Major sports properties represented at S&T: The Conference 2006
What do solo sailor Ellen MacArthur, European football body UEFA, the US Major League Baseball and the Australian Football League have in common? They are sports properties that will be represented on the post-lunch panel at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast that will be held at BT Centre in London on 23 February 2006. Entitled ‘How are sports properties using technology to increase the value of their rights?’, the panel of industry experts will address how sports properties are monetising their events online, how they are using technology at live events to garner new revenue streams, whether new media and data rights are actually increasing in value, how gaming is being used to add value to sports properties and events, and whether sports properties are doing enough to capitalise on new technologies. Moderated by Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director of Sportbusiness International, the panel will be comprised of Ben Amarfio, Broadcasting, Publishing and New Media Manager, Australian Football League; Paul Bristow, Managing Director, Deltatre whose clients include UEFA; Jeffery Lee, Managing Director, Cat Games, supplier of gaming technology to Major League Baseball; and Mark Turner, CEO, OC Group, whose business looks after sailing interests including those of Ellen MacArthur. The panellists join speakers on the day from FIFA, BT, BBC Sport, Chelsea Digital Media, PSV Eindhoven, Sports Resource Group, Hawk-Eye Innovations, Clintons Solicitors, Kirkpatrick and Lockheart, Wasserman Media Group, Sportev and Premium TV. Only a few places remain, with capacity strictly limited. Visit www.sportandtechnologyconference.com for further details.
IDS expands role in NBC Olympic coverage
IDS will be providing three services supporting NBC's television production and Olympic website for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. For the fourth consecutive Olympics, IDS will provide the television broadcast interface services to drive NBC's TV graphics related to scores, results and statistics. The broadcast interface services deliver results information that allow NBC to focus on the broadcast production itself without needing to worry about accurate and timely results information being available for the graphics. For the second consecutive Olympics, the IDS web service will deliver all of the official competition information for every event at the Winter Olympic Games to the official NBC website, www.NBCOlympics.com. IDS is introducing a new video logging system that allows NBC to retrieve video clips based on scoring, statistical and results data, and these video clips are used to create video highlight packages in an extremely quick and streamlined fashion. Meanwhile, following a successful partnership for the 2004 Summer Games, NBC Olympics and Zap2it.com, a division of Tribune Media Services, have entered into an agreement to offer continuously updated online television listings for the Torino Winter Olympics - available at http://www.nbcolympics.com/TV
SMS to grow during Germany 2006
The 2006 FIFA World Cup is being seen as an opportunity to promote 3G, yet it will be established content, such as text-based services that will generate the most significant revenue, according to "World Cup 2006: Scoring with mobile content and services" published by industry research company Visiongain. The study found that the one-month long tournament will generate $6.35bn in revenue, with text-based services and downloads, such as ringtones and logos, the most significant. After these services, the study found that gambling and gaming will be the next most profitable World Cup-related content. The industry will also look to generate revenue through interactive video messaging, video clips and even blogging services. Operators and vendors will push 3G technologies at the World Cup in an attempt to increase subscriber interest. They will also use it as an opportunity as a test-bed and showcase for new services, such as mobile broadcast TV. Meanwhile, Infront Sports & Media and its wholly-owned subsidiary Host Broadcast Services (HBS) have recently hosted a meeting for New Media Licensees in Munich, to address production issues for the World Cup. New media coverage of the world's greatest sports event is set to reach new standards. Fans will be able to receive near-live clips of the most dramatic and decisive moments of FIFA World Cup action. Thanks to the development of new media coverage, fans never need miss another goal or key play.
CSTV.com subscription package offerings
CBS Sports and CSTV Networks’ CSTV.com have teamed up to provide live out-of-market video streaming rights for 12 regular-season college basketball games, that started in January with Mississippi State at Vanderbilt. CBS Sports and CSTV have partnered with the Big East Conference, the Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference (SEC) for the rights to video stream various games broadcast by CBS Sports throughout the season. All games will be streamed live online as part of CSTV’s broadband subscription package, CSTV.com XXL. Subscription packages are priced at $14.95 per month; in addition to the CBS Sports regional games, fans will receive the entire CSTV.com XXL video streaming package, consisting of more than 7,000 live games from more than 90 schools within the CSTV online network, plus live events, features, news, statistics and more. Fans can log on to CSTV.com and CBS SportsLine.com to access the package. CSTV Networks, bought by the CBS Corporation in November 2005, is the leading digital and cable programming network dedicated to college sports in the US.
David Coulthard gets even more mobile
Tracebit, a mobile games publishing and developing pioneer from Finland, has together with Sports Telecom, a leading brand licensor, and racing driver David Coulthard, announced the availability of the David Coulthard GP mobile game through Tracebit's global network of distributors. During his 10 years in Formula One David Coulthard has scored 499 points, 13 wins and 60 podium finishes. He is the fourth highest points scorer in Grand Prix history and now it is possible to race against him on a mobile phone. Players can change view from in car to aerial view during the race, there are three skill levels and six GP circuits to choose from with varying weather conditions. With free practice, qualifying and the race, variable car set up options and freely selectable pit stop strategy, players can enjoy the full race weekend experience. The game is available in multiple languages.
