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Korea's LG pours money into European football

LG Electronics, South Korea’s second-largest electronics maker, is promoting an aggressive premier marketing campaign from mobile phones to LCD TVs in Europe in a way to intensify its brand image. "Sports marketing seems another must-win card for LG to raise its brand recognition in European markets," observed Kim Yoo-chul in The Korean Times. In July, the company signed a three-year shirt sponsorship agreement with English Premier League club Fulham. The move is in line with the company’s continued effort to step up its marketing drive in Britain where LG’s monthly sales had exceeded $100 million last year. "The multi-year sponsorship agreement will offer us an important opportunity to strengthen our premium marketing in Britain," said Na Young-bae, an executive for LG’s British business.

The electronics maker also held the friendly football "LG Amsterdam Tournament" in Ajax stadium, the Netherlands, from 2 August bringing together Ajax from the Netherlands, Arsenal from England, Atletico de Madrid from Spain and Lazio from Italy. LG said the one-time show helped the firm raise its brand image to European football fans.

Adelaide Utd attracts mining company sponsor

The Adelaide United Football Club has announced Exact Mining Services as the club’s new ‘front of shorts’ sponsor for the 2007/08 Australian A-League season for an undisclosed amount. “What Adelaide United has achieved in such a short period of time is a great success story for South Australia’s up and coming sporting profile. It is an achievement which we are all proud of at Exact Mining Services and our commitment to Adelaide United as shorts sponsor will be a rewarding partnership as a key supporter in their future success. A special mention should go to Johnny Johnson for introducing us to the club and for enabling us to have the opportunity to partner a great sporting organisation,” Greg Rhodes, Managing Director of Exact Mining Services said.

Australian A-League added to EA's FIFA08 game

Football Federation Australia has signed a licensing partnership with Electronic Arts, the world's leading independent developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software through the FIFA 08 football video game. “This is the first time that the Hyundai A-League will feature in an official EA Sports videogame and as a result more than 20 million people globally will be directly exposed to Hyundai A-League clubs and players during the next 12 months,” said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley. “It also gives me great pleasure to announce that Qantas Socceroo and Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson will be the face of FIFA O8 in the region, featuring heavily in the promotional campaign for the game.

The A-League will join a group of around 30 football leagues from around the globe to feature in this game. EA Sports have undertaken strong research to accurately capture the skills/abilities and traits of A-League players to place them into this global videogame. FIFA 08 will be available for purchase from the 27 September 2007.

Infant club plans to be Asian football powerhouse

Geoff Lord, the Chairman of Australian A-League champion club Melbourne Victory intends to build the biggest sporting club in Australia and a powerhouse in Asian football. "I have always been passionate about building something Melbourne can identify with … to give something back which in 20, 30, 50 years' time becomes an icon would be a way of putting something back, not just in sport, but for the city," Lord told Michael Lynch of The Age. A former President of the famously successful Australian Rules AFL team Hawthorn Hawks, he admits he is still learning about soccer. But he knows a good sports business deal. In 2005, when Football Federation Australia was desperate for investors to help bankroll a Melbourne A-League club, and few were prepared to step forward, Lord provided enough capital, "reportedly $250,000", to become Chairman of the Victory board. He and his management team put together a five-year plan to cover sponsorship, members, revenue and crowds resulted in such exceptional revenue growth for the infant club that it had to revamp projections. Its membership, for instance, is now more than 15,500 and rising.

"Our full-year sponsorship number for 2007-08 is already ahead of schedule at A$2 million," Lord said. "We would try to grow that to $A3-$4 million a year over the next couple of years. "When you compare that to AFL clubs it's not an unreasonable objective. For every 100 people who follow AFL in this city, 50 follow soccer, probably more. For every 100 AFL people in Melbourne you have to divide them by 10, which is 10 per club. But if you have 50 people following soccer you just have to divide it by one as there is only Victory. So in sponsoring Victory you reach 50 people, not 10. So why shouldn't logic say that in time Melbourne Victory should be bigger than any Melbourne-based AFL club ... we are working on a business plan approach which will take us to those levels."

