MediaCritica.net

Global Sport

How has Sport gone Global?

Media Aspects

Technological advances in distribution mechanisms (e.g. satellite broadcasting)
Deregulation of media markets - move toward commercial media systems
Increase in channels available - allows for targeted programming content (ie. ESPN, Speed Vision)

Sport Aspects

Increase in regional and world tournaments (e.g. Olympics, World Cup, EuroCup, Rugby Union)
Commercialization of sports - increase in the economics of sports including player salaries, sports rights fees, playoff earnings, merchandising.

Sports Rights: The exclusive right to televise and/or broadcast a sporting event via network, cable, satellite or local television, radio, the internet or pay-per-view.

US Sports Rights Fees

Sport	Network	Contract	Fees Paid Per Year
MLB	ESPN	2000 - 2005 (regular season)	$141.8 million
-	FOX	2001 - 2006 (play-offs and World Series)	$417 million
NBA	ABC/ESPN	2002/2003- 2007/2008	$400 million
NFL	ABC	1998 - 2005 (Monday Night)	$550 million
-	FOX	1998 - 2005 (NFC)	$550 million
-	CBS	1998 - 2005 (AFC)	$500 million
-	ESPN	1998 - 2005 (Sunday Night)	$600 million
-	FOX	2006-2011 (NFC)	$712.5 million/year (includes 2008 SuperBowl)
-	CBS	2006-2011 (AFC)	$622.5 million/year (includes 2007 SuperBowl)
Olympics	NBC	Summer 2004	$793 million
-	NBC	Winter 2006	$613 million
-	NBC	Summer 2008	$894 million

(Source: The Sport Journal)

Other

Little League World Series: six-year, $7 million on ABC/ESPN
PGA Tour: Four-year, $850 million on ABC, CBS and NBC
Wimbledon: Four-year, $24 million for early-round coverage; $13 million annually for quarters, semis and finals on NBC
NASCAR: $2.4 billion from NBC/TNT

World Cup - FIFA sold more than $1.6 billion in broadcast rights for the 2006 World Cup.

Economic Strategies of Sports Programming

Sport programming is a central economic component of transnational media corporations.
Debt-leverage: go in to debt to buy the rights as a long-term strategy.
Often sporting events help launch a new channel or television service.
- Spain: La Sexta and the 2006 World Cup
- England: News Corp (BSkyB satellite channel) and the English Premier League (EPL, soccer).

Why is Sports Programming so Lucrative?

Team loyalty is nearly guaranteed - audiences don't have the same channel loyalty.
Popularity of sport is established - no need to convince audiences to watch.
Local content - immediate way to tap into local interests through teams.

Example: 2002 World Cup

The most viewed event in the world
Television coverage in 213 countries and over 41,100 hours of programming - a 38% increase over 1998.
A cumulative in-home audience of 28.8 billion viewers.
Out-of-home viewing audience of 2.5 billion worldwide.
Total number of hours watched by all viewers = 49.2 billion hours worldwide.

Ownership of Teams

News Corp

Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Knicks (partial ownership), New York Rangers (partial ownership), Los Angeles Kings (partial ownership), Los Angeles Lakers (partial ownership)

Misc: Dodger Stadium, Staples Center (partial ownership), Madison Square Garden (partial ownership) National Rugby League (Australia)

Time Warner

Teams: Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers

Misc: Goodwill Games, Turner Sports, Philips Arena

Disney

Sports: Anaheim Sports, Inc., Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (NHL)