Disqus - Latest Comments for olivert

Re: Jose Mourinho Is Losing The Psychological Battle

olivert — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:58:00 -0000

Mourinho foreshadowed his departure from Chelsea last MAY when he tossed his EPL championship medal into the stands.

The ONLY thing that might save Mourinho from being fired is winning the Champions League.

Re: The Time Has Come For Beckham To Join L.A.

olivert — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:02:00 -0000

Strongly disagree.

I do NOT think Beckham's presence in MLS will have ANY effect on the popularity of the EPL as a TV product in the US.

I also do NOT believe Beckham will have that much effect on the popularity of MLS, as either a TV product or as a in-stadium entertainment product, after the 2007 season ends.

Beckham's first home game in LA of course will be a media circus, but the effect will be short-lived.

The bump in merchandising revenue from the sale of LA Galaxy jerseys with the name "BECKHAM" on the back will probably run through the 2007 Christmas selling season, but that too will be a short-term pheonmenon if history is any indication.

Re: The Time Has Come For Beckham To Join L.A.

olivert — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:12:00 -0000

Anyone wants to bet that AEG will kick in some cash to do a "loan deal" with Real Madrid in order to get Beckham in time for the MLS season opener on April 7?

Real Madrid has started the poker game by having Capello tell the media that Beckham will NEVER play for Real Madrid again from this point in time.

Re: Setanta Considers Bidding on TV Rights to FA Cup

olivert — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 11:06:00 -0000

Gaffer:

International video rights are sold separately from UK domestic rights.

Under NewsCorp's current deal with the English FA, NewsCorp-managed units FOX Sports International (FSI) in the U.S. and Canada and ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) in Asia (except Japan) have the TV rights to the English FA Cup through 2008.

FSI is expected to keep the English FA Cup on a combination of FOX Soccer Channel/FOX Sports en Espanol and pay-per-view/Setanta Premium in 2008.

Re: Investors Enter Feeding Frenzy for Premiership Clubs

olivert — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 10:45:00 -0000

Currently, only 4 clubs have any value outside the UK as TV entertainment products: Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal.

The TV rights fees commanded by the EPL in many TV markets outside the UK are perceived as "undervalued".

The one particular market where the valuation is artificially low is mainland China, where GuangDong TV's WinTV all-soccer pay TV channel (owned by the government of GuangDong province) was able to outbid NewsCorp/Rupert Murdoch-managed ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) at a price of only $50 million for 3 seasons.

Compared that to the $200 million for 3 seasons of EPL TV paid by PCCW's NOW Broadband TV in Hong Kong, and you can see the disparity.

One trend is for certain: rights fee will go UP, and up significantly, in mainland China for the next TV contract cycle (2010/11 to 2012/13 seasons).

Re: ESPN Wants Premier League TV Rights

olivert — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:47:00 -0000

After thinking about the FT article and talking to a few other observers, I think I have figured out why George Bodenheimer spoke to the FT reporter:

ESPN, Inc. is applying the "bear hug" on Setanta Sports Ltd.

In my opinion, ESPN, Inc. is telling Setanta the following:

Either ESPN buys out Setanta now so that Setanta doesn't have to raise more cash in a capital market that has either topped or is about to top, or ESPN will roll over Setanta 1 or 2 years from now, when Setanta will have trouble raising cash to keep itself running.

I predict that ESPN, Inc. will buy out Setanta within 12-18 months.

Re: Premier League moving forward with overseas games

olivert — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:31:27 -0000

The venues that will work well for EPL in January:

Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Dubai, Johannesburg, and Los Angeles

I don't believe Beijing, Shanghai, or New York (New Jersey) will work for EPL in January because those cities do NOT have domed stadiums.

The EPL should concentrate most of its "international round" matches in East and Southeast Asia, where they can be played on Saturday and Sunday evening, so that they can be broadcast in the UK around lunch time.

Re: 2008 Summer Tour: Another EPL Team Heading to Asia Instead of U.S.A.

olivert — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:01:30 -0000

There is no reason for any PL team to come to the U.S. during Summer 2008.

1. The U.S. dollar is weak in comparison to other currencies.

2. The Chinese-speaking high-roller gamblers in East and Southeast Asia (i.e. Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) have way too much money lying around to spend on PL tour tickets and licensed merchandise.

3. The PL teams can vaccum up all the petro-cash that is being dangled in front of them in places such as Dubai. More money to be made with a shorter trip.

Note that West Ham is headed to Toronto, not the U.S. Canada has a strong currency and has a ton of petro-cash available now that the oil sand deposits in Northern Alberta can be mined and processed for crude oil profitably with crude oil sitting at $100 per barrel.