Lord's focus this season is also on increasing its off-field revenue. Lord and his management team wants to build the Victory brand so that irrespective of the team's on-field performance it can still make money. "We have also opened a merchandise store in Swan Street. If it works out we may then roll out a couple more. The one thing we haven't covered is gate receipts. We won't know those until game days and that depends to a large extent on being a successful team on the park," he said. "Our aim is to build up non-football related income, to have it regardless of our performance on the field. Gates are totally dependent on on-field success, and sponsorship and marketing are very dependent on it."

Lord also believes Australian business will catch on to the global market place that soccer, and A-League clubs in particular, can deliver. "As we go to Asia and play the Asian Champions League games, any Australian company with Asian affiliations is getting an added benefit of exposure in massive marketplaces. That's something that AFL can't deliver," he said. "I am informed that 120 million people watched the A-League grand final in 70 countries. My personal objective is to see if we could have all the A-League games being beamed live into Asia to boost audience ratings across different time-zones and give greater exposure to our game, the league and club sponsors."

Organising sporting trips and travel is something else on the Lord agenda. "We have registered the name, the Victoryans, which would be a bit like the Fanatics hopefully. By the time we get to the Asian matches we will be packaging trips. You could go to the next World Cup; we will be involved in that. We also want to do other sporting events, like cricket or tennis or whatever. "Longer term we will look at coaching academies which we are keen to do, coaching players in a live-in environment. It may include buying land and putting up accommodation."

Melbourne Victory kicked off its 2007/08 season by launching the Samsung “Kick for a Million” promotion which will see 10 supporters receive the chance to kick for A$1 million at Melbourne Victory's final home game for the season at Telstra Dome on 11 January 2008.. To enter, fans need to purchase any Samsung Mobile Phone from a participating Telstra Shop or Telstra Dealer and connect to the Telstra mobile network, or any other Samsung product, excluding LCD monitors and printers, from participating consumer electronics retailers nationally and enter online at www.samsung.com.au.

Brandscore seminar highligjhts Indian opportunities

Brandscore, a sports marketing forum organised in India by ESPN-STAR Sports and media agency Mindshare, aimed to study successful international sports brands and sports marketing trends that will help the Indian sports marketing community. "The sports marketing genre is gaining ground in this country,” said Sundar Raman, Manging Director of Mindshare India. “More and more brands are hooking on to sports as a media vehicle to reach out to their target audience. The sports forum is about understanding how and what we can do learning from these leading brands and corporates." ESPN Software India Managing Director, R C Venkateish added, "The perception that cricket is the only sport is slowly but surely changing. Look at the deliveries of the English Premier League and Formula One and you would know that consumption of various forms of sports is steadily on the rise."

According to Mindshare Performance Asia Pacific Managing Director Mike Rich and Marketing Director Jamie Lord, four myths of sports advertising are (1) women do not watch sports; (2) sports cannot be measured; (3) sports is expensive and (4) there is no emotional quotient for brands that associate with sports. They told forum delegates that Mindshare's 3D database shows that while men watch sports, women also do. In a survey 43 percent of women expressed an interest in football and women also watch badminton and golf, so clients should not completely ignore women in their sports campaigns. They said here are three areas where measurement of sports is occuring: media evaluation, quantifying the exposure of brands in a broadcast environment; effectiveness tacking; and econometric modelling. Regarding sports being expensive, they explained that what really counts is return on investment (ROI). On sport not giving a brand emotional visibility, they gave the example of Tiger Beer in Singapore. Earlier the brand had been associated with golf but that proved to be a "waste of money" in terms of getting to the TG so the agency shifted the brand's focus towards soccer. It created the platform Tiger At Sea and worked with ESPN Star Sports to get brand good visibility with EPL. "Sports is not the only solution for advertisers. However, if you decide to use the platform, then embrace it completely. The sports theme needs to be introduced in all communication channels," they said.

