The Racing Post, the leading UK racing and sports betting newspaper owned by Trinity Mirror, and Racing UK, the UK’s premier horseracing channel, have launched a pioneering broadband betting site (www.thebettingsite.co.uk) and 3G mobile phone service, creating the UK’s only ‘one stop’ online betting site and allowing UK horse racing fans to watch live racing, including major events such as the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Epsom Derby, via the internet or mobile phone. The Betting Site will offer odds comparisons from nine different bookmakers and betting exchanges, form analysis, tips, and jockey colours. As well as being able to watch live action from over 4,000 races a year, users will be able to search for archive video clips by horse, jockey, or trainer from a searchable bank of footage from the last 10 years. Punters will be able to place bets, without leaving the site, with one of the venture’s five partner bookmakers, Bet 365, Blue Square, Ladbrokes, the Tote and VCBet, and uniquely, will be able to watch live racing on a ‘bet to view’ basis when placing a minimum £5 ($8.66) bet with one of the five bookmakers. Alternatively, racing fans will be able to watch live racing by subscribing to thebettingsite.co.uk’s online streaming service for just £15 per month (existing Racing UK TV subscribers will be entitled to a discount and will pay just £5 per month), or by pay-per-view for just £1 per race.
Smartball technology on hold
Adidas has confirmed that the so-called ‘Smartball technology’ that uses a ball as an information carrier will not debut at the 2006 FIFA World Cup after all, despite earlier plans to utilise the technology. It will also not be tested at the FIFA Club World Championship in Tokyo this December. In consultation with the international soccer federation FIFA, and in close cooperation with development partner Cairos Technologies in Karlsbad, Germany, it has been decided to focus on the further development and testing of the system before using it at tournaments on the highest professional level. The Adidas Match-Ball for the 2006 FIFA World Cup that will be unveiled at the Draw in Leipzig on 9 December will be the technologically most advanced soccer ball ever made. It features a revolutionary new panel shape allowing players significant improvements in accuracy and control.
MLBAM in WCSN deal
The World Championship Sports Network (WCSN), the first network devoted exclusively to showcasing the world's best athletes in major international sports competitions from around the world, has announced a strategic partnership agreement with Major League Baseball Advanced Media, (MLBAM), the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball. In addition to managing WCSN's digital assets, MLBAM will have an equity position in WCSN. WCSN is dedicated to providing live or same-day-delayed in-depth coverage of over 40 global sports, online, on television and on multiple platforms, so that fans can enjoy them not just around the Olympic Games but annually, for their entire season. The partnership solidifies and expands a recently established commercial relationship between the two companies. Over the past three months alone, WCSN has delivered over 160 hours of live event programming through their wcsn.com website. The programming has featured major world championship coverage.
PA Sport launches PSL Mobile
Sports news and information provider PA Sport, together with the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL), have launched the PSL Mobile soccer information service. For the first time in South Africa, the fans, media and other businesses interested in South African soccer will be able to access official PSL news, match results, goal alerts and other statistics with their mobile phones as the action happens. The PSL Mobile service will allow soccer fans throughout southern Africa to register to be part the PSL Mobile ‘fan club’ where they will be able to access timely, accurate, in-depth and official PSL information, such as goal alerts, dismissals, cautions and much more, from games as they are being played in the PSL and Mvela Golden leagues. A breaking news service is also included as part of the offering. Meanwhile, PA Sport, has also won a major soccer content contract with Sunday News, one of New Zealand’s leading national newspapers. As part of the agreement, Sunday News is taking PA Sport’s comprehensive soccer features service, Premier Football.
UEFA Cup action on the web
On Wednesday 30 November 2005, WPP-owned sports marketing agency Global Sportnet in cooperation with broadband technology leader Narrowstep and French media group L´equipe offered an exclusive live broadcast of the UEFA Cup match SK Slavia Praha versus AS Monaco FC on their broadband-based TV platforms www.globalsport.tv and www.lequipe.fr. Tickets for the match were limited, priced at €6.99 ($8.18) on a first come first served basis.
Formula One Sponsorship Forum gets technical
The inaugural Formula One Sponsorship Forum was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 16 and 17 November, 2005. Delegates were treated to a number of high profile seminars delivered by major industry players. Juan Villalonga, the former chairman of Telefónica and one of Europe’s most eminent and influential business executives, talked about the huge potential still latent in Formula One. He told the conference that the commercial value of Formula One could increase five-fold in the next few years. Villalonga was joined on stage by Formula One Management’s Michael Payne, who backed his optimism. Payne told the conference that new developments such as improved marketing techniques and a greater distribution of research would lead to more companies getting involved in the sport.
