November 2007

Baseball
Major League Baseball announced 2007 regular season total attendance of 79.5 million, up 4.5% from last year and up 18% from just five years ago. Four teams, the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants, sold more than 95% of their available ticket inventory, while four other teams topped 90%. Minor League Baseball also posted its fourth straight overall attendance record, with clubs combining to draw 42.8 million, up 2.6% from 2006. (MLB Press Release, 11/2/07)

As part of its continued efforts to grow the game of baseball globally, the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) introduced a new online identity, www.IBAF.TV, which was timed to coincide with the kickoff of the 37th IBAF Baseball World Cup in Taiwan. (MLB Press Release, 11/9/07)

MLB announced that the Boston Red Sox will face the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo, Japan on 3/25-26/08 to open the 2008 MLB Season. Both MLB clubs will also play two games against teams from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). (MLB Press Release, 11/14/07)

The Cleveland Indians signed Japanese closer Masahide Kobayashi to a two-year contract through the 2009 season with a club option for 2010. The deal is reportedly worth $6.25 million with Kobayashi earning $3 million in each of the next two seasons and the 2010 club option worth $3.25 million with a $250,000 buyout. Kobayashi (age 33) spent the last nine seasons for the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese Pacific League where he averaged over 30 saves over each of the last seven seasons from 2001-2007. (JapanBall.com, 11/20/07)

In addition to the Japanese players recently signed by MLB teams, there are other top free agents, including: Kosuke Fukudome, OF, Chunichi Dragons; Hiroki Kuroda, RHP, Hiroshima Carp; Kenshin Kawakami, RHP, Chunichi Dragons; Masafumi Hirai, RHP, Chunichi Dragons; Takahiro Arai, 1B-3B, Hiroshima Carp; Kazuhiro Wada, OF, Seibu Lions; and Kazuo Fukumori, Rakuten Golden Eagles. (USA Today, 11/23/07)

Nippon Ham Fighters RHP Darvish Yu became the second youngest MVP in Japanese baseball history when he was named the Pacific League MVP for the 2007 season after going 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA in 26 starts. He led the PL with 210 strikeouts and 12 complete games and had the second best ERA in the league. Teammate and PL batting champion Atsunori Inaba finished second. Yomiuri Giants third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara won his second consecutive MVP award when he was named the Central League MVP after hitting .313 with 31 homers and 88 RBIs in 142 games. Teammate and closer Koji Uehara finished second. The Rookie of the Year awards went to Hanshin Tigers RHP Keiji Uezono
(8-5, 2.42 ERA) and Rakuten Eagles RHP Masahiro Tanaka (11-7, 3.82 ERA and 196 SO). (JapanBall.com, 11/28/07)

Los Angeles Dodgers assistant general manager Kim Ng has been chosen to be part of the Young Leaders Forum for The National Committee on US-China Relations (www.ncuscr.org). The Young Leaders Forum (YLF), now in its sixth year, provides an opportunity to enhance the dialogue between the two countries and build lasting economic, geopolitical and cultural ties among the people of both nations. (Los Angeles Times, 11/28/07)

The Kansas City Royals announced the signing of RHP Yasuhiko Yabuta to a $6 million, two-year contract. He will compete for a spot as the team's primary setup man. Trey Hillman, who spent the past five years managing the Nippon Ham Fighters before being hired last month by the Royals, was helpful in persuading Yabuta to come to Kansas City. (JapanBall.com, 11/28/07)

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Basketball
The National Basketball Association and Fujian Peak Group Co. ("Peak"), an athletic footwear company, have agreed to a new multi-year marketing partnership in China. Peak, who signed Shane Battier to an endorsement deal in 2006, started in the early 90's when it became China's first corporation to manufacture large-sized sports shoes. The company has also been the official sponsor for the FIBA Basketball European League All Star Games since 2005. (NBA Press Release, 11/6/07)

According to press reports, each of the 17 teams in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) will have to guarantee airtime before being allowed into next season's league due to low ratings and decreased marketing opportunities within the CBA as a result of the departure of stars like LiJiang Yi (Milwaukee Bucks) and Yao Ming (Houston Rockets) to the NBA. Unlike in the US, where broadcasters pay huge sums for the rights to broadcast the NBA, CBA teams have to pay local TV stations to cover their games. For example, the Fujian Sports Channel charged over $40K for live coverage of home and away games last year. This means problems for teams like Fujian Xunxing, Shaanxi Dongsheng, Yunnan Honghe, Shanxi Zhongyu, Zhejiang Horses and Zhejiang Guangsha, all of which failed to reach any agreement with local television stations last season. Two years ago, CBA viewership peaked at 315 million but saw only 250 million people last season. (This according to www.sina.com, citing data from Infront, the Swiss sports management group which manages the CBA.) This year, the CBA season is being shortened by three months to allow for the national team's Olympic preparations. State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) will broadcast 96 NBA games this season, but only 41 CBA games, many of which will be cut short to give equal billing to gymnastics and table-tennis. (VarietyAsiaOnline.com, 11/30/07)

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Golf
The golf industry in China faces a severe blow if changes to a land usage tax are implemented in the coming months. Under the changes, golf courses and properties such as apartment complexes will be taxed for each square meter of land used with only "countryside" courses exempt. This tax would be in addition to an already existing 23+% tax that golf clubs are subject to as "entertainment venues," similar to discos and karaoke bars. (Golfweek, 11/4/07)