Phil Lines, the English Premier League's Head of International Broadcasting and Operations told forum delegates that the best advice to sports federations hoping to run a strong business was to invest well in the clubs and have a strong relationship with a broadcaster that works like a partnership. He said the EPL now receives 1.7 billion pounds from UK Pay-servoces Sky and Setanta and around 700 million pounds from overseas TV services, half of which came from Asia. However, the starting point was in 1989 when English soccer reached its lowest point when 100 fans died in a tragedy during a FA Cup semi final. At that time the stadium facilities were poor, hooliganism was rife and English soccer took a long hard look at itself. It realised that it needed a more professional structure. It was decided that a Premier League would be established and the clubs signed rules governing the league. It was also decided that the league would negotiate its own broadcast and sponsorship terms. The EPL came into existence in 1992 which was also the year Sky Sports launched and Lines gave credit to Rupert Murdoch for his vision. "Sky revolutionsed how soccer is covered in the UK with features like close ups. Due to their investment, the clubs are able to spend money on facilities and infrastructure as well as getting in top overseas players. This is something that Sky understands which is why it pays us more each time the deal comes up for renewal, although it has successfully managed to keep competition at bay. We have had trouble with the regulators on several issues including the fact that soccer should not onl6y be on free TV. The fact though is that earlier when it was on free TV not many matches were shown live," Lines said.

The league has 341 overseas players compared to 1992 when there were less than 100. EPL is now being seen in 200 countries. "We are seeing Japanese, Korean players participate in the league and I am hopeful that Indian players will also take part in the future. The game has over the years become more fast and masculine. A lot of matches are played in front of capacity crowds," Lines added. What has also helped the league has been the fact that English clubs started doing well in European competitions after the EPL was established. For instance Liverpool won the UEFA Cup. Sky paid 617 million pounds in 1997. In 2001 the figure crossed one billion. In 2001 the league added 40 pay per view matches and in 2004 it was decided to consolidate this and have 138 matches. The league has also benefitted from the fact that new platforms have come up. Telecom firms now compete with traditional broadcasters for EPL rights. Untill 2003 the PL used an agency to sell rights, now it sells directly to the broadcasters. The league sells clips of matches in a separate deal. In order to be a solutions provider, it also does shows. A new one added this year is called Premier League World. Barclays has been sponsoring the league for nine years. The production unit IMG has been with the league for several years now. This has contributed in a big way to the solid ground on which the league stands today, said Lines.

Indian advertisers who want to leverage sport beyond just cricket, need to look at more than just eyeballs. They should look at being associated with a unique platform which will grow in scale as it gets repeated from year to year was the major point of the 'Sports And the Indian Advertiser' panel session with Globosport India VP Anirban Das Blah, Harit Nagpal, GroupM CEO India and COO South Asia Vikram Sakhuja and HUL GM media services Rahul Welde. In India the fact is that only a few brands like LG and Pepsi have sports as the central part of their marketing plan. At the moment apart from cricket, brands are also flirting with sports and testing the waters. Brand managers need to realise that sports gives authenticity to a brand. The trouble with getting on to a unique platform and then seeing the fruits of it as it grows from year to year is that advertisers want immediate returns. Therefore there is always the temptation to simply run after the low hanging fruit. Advertisers argue that they do not have the time to wait for a sports brand to grow. They look for some amount of scale right off the back - and that in India comes from cricket.

The session pointed out that the advantage of investing in another sport though is that you can own it. Cricket has now become too expensive to own. The days of the 1987 Reliance World Cup are long gone. The Mumbai Marathon is a good example of how a brand - Standard Chartered - used sport as a platform effectively in a way that goes beyond eyeballs. But it is important that the event gets repeated year after year or else it and the brand will be forgotten. Brands can also look at leveraging an existing passion for a sport.The common belief in soccer is that interest in EPL and Spanish league come from soccer states like Goa. However, Anirban argued that there is growing interest in those leagues from affluent pockets of Mumbai like Bandra where a lot of water cooler conversation happens around it. Once that has been identified, then a brand can think of doing initiatives around the event like contests and thus tap into the aspirations of the fans. It would be more effective for a brand to hook onto a sport at this level as opposed to a grassroots level.

