Irish Hockey one step closer to Olympic
The Irish Men’s Hockey team played a 1-1 draw with tournament favourites Korea last night before a sold-out Belfield crowd. Victory over Chile on Thursday and Malaysia in the final pool game at 3 pm this coming Saturday will secure a Final appearance against either Malaysia or Korea.
That game will take place on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm, likely to be televised live on RTE and with the winner booking a place at the London Olympics.
The Korean national swimming team are also in Dublin for a pre-Olympic Camp at the National Aquatic Centre. We went to meet them and will carry a feature in tomorrow’s Sport for Business Weekly.
Hyundai is hosting a reception for both the national teams and the Korean Ambassador in Dublin on Thursday evening.
Sprinter Sacre the star of Cheltenham
It is always dangerous to tempt fate with future dreams in sport but Sprinter Sacre forced those watching to do just that with a victory in the Racing Post Arkle trophy that was described by some as the best ever at the track. Barry Geraghty, who rode Ireland’s Moscow Express to great triumphs at the Festival said he had never sat on a horse like this and he is now the red hot favourite for the Champions Chase in 2013.
The victory was not greeted with glee at Paddy Power who ran a special offer that anyone backing any other horse in the race would be given their stakes back should Sprinter Sacre win. In the immediate aftermath of the race, the offer was estimated to have cost €2 million.
After Hurricane Fly failed in his bid to retain his Champion Hurdle Crown the emphasis switches today to Sizing Europe who will carry the hopes of the Irish in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Yesterday’s crowd at the Festival was 54,471, an increase of 2.1% on 2011.
Get Ireland Active shortlisted for an award, but where is business?
The Get Ireland Active website, which promotes physical activity in Ireland, has been shortlisted for Ireland’s eGovernment awards. The site aims to encourage people to become more physically active by creating awareness of the opportunities for physical activity at local, regional and national levels.
The website also contains information about the benefits of physical activity, how to get started and has tips on motivation. It was developed by the Get Ireland Active Steering Group which includes the HSE, Irish Sports Council, the Irish Heart Foundation, Local Sports Partnerships, National Governing Bodies of Sport, Department of Education & Skills, CARA, the HSE Community Games and Go for Life.
It is notable that despite so many major events aimed at this market and sponsored by companies like Flora, Spar and Samsung that there is no business input to the steering group and no commercial links to assist the website. Could this be an opportunity that might be explored for the good of all?
Betfair to sponsor World Snooker in Galway
Betfair is to be the title sponsor of Snooker’s Players Tour Championships in Galway starting today. The event brings together the top 24 players from the competition that has had heats around the world. The finals are expected to be viewed by a global TV audience of 40 million.
The deal shows that last minute offers can be successful and it will be interesting to see what resource the company can put into the event during one of the busiest betting weeks of the year.
March Madness underway in US
The intervarsity games in Ireland may raise some excitement but March Madness, a 64 team knock out college basketball event in the US, underway at present, is a sporting juggernaut. CBS and Turner interactive paid $10.8 Billion for broadcast and streaming rights over a 14 year period. They took in $620 million in ad revenue in 2010, the first year of that deal.
Duke University earned $26.7 million in revenue from its Basketball team last year. The FBI estimates that $2.5 Billion will be wagered illegally on the tournament across America.
The Final Four ‘business end’ of the tournament takes place in New Orleans in three weeks’ time. It is not ‘sponsored’ but is ‘refreshed by Coca Cola Zero’ who also have their name on a near 30,000 square metre Bracket Town family entertainment zone in the City.