RRL open for business
The Rocket Racing League (RRL), an aerospace sports and entertainment organisation that will combine the competition of racing with the excitement of rocketry, has issued requests for proposals for race venues and teams. The RRL's race events are slated to begin during the 2007-08 racing season after the inaugural public exhibition flight at the X PRIZE Cup in New Mexico in October 2006. Competing cities, airport authorities and other venues can submit bids outlining financial, land, tax credit, and in-kind services commitments to the RRL. Through its strategic partnership with the RRL, the winning venue provider will receive direct revenues through the sale of sponsorships, tickets, advertising, concessions, merchandising and parking. Additionally, the RRL has launched a web-based contest for the naming of its first X-Racer rocket plane. The winner will receive a prize package including an annual VIP access pass to the Mark-1 X-Racer Series events.
Euroleague Basketball enters new media market
Euroleague Basketball has reached an agreement with the telecoms company Omnitel in Lithuania to broadcast games in their entirety via mobile handsets supporting streaming and 2.5G mobile packet data transmission (GPRS and EDGE). Lithuania is an important market for Euroleague Basketball, as it has two teams participating in the 2005-06 competition: Zalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos Rytas. In parallel with this agreement, Euroleague Basketball has signed a contract with the CYTA in Cyprus to broadcast games via internet over ADSL and IPTV connections.
Gaming by girls on the up
Deloitte's Technology, Media & Telecommunications industry group in the US predicts that, in 2006, search will displace e-mail as the most used digital application, girls will hit the video games, and subscription radio will soar. At the same time, mobile television will disappoint, 3G adoption will be slower than expected, and the digital divide will grow.
ESPN Zone puts HD on the menu
US sports dining and entertainment concept ESPN Zone has kicked off a multi-million dollar technological conversion of all eight of its restaurants to bring sports fans an unrivalled High Definition (HD) viewing experience. ESPN Zone locations in New York, Las Vegas, Washington DC, and Baltimore were converted to HD in time for Super Bowl XL. The remaining ESPN Zone locations in Chicago, Anaheim, Atlanta and Denver will be converted to HD by the end of 2006. With the number of sporting events now broadcast in HD supported by the launch of ESPNHD and ESPN2HD and critical breakthroughs in hardware, the circumstances were in place to move forward with this major initiative. Each facility will be replacing standard definition television monitors with Philips flat screen plasmas and LCDs. In addition, each of the large projection screens at ESPN Zone have been converted to be able to project up to 16 foot images in HD.
GlobeCast courts new Eurobird space
Facilities company GlobeCast has acquired new capacity on the Eurobird satellite, for broadcast access to the Sky platform in the UK and Ireland. The two new muxes located on a 72 Mhz transponder, acquired through a deal with satellite operator ASTRA, will serve a growing number of broadcasters wishing to enter the dynamic UK satellite market and target 8m Sky viewers.
Page from ArkSports' Sport and Technology (www.sportandtechnology.com) on 2008-11-21 : News - February 2006 : http://www.sportandtechnology.com/news/0347.html
What do solo sailor Ellen MacArthur, European football body UEFA, the US Major League Baseball and the Australian Football League have in common? They are sports properties that will be represented on the post-lunch panel at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast that will be held at BT Centre in London on 23 February 2006. Entitled ‘How are sports properties using technology to increase the value of their rights?’, the panel of industry experts will address how sports properties are monetising their events online, how they are using technology at live events to garner new revenue streams, whether new media and data rights are actually increasing in value, how gaming is being used to add value to sports properties and events, and whether sports properties are doing enough to capitalise on new technologies. Moderated by Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director of Sportbusiness International, the panel will be comprised of Ben Amarfio, Broadcasting, Publishing and New Media Manager, Australian Football League; Paul Bristow, Managing Director, Deltatre whose clients include UEFA; Jeffery Lee, Managing Director, Cat Games, supplier of gaming technology to Major League Baseball; and Mark Turner, CEO, OC Group, whose business looks after sailing interests including those of Ellen MacArthur. The panellists join speakers on the day from FIFA, BT, BBC Sport, Chelsea Digital Media, PSV Eindhoven, Sports Resource Group, Hawk-Eye Innovations, Clintons Solicitors, Kirkpatrick and Lockheart, Wasserman Media Group, Sportev and Premium TV. Only a few places remain, with capacity strictly limited. Visit 
Tracebit, a mobile games publishing and developing pioneer from Finland, has together with Sports Telecom, a leading brand licensor, and racing driver David Coulthard, announced the availability of the David Coulthard GP mobile game through Tracebit's global network of distributors. During his 10 years in Formula One David Coulthard has scored 499 points, 13 wins and 60 podium finishes. He is the fourth highest points scorer in Grand Prix history and now it is possible to race against him on a mobile phone. Players can change view from in car to aerial view during the race, there are three skill levels and six GP circuits to choose from with varying weather conditions. With free practice, qualifying and the race, variable car set up options and freely selectable pit stop strategy, players can enjoy the full race weekend experience. The game is available in multiple languages.
US sports dining and entertainment concept ESPN Zone has kicked off a multi-million dollar technological conversion of all eight of its restaurants to bring sports fans an unrivalled High Definition (HD) viewing experience. ESPN Zone locations in New York, Las Vegas, Washington DC, and Baltimore were converted to HD in time for Super Bowl XL. The remaining ESPN Zone locations in Chicago, Anaheim, Atlanta and Denver will be converted to HD by the end of 2006. With the number of sporting events now broadcast in HD supported by the launch of ESPNHD and ESPN2HD and critical breakthroughs in hardware, the circumstances were in place to move forward with this major initiative. Each facility will be replacing standard definition television monitors with Philips flat screen plasmas and LCDs. In addition, each of the large projection screens at ESPN Zone have been converted to be able to project up to 16 foot images in HD.
