFSEC Global

94

LEVI’S STADIUM

28

50

LEWIS SILKIN

36

FIFPRO

36

Figueredo, Eugenio

36

Filbry, Klaus

18

FINANCIAL TIMES

36

Fish, John

18

INTERNATIONAL JUDO FEDERATION (IJF)

FITBIT

94

IMG

36

COSTA RICA FOOTBALL FEDERATION (FEDEFUT)

36

CRICKET AUSTRALIA

86

FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND

da Silva, Luiz Inácio Lula

58

FORBES

80

FORMULA ONE

28

Davidson, Aaron

36

Fort, Ricardo

58, 72

110 | www.sportspromedia.com

Havelange, João

Li, Eduardo

36

72

Li, Na

16

IMX

72

LIGA DE FUTBOL PROFESIONAL (LFP)

80

INBEV

42

LISTERINE

72

INFINITI

86

18

INFRONT ITALY

16

LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT

INFRONT SPORTS & MEDIA

34

LIVERPOOL FC

86

LONDON BRONCOS RLFC

114

LOS ANGELES FOOTBALL CLUB

18

LOUISVILLE PROFESSIONAL TENNIS LLC

28

LPGA TOUR

112

Lynch, Loretta

36 15

Macur, Juliet

15

Mair, Brian

18

MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER

86

MANCHESTER CITY FC

86

MANCHESTER UNITED FC

10, 80, 86 36, 58, 72

Marshall, Gary

94

Marty, Dr Dick Marzec, Dariusz

15, 36, 42

Neymar

72

NFL

28, 30, 36

Nibali, Vincenzo

Mackay, Duncan

Marin, Jose Maria

NEW YORK TIMES

Nicholson, Peter

42 50

NIKE

6, 30, 72

NISSAN

72, 86

Nixon, Richard

10

NORTH AMERICAN SOCCER LEAGUE (NASL)

36

NR SPORTS

REAL MADRID CF

80

SONOS

14

ULSTER RUGBY

28

RECON INSTRUMENTS

94

SONY

36, 72

UNDER ARMOUR

30

Sorrell, Sir Martin

34

UNIMED INSURANCE

72

RED BULL

112

10, 36

US POSTAL SERVICE

16

RED BULL RACING

86

US SOCCER

86

REDDIT

14

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION (SAFA)

Rettig, Andreas

18

REVEAL MEDIA

94

Ricci Bitti, Francesco

30

Riis, Bjarne

42

SPANISH FOOTBALL FEDERATION (RFEF)

80

Usher

112

Valcke, Jérôme

10, 36 34

SPECIALIZED

42

VALENCIA CF

SPORTACCORD

30, 50, 58

van Basten, Marco

86

Van Schaik, Thomas

30

Rimet, Jules

36

SPORTFIVE

18

VAUXHALL

86

Rocha, Julio

36

SPOTIFY

14

Verbruggen, Hein

50

72

Rogan, Matt

34

114

58

ROLEX

112

VERO COMMUNICATIONS

50

O GLOBO

Srinivasan, Narayanaswami

OCTAGON

18

Ronaldo, Cristiano

16, 80

STATISTA

72

Villares, Cesar

72

OLIMPIA MILANO

28

Rose, Derrick

30

Stein, Jock

14

VINE

14

Oliphant, Molefi

36

Rosell, Sandro

36

STEINER SPORTS

30

VIRGIN SPORT

18

Oliver, John

36

Rossignoli, Mariana

58

Stöhlker, Klaus

36

VISA

Roth, Tim

36

Stuart, Oris

18

36, 58, 72, 86

Rous, Sir Stanley

36

Suárez, Luis

72

VIVO

86

58

SUPER LEAGUE

114

Vizer, Marius

30, 50

86

VOLKSWAGEN

86

86

50

ONE WORLD PLAY PROJECT

18

ORICA GREENEDGE

42

MASTERCARD

72

Pacquiao, Manny

16

Rupp, Galen

6

SURFING AUSTRALIA

Mayolas, Jean Guy Blaise

36

Pagliuca, Steve

18

58

SV WERDER BREMEN

18

WADA

15

18

Wantete, Badji Mombo

36

16

SWISS HANDBALL FEDERATION (SHV)

