Mark
08-04-05, 06:22 AM
TRANS World International, the television arm of sports marketing giant IMG, could bid directly for free-to-air rights, produce games on behalf of other broadcasters, or challenge Telstra for the next round of internet rights under an aggressive foray into the AFL's broadcast rights negotiations.
IMG's Asia Pacific managing director Martin Jolly yesterday confirmed his company's strong interest in the rights for 2007 and beyond, in a move which further alters the landscape for this year's negotiations and stands to position IMG-TWI as one of Australia's most influential sports television players.
Channel Seven trumped Channel Nine last month by luring the Ten Network away from its existing arrangement with Nine to share the free-to-air rights.
"We are very interested," Jolly told The Australian yesterday from IMG's Melbourne office. "We have new owners, we are on a major acquisition growth path strategy globally and obviously AFL in Australia is the biggest sport.
"I can't divulge how we will come at it but there are a lot of options here. All I am saying is we are a serious player, we have serious money to invest and Australian rules is right on strategy with what we want to do and we are going to explore this in much greater detail. We are now looking at all options."
While Jolly was reluctant to reveal his company's specific plans, he canvassed a range of options which could see IMG-TWI, the world's biggest independent producer of televised sport, either buy the AFL free-to-air rights to on-sell to Australia's three commercial television networks or produce the football coverage of the eventual rights holder.
IMG-TWI has done both in the past in other sports. It has on-sold broadcast rights for Wimbledon and golf's British Open and provides 6000 hours of sports programming a year across 200 countries. In Australia, the company produces golf for Channel Seven and will next year act as host broadcaster for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games on behalf of rights holder Nine.
While on-selling rights has become a risky business in the current sports broadcast rights market, Jolly confirmed it was an option being considered.
"You would want to be very careful doing that to make sure you have got all the players," Jolly said. "Australia is a small market and you have got to be able to unload the rights. But everyone is going to come to play here, so that is an option."
IMG last year turned over $1.4 billion. If IMG were to acquire the AFL rights, it would assume the role played by News Limited, the publisher of The Australian, in the last round of rights negotiations in late 2000.
The more likely option is that IMG will seek to become the production partner of one or all of the free-to-air rights holders.
In the meantime, IMG-TWI has emerged as a genuine competitor to Telstra for the new media rights. IMG-TWI bid for the last round of internet rights, which eventually went to Telstra for an estimated $20 million a year. This time round, Jolly vowed that IMG-TWI would be a "major player" in the new media negotiations.
Jolly, who is based in Hong Kong and has been on the board of Hawthorn since 1996, said IMG had previously been precluded from bidding for the AFL's television rights because of an exclusive contract to represent Australian Rugby Union but had long coveted a piece of the AFL broadcast pie.
SOURCE (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12786342%255E2722,00.html)
IMG's Asia Pacific managing director Martin Jolly yesterday confirmed his company's strong interest in the rights for 2007 and beyond, in a move which further alters the landscape for this year's negotiations and stands to position IMG-TWI as one of Australia's most influential sports television players.
Channel Seven trumped Channel Nine last month by luring the Ten Network away from its existing arrangement with Nine to share the free-to-air rights.
"We are very interested," Jolly told The Australian yesterday from IMG's Melbourne office. "We have new owners, we are on a major acquisition growth path strategy globally and obviously AFL in Australia is the biggest sport.
"I can't divulge how we will come at it but there are a lot of options here. All I am saying is we are a serious player, we have serious money to invest and Australian rules is right on strategy with what we want to do and we are going to explore this in much greater detail. We are now looking at all options."
While Jolly was reluctant to reveal his company's specific plans, he canvassed a range of options which could see IMG-TWI, the world's biggest independent producer of televised sport, either buy the AFL free-to-air rights to on-sell to Australia's three commercial television networks or produce the football coverage of the eventual rights holder.
IMG-TWI has done both in the past in other sports. It has on-sold broadcast rights for Wimbledon and golf's British Open and provides 6000 hours of sports programming a year across 200 countries. In Australia, the company produces golf for Channel Seven and will next year act as host broadcaster for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games on behalf of rights holder Nine.
While on-selling rights has become a risky business in the current sports broadcast rights market, Jolly confirmed it was an option being considered.
"You would want to be very careful doing that to make sure you have got all the players," Jolly said. "Australia is a small market and you have got to be able to unload the rights. But everyone is going to come to play here, so that is an option."
IMG last year turned over $1.4 billion. If IMG were to acquire the AFL rights, it would assume the role played by News Limited, the publisher of The Australian, in the last round of rights negotiations in late 2000.
The more likely option is that IMG will seek to become the production partner of one or all of the free-to-air rights holders.
In the meantime, IMG-TWI has emerged as a genuine competitor to Telstra for the new media rights. IMG-TWI bid for the last round of internet rights, which eventually went to Telstra for an estimated $20 million a year. This time round, Jolly vowed that IMG-TWI would be a "major player" in the new media negotiations.
Jolly, who is based in Hong Kong and has been on the board of Hawthorn since 1996, said IMG had previously been precluded from bidding for the AFL's television rights because of an exclusive contract to represent Australian Rugby Union but had long coveted a piece of the AFL broadcast pie.
SOURCE (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12786342%255E2722,00.html)