S&T readers who missed out on Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast at the end of February 2006 can catch up on all the day's events and revelations in two ways. Firstly, videos of each of the panel discussions can be accessed, and secondly the post-event paper can be downloaded, summarising the main issues and findings of the day. The videos and post-event paper are available for purchase on the official Sport and Technology Conference website at www.sportandtechnologyconference.com, priced at £25 per panel video and £50 for the post-event paper. Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006 carried on where the inaugural edition began in 2005 by providing lively discussion and considered debate. Once again the conference attracted a plethora of illustrious speakers from the sports business industry. Said Lester Potter, head of global sales, BT Media and Broadcast : "BT was very proud to continue its association with ArkSports and sponsor Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006. The speakers and attendees represented a great spread of key players across the sector, and the quality of the debates, audience participation and networking opportunities made this an excellent event, particularly at this important phase in the new media revolution that is taking place within the sports sector and in particular to BT Media and Broadcast." If you weren't there, it isn't too late to find out which developments in technology are affecting the sports industry.
PA Sport appointed official data partner of AFC Champions League
PA Sport, a leading global sports news and information provider, has been appointed the official data partner of the AFC Champions League, Asia’s premier soccer club competition. The initial five-year agreement with World Sport Group, the commercial rights holder of the competition, will see PA Sport use its network of in-country correspondents to gather and deliver real-time data from the AFC Champions League, complementing its other live services for governing bodies like FIFA, UEFA, the English Premier League and the Premier Soccer League in South Africa. The agreement will enable local, regional and global media platforms, from newspapers to websites and broadcasters, as well as mobile phone operators, and the betting industry, to have access to up-to-date and real-time information from top-flight Asian club soccer, provided by a network of PA Sport data collectors who will attend every game in the tournament.
Success for Atos at Torino
Atos Origin, the Worldwide Information Technology (IT) Partner for the Olympic Games, has announced that the IT Security solution built into the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games IT infrastructure prevented any attacks from viruses and hackers, ensuring that there was no disruption and that the results were relayed to the world and to the media accurately and on time. During the 16 days of competition, an average of 3,100,000 events were processed by the security logging and monitoring systems per day. After processing by aggregation, correlation and/or triggering rules, 49,000 events were escalated daily, out of which 158 major events and 10 critical were recorded, and ‘No impact’ on the Games network was reported. Meanwhile, Atos has recently announced its sponsorship of Danny Crates, 2004 Paralympic Champion in the 800m, who is looking forward to defending his title in Beijing in 2008. Atos Origin is also continuing its sponsorship of Georgina Harland, winner of the bronze medal for the Modern Pentathlon at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and Adam Pengilly, bob skeleton athlete, who came eighth at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, his first Olympic Games. Atos Origin's sponsorship includes financial support to enable the athletes to continue training in the run up to their next Olympic Games.
Sky HD launch imminent
UK multichannel broadcaster BSkyB has moved closer to the launch of its high definition (HD) television service with the announcement of pricing details and confirmation that the first installations of Sky HD are scheduled to begin in the UK in May 2006. Customers will pay £299 for the Sky HD box and a Sky HD subscription of £10 a month in addition to their Sky digital subscription. As an introductory offer, standard installation of Sky HD is free for all new or existing Sky digital subscribers taking a Sky HD subscription.
MLB scores in Korea
MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and internet company of Major League Baseball and MediaCorp, a South Korean-based publicly traded media company, have reached a multi-year, multimillion dollar agreement to make MediaCorp the exclusive licence holder of certain MLB-related rights which will be exploited in the Korean market via internet and wireless mediums. The new agreement runs through the end of 2008. Under the terms of the agreement, MediaCorp will have the rights to offer: a Korean-language website dedicated to Major League Baseball; live internet streaming of MLB games via broadband, IPTV, and wireless internet protocol; live internet text broadcasting of MLB games in conjunction with each of the three Korean Wireless Carriers: SKT, KTF, and LGT; video-on-demand offering of MLB games; daily video clips of MLB Games; a Korean-language All-Star Ballot area; a robust Korean-language baseball news area with stats, schedules, scoreboards, standings, game updates, live text broadcasting, history and the latest news and photos; wireless access to a wide variety of MLB content, including video; online shop and auction of MLB official licensed merchandise in the Korean market; and advertising and sponsorship opportunities on the Korean-language website.
Panathinaikos FC signs up to Talent Sport
Greek soccer club Panathinaikos has just signed up to use Software4Sport's ticketing and CRM system, Talent Sport. The system is currently being installed and will go live in time for next season. The club conducted a thorough review of all major ticketing and CRM providers before selecting Talent Sport. Based in Athens at the 65 000-seater Olympic Stadium, Panathinaikos plays in Greece's top league, A Ethniki. Currently, Panathinaikos sells tickets through a bespoke system, which are then printed by an external supplier. The main objectives for the new system were to sell tickets over the phone, at the counter and online, as well as to manage CRM processes more efficiently.
