Serie A TV rights sold for €181.5 m

November 7, 2009

Serie A’s worldwide broadcasting rights for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons have been sold to the MP & Silva international sports media company for €181.5 m, the Italian Football League said on Friday.

Acceptance of the bid is pending approval by Italy’s competition watchdog, the league said in a statement on its website (www.lega-calcio.it).

Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis said the decision was taken despite opposition from his club and Turin giants Juventus.

“Only we and Juventus voted against. Our (TV) rights are worth much more,” de Laurentiis was quoted as saying on La Gazzetta dello Sport’s website (www.gazzetta.it)

“Unfortunately, a little egg today was preferred to a goose with a golden egg, which could have been today too, not tomorrow.”

The Serie A highlights package and radio rights in Italy have been sold to state broadcaster Rai for €28.5m for the 2010-11 season and €30m for 2011-12.

The league said it would contest a Milan court decision to stop it assigning the live satellite broadcasting rights for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons to Sky, while an appeal against this move by a small network is considered.

Abhimanyu Rajput

Tags: 30m, 5m, aurelio de laurentiis, Calcio, competition watchdog, court decision, golden egg, international sports, italian football league, la gazzetta dello, la gazzetta dello sport, live satellite, milan court, radio rights, rajput, satellite broadcasting, sports media, state broadcaster, tv rights

‘Special One’ makes few friends in China

August 11, 2009

If Inter Milan were intending their trip to Beijing for last week’s Italian Super Cup to be a China charm offensive, coach Jose Mourinho was obviously not kept in the loop.

The accepted form for European club officials on pre-season trips to China is to politely praise everything local and talk up the footballing potential of the world’s most populous nation.

After Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Lazio in the traditional Italian season curtain-raiser between the Serie A champions and Cup winners, Mourinho departed from the script.

The post-match news conference got off to a bad start when the local interpreter expressed his delight at Lazio’s victory and invited Chinese media to ask Mourinho difficult questions.

Matters did not improve when Mourinho, who earlier in the week had described the Bird’s Nest stadium — China’s pride and joy — as “so-so”, arrived on the podium.

The first question from state broadcaster CCTV, suggesting he had been forced into letting new signing Samuel Eto’o play a full 90 minutes, was answered politely.

The second, from a local newspaper reporter, asked why Lazio, playing on the same pitch and in the same searing heat that Mourinho had previously complained about, were able to win.

“After the first two questions, I know why Chinese football is so rubbish and why China has won gold medals in so many sports but not football, because the journalists are so unprofessional,” the Portuguese replied.

Later, a reporter from state news agency Xinhua asked whether the match had further convinced Mourinho of the need to strengthen his midfield with a playmaker.

“After your questions it seems that my team played a horrible match,” said the former Porto and Chelsea boss. “The conclusion is that you don’t understand a thing, because all the questions are based on the result. This is not football. If we talk about the result, it was 2-1 to Lazio. If we are talking about the match then we have to say one team played, the other was lucky. This is football.”

Mourinho, who got his break in management after working as a interpreter for English coach Bobby Robson, was unsurprisingly lambasted by the Chinese sports media.

Web portal qq.com was typical, listing “Mourinho’s seven sins in China”.

“1. Losing the match, 2. Being arrogant, 3. Insulting journalists, 4. Sneering at Chinese football, 5. Despising the Bird’s Nest, 6. Refusing to attend a charity dinner 7. Losing his temper at the Silk Market,” it said.

Mourinho would not be the first tourist to lose his cool at the Silk Market, the central Beijing shopping centre famous for its faked goods where scores of shop assistants aggressively vie for custom, but he denied accusations of an eighth sin.

A statement posted on Inter’s Chinese language website on Monday read: “Jose Mourinho today firmly denied the reports that he refused to meet China’s coach Gao Hongbo.

“After Inter’s training in the Olympic Sports Centre in the afternoon of Aug. 5, Gao met and talked to Mourinho … The two coaches agreed to meet again the next day but because of the preparations for the Super Cup, they did not meet in the National Stadium.”

The journalist who had asked the second question in the press conference was not impressed with Mourinho. “I don’t think he’s the special one,” she told me as we left the stadium.

Picture by David Gray

Go to Source

Tags: charm offensive, chinese football, chinese media, club officials, cup winners, curtain raiser, difficult questions, gold medals, inter milan, italian season, italian super cup, jose mourinho, match news, midfield, playmaker, populous nation, pride and joy, samuel eto o, state broadcaster, xinhua

Nike ´set to sponsor China league´

February 15, 2009

BEIJING (AFP) – US sports apparel giant Nike is in talks with China’s beleaguered Super League over a potential 200 million dollar sponsorship deal that could cover the coming decade, state press said Sunday.

Nike has basically agreed to a 15 million dollar deal that will provide 12 league teams 732,000 dollars each in equipment and apparel and 220,000 dollars in cash for the 2009 season, the Beijing Times said.

Remaining funds would go to the league.

An extended agreement calls for a 15 percent annual increase, with the apparel contract to eventually cover all 16 league teams, it said.

If a final deal is reached, Nike could be providing 30 million dollars a year by 2018, with the cumulative sponsorship fee reaching 200 million dollars over 10 years, it said.

No details were given on when a deal was to be signed. The 2009 season begins on March 21.

Nike China was unavailable for comment on Sunday.

China’s professional league has been beset with problems ranging from corruption to match-fixing that has badly tarnished its image and resulted in low attendance.

League play was so dismal that state broadcaster China Central Television stopped airing matches during the final rounds of 2008 play, but will reportedly resume broadcasting during the upcoming campaign.

Due to illegal gambling, match-fixing and poor play in the inagural season of the Super League in 2004-05, German electronics giant Siemens ended its multi-million dollar title sponsorship of the league the following year.

The league’s main backer remains southern China’s state-owned beer-maker Kingway Brewery.

Written by: AFP