Future Brands CEO Santosh Desai dwelt on the relationship between sports and the Indian consumer in another session. He noted that there is a tenuous relationship between what sports people play and what they watch. A lot of people would have played table tennis but how many watch it? Sport allows us to embark on a symbolic quest for perfection. Therefore there are rules, it is very fair. Sport, he noted, is the ultimate in reality TV as the storylines are unscripted. "We are also seeing the emergence of the spectator owner in cricket. Here fans feel that they are entitled to a good performance from the team," Desai said. Addressing the forum to offer a ratings service provider's point of view, Tam CEO LV Krishnan says that sports as a genre needs to move from a commodity to an engagement arena. Drama is essential for sports to get good viewership. This drama could, maybe, come from a good batsman versus a bad batsman. It is important that sports broadcasters think of new ways to create drama. Krishnan gave the example of the Shaz and Waz show on ESS back in 2004 when India toured Australia. Drama can even be created around a local hero which was the case when Kartikeyan was driving on F1. The FIFA World Cup coverage in print last year was huge and the cricket that was being played at the same time paled in comparison.

The world's biggest brands are in sports marketing

Sean Jefferson, CEO Europe of MindShare Performance, WPP’s sports and entertainment marketing division, is a veteran of sports and entertainment-led brand marketing. He shared his views and experiences with the Economic Times on how the global sports and entertainment marketing landscape is changing. [Excerpts]

How would you define sports marketing — is it marketing sports (game or event) or consumer brands using sports as a media? It is both – the marketing of sport and the marketing of brands through sports – and a bit more. It can include non-consumer brands, for example, you might have a B2B brand that has a sports marketing programme. I would also add athletes to your definition of sports – individual endorsements and campaigns can be very powerful.

What exactly do you do for your client’s brands? Essentially, we help our clients build their brands and their businesses through sport, entertainment and partnerships. The aim is to influence consumer attitude and behaviour. But so much of sports marketing – especially sponsorship – can work tremendously well as a B2B platform. At Performance, our team of consultants, creatives and commissioning editors develop global sponsorship strategies for the likes of BP, negotiate and manage sponsorship and content campaigns for Ford (Champions League), manage the sponsorship activation of Vodafone’s sponsorships with Champions League and McLaren in Formula One, commission and distribute branded content for Unilever, develop and embed content for Nike. Again in football, for Castrol, we provide strategic sponsorship consultancy, negotiate the brand’s sponsorship of Euro 2008, manage the integration of the sponsorship into their operating companies, lead their other marketing communications agencies’ contributions to the sponsorship and integrate the sponsorship into communications planning.

Sports marketing is restricted to product endorsements and sponsorships in India. But internationally even content generation is becoming a part of sports marketing. Yes, across the globe, more companies are funding the creation, rather than the sponsorship, of content – a TV show, an event or a website. This is driven by a number of factors at a macro level – cost, clutter, control and cash. The cost of sponsoring major properties – the London 2012 Olympic deals are being done for £80-million – can be prohibitive. Sometimes a sponsorship offers presence in a highly cluttered environment – just watch a Formula One race or an Italian football match and count the brands. Creating content places you earlier (ahead) in the supply chain, you tend to be more in control of the published content, so should be able to communicate key messages more clearly. Lastly, cash, it can be more cost-effective to fund or co-fund content, than to sponsor a smaller portion of the end-product. But more importantly, content generation offers IP opportunities that can be monetised. While this may seem like a new development, and it is certainly a growing trend, it actually takes us back to the founding of commercial TV where many of the first shows were funded by the sponsors, hence the term soap opera.

Is sports & entertainment marketing becoming fundamental to brand management for increasing number of brands? It is very difficult to calculate how much is invested by brands in content overall as it is often bundled up in advertising, promotions or public relations spends, but if we look at sponsorship, the latest estimate from WPP is that at $33-billion sponsorship equates to about 8% of the global advertising market. However, that spend might not equate to the value and importance of sports and entertainment, notably to those brands that use it as a core component of their marketing efforts. Think of the world’s biggest brands, and you tend to see them in this space – Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Ford et al. Fundamentally, if the consumer and customer of the brand are very interested in a particular type of sport or entertainment, then so should the brand be and not just from an advertising point of view, but from a genuinely engaging, associative marketing perspective.