The way things are going: even Brazil will be a more desirable destination than the U.S. for preseason PL tours in about 10-15 years. In case you haven't noticed: Brazil is now an oil-rich nation (lots and lots of crude oil discovered offshore) and a creditor nation whereas the U.S. of the 21st century resembles more and more like the Argentina and Brazil of the 20th century, with a ton of debt and a devalued currency.

Re: An American League in England?

olivert — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:24:04 -0000

It's time for UEFA to form an invitational "super league", with a $100 million "salary floor", so that the "TV clubs" with money to burn can be fenced in their own sand box, and let the other clubs form leagues with "parity".

The domestic leagues, as they are now, are too predictable and have become stale.

Re: How ESPN Would Change The Face of Premier League Coverage On U.S. TV

olivert — Sun, 18 May 2008 12:18:07 -0000

One thing we do know:

1. FOX Soccer Channel can't afford to keep EPL by itself.

2. Setanta is losing a lot of money around the world, including the U.S. and Canada. Those losses can't go on forever

3. GolTV is still losing money and can't really afford EPL on its own.

That leaves only one company that can afford to blow $30 million a year on U.S. TV rights to EPL: ESPN

ESPN Classic, which goes to about 60 million U.S. TV homes, gets about $72 million in U.S. cable/satellite TV subscriber fees each year (assuming 10 cents per subscriber per month), roughly the same amount of money FOX Soccer Channel gets with its 30 million U.S. cable/satellite TV subscribers (at 20 cents per subscriber per month).

The ONLY way the FAPL will be able to squeeze $30 million a year out of the U.S. market is to get ESPN involved, as both FOX Soccer Channel and Setanta have reached their "threshold of pain" and neither can pay much more for EPL.

With that said, I think John Skipper is completely out of his mind if he were to convert ESPN Classic into "ESPN3" (now that ESPN won't buy Setanta and covert Setanta Sports USA into "ESPN World") and stuff the EPL on "ESPN3".

Bottom line: even with the alleged "growth" in audience for EPL in the U.S. in recent years, EPL still draws an 0.2% national household rating (normalized to the national TV household count of 110+ million households) on FOX Soccer Channel, which happens to be the same 0.2% household rating that EPL got on ESPN2 in the 1997-1998 season before FOX outbid ESPN for the product.

EPL, in my opinion, belongs on a premium subscription service such as Setanta Sports USA, with the exception of one game each week on a digital sports pack channel such as FOX Soccer Channel.

Notice the EPL broadcast model in Canada: one game each week on The Score (which is the primary rightsholder), one game each week on Rogers Sportsnet, and the other 8 games each week air on Setanta Sports Canada (which is co-owned by Rogers Communications). That model actually makes sense.

Re: How ESPN Would Change The Face of Premier League Coverage On U.S. TV

olivert — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:51:41 -0000

> I have seen some of the coverage from Asia of the Prem on ESPN’s Star Sports and they do a really good job.

ESPN STAR Sports in Asia, despite the "ESPN" branding, is operated by NewsCorp, not by Disney/ESPN.

ESPN STAR Sports is a corporate sister of FOX Sports, not a corporate sister of ESPN.

ESPN Inc. (Disney) does own 50% of the ESPN STAR Sports joint venture, but Disney/ESPN have no day-to-day management responsibilities of ESPN STAR Sports.

Re: 2008/2009 Premier League Fixtures

olivert — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:15:13 -0000

Gaffer:

Due to UEFA Champions League fixtures:

Liverpool vs Manchester United will definitely be on SATURDAY September 13 at 12:45 BST (7:45am New York, 7:45pm Hong Kong). LIVE in the U.S. on Setanta Sports USA

Chelsea vs Manchester United will definitely be on SUNDAY September 21 at 16:05 BST (11:05am New York, 11:05pm Hong Kong). LIVE in the U.S. on FOX Soccer Channel

Arsenal vs Manchester United will definitely be on SUNDAY November 9 at 16:05 GMT (11:05am New York, 0:05am Hong Kong on Monday). LIVE in the U.S. on FOX Soccer Channel

Re: Could ESPN Steal Andy Gray From Sky Sports? | EPL Talk

olivert — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:20:33 -0000

Note that ESPN, Inc. does have a sales and programming syndication office located in the Hammersmith section of Greater London.

If ESPN, Inc. were to get its hands on EPL in both the UK and the Americas in 2010, I expect ESPN to either establish a broadcast studio in Greater London, or to rent studio space from IMG Media in London, or to buy whatever studio space from Setanta once it runs out of money.

That means the likes of Tommy Smyth may be asked by ESPN to "retire" (no chance he will move to the UK) while the likes of Healey and Rae may be asked to move across the Atlantic instead of being based in New England.

As for Setanta: its fate is now pretty much sealed now that ESPN has decided to let Setanta suffer and twist in the wind. Setanta will contiune to lose money until ESPN outbids Setanta for every program of value that Setanta has.

