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Following last month’s new feature, S&T asked two more rights owners what their responses would be to the above question.  Paul Kimberley, commercial & marketing director, Rugby Football League (pictured right)
"Since the dawn of Super League in 1996, rugby league has embraced new technology and this has had an impact on players and fans alike. Things have often been trialled and embraced by rugby league, before being rolled out into other sports. Examples that spring to mind would be the use of big screens inside the ground for the fans to watch video replays of try/no-try decisions. As the sport has gotten faster, these replays have become more and more important. But even with cameras, it doesn't mean you don't have contentious decisions, watch any Super League game and 'Eddie and Stevo' will be disagreeing with each other about which was the right decision, even with four or five camera angles to choose from!
You cannot discuss Super league and not mention Sky. They have been a constant in supporting Super League since its creation (which they were part of), and many of the developments would not be in the sport if it were not for them. Innovations like allowing cameras onto the pitch after tries give an intimate insight into reaction of team mates and small things like this contribute to the unique look and feel of Super League. It also communicates our brand to the world. The last two years have seen double digit growth in Super League TV figures, so their attention to detail is working.
Referee's communication with the video referee and having microphones was trialled and used in Super League (possibly the first sport to do so). You wouldn't consider a professional referee complete without some kind of communication device to their support staff.
But away from the playing environment the advances new media have made have been as large. We have moved from a single site to a multitude of websites servicing different needs. We've begun decentralising our web content to give departments such as coach education and development more direct input, as after all, they are the experts in their own areas.
The internet is now part of our lives, but I interact with few organisations who a) talk to me at the right time, or b) do it in such a way that I enjoy. They used to say the difference between junk mail and something you are interested in was just timing. We now have the ability to capture more information about our customers and do a better job at communicating with them, and any technology that helps us gain these 'hard yards' has a place for a good while to come."  Didier Miéville, marketing and communication director, FITA (International Archery Federation)
"Technology has become a crucial part of sports in terms of event management and promotion. At FITA, we believe that all aspects of a competition should be integrated in terms of operations. Therefore, FITA entered a true partnership with a key technological partner, Meteksan Events, when we launched the Archery World Cup in 2006 (pictured right courtesy of Getty Images Sport/Denis Doyle).
With its integrated solutions, Meteksan Events has provided all technological services to FITA, such as:
Platform for online registration and accreditation
Accreditation systems on site, accreditation badge printing
Timing & Scoring Systems
On-Venue Result Systems, official reporting – printed and published on internet
TV Graphics Systems for infield video board, FITA TV and broadcasters
PDA-based Score Collection System
Online Event Information: for commentators and information displays
Design and development of web portals
Results database and statistics, archers’ biographies and queries
Online Events Calendar
Online Surveys
Profile Management for Extranet
Virtual magazine application
Support for multiple websites in a single platform
Support for geo-redundancy for maximum availability
The online accreditation system (called the FORS – FITA Online Registration System) has been developed on time for the Archery World Championships 2007 in Leipzig, Germany, in July. This system allows each FITA’s Member Associations (i.e. national archery federations) to register their archers, coaches and officials to the World Championships. This easy-to-use and centralised system saves FITA a lot of time and helps communication to flow between FITA, the Organising Committee and the participants.
The same principles apply to the Online Event Calendar, where the Member Associations each have a log-in to publish their events directly on the FITA website. We are also developing the same kind of services to allow the national federations to publish their own news on the FITA website. This will foster the archery worldwide community around www.archery.org and help the relationships between all the stake-holders in archery.
FITA secretary general Tom Dielen stressed the importance of having a strong technology partner, which has helped the international governing body “to increase our operational efficiency as well as boost the attractiveness and value of our events by providing an integrated IT solution tailored to our needs. Their one-stop service offering has also saved us significant time and money.” Having a technology partner “certainly frees us to focus on the more important sporting issues,” concluded Dielen."
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