Local and foreign sponsors for Sydney FC shirts

Australian A-League club, Sydney FC, has signed a major sponsorship deal that will see Bing Lee and JVC on the front of the club’s shirts for the next seasons. Local electrical retailer Bing Lee becomes the club’s principal sponsor, with its logo on Sydney FC’s shirts for home matches and on the club’s shorts for away games. Japanese international electronics company JVC’s logo will appear on Sydney FC’s shirts for away matches and on the club’s shorts for home games.

Barcelona wins 2007 U-15 Man Untd Premier Cup

A solitary second half goal was enough for Spain's Barcelona to defeat Brazil's Sao Paolo and clinch the title at the Nike-sponsored, world U-15 Manchester United Premier Cup held in Manchester, England. Earlier, Russian side Krylia Sovetov beat Hertha BSC of Berlin 1-0 to finish third in the tournament.

Maxis spends $3.2m sponsoring EPL in Malaysia

Maxis Communications Malaysia Bhd has signed a three-year partnership deal with sports channel ESPN Star Sports to become the broadcast sponsor of English Premier League football matches in Malaysia. The broadcast sponsorship will run from 2007 until the 2010 season and, based on previous deals, is expected to be worth 11 million ringgit (US$3.2 million dollars) a year. "The sponsorship with ESPN Star Sports allows us to expand our successful association with football and consolidate our position as a leading brand in world class sporting events," Maxis chief marketing officer Tom Schnitker told AFP. Maxis, Malaysia's largest mobile telecommunications firm, takes over the football sponsorship from rival Celcom, a cellular unit of government-linked Telekom Malaysia.

US photographers resist being "mobile billboards"

US media are resisting the National Football League’s demand that media photographers on the field wear red "flak jackets" promoting NFL sponsors Ricoh and Canon. According to Philip M. Stone of FTM, the move is designed to make photographers "moving billboards" to earn more sponsorship money - the value of which was "proven by Nikon" at the Asian Cup. "Photographers at the Asian tournament in Indonesia had to wear yellow flak jackets with Nikon’s name in bold lettering on the back. As the fairy tale championship game ended with Iraq winning swarms of photographers flooded the playing field, surrounding the Iraqi team. And on television all one saw at times was a sea of yellow flak jackets prominently saying Nikon. Whatever Nikon paid for that privilege it sure got its money’s worth," he wrote.

Air Asia sponsors England's professional referees

Malaysia-based budget airline AirAsia has announced it is to sponsor the professional football referees in England for three years. The exclusive deal with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited will see AirAsia display its logo on the sleeves of all referees officiating in English Premier League, Football League, League Cup, FA Cup and FA Vase matches.The PGMOL was established in 2001 and is responsible for the training, development and monitoring of an elite group of 19 referees and 50 assistant referees, as well as a national list of 57 referees and 182 assistant referees.

"With nearly 50 matches being played every week and a weekly average audience of nearly 100 million viewers across 200 territories this sponsorship is certainly a powerful global branding tool for us in enhancing our brand awareness," AirAsia chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said.

Sports Sponsorship and CSR seminar in Jakarta

International seminar on Professional and Grassroots Sports and Development, Sponsorship and Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia

The first edition of the Asian Forum on Sports Innovation held in Indonesia was concluded the day after the historic victory of Iraq over Saudi Arabia in the final of the Asian Cup, also held in Jakarta. Forum speakers attending the game were warmly greeted by Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hamman and VIP guest FIFA President Joseph S Blatter.

Presentation documents have been added to the Asian Forum on Sports Innovation website, http://www.asianfosi.com/, as well as media report links and notices of future events.

At the high-profile 30 July conference at The Sultan Hotel Jakarta, the Forum's two integrated streams - 'professional sports dynamics' and 'sports and development' - proved timely for local private sector funders of athletes, clubs and sports competitions as a new Corporations Law just passed by Indonesia's parliament included, for the first time, 'Social Corporate Responsibility' obligations for most incorporated businesses.

Fritz E Simandjuntak, Vice President of the Indonesian Marketing Association and Head of External Relations of the Rajawali Group, emphasised the opportunity presented by this unprecedented legislative initiative for all domestic stakeholders in sports administration, athlete management and revenue raising.

