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SPORTS MARKETING BITS: Coveted Online Sports Rights, 2014 Soccer World Cup Profits, NYC FC Merchandising Success

A lot is happening on the Sports Marketing front with Chernin Group's CEO Peter Chernin expecting major sports live events to move online and be profitable, FIFA's Soccer World Cup profit, GOLTV securing Scottish Cup Broadcast Cup Rights and NYC FC debuting in the Yankee Stadium with huge merchandising sales.

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A lot is happening on the Sports Marketing front with Chernin Group’s CEO Peter Chernin expecting major sports live events to move online and be profitable, FIFA’s Soccer World Cup profit, GOLTV securing Scottish Cup Broadcast Cup Rights and NYC FC debuting in the Yankee Stadium with huge merchandising sales.

DOWNLOAD our just released 2015 Soccer Marketing Guide!: Portada’s 2015 Soccer Marketing Guide!

Is acquiring Over the Top Video Sports Rights the Way of the Future?

cherninChernin Group CEO Peter Chernin said at a recent conference that NFL games, as well as other major live sporting events, eventually will move to the Internet and be profitable. During an interview at the Code/Media conference, Chernin, whose company (The Chernin Group) joined AT&T in a $500 million joint venture to “acquire, invest in and launch over-the-top (OTT) video services” last April, said he wasn’t sure of the timeline, but framed it as an “inevitable evolution” of the digital space. “There’s clearly more money to be made online than there is out of those broadcast deals,” said the former president of News Corp. “There’s more money to be made on a subscription basis, targeted, they’re global, there’s almost zero distribution friction, so, I think there is more money to be made.”

2014 Soccer World Cup turns US $337 million in Profit

World Cup DrawThe World Cup’s commercial power led to record revenue of US 2 billion for FIFA last year, with US $337 million in profits coming from the four-year cycle leading up to the 2014 soccer tournament in Brazil. FIFA, which pocketed US $140.7 million in profit in 2014 alone, added US $91 million to its reserves, which now stand at $1.523 billion. The revenue of US $2.096 billion in 2014 raised the four-year total to $5.718 billion. Income should keep rising before the 2018 World Cup in Russia despite FIFA’s reputation being battered by corruption and vote-buying allegations. “This success underscores the huge appeal of FIFA’s flagship tournament,” the governing body noted in its annual financial report published last Friday. FIFA’s expenses also soared, topping $5.38 billion in the past four years, including US $1.955 billion in 2014. Spending last year included: US $261 million in World Cup bonuses to member federations and confederations; US $27 million buying a four-star hotel near the world soccer museum site in Zurich; and $39.7 million in executive committee stipends and senior management bonuses.

GolTV Signs Deal to Broadcast Scottish Cup

GolTV, the Miami-based bilingual soccer network, has secured a multi-year deal with IMG sports media company to broadcast the William Hill Scottish Cup. The Scottish Cup is celebrating its 130th season as one of Scotland’s most prestigious tournaments involving all senior professional teams and is the oldest and most traditional football event in Scotland. GolTV will broadcast the 2015 semi-finals on April 18th and the final match on May 30th. The 2016 coverage will commence in February and will include all tournament matches. All matches will broadcast live in HD and air exclusively on GolTV. The winners of the Scottish cup qualify for the following season’s UEFA Europa League. “We are excited to add the William Hill Scottish Cup to our portfolio of soccer properties. Not only is it one of the longest running European tournaments, it’s also one of the more exciting competitions to watch.” said Rodrigo Lombello, GolTV CEO. The William Hill Scottish Cup includes top-ranked league teams such as the Celtics and Rangers. However, the tournament also allows lower level teams to compete head to head against first division teams for the cup title.

Yankee Stadium Debut Propels Merchandising Success for New York City Soccer Club

Photo taken by Groupe Canam
Photo taken by Groupe Canam

The New York City Football Club, the American professional soccer team based in New York City that competes in MLS, had its first match in New York’s Yankee Stadium 10 days ago. The NYCFC match against the New England Revolution, turned out to be a great merchandising success as a voracious fan base made a statement with their wallets, scarfing up NYCFC wear and posting the highest game day merchandise sales in MLS’ twenty year history. “We have never witnessed demand like this at a soccer game,” said Dan Smith, President of Legends Hospitality – Yankee Stadium’s retail partner. “This is a great start to our partnership with New York City FC – we are looking forward to serving their fans at Yankee Stadium for the whole MLS season.”
The 43,507 in attendance took to the stadium’s 14 retail outlets, beginning a buying frenzy that left many of their boutiques in short supply. 4,000 scarves were sold on the evening, leaving their boutique shops bare.
This is yet another major retail win for NYCFC, who have also sold out on authentic jerseys.  Replica shirts, however, were readily available in stadium. “Our historic home opener was a very special day for our Club,” NYCFC President Tom Glick said. “We were overwhelmed by the huge and vocal crowd who made Yankee Stadium their own. The demand for New York City FC merchandise at the game, shows the appetite for the Club and how eager our fans are to get behind their team. They weren’t just there to witness an extraordinary spectacle in the history of New York sports; they were buying into their team and showing their support.”

DOWNLOAD our just released 2015 Soccer Marketing Guide!: Portada’s 2015 Soccer Marketing Guide!

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