Gol TV, SCP Team Up on World Cup Qualifiers
Cable Soccer Network to Assist Sports-Media Firm in Exchange for 18 Games
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 7/23/2007 1:47:00 PM
SCP Worldwide and Gol TV may not have connected from an ownership perspective, but that isn’t stopping the companies from working together.
The parties reached an agreement in which soccer-centric Gol TV will assist SCP Worldwide with distribution, production, marketing and ad sales for South American 2010 World Cup qualifying matches.
In return, Gol TV -- which is televised in English on sports tiers and in Spanish on Hispanic packages -- will receive the rights to one match for each of the 18 rounds of qualifying games, which kicks off this fall and runs through November and features soccer powers Brazil and Argentina.
SCP -- the sports-media-entertainment company run by former Madison Square Garden executive Dave Checketts and CSTV and Nike honcho Chris Bevilacqua -- holds all over-the-air, cable, satellite, broadband/Internet, wireless, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, closed-circuit, DVD and downloadable-device rights in the United States for the 90 qualifying matches.
Bevilacqua said working with Gol TV makes a lot sense in terms of having an anchor for sales and sponsorship packages for the matches and because the network has “a real distribution sweet spot with Hispanic viewers and the soccer community. How better to help us value this property.”
He noted that it had not yet been determined which matches Gol TV will get to televise on its air, as SCP’s goal is to maximize exposure for the upcoming contests this October and November. To that end, he added, SCP has held meetings and received some offers from distribution partners.
“We are currently assessing our distribution options,” he said.
SCP was moving toward a deal that would have seen it acquire a majority stake in Gol TV. However, the parties couldn’t finalize the deal -- which was reported to be valued at $200 million for an 80% stake -- over a variety of issues.
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