Geneva-based David Winiger, Special Assistant to Dr Adolf Ogi, the Special Advisor on Sport and Development and Peace to the United Nations Secretary-General, presented a broad overview of the Special Adviser's mandate for the world of sport, sports industries and governments and UN organisations, to identify activities and programs which benefit from a partnership with sports organisations.

Johann Olav Koss, multiple gold medal Olympian and CEO of Right To Play, the international NGO leading the use of sports and play for the development of children youth, detailed Right To Play's projects in over 20 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia using specially designed sport and play programs to teach life skills, peace building and health education to children affected by war, poverty and disease.

Clare Kenny Tipton, fresh from managing Asia’s biggest and most complex sports tournament, the AFC Asian Cup 2007 which involved 16 teams playing 33 matches in eight stadiums in four countries, outlined the scope for development, opportunities, challenges, realities and possible rewards for sports in Asia. The Asian Football Confederation's Deputy General Secretary, Director of Marketing and Director of Media and Communications, she backed the AFC's claim that the future of football is Asia - from grassroots through to the professional levels.

Dez Corkhill, Television Producer, News Editor and Director of Content for espnstar.com, also ESPN Star Sport’s sometimes controversial The Top Corner presenter and commentator on Asian domestic football, pin-pointed the marketing bias of sports broadcasters while identifying opportunities for Asian competitions to increase their profile. "The best of the action is right on your doorstep" he said.

Two excellent local case studies on the progressive social role of sports were presented to an international audience for the first time: Said Fauzan Baabud, UNDP Livelihoods Program Officer in Indonesia’s tsunami-disaster struck province of Aceh described sports and youth empowerment programs as crucial elements in post-disaster rehabilitation work and Anton Inbenai, Dept of Sport and Youth, Jayapura City and Henk Rumbewas, Papua province international representative for the Indonesian National Sports Committee, outlined the Persipura Football Club’s role in HIV/AIDS and safe-sex awareness campaigns.

Samsung Cameras in 3-year Chelsea sponsorship

South Korean-linked Samsung Cameras has announced a new three-year sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Chelsea to become the football club's official camera sponsor. The sponsorship agreement will run for the 2007/8, 2008/9 and 2009/10 football seasons. "Our shared values of quality, professionalism, ambition and commitment to success make Chelsea the ideal club for us to work with,' said Samsung Cameras UK managing director Jake Kim. "Samsung hopes the agreement will build on the success of its current partnership with Chelsea and England player Joe Cole," Chris Cheesman reported.

Barclays uses outdoor and print ads for HK Trophy

The Barclays banking group launched an advertising campaign tagged "Come face to face with some of football's brightest stars" in support of its sponsorship of the Barclays Asia Trophy which kicks off on 24 July in host country Hong Kong. This edition of the biannual English Premier League promotional tournament showcases Liverpool, Fulham, Portsmouth and Hong Kong FA Cup Winner, South China. The outdoor campaign, features Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, Portsmouth's Sol Campbell, Fulham's Liam Rosenior and South China's Detinho, and uses billboard ads as well as on buses and bus shelters with press ads in the South China Morning Post, Sunday Morning Post, Metro Daily, Oriental Daily and Next Magazine.

"Hong Kong is one of the financial hubs of Asia in which we have a growing presence. The Barclays Asia Trophy gives us powerful brand visibility and the chance to engage with football fans outside the UK. It's a unique opportunity for Hong Kong football fans to see Barclays Premier League teams and their star players live, and this is what we wanted to emphasise through our advertising campaign in Hong Kong," Robert Morrice, chairman and CEO of Barclays Asia said.

South Korea never 'tyred' of Manchester United

South Korea's Kumho Tire has signed a sponsorship deal with English Premier League club Manchester United. The four-year deal, settled for an undisclosed sum, will see Kumho obtain the rights to include the football team’s logo and images of the players in its advertisements. Kumho CEO Oh Se-chul told Tire Review his company expects the sponsorship agreement will help promote its international image. The tyremaker is already sponsor of Man United's friendly at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on 20 July, one of the club's three commercial promotions in North East Asia during the playing of the AFC Asian Cup in South Easr Asia.