18

Mayweather, Floyd Jr

PALACE SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

S. SANTOS RODRIGUES ADVOGADOS

MBC SPORTS

86

PANASONIC

86

Saada, Maxime

18

Takkas, Costas

36

Warner, Jack

10, 36

MCDONALD’S

16, 72, 86

PARIS SAINTGERMAIN FC

114

SADIA

72, 86

TEAM MARKETING

86

18

Sagan, Peter

42

Teixeira, Ricardo

36

WASSERMAN MEDIA GROUP

McEwen, Charlie

18

Parker, Mark

30

Salazar, Alberto

6, 15

Teixeira, Ricardo

58

Webb, Jeffrey

36

McQuaid, Pat

50

Payne, Michael

36

SAMSUNG

72, 86

Tellem, Arn

18

16

MEDIASET

16

Pelé

34

West Bromwich Albion FC

Temarii, Reynald

36

18

Perez, Florentino

80

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

28

Meeske, Michael

WEST NALLY

36

THE PGA

18

WHEELS UP

30

112

WIGAN WARRIORS RLFC

114

Wilander, Mats

114 112

MEIO & MENSAGEM MELBOURNE CITY FC

72 86

MEMOTO

94

MENTOS

72

MERCEDES

12

MICHELIN

72

MICROSOFT

80

MLS

18

MONSTER ENERGY

30

MOTOGP

28

Sanz, Enrique

36

THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION

PERISCOPE

14

SANZAR

18

Thompson, Lexi

112

Peters, Greg

18

SAXO BANK

42

Thullier, Thierry

18

58

Scala, Domenico

36

TINKOFF BANK

42

WILHELMINA MODELS

PGA TOUR

112

Schloessman, Carl

18

TINKOFF BREWERY

42

WILLIAMS F1

12

Pirès, Robert

18

Schupp, Bastien

86

42

Wittenberg, Mary

18

Platini, Michel

36

SCOTTISH GOLF LTD

18

TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS

POKERSTARS

72

18

TINKOFF-SAXO

6, 42

Polanski, Roman

42

SCOTTISH GOLF UNION (SGU)

Tinkov, Oleg

6, 42

POLICE

72

SCOTTISH LADIES’ GOLFING ASSOCIATION

18

Toh, JinWei

34

80

TOKYO 2020 ORGANISING COMMITTEE

30

SEGA SETANTA SPORTS

18

PETROBRAS

Portell, Gilles

18

Musgrave, Posy

12

PRESS ASSOCIATION

36, 50

Nally, Patrick

36

Prince Ali Bin AlHussein

10, 36

PUMA

112

Putin, Vladimir

36

Pyne, George QATAR MOTOR AND MOTORCYCLING FEDERATION QATAR SPORTS INVESTMENTS

114

QATAR TENNIS FEDERATION

114

Quintana, Nairo

42

NBA

18, 28, 30

Neill, Sam

36

NETAPP-ENDURA

50

New York City FC

86

NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS

18

80

58

94

94

Sánchez, José Ángel

Périllier Schneider, Arno

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SPECTATOR SPORTS SAFETY AND SECURITY (NCS4)

