The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- McIlroy is exhausted and run down
- Sports revenues should grow to US$145bil despite economic woes
- Lotus hope new line-up heralds return to top in F1
| McIlroy is exhausted and run down Posted: 09 Dec 2011 04:40 PM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - World number two Rory McIlroy is exhausted and run down and may have to pull out of next week's inaugural Thailand Golf Championship, his Horizon Sports management team said on Friday. "Rory has a low white blood cell count and low platelets," a member of Horizon Sports who declined to be identified told Reuters at the Dubai World Championship. "He has a doctor coming to see him again on Saturday evening and they have just told him to hydrate, take iron and salt tablets and rest. "We've told the Thailand organisers, they know he's been sick for a few weeks. He wants to play there but I think he'll make a decision tomorrow night," added the source. "The doctors are saying it's exhaustion, him being run down. The blood count obviously affects his energy levels in a big way." U.S. Open champion McIlroy, who is locked in a straight fight with Luke Donald to win the money-list at the European Tour's season-ending event in Dubai, has had a gruelling playing schedule in recent weeks. That, however, did not stop the 22-year-old Northern Irishman finishing his first round in spectacular fashion on Thursday, blitzing his way to five birdies in the last six holes to close within two strokes of leader Peter Hanson of Sweden. VULNERABLE McIlroy needs to win in Dubai and for Donald to finish in a tie for ninth with at least two players to be crowned Europe's number one golfer for 2011. "The doctors have told Rory not to practice at all and not to go to the gym," the source said on Friday. "He's fine but he just needs to conserve energy. "It's a virus and he needs time off. They don't know where he picked it up but it's one of those that stays dormant for a couple of weeks and then just kind of flares up." McIlroy tends to suffer immediately after he finishes a round, the source added. "He's okay generally as long as he takes the advice of the doctors. He can't avoid being in the sun for six hours a day playing golf, as long as he then stays indoors and keeps his energy levels up. "Rory said as long as he gets a good night's sleep he feels fine in the morning but then he goes out and plays and within an hour of finishing his blood sugar levels go down and he has to go and rest. "The other problem is when you are run down like that you're more vulnerable to illness ... so if you go to a tropical climate it could be an issue," added the source. "We've given the Thailand organisers fair warning because we know it's important to them he plays there. He's one of the biggest players in the field next week." The Bangkok event has a prize fund of $1 million and is the final tournament of the Asian Tour season. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Sports revenues should grow to US$145bil despite economic woes Posted: 09 Dec 2011 04:37 PM PST WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The global economic slowdown is a concern but sports revenues worldwide should grow by about 3.7 percent to $145.3 billion by 2015, according to a research report released on Friday. The "Changing the Game" report, undertaken by financial services and consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, also pointed to sponsorship issues, a growing generation gap between fans, managing media rights and burgeoning player costs as problems facing the industry in the near future. "The world we live in at the moment is so volatile, you just have to look at what is happening in Europe," Bruce Baillie, PWC New Zealand's markets managing partner, told Reuters in an interview about the report. "But you also have to take a look at Asia and the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies, which are going to be real growth areas. "There is a growing middle class in all those countries and they're the people that buy the tickets and watch sports on television ... and that is what will drive greater revenue." The report, which analyzed four main areas of sports revenue -- ticket sales, media rights, sponsorship and merchandising -- estimated global sports revenues were about $121.4 billion in 2010 and projected them to grow on a cumulative average of 3.7 percent to $145.3 billion by 2015. Sponsorship would provide the largest growth in revenue, up 5.3 percent to $45.3 billion by 2015, though sports organizations needed to be aware that corporate sponsors were now demanding more from their investment. "There is pressure from the corporate sponsorship, they want real indication of return and value on their investment," Baillie said. "The mere fact there is your signage at an event is not enough. Companies are looking for (tangible) measures of who's going to see it and how are they going to engage? How are they going to get emotionally involved?" VOTE WITH FEET Baillie also said the report had indicated growth in ticket revenues had slowed dramatically, with attendance at events taking a greater chunk of fans' discretionary income, while ticket prices increased. As such, organizations had incorporated greater entertainment opportunities like performances from big-name music acts as part of the sporting event to give consumers a feeling of greater value for money. Fans would also likely "vote with their feet" away from their 'traditional' sports if they remained too expensive, with North American sports and English Premier League matches examples where fans have voiced displeasure at rising ticket costs, he said. The growing divergence of media platforms, and sale of rights across those platforms such as television, mobile devices and the Internet, would also create issues as consumers grappled with what was 'free' and what was paid content across platforms and geographic regions, the report said. Burgeoning player salaries had also caused concern, particularly in European soccer where only about 20 percent of clubs were estimated to be in profit each year, though stronger regulation from governing bodies would have an effect. Baillie added that a generation gap was also emerging in sports which was creating a two-tiered market for fans, with younger fans not attending games but using social media and the Internet to keep engaged, while older fans had the discretionary income to attend, but not engaging in social media. "There is a divergence of markets. I think there will be for a little while yet, but the future is in one direction," Baillie said. "The over 40s are getting older and over time will diminish, so there is a generational gap developing (where) you have to satisfy the people who are going to games now as well as entertaining the kids or you will lose them and in 10 years time nobody will be going to the game. "So (sports organizations) have to straddle both (markets). It's a real balancing act." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Lotus hope new line-up heralds return to top in F1 Posted: 09 Dec 2011 04:34 PM PST PARIS (Reuters) - Lotus aim to be back at the top in Formula One within three years, team principal Eric Boullier said on Friday after announcing France's Romain Grosjean would partner Kimi Raikkonen next season. The team were constructors champions as Renault in 2005 and 2006, with Fernando Alonso also winning the drivers' crowns, but have not won a race since 2008 and finished a distant fifth overall this year. Both their 2012 drivers will be making comebacks, with 2007 world champion Raikkonen returning after two years in world rallying. Grosjean, the 2011 champion in the GP2 support series, started seven races with Renault in 2009 without scoring a point. "We've changed our two drivers, which is not fashionable but corresponds to owners Genii's desire to become a 'Top Team' again," Boullier told reporters. "The plan is to be world champions in two or three years' time." Grosjean could not resist a smile at that idea. "World champion in two or three years, that's fine by me," grinned the Swiss-born driver. "It's hard to describe how I feel. "I've had a rather unusual journey with a first stint in Formula One which ended in 2009 in a not very glorious fashion but which was necessary for my maturity. It all makes me believe that perseverance pays off." Grosjean, who worked in a Swiss private bank while racing his way up to Formula One, will not be over-awed by Raikkonen after previously being with Alonso in a team built around the Spaniard, now with Ferrari. "I'm starting to get used to racing alongside a world champion," he said. "I will have to try and match his pace. He has stopped for two years but is a great champion capable of doing good things." Grosjean will be one of at least two French drivers on the starting grid, with Charles Pic lining up for Russian-backed Marussia, the renamed Virgin Racing who have yet to score a point. "If we had a rivalry it was in the other categories before F1," said Grosjean. "We are both there now and even if the aim is to be the best on a sporting level, there's no rivalry." Boullier said the team's relationship with Robert Kubica, the Pole who would have been their number one this year but ruled himself out for the season with a near-fatal rally accident, was at 'point zero'. "I don't know if there will be a future between Lotus Renault and Robert," he said. "We have two race drivers, we'll see who is the third (reserve)." Belgian Jerome d'Ambrosio, who lost his seat at Virgin/Marussia after a rookie 2011 season, could be in the frame as one of the drivers in Genii's Gravity Sport Management stable run by Boullier. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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