View From the Editor: Cutting the mustard at SportelMonaco - November 2005  

Readers in Wales might not be aware that a ship carrying 92 tonnes of whisky has recently sunk off the country’s coastline (although this may change if the 40%-proof spirit gets into the Cardigan Bay water supply). With 20,000 of the bottles expected to wash up onto shore at any time, S&T looks forward to tales of drunkeness and ribaldry from the home of songstress Charlotte Church (no relation) throughout the weeks to come. Which reminds us, it’s time to write our SPORTELMonaco review once more.
S&T is delighted to report that a total of 1,884 participants, representing a record 868 companies from 65 countries worldwide, took part at the end of October in the annual sports television market, making it one of the largest SPORTELs ever. With more than 115 stands and exhibits and an emphasis on new mobile technologies for sports content widening the market’s focus considerably, the sold-out market floor was positively a-buzzing (and the ubiquitous poker chips a-clinking), from the opening of the exhibition floor on Monday morning right through to the close of the market on Thursday. As Richard Bunn, former head of sport at the European Broadcasting Union, and director of the RBI Network, told S&T: “I had the very definite impression that there is much more buoyancy in our business and that optimism is slowly returning.”
Luckily, having conquered our addiction to the electronic geegees in the Sun Casino at The Fairmont (after all, Rambling Roger’s form has dipped considerably in the past 12 months), S&T was able to spend lots of time hobnobbing with SPORTEL exhibitors and delegates and finding out exactly who was moving and shaking in the market (or indeed, after the Sportev dinner at The Columbus, who was still able to move without shaking).

Occasional meanderings

The hottest gossip on the facilities side of the market was that BT was rumoured to be pulling out of the occasional use satellite business. BT declined to comment on the issue (and not just because of a post-Setanta Party sleep deficit) but several competitors were no doubt licking their lips at the potential booty up for grabs. “I’d certainly be surprised if this turns out to be true,” said satellite services company Globecast’s head of sport Graham Smith diplomatically to S&T at SPORTEL, “because BT has always been such a big player on the occasional use side. It’s been my view for a while though that the current level of pricing and services in the industry couldn’t be sustained, and that was born out by what happened to TVNZ Satellite Services last year.” France Telecom-owned Globecast, which is currently up for sale, is a SPORTEL stalwart and is no doubt breathing a self-assured sigh that the company doesn’t have all its eggs in the occasional use basket. “The market is certainly becoming more interesting,” added Smith. “The Intelsat and PanAmSat merger was a surprise. NTL is doing some international work, but not much, so there aren’t many of us left now.”
Currently on the Globecast ‘to do list’ is increasing its fibre network, (“Fibre will eventually be seen as the principal route for broadcasters with satellite the back-up”) and upgrading to high definition (“HD will require a lot of investment from us and the broadcasters.”) Globecast however is currently most proud of its new solutions for the delivery of sport on broadband, wireless and alternative distribution channels that it showcased at the market.
The future of sport on mobile phones in particular was debated by technology company Alcatel in a roundtable discussion and was a theme at SPORTELMonaco this year in general (alongside learning how to play Texas Hold’em). Certainly, there was a growing acceptance among delegates that alternative distribution is here to stay and is shifting the balance of traditional broadcasting to encompass a wider range of technologies and solutions. “It’s all very exciting,” confirmed one rights seller to S&T, “but I don’t have a bloody clue how most of it works!” If that wasn’t someone begging to buy a ticket for Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast (see www.sportandtechnologyconference.com for further details), then S&T is a Plymouth Argyle fan!

Football Francais, c’est formidable!

Actually, as S&T was having massive Exeter City withdrawal during our week in casino centrale (where ironically, playing poker for money is apparently illegal; luckily we were just playing for the excellent PartyGaming goody bags on the Matchroom stand), we decided to bully a few new SPORTEL chums to check out the delights of mighty Monaco versus diminutive Dijon in the French Cup – or the Coupe de la Ligue in native parlance - at Stade Louis II. This was akin to watching Manchester United taking on Exeter last season in the FA Cup, so of course S&T had to support Dijon, who were very much the underdogs. Mind you, we thought Exeter City fans were mad until we sat among the 100 or so Dijon supporters for 90 minutes. Loud is a concept that did not do them justice! S&T must remember to buy a megaphone and stand with our back to the pitch at the next match we go to, waving our arms manically while conducting our supporters in rousing operetta-like chorus. Unfortunately, on the pitch, Dijon did not (wait for it), ‘cut the mustard’, and went out of the cup by a single goal. Off the pitch though, the Dijon supporters won heads up. And even indulged in a bit of sweaty shirt swapping with the Monagascans. Loved it.
And what’s more, the whole experience only cost a mere two euros! S&T kids you not! We tried to give them more but the Monaco ticket chap just laughed at us. “Crazy Ingleeesh!”
Well, that’s nearly it readers. By the time we next go to press, S&T will have been back to Monaco for the Formula One Sponsorship Forum, spent time in Rome at the ESA Congress, organised a sports infrastructure conference for UK Trade & Investment at The Oval cricket ground (www.globalsportsconference2005.com) and had a nosey peek around the site of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympic Games courtesy of Olympics IT Sponsor ATOS Origin. So there should be plenty to write about, yes siree. (But can someone please tape EastEnders for us?)
Finally though, we must mention a few things before we nip off to Wales for a long weekend with the hose pipe and refrigerated lorry gift set combo we were given for Christmas last year (we so knew it would come in handy eventually). S&T’s most surreal moment of the last month was having our ECFC tattoo photographed by celebrity spoonbender-cum-physic Uri Geller at an excellent sports bash thrown by law firm Clintons at City Hall, London.
And our favourite sport and technology-related inventions this month have to be the new remote-controlled robot jockeys that have usurped children to race on camels in Kuwait (what with them being less likely to die if they fall off and get trampled), and the electronic conkers (aka horse chestnuts) that are being developed for competitors in the World Conker Championships (what with them also being less likely to die if they fall off and get trampled). Can this job get any better? Until next time…..

Rachael Church
Editor

Do you think playing with electronic conkers is morally wrong, after all, surely it is cheating? Or should inventors cash in on the craze through making electronic versions of other types of seeds and pulses and forming spin-off World Championships? Or do you simply not care? If you have any comments or feedback on this article or any of the features in S&T or life in general, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please e-mail your comments to editor@sportandtechnology.com.

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