The first Sport and Technology Executive Club networking evening of 2007 will be held on Thursday 25 January at the Houses of Parliament in London. Hosted by Derek Wyatt MP and sponsored by PA Sport, the event has attracted around 100 representatives from a wide array of rights owners, technology companies and other sports industry players. For further information and to join STEC visit www.sportandtechnologyexecutiveclub.com.
YouTube-type sites won't attract ads
User-generated content sites like YouTube and MySpace will not attract the lion’s share of client's online budgets according to analyst Screen Digest. Such sites' advertising revenues stand to grow from $200m in 2006 to $875m by 2010, but this will account for just 15% of the total online video advertising budget according to the London-based firm. Meanwhile, media trends in 2007 could include user-generated sites charging users, according to Deloitte Touche Tomatsu. The consultancy suggests that whilst older users may want to join such websites, they may also be willing to pay for privacy to ensure that some content, such as personal videos and photographs, is only seen by a select group. MySpace, Windows Live Spaces and YouTube are the most popular user-generated content websites amongst Britons who upload content captured on their mobile phones, according to the latest research from Telephia, a provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets. In the US, MySpace, Facebook and Windows Live Spaces lead the ranking.
Asian Games set standard with Infostrada Sports' coverage
S&T Databox sponsor Infostrada Sports recently completed a hugely successful assignment to deliver the complete information services package to the Asian Games. Infostrada Sports was invited by DAGOC to deliver not only the historical results and biographies for the 15th Asian Games in 2006, but also the complete Asian Games News Service. Infostrada Sports was present in Doha with more than 150 employees to produce previews, reviews, flash quotes, match updates and running facts and figures reports, all pushed out to an eager media audience. CEO Philip Hennemann was very satisfied with the performance in Doha, having witnessed the operation in person. "It was an amazing operation, not only with our 150 people running a hell of job with all those different countries. They also managed about 300 volunteers from all over the world to get the right information for the media. This operation was led by our 10-person Doha project office, which has an unequalled experience in Event Services. They delivered an amazing project that provided the right mix of information that is now demanded by the international media. We truly believe we have raised the bar for other events to follow. The Asian Games was by far our biggest assignment. We've produced more than 6,500 news articles, more than 5,000 of which were translated into Arabic. All 400 medal events were covered with stories, flash quotes, press conferences and facts and figures, giving media a smorgasbord of information to use to promote the event to the world. We also used 151 paid staff from 36 countries, covering 30 languages. We've set the standard in Doha and many event organisers can learn a lot from the ambition DAGOC has showed and realised."
Amarfio hits the airwaves
The Australian Football League’s Ben Amarfio has left the sports body to become general manager of two of Melbourne's most successful radio stations (Austereo's Fox FM and Triple M). Fox is the leading FM station in Melbourne and Triple M broadcasts AFL. Amarfio, who was a panellist at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, said: “I have had a wonderful 4˝ years at the AFL and had many memorable experiences along the way. Ultimately, to me, it is all about the people you work with and the relationships you develop. While I have been very fortunate to have worked on some significant projects and deals, the most rewarding aspect has been working with some of most talented people in Australia (both here at the AFL and across the industries that we touch).” S&T would like to wish Amarfio all the best in his new role and to draw his attention to the excellent address of his new company (180, St Kilda Road). Come on you Saints!
Ticketing horseplay
Chester Race Company is the first racecourse in the UK to sign up to the Talent Sport ticketing and customer relationship management (CRM) system for racecourses. The system is used by a wide range of sports clubs and venues, including Liverpool FC, Panathinaikos FC, Rangers FC, Bradford Bulls, Leicester Tigers, Natal Sharks and Durham CCC. Meanwhile, sports webcasting company Servecast has announced that At The Races (ATR), the UK and Ireland's most watched dedicated horseracing channel, has further developed its online offering by launching a Fast Archive service on its website www.attheraces.com.
Windsurfing goes mobile
Mobile device security provider SMobile Systems is the new title sponsor of international windsurfing champion Gal Fridman. Fridman earned worldwide recognition at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, when he became the first Israeli ever to win an Olympic Gold Medal. Fridman will sport an SMobile-branded warm-up jacket and windsail during competitions and events, including his participation at the 18th Annual US Sailing Rolex Miami Olympic Class Regatta (OCR), 21-27 January in Biscayne Bay, Miami, Florida, US.
