Apr 19th, 2008
They don’t know cricket, but know their business
Geoffrey Hampson doesn’t know much of the rules of cricket. But, as the CEO of the Vancouver-based Live Current Media group, he pulled off a major coup by upstaging many mainstream media companies and bagging a $50 million (Rs 200 crore) contract to host the IPL’s online content.
“I don’t understand the sport completely but I do have some good tutors,” the 50-year old Hampson said on a lighter note when asked how he got interested in his company’s biggest ever single deal.
“I’m picking up the basics of the game and have some people of Indian descent in the company to help me understand the nuances,” he told the Hindustan Times in a phone interview. Until Thursday, the 22-employee company was unknown in India. It was quite a surprise when the IPL and the LCM announced they had inked a 10-year-deal on online content.
The LCM will manage and run two websites to generate revenue, IPLT20.com and BCCI.tv. The IPLT20.com was launched on Friday.
According to the LCM, now fans from around the world can have complete access to the 44-day long season. The site offers access to official league content including audio-visual content, photographs, live scoreboards and summaries, match results, Fantasy Cricket, player interviews, profiles, schedules, statistics, ticketing and fan interaction through polls, contests and newsletters.
As per the terms of the deal, LCM will make a guaranteed payment of $5m a year — $3m for the BCCI and a separate $2m for the IPL — for the online rights. After that, revenue will be shared between the partners based on advertising, sponsorship and merchandise sales through the two websites.
It will be a social networking site revolving around the cricket sport. It would also have a fantasy cricket application for Facebook. The video footage and pictures of the IPL fixtures will be for sale on the website, however no live streaming of games will be offered.
Tags: ipl, live, streaming
8 Responses to “They don’t know cricket, but know their business”
But why does supporting Israel mean giving an already rich country truckloads of cash ? What exactly does Israel need financial aid for ?
NWO
I thought the NWO was supposedly a conspiracy on the part of the UN. Yet the UN has passed quite a few resolutions condemning Israel’s treatment of the native inhabitants (Palestinians) of the land they took. In general there were two states which opposed the resolutions. I’ll give you two guesses.
Because it’s helping bring about the second coming of Christ. The Israelites need to be in control of the region before their downfall.Of course, Jewish Israelis don’t believe in Christ, so they are happy to take the money.
Ouch. Sounds like some bias in your post.
Because they are surrounded by evil neighbors who want Israel destroyed.
Our politicians get 10% back via kickbacks and favors from AIPAC lobbyists.