Nuclear deterrent for 2012?
Lord Coe took the nuclear option yesterday as he accepted a cheque for as much as £80 million from the second significant sponsor for the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the national debate on renewable energy split, the Olympic colours will be nailed to the mast of EDF, the world’s biggest owner-operator of nuclear power stations.
EDF, the state-owned French company, is the biggest company listed on the Paris stock exchange, with 58 reactors on 19 sites and plans to build new plants around the world, including Britain. The 2012 Games’s green credentials will be tested further with deals with a company from aviation and one from the oil and gas industry – rumoured to be BP – lined up.
EDF takes its place alongside LloydsTSB as the second of 2012’s five “tier one” sponsors, who will put in the bulk of the private money that the organising committee needs for its £2 billion budget. EDF was clearly determined to be included in the 2012 Olympics: it backed Paris and Madrid in their 2012 bids.
Sky’s the limit
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Sky Sports showed that it has not lost its clout by holding on to what has become golf’s blue riband event in Europe, the Ryder Cup. The European Tour announced last night that it has signed a deal for Sky to show live the next three Ryder Cups until 2012, along with 32 Tour events.
The deal includes four showpiece events – the Barclays Scottish Open, BMW PGA Championship, Quinn Direct British Masters and HSBC World Match Play – in collaboration with the BBC.
Sky has had a tough time lately, with its ambitions to wrest the Masters from the BBC seemingly sunk, while also losing the rights to the FA Cup and England matches. But the Ryder Cup has become a “must-have” and Sky is on course for nine Ryder Cup broadcasts in a row.
Setanta channelling energy into football
Just how much competition there is in sports broadcasting was emphasised by Setanta, which has extended its football portfolio again, this time adding Liverpool to the roster. The Irish-based pay television station has signed a three-year deal to distribute the club’s football channel, for which Liverpool have opted to take a straightforward rights payment, thought to be worth about £6 million.
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Fighting chance of Warren landing deal
ITV is on course to renew its deal with Frank Warren to show live boxing. Negotiations have been tortuous, with ITV known to be unhappy with the quality of some of the bouts provided by Warren’s Sports Network over the past two years. But ITV is showing Amir Khan’s Commonwealth lightweight title bout this weekend, paving the way for a renewal. A deal would suit both sides: peak audiences have reached about six million, while Warren is anxious to keep his boxers on terrestrial television.
E-mail: theinsider@thetimes.co.uk