View From the Editor: SportelMonaco gets bigger and better - October 2007  

Readers, when a gentleman from the Asia-Pacific region informed S&T that his sausage had “been bitten” on day two of SportelMonaco 2007, we feared that the Setanta party had got out of hand once again. It appears however that the offence actually took place on the breakfast deck at the Fairmont Hotel and the fancier of meaty goods was in fact a rather brazen Seagull. Phew. (Although stranger things have happened at the Setanta party, it must be said.)
Whilst the quality of freebies on the exhibitors' stands according to S&T’s brief survey of delegates was considerably below par this year compared with previous markets, (when will the NBA bring back its bouncy balls that flash and make noises – or perhaps they were banned on health and safety reasons aka the London 2012 logo debacle?), certainly the number of participants – delegates and exhibitors alike – has leapt positively gazelle-like upwards and outwards, spilling joyously into the foyer of the Grimaldi. A total of 2,362 participants, representing 975 companies from 79 countries worldwide took part in SportelMonaco 2007. Last year 2,120 participants from 932 companies in 67 countries took part. In terms of exhibition space, the expanded market featured 177 stands, kiosks and exhibits, a healthy increase from the 153 stands, kiosks and exhibits in 2006. If things continue at this rate, S&T expects to see booths and networking going on in the Japanese Garden opposite the venue next year…….Bagsy the water fountain area as it has the best Feng Shui, darlings.

Internet squares up to the gogglebox

One of this year’s Sportel highlights (apart from being an English person among a sea of French natives in Monaco's ‘Stars and Bars’ public house for England versus France in the Rubgy Union World Cup Semi-Final of course; shame about the Final), was Entriq’s ‘Sports on Television versus The Internet: Complementary or Competitive?’ roundtable debate, chaired by S&T favourite Ciaran Quinn, senior vice president of strategic business development at the broadband services delivery company, which is also an online security specialist.
The speaking line-up comprised of Kai Henniges, associate director, business development, Infront Sport & Media AG; Phil Lines, head of international broadcasting and media operations, the English Premier League; Alexandre Fourtoy, CEO, UEFA Media Technologies and Amory Schwartz, chief executive, NASN, a part of ESPN. To cut a long story short (at S&T we appreciate how busy our readers are; updating FaceSpace/MyBook is practically a full-time job these days we hear), the conclusion was that the internet is perceived very much more as ‘complementary’ now than competitive to traditional broadcasting. Or in the words of UEFA’s Fourtoy [who is also featured in this month’s Q&A Special Bonus Feature While Stocks Last]: “It’s competitive when you don’t have all the rights and complementary when you do!”
“It’s all about maximising reach for a sport without taking value away from the broadcaster,” added Infront’s Henniges. Lines from the English Premier League argued: “Our rights are so expensive that most broadcasters exploit them fully anyway.” The rights owner has benefited from selling its rights in windows of time rather than by platform, he added.
And regarding other revenue sources, Schwartz said: “You need to treat sponsors the way you’d like to be treated yourself.” (That'd be a private jet around the world, a lifetime season ticket to Exeter City FC and an unlimited supply of Cheesy Wotsits in S&T's case).
Piracy involving broadcast images on the internet was seen as a bigger threat than the YouTube phenomenon by the panel, and disappointment was raised regarding the slow development of the mobile space for sport.

God joins Jesus online?

Talking of YouTube-type websites, following our report last year that Jesus is apparently live on the internet, S&T was delighted to hear that his father, God, has now embraced the heavenly interweb as well. According to US web ratings company ComScore, GodTube.com, was the fastest growing website in the world in August (traditionally a slow month for sport of course; Olympic years aside). The religious website has just launched the GodCaster, a viral video broadcaster that allows users to stream live video from GodTube.com to millions of websites on the internet. The GodCaster also functions as a viral video blog allowing users to leave video messages across the internet.  In its initial Beta launch, the GodCaster will be available to churches and ministries around the world to stream their service online, hold a virtual bible study or even start an online congregation.  GodTube.com plans to make the GodCaster available to the general public in the near future, although whether God will be broadcasting his own messages is still to be announced. (On the same day that S&T received news of the GodCaster, we also saw the following sign outside a church in South London: “God answers Knee Mail”. Who says the Church doesn’t have a sense of humour? Not us. We’re far too scared.)

American egg chasing at Wembley

As we prepare to sign off for another month (where has the year gone?), S&T’s burblings of course wouldn’t be complete without news of our next outings. We know that it is of utmost concern to our readers that S&T continues to enjoy lavish (cough) trips around the world in the quest to unveil technology-related gubbins and all that.
So, in order not to disappoint you, first up this weekend (following a selection of related parties of course), is a trek to a sold-out Wembley Stadium, not to watch Exeter City this time (the term ‘sold out’ being a bit of a clue there), but instead to watch the National Football League [aka American professional Football) host a competitive game outside the US for the first ever time. It’s true! No namby-pamby half-baked showcasing in a game you wouldn’t want to get out of bed for, let alone schlep across London for with 80,000 other people on public transport. No indeed, at stake (or should we say ‘steak’?), (perhaps not bearing in mind one of the team names), are points that are going to count for the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, yes siree.
In readiness and thus highlighting the seriousness of this occasion, a giant inflatable NFL ‘character’ has been doing the rounds of London town during the week leading up to the game, scaring children and old grannies alike. (Hallowe’en is just days away at the time of writing after all). Nice.
Luckily, S&T is familiar with large inflatables, having grown up addicted to the UK and pan-European game shows called respectively ‘It’s a Knockout’/ ‘Jeux Sans Frontières’ (see http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/tv/variety/itsaknockout.htm). The fairly recent (i.e within the last decade; we can’t be bothered to look up the date), attempt to stage a comeback of the show (featuring former television ‘star’ Keith ‘Cheggers’ Chegwin), alas failed miserably. But we digress.
S&T’s last live NFL experience was the fabulous SuperBowl in Jacksonville a few years ago, so the Wembley game has a lot to live up to; although we don’t expect a police escort to the start of the event this time nor Sir Paul McCartney to provide the half-time entertainment because (and we'll go out on a limb here), apparently he’s just a little bit preoccupied with his divorce. Allegedly.
S&T is off to slightly chillier climes straight after the game, because from 28 October to 2 November, hundreds of media professionals, academics, and officials in world sport will meet in Reykjavik, Iceland, to discuss corruption, doping, political abuse, changing lifestyles, the weather (we expect) and a number of other earthshattering challenges to modern sport, including of course, the role of technology. (Note to S&T’s mother – that’s Iceland the country, not the UK-based supermarket this time. She got very confused once when we texted her from the frozen goods emporium in North London’s Kentish Town and asked us whether we could get her some Christian Dior ‘Poison’ from Duty Free).
On that fragrant note, enjoy the spooky season if you participate in Hallowe’en (it's only fair we mention this in order to balance out the God/Jesus references earlier). And if you don’t, remember to turn all your lights off and hide in the back of the house to avoid giving sugary snacks to 'Trick or Treaters'. That’s what S&T’s mother does after all, and we learnt from the best.

Rachael Church-Sanders
Editor

Do you think Hallowe'en has become too commercialised? Are you an old-school participant in the pagan festival, in favour of wearing old sheets and/or a wig? It goes without saying that it would be devilish hearing from you, so please send all your comments and stories to the editor (rchurch@sportandtechnology.com) as fast as you jolly well can, or certainly within the next 400 years or so.

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