New Squash service
The Professional Squash Association (PSA) is launching a new 'Download & Own' service, via its official dedicated webstreaming website www.psalive.tv, due to popular demand. Squash fans are now able to download any of the matches which have been covered on www.psalive.tv since the site's launch in 2005, and watch matches off-line on their own computers on an unlimited basis.
China soccer news
Switzerland-based Infront Sports & Media has became the exclusive marketing partner for the Chinese men's and women's national soccer teams. The sports company, a marketing partner to the Chinese Super League and its wholly owned subsidiary, Beijing Infront Sports Consulting, have signed an agreement with China Football Association that runs through to the end of 2010. On the commercial side, Infront will market all sponsorship (except kit supply), television, new media and image rights. Meanwhile, China's leading wireless internet company, TOM Online, has announced an exclusive cooperation with Titan Sports Weekly, the country's top-selling sports newspaper, to provide joint coverage of this year's FIFA World Cup in addition to a range of other long-term initiatives, including the launch of a new sports channel, http://titan.tom.com/ , on its portal www.tom.com. In line with TOM Online's strategy to form unique alliances with key media organisations to broaden its reach to Chinese consumers and share revenue with partners, the strategic cooperation with Titan Sports includes the integration of sports content, wireless internet technologies and marketing resources to deliver a more compelling sports experience to Chinese consumers.
CSTV leads the way at C4-Sports in Vegas
Brian Bedol, president and CEO of CBS Corporation's College Sports Television (CSTV) in the US will serve as the keynote speaker on the opening day of C4-Sports, the first electronic media trade show dedicated wholly to sports technology and scheduled for 17-19 July at the Las Vegas Convention Centre. Prior to co-founding CSTV, now part of the CBS Corporation, Bedol was the creator, co-founder, and chief executive officer of Classic Sports Network, known today as ESPN Classic and considered one of the cable industry's greatest against-the-odds success stories. For more information about the first C4-Sports Electronic Media and Technology show, where Sport and Technology will be a media partner, or to register online, please visit http://www.c4-sports.com/.
Nokia brings soccer to India
According to Football Dynamics Asia (www.footballdynamics.com), Nokia India is rolling out a regional youth activation campaign based around its sponsorship of the English Premier League soccer coverage on ESPN Star Sports. The 'Defend your turf' challenge was developed by agency 141 Worldwide. Beginning 10 April, five-a-side footballers will compete to become the national champions with the prize of taking on the 'Boys from Brazil', a team of promising Brazilian soccer talent. The most promising player of the tournament will be offered an overseas soccer training stint.
Page from ArkSports' Sport and Technology (www.sportandtechnology.com) on 2009-01- 6 : News - April 2006 : http://www.sportandtechnology.com/news/0366.html
S&T readers who missed out on Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, in association with BT Media and Broadcast at the end of February 2006 can catch up on all the day's events and revelations in two ways. Firstly, videos of each of the panel discussions can be accessed, and secondly the post-event paper can be downloaded, summarising the main issues and findings of the day. The videos and post-event paper are available for purchase on the official Sport and Technology Conference website at 
Atos Origin, the Worldwide Information Technology (IT) Partner for the Olympic Games, has announced that the IT Security solution built into the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games IT infrastructure prevented any attacks from viruses and hackers, ensuring that there was no disruption and that the results were relayed to the world and to the media accurately and on time. During the 16 days of competition, an average of 3,100,000 events were processed by the security logging and monitoring systems per day. After processing by aggregation, correlation and/or triggering rules, 49,000 events were escalated daily, out of which 158 major events and 10 critical were recorded, and ‘No impact’ on the Games network was reported. Meanwhile, Atos has recently announced its sponsorship of Danny Crates, 2004 Paralympic Champion in the 800m, who is looking forward to defending his title in Beijing in 2008. Atos Origin is also continuing its sponsorship of Georgina Harland, winner of the bronze medal for the Modern Pentathlon at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and Adam Pengilly, bob skeleton athlete, who came eighth at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games, his first Olympic Games. Atos Origin's sponsorship includes financial support to enable the athletes to continue training in the run up to their next Olympic Games.
Greek soccer club Panathinaikos has just signed up to use Software4Sport's ticketing and CRM system, Talent Sport. The system is currently being installed and will go live in time for next season. The club conducted a thorough review of all major ticketing and CRM providers before selecting Talent Sport. Based in Athens at the 65 000-seater Olympic Stadium, Panathinaikos plays in Greece's top league, A Ethniki. Currently, Panathinaikos sells tickets through a bespoke system, which are then printed by an external supplier. The main objectives for the new system were to sell tickets over the phone, at the counter and online, as well as to manage CRM processes more efficiently.
According to Football Dynamics Asia (