Danone's Zinedine coaches Indonesian President

Three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and French football legend, Zinedine Zidane gave a spot of coaching to Indonesia’s president as he began a three-day visit in the world’s fourth most populous nation to promote his sport to children and to open a diary factory in bandung operated by his sponsor, French food giant Danone, Clad in a batik shirt, jeans and runners, the star helped President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono along with some of Indonesia’s young players practise a few passes as they met in the gardens of the presidential palace.

“I’m sure I’m going to have great pleasure and a lot of fun here in Indonesia as this is my first visit,” the 35-year-old told reporters. “People talked a lot about the kindness of Indonesian people and I can already see (it) in the eyes of the people since I arrived at the airport.”

Turning to Yudhoyono he said, “I have a present for you Mr President,” before handing him an autographed French national team shirt with his trademark number 10. The president said he hoped Zidane would “inspire” Indonesia’s young football players. "I am very pleased to have your visit today. You are a great man, Mr Zidane. You are very famous here in Indonesia," he said. The President on the occasion was accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono, Youth and Sports Minister Adhyaksa Dault, his son Eddy Baskoro and daughter-in-law Anissa Pohan who is a TV sports presenter.

At the palace he presented three footballs with his signatures on them to the Indonesian junior football team which recently participated in the Asian Football Confederation U-13 Football Festival in Malaysia. "I'd also like to thank this young team and I'd like to wish them the best of future," Zidane said, adding that he hoped the country`s schoolboy football team would win the Danone Cup.

Presidential spokesman Dino Pattidjalal said he was amazed to see the presence of so many journalists for the event. Some of them asked for Zidane's signature and posed for pictures with the French champion. Zidane's visit coincides with the start of the Asian Cup, which is being co-hosted by Indonesia, Malaysia Thailand and Vietnam. He is accompanied by Groupe Danone Chairman and CEO Franck Riboud.

Umbro moves from dependency on English shirts

Sportswear retailer Umbro said that it was confident of boosting sales of its branded football wear by 10 percent or more to become less dependent on the sale of its England football shirts. The company expects results in 2007 to meet forecasts with analysts expecting total wholesale licensed sales to be 40 percent lower than in the World Cup 2006.

"As long as we have got the England contract, there will always be an element of cyclicality," Finance Director Paul Masters told Kerstin Neuber of Reuters. The 2007 results could still take a hit if England do not qualify for next year's European Championship. If they do not qualify, it will affect this year and next year," he said.

International sales are less prone to the performance of the England team. "We have about 1,800 shops at the moment around the world and the target is to double that to 3,500 to 4,000 stores worldwide within the next 3 to 5 years," Master said. The primary focus will be on those markets where Umbro sees growth of the football market coming from - China, the United States, France, Italy, Brazil, Russia and the UK.

Nike signs up Thailand kit sponsorship for five years

Worawi Makudi, President of the Football Association of Thailand, has hailed a new sponsorship contract with leading sports brand Nike as the beginning of revolutionary era that will take Thai football a huge step forward. The FAT has signed a five-year contract with the company, ending a long-standing partnership with the Football Thai brand. . Although the value of the Nike deal, running from July 2007 until June 2012, has not been disclosed, it is believed to be not less than Bt150 million.

Worawi was delighted the contract had been finalised as he believed the deal would help develop football in Thailand. "In addition to football equipment and products that Nike will provide us, we will also coordinate with them in many of FAT's projects, particularly the ones aimed at promoting football at the grass roots," he told The Nation. "I believe there will be progressive changes in Thai football during these five years. We are planning to invite either clubs or national teams, which are also sponsored by Nike, to play a tournament in Thailand or send our team to train with them."

Patarin Aghabhadra, marketing manager of Nike Thailand, was equally upbeat that the deal would help Thai football progress. "The partnership with FAT today further reinforces our commitment to Thai football and underlines Nike's determination to elevate Thai football into the global arena," Patarin said adding that the kits the Thai team will wear in the Asian Cup are only interim. The official shirt, which will reflect the unique Thai culture, is in the process of being designed.