New facility for GlobeCast
Global content management and delivery company GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom, has completed the build out of its new Technical Operations Centre (TOC) in Miami. The new centre is designed to support the company’s newly inaugurated IPTV Super Headend, capable of aggregating hundreds of television signals from around the globe in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, and providing IP encapsulation and retransmission of content via satellite for distribution to IPTV headends across North America. The upgrade of the Miami facility is a central component to the company’s expanding offer of fully managed content delivery services for emerging IP-based video and rich media.
WWE RAW and SmackDown launch on handsets
THQ Wireless is planning to launch WWE RAW and WWE SmackDown, the newest officially licensed mobile games based on the top-selling World Wrestling Entertainment on major carriers in the US and Europe. Players can now also enter the ring for the fight of their lives in WWE SmackDown versus RAW 2006 for the PlayStation2 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld entertainment systems. WWE SmackDown versus RAW 2006 includes updated fighting and stamina systems, improved graphics and integrated motion capture technology. Players can also take advantage of a power-packed roster featuring new WWE Legends, new and updated game play modes, 100 different match types, a 3D locker room, engaging online play and unparalleled connectivity options between the PS2 and PSP versions of the game.
PGA launches internet TV channel
The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) is launching its own broadcast channel over the internet on the back of a new dedicated broadband service for golfers. PGA TV is set to drive golf enthusiasts to subscribe to PGA Broadband, which was launched on 15 November featuring an extensive variety of 'infotainment' on the game. The exclusive presence of PGA TV on PGA Broadband signals the first phase of its development, with the broadcast of 'live' daily news bulletins, tournament highlights, golf tips and instruction, interviews with the stars and realtime leader boards. The live and on-demand coverage of the game and activities surrounding the sport is being produced by 'In the Box Media' and is as close to TV broadcast quality as currently possible on the net, with streamed video bit-rates reaching up to 800kbps. It also provides the PGA with a media communications platform to instantly comment on any issues arising from the world of golf.
ATP serves up Podcast
In November, tennis fans were able to listen at their leisure to a daily audio wrap of the latest action from Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai after the ATP launched its exclusive 'ServeCast' from the $4.45m season finale. ServeCast comprised a daily audio wrap of all the day's highlights and player interviews from the elite eight-man and eight-team championship. ATP advanced media director Philippe Dore said: "Tennis fans are hungry for rich multimedia content and our unique access to players and tournaments allows us to deliver exactly that to fans, who now can access the content at a time and place of their choosing via their iPods or other MP3 devices."
Page from ArkSports' Sport and Technology (www.sportandtechnology.com) on 2008-11-21 : News - December 2005 : http://www.sportandtechnology.com/news/0329.html
The Racing Post, the leading UK racing and sports betting newspaper owned by Trinity Mirror, and Racing UK, the UK’s premier horseracing channel, have launched a pioneering broadband betting site (
Sports news and information provider PA Sport, together with the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL), have launched the PSL Mobile soccer information service. For the first time in South Africa, the fans, media and other businesses interested in South African soccer will be able to access official PSL news, match results, goal alerts and other statistics with their mobile phones as the action happens. The PSL Mobile service will allow soccer fans throughout southern Africa to register to be part the PSL Mobile ‘fan club’ where they will be able to access timely, accurate, in-depth and official PSL information, such as goal alerts, dismissals, cautions and much more, from games as they are being played in the PSL and Mvela Golden leagues. A breaking news service is also included as part of the offering. Meanwhile, PA Sport, has also won a major soccer content contract with Sunday News, one of New Zealand’s leading national newspapers. As part of the agreement, Sunday News is taking PA Sport’s comprehensive soccer features service, Premier Football.
In November, tennis fans were able to listen at their leisure to a daily audio wrap of the latest action from Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai after the ATP launched its exclusive 'ServeCast' from the $4.45m season finale. ServeCast comprised a daily audio wrap of all the day's highlights and player interviews from the elite eight-man and eight-team championship. ATP advanced media director Philippe Dore said: "Tennis fans are hungry for rich multimedia content and our unique access to players and tournaments allows us to deliver exactly that to fans, who now can access the content at a time and place of their choosing via their iPods or other MP3 devices."