After months of negotiations Quiksilver agreed to sell Cleveland Golf to SRI Sports, parent of Srixon, for $132.5 million. Quiksilver acquired Cleveland Golf when it purchased Rossignol Group in June 2005. (GolfWorld.com, 11/9/07)

The LPGA Tour announced its policy for drug testing that will begin in February 2008, making it the first pro golf organization to require randomly selected players to prove that they are "clean." The policy is similar to the outline released by the PGA Tour, which will not begin testing its players until July 2008. The LPGA will suspend players one year for a first positive test, two years for the second offense and a lifetime ban for any more violations. It will not discriminate between performance-enhancing drugs and recreational drugs. (Los Angeles Times, 11/15/07)

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Other Sports
NBC's Action Sports Tour and Beijing Xingyi New Media Investment Co. announced plans for AST China to be held in Beijing in April 2008. The deal gives Xingyi control of sponsorship and media rights in China for the event while it pays a licensing and sanctioning fee to AST for running the competition. AST retains international media rights for the event. AST China will feature vert and park skateboarding competitions showcasing 8 to 10 AST Dew Tour athletes and 4 Asian athletes. (Sports Business Journal, 11/4/07)

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China
China Mobile, the country's largest mobile network, revealed that it is in talks with Apple to distribute the iPhone in China, although no deal is in place and revenue-sharing issues are still being discussed. China Mobile says it has around 350 million subscribers, almost 1.5 the size of the entire U.S. market, its existing mobile music service has over 60 million users, and it has sold more than 240 million ringtones. (Digital Media Wire, 11/13/07)

Linktone, a provider of mobile entertainment and advertising services in China, announced that Indonesian media firm PT Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) has agreed to purchase at least 51% of its outstanding shares. MNC is the largest and only integrated media company in Indonesia, with business operations in content production and distribution, TV networks, newspapers, tabloids, radio networks and online media. (Digital Media Wire, 11/28/07)

Billionaire Hong Kong businessman Li Kai-Shing has reportedly invested $60M in social networking website Facebook in a deal that may pave the way for cooperation between Facebook and Tom.com, an Internet group that Li controls. The deal would appear to give Li no more than a 0.4% stake in the company although he may have an option to invest a further $60 million. Microsoft recently paid $240 million for a 1.6% stake, which would value Facebook at $15 billion. (VarietyAsiaOnline.com, 11/30/07)

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India
Indian sports broadcaster Nimbus was forced to sell its rights as official 'revenue-management company' for cricket's India-Pakistan series to Indian public-service broadcaster Doordarshan following a court ruling that the broadcaster who manages to bring in the most money from sponsors and advertisers gets the rights to marketing the tournament. As such, Doordarshan and Neo Sports will sell advertising and sponsorships independently on their respective channels. (SportBusiness.com, 11/5/07)

Satyam Computer Services, the Indian IT company, signed up as a sponsor for the FIFA World Cup and Official IT Services Provider to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. (SportBusiness.com, 11/27/07)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) fixed a minimum price for the TV rights for its new Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament at a minimum price of $59 million for the first year of a desired five-year deal. (SportBusiness.com, 11/28/07)

Paramount Digital Entertainment has agreed to a deal with Hungama Mobile to develop and distribute Paramount-branded mobile and interactive content in India. The move is seen as a sign that the studio, a late-bloomer in Asia, is getting serious about expansion in a market that will see the fastest theatrical growth in Asia in the coming five years. The country's one billion people spend $2 billion on movie tickets each year, a figure which is expected to increase 30% by 2012. Hollywood movies have a market share less than 10% of total box office in the country. (VarietyAsiaOnline.com, 11/29/07)

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Japan
Booming overseas sales and a favorable currency rate helped send Toyota to a fiscal first-half profit record. Toyota appears to remain on track to surpass General Motors as the world's top automaker for a full-year as soon as later this year. The company also raised its forecast for the full fiscal year. (Los Angeles Times, 11/8/07)

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Korea
Universal Parks & Resorts agreed on plans to build a $3.2 billion theme park just south of Seoul, Korea. The park is set to open in 2012 and will include hotels, a convention center, golf courses, and an outlet mall. (Los Angeles Times, 11/27/07)

KBS World, an international channel operated by Korean pubcaster KBS, will begin broadcasting to viewers in southern California through Time Warner Cable on 12/1/07. The deal adds 2 million subscribers in 216 cities to bring the channel's reach in the U.S. to 20 million viewers. KBS World debuted in the US in 2004 and is available in New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Hawaii, and through the DISH Network. It has set a goal of 50 million U.S. subscribers by 2010. (VarietyAsiaOnline.com, 11/30/07)

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Other Business
The market for premium mobile content in the Asia-Pacific region grew 57.4% in 2006 to $5.98 billion, an estimated $4.62 billion of which went to third-party content providers as opposed to being retained by mobile operators, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan. Mobile entertainment services accounted for 68.5% of total premium content revenues ($4.09 billion), with mobile music and video representing 12.1% ($495 million). The firm predicts that revenue from mobile music and video applications in the region will grow to 21.6% ($3.1
billion) of the total $22.38 billion market by 2012. (Digital Media Wire, 11/5/07)