STEC website now live and next networking event announced
The Sport and Technology Executive Club (STEC) website is now live (www.sportandtechnologyexecutiveclub.com ), offering members access to a range of features including exclusive audio and PDF downloads. More features will be added for members over the coming months. Meanwhile, the next STEC networking evening will be held in London on the evening of Thursday 3 August, hosted by The Sports Recruitment Company in the company’s Covent Garden offices. Join STEC now if you want to rub shoulders with members from a wide range of sports rights owners and technology companies, and enjoy an evening of wine, nibbles, poker and table-football!
World Cup Fever Goes Digital and Mobile in China
A recent online five-country survey conducted by MindShare and Pulse Group has revealed that China is set to catch a strong dose of World Cup fever, with 95% of respondents preparing to follow the tournament, of which 32% plan to track results on their mobile phones. On average Chinese fans plan to watch over 11 nights of matches on television, and 84% plan to visit sports websites for World Cup news. The games will also be followed closely in Singapore (84%), Malaysia (82%), Australia (63%) and Thailand (59%). Since World Cup 2002, penetration of digital media, including the internet and mobile phones, has increased substantially across the region, and fans intend to use both to track the matches. More than half of the respondents are likely to visit websites to follow their teams. Official World Cup websites were cited as the most likely destinations in Singapore (67%), Malaysia (71%), Thailand (46%) and Australia (57%), but Chinese fans are most likely to head to other sport websites (84%). Although their teams may not have qualified this time, fans across Asia have picked favourite teams to support. Many Chinese will be supporting the hosts Germany, Singaporeans favour England, and many Thais will be adopting underdogs Australia. Australian fans of course will be firmly behind their team, which has reached the World Cup finals for the first time in 32 years, and 80% of Australians fans will be cheering for the Socceroos.
New high-speed camera for FIFA World Cup
A high definition (HD) high-speed camera, shooting at 300 frames per second (about six times slower than regular coverage and three times slower than Super Slow Motion), will be used at approximately 40 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup matches. The camera will be placed at pitch level towards the corner and will provide mainly extreme close-ups on the ball, feet, tackles, headers and challenges in the air, and goalkeeper action. It will be used chiefly for highlights and analysis applications. The two cameras, each one covering 20 matches, are being provided by two separate manufacturers, ARRI Media and DVS. This footage is an added benefit and still in the test stage, says Francis Tellier, CEO of host broadcast HBS. It will be the “added cherry on the cake”, the cake being the multi feed production of each match with 25 HD cameras, Dolby surround sound, by a Dream Team of producers.
IOC and Omega extend partnership to London 2012
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Omega, the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, have announced the extension of their partnership to include the London 2012 Olympic Games. Omega, Official Timekeeper for the Beijing 2008 and Vancouver 2010 Games, brings to six the number of worldwide partners who have already committed to the London 2012 Olympic Games. IOC President Jacques Rogge the announcement and Omega’s continued commitment and contribution to the Olympic Movement. “Turin was a magnificent Games, not just for the athletes and the Olympic Movement, but for our partners. Omega’s contribution to the Games was significant – in ensuring accurate and reliable timekeeping”, Rogge said. “Our relationship with Omega goes back to 1932, when the IOC turned to a single company to provide official timekeeping at the Olympic Games. Today, Omega works closely with all our technology partners to provide seamless technology support to the Organising Committee.”
Web helps Somerset sell-out
Somerset County Cricket Club's match against the touring Sri Lankan national team on 11 June, was sold in advance with all 6,000 tickets being snapped up. This was the first time ever that the club had sold out in advance, and is a result of the club offering its supporters the chance to buy tickets via the web and over the phone this season. Interest in cricket in the UK is experiencing a surge following last summer's heady Ashes series. Somerset County Cricket Club began offering advance tickets online from its website www.somersetcountycc.co.uk and by phone earlier in 2006 using the ticketingsolutions system from ticketing software provider ts.com. This allows the club to manage all its ticket sales from one centralised system and to give supporters and club members the opportunity to buy tickets for games quickly and easily in advance.
PA Sport acquires iKnowledge
PA Sport has agreed to acquire UK-based sports media technology company iKnowledge Ltd in a deal that will see the iKnowledge name and service portfolio promoted worldwide as part of PA Sport, a leading sports information provider. Since its inception six years ago, iKnowledge has developed a series of innovative data-driven products for the broadcast, betting and gaming markets. Its automated TV graphics systems for entertainment or sports betting have become recognised as the next-step-forward in technologies to attract and engage audiences. The acquisition of iKnowledge will allow PA Sport to provide a new portfolio of end-to-end data and graphics solutions for broadcast platforms, whether TV or PC based. By combining research and development resources, customers of PA Sport’s existing data capture and data feed services hope to see enhanced agility and speed-to-market for broadcast and betting services.