Rousseff, Dilma

Sheikh Ahmad AlFahad Al-Sabah

36 36

34

Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa

28

Silva, Thiago

72, 86

Simpson, Jessica

112

SKY ITALIA

16

SKY SPORTS

18

SNAPCHAT

14

SOFTBANK

18

SONNTAGSZEITUNG

36

TORNEOS Y COMPETENCIAS SA

36

Townsend, Bryce

34

TOYOTA

86

TPS

18

TRAFFIC SPORTS

36

TRAFFIC SPORTS USA

36

TWO CIRCLES

34

WME|IMG

16

WNBA

30

Woods, Tiger

112

WORLD FOOTBALL INSIDER

36

WORLD RUGBY

58

WPP

34

WTA

28

YOKOHAMA F MARINOS

86

Zaslav, David

114

Zaslav, Jamie

114

ZAYAT STABLES

30

Ziegler, Martyn

36 18 112

UCI

42, 50

Zimmerman-Nénon, Nathalie

UEFA

18, 36, 86

ZURICH INSURANCE

Ukman, Laren

34

SportsPro Magazine | 111

SHOW ME THE MONEY | MARKETING

Lexi Thompson t is now eight years since Alexis Thompson became the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the US Women’s Open, aged 12; eight years in which the talented American has blossomed from a child prodigy into one of the most recognisable names on the LPGA Tour. Known by all as ‘Lexi’, Thompson has been represented by Bobby Kreusler of Blue Giraffe Sports throughout her Ă HGJOLQJ FDUHHU 7KH SDLU Ă€ UVW PHW ZKHQ Thompson was eight years old and Kreusler, a lawyer by profession, was acting as the agent of her eldest brother Nicholas, also a pro golfer. “I watched this girl grow up and I knew at that time she was absolutely unique and special,â€? Kreusler says. Clearly, he wasn’t alone in that view. Three of Thompson’s six personal sponsors – Cobra Puma Golf, Red Bull and Rolex – all signed her to multi-year endorsement deals around the time she turned pro in 2010 aged 15, while The Trump Organization also saw enough to invest in the promising youngster. For Cobra Puma Golf, the golf division of Puma, the emergent Thompson would be the vibrant young face of the vibrant young brand alongside the PGA Tour’s Rickie Fowler. The pair would also provide Red Bull with a youthful route LQWR WKH JROĂ€ QJ ZRUOG EA Sports, meanwhile, jumped on the Lexi bandwagon a year later, making her one of only two women on its Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14 video game. Zurich Insurance became the newest addition to Thompson’s portfolio when LW QDPHG KHU DV LWV Ă€ UVW IHPDOH JROI ambassador this January. Speaking to SportsPro in June, Kreusler UHIXVHV WR GLYXOJH Ă€ QDQFLDO GHWDLOV RI Thompson’s contracts. Instead, he says, “with respect to Lexi’s development not only as a player but as an ambassador for brands, she is compensated

I

112 | www.sportspromedia.com

accordingly, so within the upper echelon of market ranges. “I would say that all of the agreements are properly structured to have upside based on performance but these are all W\SLFDO VLJQLĂ€ FDQW EDVHOLQH DUUDQJHPHQWV Âľ Kreusler adds. As the increasingly sought-after Thompson attempts to juggle a packed tournament schedule with her several off-course commitments, Blue Giraffe’s game-plan is to be selective when it comes to signing endorsements. “I’ve turned down more deals than we’ve signed, easily, in the time we’ve represented Lexi,â€? reveals Kreusler. “We don’t want to overburden her with responsibilities to take care of her sponsors because she’s very committed to helping the sponsors and being a part of what they do. When we take on a new sponsor, it’s the same philosophy; it requires a lot of energy and effort so we have to be careful.â€? Yet selectivity is an approach which, in Thompson’s unique case, is being employed as much out of circumstantial necessity as any management philosophy. At 20 years old and ranked ten in the ZRUOG WKH )ORULGD QDWLYH Ă€ QGV KHUVHOI DW D FDUHHU GHĂ€ QLQJ MXQFWXUH DQG DV .UHXVOHU explains, her ongoing transition from child sensation to mainstream endorser requires sensitive management. “There are things that we have been waiting on as she continues to age and develop but she was originally too young,â€? says Kreusler. “She’s going to be 21; when that occurs it’ll open up a whole new level of opportunities. There are certain categories that we have left from the very beginning but Lexi wasn’t old enough or mature enough to be a legitimate, credible ambassador. We are having those discussions. Hopefully we are making some progress and will be announcing them later in the year.â€?

As to what categories those might be, Kreusler declines to show his hand just yet. “Every time I’ve done that in the past, it bites me in the ass!â€? he laughs. Nevertheless, he believes the fashion world harbours untapped opportunity for Thompson. Having previously partowned Wilhelmina Models – a modelling agency where he represented celebrities including Beyonce, Jessica Simpson and Usher – he certainly has no shortage of contacts to call upon when the time comes. “The main focus has to be her training, practising and playing, and then her tournament schedule,â€? Kreusler says. “Everything we do from a branding standpoint will be absolutely secondary to that but you will see continued development in Lexi’s overall brand: an extension into some more mature product categories outside of golf and sport.â€? While requests for Thompson’s time KDYH VRDUHG DORQJ ZLWK KHU SXEOLF SURĂ€ OH since she claimed her maiden major title at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Kreusler points out that Blue Giraffe’s marquee client was turning heads well before that win. “Lexi’s brand had a tremendous amount of momentum and credibility even before the Kraft because she has been on the scene really since she was 12 years old,â€? he says. “Obviously she didn’t turn pro until she was 15 but she continued to dominate and be the number one junior amateur, number one amateur in the world, turns pro. All of those things have been making people aware of Lexi and her brand for quite some time. “Red Bull, Puma, Rolex, EA Sports were all part of that base of people who believed in Lexi from the very beginning and I give them huge credit. They took a leap of faith to invest and believe in a 15-year-old girl, and fortunately for everyone it’s been a wonderful turnout.â€?