SportAccord discount closing shortly
Big name speakers are already confirmed for SportAccord 2007 in Beijing (23–27 April) with more to be announced imminently. Delegates have just one week to register their places at the special reduced price of 1,000 Euro (deadline 31 January 2007). The list of big names includes Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the US Olympic Committee, Tom Shepard, executive vice president, global marketing partnership & sponsorship, VISA International and Wang Wei, executive vice president, Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). All exhibition space and sponsorship packages have already been booked and delegate places are expected to follow suit. Over 1,200 high level decision makers will attend the fifth Anniversary of the what has become known as the Official International Sports Convention, owned by the Associations comprising the 101 international sports federations. The Host Organising Committee for SportAccord 2007 is the Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). As part of the delegate fee, BOCOG will be offering delegates the privileged opportunity to visit some of the Olympic sites although numbers may be limited so it is advisable to book early. SportAccord has become the must-attend event for major event organising committees, bid cities, commercial organisations and the media to meet, connect and form working partnerships with the international sports federations, the International Olympic Committee plus other governing bodies and rights holders involved in the development of sport and the staging of international sports events.
Graduate becomes latest poker millionaire
Ryan Daut, a 22-year old PhD candidate in Mathematics at Penn State has won $1.5m at the Fourth Annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that began on 4 January at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Daut battled 937 professional and amateur players, including four World Series of Poker champions for the lion's share of a $7m prize pool. The 2007 PCA was the largest single event in World Poker Tour history, growing by more than 22% over the 2006 field. Most of the players attending won their tournament entries and paid vacations by qualifying online at PokerStars.com the world's largest poker site, some for as little as $6. Meanwhile, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, poker is the internet's most addictive application in the UK. The broadband revolution means that 83% of Britons online now use an internet application with poker representing the most heavily used applications in terms of time.
Just the ticket for eBay
eBay has agreed to acquire privately held StubHub, a leading online marketplace for the resale of event tickets. The acquisition will enable eBay to expand its presence and offering in the online tickets segment, while allowing StubHub to continue to scale its business with the e-commerce expertise and resources of eBay. eBay has agreed to purchase StubHub for an estimated aggregate value of approximately $310m, which will include the company's net cash as of the closing. The final amount will be determined at closing based on a formula and be payable in cash. This acquisition - which is subject to regulatory approval and approval of StubHub's stockholders, among other conditions - is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007.
PA Sport’s year in numbers
In the 12 months of 2006, PA Sport reported 7,202,140 minutes of soccer action. PA Sport journalists watched more than 75,000 matches and provided official statistics for the English Premier League, the English Football League, the Scottish Premier League and the South African Premier Soccer League. PA Sport also compiled data for Serie A, the Bundesliga, the Primera Liga, the domestic leagues in the Netherlands, France, Portugal and Russia and the UEFA Cup. PA Sport was the only company to cover every qualifier leading to the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. The company also reported on 153,222 cricket runs through providing score updates from every Test and One Day international, from Bangalore to Brisbane. PA Sport supplied ball-by-ball coverage of all County Championship matches on behalf of the ECB, as its official data partner. The organisation also covered 123,568 horse and greyhound races through attending every domestic race meeting, gathering official data for UK horseracing and the official greyhound database. The company also provided results for every meeting in Ireland and South Africa and every Group One race worldwide.
Page from ArkSports' Sport and Technology (www.sportandtechnology.com) on 2008-11-22 : News - January 2007 : http://www.sportandtechnology.com/page/0454.html
The first Sport and Technology Executive Club networking evening of 2007 will be held on Thursday 25 January at the Houses of Parliament in London. Hosted by Derek Wyatt MP and sponsored by PA Sport, the event has attracted around 100 representatives from a wide array of rights owners, technology companies and other sports industry players. For further information and to join STEC visit 
The Australian Football League’s Ben Amarfio has left the sports body to become general manager of two of Melbourne's most successful radio stations (Austereo's Fox FM and Triple M). Fox is the leading FM station in Melbourne and Triple M broadcasts AFL. Amarfio, who was a panellist at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2006, said: “I have had a wonderful 4˝ years at the AFL and had many memorable experiences along the way. Ultimately, to me, it is all about the people you work with and the relationships you develop. While I have been very fortunate to have worked on some significant projects and deals, the most rewarding aspect has been working with some of most talented people in Australia (both here at the AFL and across the industries that we touch).” S&T would like to wish Amarfio all the best in his new role and to draw his attention to the excellent address of his new company (180, St Kilda Road). Come on you Saints!
Ryan Daut, a 22-year old PhD candidate in Mathematics at Penn State has won $1.5m at the Fourth Annual PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that began on 4 January at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. Daut battled 937 professional and amateur players, including four World Series of Poker champions for the lion's share of a $7m prize pool. The 2007 PCA was the largest single event in World Poker Tour history, growing by more than 22% over the 2006 field. Most of the players attending won their tournament entries and paid vacations by qualifying online at PokerStars.com the world's largest poker site, some for as little as $6. Meanwhile, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, poker is the internet's most addictive application in the UK. The broadband revolution means that 83% of Britons online now use an internet application with poker representing the most heavily used applications in terms of time.