Asian sports marketing spend to grow 20% in 2008

With the Olympic Games in Beijing next year serving as a major catalyst, expenditure on sports marketing in Asia is expected to surge by 20 percent from US$15 billion this year to US$18 billion in 2008. A report on sports marketing by Total Sports Asia states that the Chinese Olympics have aroused intense interest and competition between marketers, advertisers, agencies and media alike each jostling for a share of the pie.

“But the Olympics is only part of a bigger growth story in Asia,” said Marcus Luer, CEO. “There is a growing demand for the already established sports marketing properties across the board in Asia and there are many new opportunities on the horizon. “Top international properties like the FIFA World Cup, Formula One, Olympics and the English Premier League, although they are already well represented in Asia, still have room for further exploitation.”

He cited the recent FIFA World Cup 2006 which generated over US$100 million in Asia, excluding Japan, in terms of TV rights. The next two World Cups, in 2010 and 2014, were recently sold to a consortium for US$350 million, clearly showing its growing demand and pricing power in Asia. Similarly, the English Premier League recently raised its media rights fees from US$300 million to over US$800 million for the next three seasons.

Luer said that outside of the top level rights such as these, there is also a tier of international rights and local properties that in most cases were not on the radar screens of most marketers. For example, TSA is now working with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to develop its media rights, re-brand itself, provide exposure to new media and the internet and develop sponsorships - all leading to significantly improved revenue streams for the Federation.

And Copa America 2007 which is now being hosted in between the FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO Championship years thereby creating additional opportunities in media and sponsorship for football.

“It is only a matter of time before these properties become more valuable with a better appreciation of what certain sports or events can deliver to advertisers, sponsors, broadcasters, governments and other parties involved,” Luer said. “The industry trends that have established themselves so clearly in the US and in Europe are now likewise being replicated in Asia. The continuing expansion of content delivery platforms, especially broadband, IPTV and mobile, also gives further impetus to growth.”

He said professional sports marketing was still a relatively new discipline in Asia and many sports bodies in the region were still unaware of its full potential and benefits. The sports rights that these bodies control are intellectual property rights that can translate into hundred of thousands and millions of dollars depending on the level of reach and fan base and the type of sports that is involved. There are intangible values to be put on these rights and professional sports marketing is only now starting to unlock and develop them to their full potential, Luer added.

FIFA clarifies Mastercard legal settlement details

On 21 June the world football body FIFA settled with MasterCard over a dispute regarding the sponsorship of 2010 and 2014 World Cups. FIFA paid US$90 million to MasterCard, ending legal fights in US and Swiss courts. The Times of India received the following answers to its 'questions on notice' from Andreas Herren, head of FIFA’s media department:

Why the out-of-court-settlement?

The US Court of Appeals issued a judgement, dated May 25, 2007, in which it remanded the case to the lower court ordering, as FIFA had already long requested, that it clarify the question of which contract between FIFA and MasterCard is valid. In this respect, FIFA was very pleased with the judgement. In other words: the decision of the Appeals Court in New York vacated the first instance decision by Judge Preska and ordered it to be reviewed. This new situation paved the way for negotiations regarding a settlement.

When TOI had asked [FIFA President] Mr [Joseph S] Blatter to speak on the controversy during his visit to India in April, he looked rather embarrassed?

No. At that time, the Appeal’s Court in New York had not yet decided and, for legal reasons, it was not possible for FIFA and Mr Blatter to reply to questions in such detail as can be done now. FIFA had been attacked by MasterCard regarding the use of its own logo as from 2002 onward and, as is easily understandable, this situation has not helped at all negotiations to renew a partnership.

The legal hassles had led to a big loss of revenue for FIFA. Why did it then move out of the contract?

The loss of revenue is only such that FIFA will most likely be able to compensate over the total period. What is more, this settlement will not impact on the financial support that FIFA will be giving to its member associations. We would like to emphasise that the settlement amount of $90 million includes, in addition to costs, the annulment of the contested right of first refusal of a new sponsorship agreement for eight years with priority for a further extension ($60 million) as well as the settlement of a protracted marketing dispute between FIFA and MasterCard regarding the two hemispheres logo ($30 million).

Court cases, disputes ... Don’t they mar FIFA’s image?

No. As stated above, the decision by the Appeals Court has put back in perspective a great number of things.