Re: 2008/2009 Premier League Fixtures As Predictable As League Itself

olivert — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:36:39 -0000

No Grand Slam Sundays.

Bummer.

Grand Slam Sundays were fun in 2007-2008: we didn't have to waste time with the Saturday fixtures when we know that the only teams that matter were playing on Sunday.

Re: Julie Foudy: You Are ESPN’s Weakest Link, Goodbye!

olivert — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:45:24 -0000

The perception of Foudy among knowledgable viewers: she "mails it in".

It should be obvious even to casual viewers that she is not doing enough preparation for the broadcasts.

Re: Julie Foudy: You Are ESPN’s Weakest Link, Goodbye!

olivert — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:25:44 -0000

> Actually the best point in that discussion of tough away ground was by Rob Stone who rightfully mentioned trips to Central America for the US and Mexico as being what they are HELL. Third world accommodations, poorly sodded or plastic pitches and nasty fans who throw things on the pitch all night.

Central American fans don't throw "things" onto the pitch.

They throw their URINE onto the pitch (either with bags or cups), particularly when opponents are getting ready to take corner kicks.

Re: Julie Foudy: You Are ESPN’s Weakest Link, Goodbye!

olivert — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:30:33 -0000

> Why do we see so many comments about how ESPN should not get EPL coverage? Because many people have something to fear if they gain the rights. Keep up the good work!

At this point, EPL on one of the ESPN networks in the U.S. for the 2010-2011 season is a foregone conclusion, especially if ESPN, Inc. were to acquire U.K. domestic rights to one of the EPL TV packages.

Neither Setanta nor FOX can afford to pay much more money for EPL. Setanta in particular is losing money on the current deal (its 50% share being $28.5 million for 3 seasons), while FOX Soccer Channel is at best running at break even.

The big question: will Setanta Sports Limited still be in business come August 2010? I have my doubts about that. Setanta's UK operation is burning through over USD$1 million a week.

Re: Julie Foudy: You Are ESPN’s Weakest Link, Goodbye!

olivert — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:37:35 -0000

>>> As to Foudy, don’t mind her, I think she probably does mail it in , she most likely was showing here lack of preparation when she fell back of Henry as a player to watch. If, you are not in on this secret now you are, many of the former players that hit the studio or broadcast both fail to do the work they should to prepare for a broadcast. Foudy most likely is no different then the rest.

It's too bad that Foudy decided for whatever reason that she was going to "mail it in" for the past 2 weeks.

Foudy obviously knows the game well enough to analyze it on TV.

The problem I have with Foudy over the years is what I perceive to be her lack of effort in preparing for broadcasts.

She showed her lack of preparation by absolutely butchering the pronounciation of Iran during World Cup 1998 on ABC. That was inexcusable, as that showed me that she lacked respect for the viewers.

10 years later, she has shown me that she hasn't changed much as far as her effort in preparing for a soccer broadcast.

Re: ESPN2 Sees 64% Increase in Households For Euro ‘08 Over Network Average | EPL Talk

olivert — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:17:13 -0000

John Skipper was delusional when he thought that MLS would eventually become big.

(I honestly didn't think MLS can get to 500,000 households, much less than 1 million households, on average on ESPN2 by 2014.)

MLS is what it is: a 3rd tier league designed to develop kids so that a handful of them will be sold to European clubs for a profit.

I watched 45 minutes of San Jose vs LA Galaxy a week ago. The quality of play was bad, with players who can't control the ball with their first touch.

ESPN will have to make a decision on MLS after 2010.

My suspicion: MLS will go back to being a "time buy" for the start of the 2011 season.

Re: ESPN2 Sees 64% Increase in Households For Euro ‘08 Over Network Average | EPL Talk

olivert — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:36:59 -0000

Back to Euro 2008 ratings on ESPN2: 0.5% was on the "low end" of my own estimate of what ESPN2 should be getting for 1st round broadcasts.

No one expected World Cup-like numbers (i.e. 0.8% to 1.0%). Euro Championship is NOT the World Cup.

I am expecting a 1.2% to 1.5% rating for the final on ABC, especially if two "big" teams were to clash, i.e. Germany vs Italy.

Re: Euro 2008 Semi-Final Plagued By 17 Minutes Of TV Transmission Issues

olivert — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:05:32 -0000

According to published reports, the weather problem occurred at the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Vienna, Austria, not at the stadium in Basel.

The IBC in Vienna lost power after a lightning strike.

As a result, outbound video feeds originating from the IBC, including the "international" video feed, which contains "natural sound" on one audio channel and generic English-language commentary by a solo announcer on the other audio channel (used by TSN and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada among others) were cut.