Lexi Thompson

Endorsements:

Estimated 2014 earnings

Nationality: American Born: 10th February 1995 (20) Turned pro: 2010 Career highlight: 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship winner

Cobra Puma Golf, Red Bull, Rolex, Zurich Insurance, EA Sports, The Trump Organization

Prize money: US$946,764 Endorsements: US$1.75 million to US$2 million

Agent: Total: US$2.7 million to US$2.9 million Bobby Kreusler, Blue Giraffe Sports

Red Bull Energy drink: signed June 2010 for multiyear period

Zurich Financial services: signed January 2015 for multi-year period Cobra Puma Golf Apparel: signed June 2010; extended December 2013 for multi-year period

SportsPro Magazine | 113

DIARY

by The Scribbler

A different beat

Ex-professional soccer player David Ginola (above) has indicated that he would indeed be interested in reigniting his spurious Fifa presidential campaign in the wake of Sepp Blatter’s decision to step down. The Scribbler bumped into the Frenchman already out on the campaign trail in the hospitality village at Roland Garros. Ginola knows how to show a sponsor a good time, but his chances of taking the top job? The Scribbler wouldn’t bet on them.

Alastair Grant/AP/ Press Association Images

We hear you, David

/RUG &RH LV DERXW WR KLW WKH À QDO EHQG LQ pursuit of the IAAF presidency but Ol’ Spiked Shoes, as he isn’t known, is said to have been offered a smoother jam by Lake Geneva: a seat on the board of the Montreux Jazz Festival, where he’d join former IOC director general François Carrard. Nice. It’s enough to make the Scribbler wonder how else the cream of sports administration might contribute to cultural life. Thomas Bach at Edinburgh? Brian Cookson at ComiCon? N Srinivasan on the awards committee for the Tonys? Sepp Blatter at the Cannes Film Festival? Actually, that last one might be a little too ridiculous.

Movers and sheikhers Such is the way of things in rising sporting superpower Qatar that positions of ultimate authority tend to fall to members of the ruling Al Thani family. In such an environment, the steady accumulation of power by a man with no familial connection to the royals seems anomalous. 1DVVHU $O .KHODLÀ DERYH LV SUHVLGHQW of the Qatar Tennis Federation, the chairman of Qatar Sports Investments, an active chairman and chief executive of Paris Saint-Germain, chairman and chief executive of BeIN Media Group, and now a minister without portfolio in the Qatari government. How so? He is a favourite of the current Emir, Sheikh Tamim. In fact, the Scribbler hears that the pair regularly used to play tennis together growing up.

All a bit foreign 7HUULWRULDO H[SDQVLRQ XVXDOO\ PHDQV WDNLQJ \RXU SURGXFW WR IDU Á XQJ FRXQWULHV RXWVLGH of your domestic market as a way of securing new fans and greater riches. Not so for English rugby league side Wigan Warriors. With London’s Broncos out of the Super League, Wigan’s plan to play one of their home games in the British capital “to engage with both the sporting public and the business community” is a stark reminder that while rugby league’s English heartland lies very much in The North, much of the big sponsorship money sits in the moisturised hands of uninitiated executives in The South.

Little smasher Another unlikely tennis pairing took to the court in Paris in June as Discovery marked a year since its takeover of Roland Garros broadcaster Eurosport with a swanky reception in the French capital. In attendance were David Zaslav and his son Jamie. Zaslav senior, chief executive of the Discovery group, is said to be such a tennis fan that he broke off meetings in Brussels to jet back to Paris in order not to miss the VWDUW RI WKH 'MRNRYLF Y 1DGDO TXDUWHU À QDO this year. Zaslav junior, meanwhile, is a chip off the old block, taking to the indoor court at the Discovery reception to take on all-comers. He even gave Mats Wilander, an ex-pro now on Eurosport’s books, a genuine run for his money.

114 | www.sportspromedia.com

23:1 933.7M 3.8Bn 138 Average ROI in PR value per team

Unique audience base in global news media

Opportunities to see (OTS)

Countries follow the race

[ Source: Kantar Media, 2014 ]

[ Source: Kantar Media, 2014 ]

[ Source: Kantar Media, 2014 ]

[ Source: www.google.co.uk/analytics ]

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