PanAmSat delivers HDTV World Cup across Latin America
PanAmSat is delivering the 2006 World Cup to every major Latin American broadcaster for their standard and high definition (HD) channels across the continent. Through multiple paths on the three main video distribution satellites for the region, PAS-9, PAS-3R and PAS-1R, millions of viewers throughout Central and South America will view the games. For coverage of the event to Latin America and the US Spanish-speaking market, PanAmSat will be supporting a number of right holders including Televisa, TV Azteca and Univision by working directly with them to serve their specific requirements. With more than 15,000 hours of video transmissions booked, PASport, PanAmSat's global broadcast services network, will be using as many as 40 paths across nine satellites: PAS-1R, PAS-2, PAS-3R, PAS-4, PAS-8, PAS-9, PAS-12, Galaxy 3C and Galaxy 4R to deliver standard-definition and HD channels of World Cup coverage.
Tickets.com extends deal with Cubs
Tickets.com has company signed a multi-year deal with Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs to continue providing ticketing services and digital ticketing technology to the US club. "We have a very strong and loyal fan base and the high demand for tickets can put a great deal of pressure on the ticketing system. Tickets.com delivers the technology that our fans expect from us and provides a robust, reliable system that can handle our heavy ticket volume," said Mark McGuire, executive vice president of business operations for the Cubs. According to McGuire, ticket sales for the 2006 season on-sale was a great example of the robustness of the Tickets.com system, and of the successful partnership with the Cubs. The Cubs sold more than 600,000 tickets in the first 24 hours of tickets going on sale, breaking a team record for the most tickets sold in a single day. Eighty percent of those tickets were sold online. In addition, more than 200,000 tickets were Tickets@Home, delivered right to Cubs fans' home printers, doubling the number of Tickets@Home printed during the entire 2005 season.
World waits for Unibet.com ball to drop
Online betting company Unibet.com has packed a 14 carat golden ball worth 75,000 euros in 22.000 kilo of ice and is taking free bets on when it will melt and then drop during the World Cup. The winner will win the ball. Michael Cornelis, CMO of Unibet says: "We want to show the world that betting online is fun. Of course we have all sorts of interesting bets during the World Championship against very good odds, but this is something nobody has ever done!" The iced ball in Berlin is surrounded by cameras so that the melting process can be followed via Unibet.com. The melting process started on Friday 8 June 2006.
Everton Joins Premiership's Smartest Clubs
Everton FC has become the latest club to adopt TeamCard, a soccer fan management system. Already used at clubs in the UK such as Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Bolton Wanderers, Millwall and Ipswich, the new Everton smart season ticket is the first deal to come out of a new exclusive reseller agreement that TeamCard has negotiated with BT. Under the terms of the deal, BT will focus on extending TeamCard out to other soccer clubs and beyond into new sports and membership associations says Andy Puttock, BT Wholesale’s General Manager, New Business Development & Innovation, the business division fronting BT’s involvement in the joint venture.
Page from ArkSports' Sport and Technology (www.sportandtechnology.com) on 2008-11-21 : News - June 2006 : http://www.sportandtechnology.com/news/0385.html
The Sport and Technology Executive Club (STEC) website is now live (
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Omega, the Official Timekeeper of the Olympic Games, have announced the extension of their partnership to include the London 2012 Olympic Games. Omega, Official Timekeeper for the Beijing 2008 and Vancouver 2010 Games, brings to six the number of worldwide partners who have already committed to the London 2012 Olympic Games. IOC President Jacques Rogge the announcement and Omega’s continued commitment and contribution to the Olympic Movement. “Turin was a magnificent Games, not just for the athletes and the Olympic Movement, but for our partners. Omega’s contribution to the Games was significant – in ensuring accurate and reliable timekeeping”, Rogge said. “Our relationship with Omega goes back to 1932, when the IOC turned to a single company to provide official timekeeping at the Olympic Games. Today, Omega works closely with all our technology partners to provide seamless technology support to the Organising Committee.”
Tickets.com has company signed a multi-year deal with Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs to continue providing ticketing services and digital ticketing technology to the US club. "We have a very strong and loyal fan base and the high demand for tickets can put a great deal of pressure on the ticketing system. Tickets.com delivers the technology that our fans expect from us and provides a robust, reliable system that can handle our heavy ticket volume," said Mark McGuire, executive vice president of business operations for the Cubs. According to McGuire, ticket sales for the 2006 season on-sale was a great example of the robustness of the Tickets.com system, and of the successful partnership with the Cubs. The Cubs sold more than 600,000 tickets in the first 24 hours of tickets going on sale, breaking a team record for the most tickets sold in a single day. Eighty percent of those tickets were sold online. In addition, more than 200,000 tickets were 
