Force India unveiled their new car on February 10, 2010,  saying greater stability than other Formula One teams would boost their chances this season.

Vijay Mallya’s team finished ninth out of 10 last season but improved significantly in the closing stages and are bullish for 2010 despite missing a deadline to file their annual accounts.

It has been a smooth transition for the VJM03 from last year’s car which again uses a Mercedes engine and McLaren gearbox, whereas the start of last season was hit by a late switch of suppliers.

Singapore missing out on live television coverage of the 2010 World Cup would be a disaster for both football fans and brands, according to media expert Stuart Clark, managing director of MPG Singapore.

Clark spoke to Sportsbizasia TV about the breakdown of negotiations between telcos SingTel and StarHub and FIFA for the World Cup rights. FIFA is asking for $40 million for the full 64 games of the tournament, which at the moment SingTel and StarHub are unprepared to meet. MediaCorp has put in a bid to show a few matches on free-to-air TV, while Perform Group has publicly stated that it is interested in streaming live games online in Singapore.

Clark says it doesn’t surprise him how much FIFA is asking Singapore to pay for the World Cup TV rights, considering Hong Kong paid SG$50 million and South Korea more than that for them.

“SingTel and StarHub have done a great job in shifting the blame to FIFA,” he says. “SingTel have really stabbed themselves in the back by paying so much for the BPL (Barclays Premier League). It’s really a difficult situation.”

Clark spoke about the impact no World Cup TV coverage would have on brands, both global and local, which are expected to leverage the tournament in their marketing strategies. He also spoke about the size of the World Cup as a media event, the role the internet will play in covering the World Cup and the affect no TV coverage would have in Singapore.
“You can’t replace what live TV [of the World Cup] brings,” Clark says.

Football has proved itself to be an immensely popular talking point online for Singaporeans, even crossing over to the area of technology brands, according to the latest Digital Brand Index by Edelman and Brandtology.

The two companies analyze online conversations covering technology brands in Singapore, and their second quarter results found that SingTel and StarHub’s battle over the English Premier League and FIFA World Cup rights drive one-fifth of all online discussions in the period. The Digital Brand Index reveals insights covering more than 150,000 online conversations and 73 technology brands, across 554 different channels.

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today elected Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, as the host city of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014 during the 122nd IOC Session in Vancouver, Canada. Nanjing received 47 votes to edge out runner-up Poznan, Poland, which received 42 votes.

SET Max recently launched their campiagn for the up coming India Premier League 3. The  campiagn is a series on We are back in India.

The latest in the series is one by Dehli Dardevlis new captain Gautam Ghambir announcing his be appoitnted captain as well as how happy they are to be back in India.

Look out for more on the IPL at Sportsbizasia TV.

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For the past 5 years Soccerex has held its European-based event in London where it attracted senior delegates from all corners of the football industry for an unparalleled day of networking and business.

Europe’s leading football business event has now grown into a two-day networking-focused forum to be held in Manchester.

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Sponsorship and the money it can bring into the game is the ultimate barrier to the growth of football in Asia, according to Jon Collins, CEO of Football Asia.

Collins believes the sport will grow quicker in the region when sponsorship dollars and the business community get behind football, which allows clubs to become more professional, they can then get better quality commercial and playing staff, pay players more and then the quality and the value of the prospective league improves.

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Bob Turner, managing director of professional basketball team the Singapore Slingers, talks to John Davidson about the creation of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), the debut season and the prospects of the Slingers.

It may be less than six months old but the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) has big plans, with the fledgling professional completion out to become one of the best leagues in Asia according to Singapore Slingers managing director Bob Turner.

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Interview with Chris Robb, managing director of Spectrum Worldwide, about how to create a successful sports property and the growth of OCBC Cycle Singapore.

Brands need to focus on creating a worthwhile experience when they establish a new sports property, according to Chris Robb, managing director of event management and experiential marketing outfit Spectrum Worldwide. Robb gave Sportsbizasia TV insight into how to create a successful sports event, talking about the growth of its property OCBC Cycle Singapore and its plans to involve Lance Armstrong.

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Interview with Oliver Hall, director of sales at Total Sport & Entertainment

The urban sport of parkour has been given a major boost in Asia following the announcement that Singapore will host the StarHub Urban FreeStyle, a parkour-inspired running event, in April next year. The event, which has been launched by Total Sport & Entertainment (TSE) and is being sponsored by StarHub, is expected to draw around 3000 participants with about 15,000 people expect to attend the party that will form part of the event.

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