Business of Sport day two: Charlton Athletic CEO Katrien Meire accuses fans of "abuse and criminal offences" against her

Lord Coe opens the second day of the conference
Lord Coe opens the second day of the conference
  • Lord Coe says the IAAF will probably appoint new chief executive by the end of the month
  • Charlton Athletic's CEO points finger at fans after discussion of shoddy ownership
  • Former England cricketer Graeme Swann  says England cricket players are boring because of Root and Warner fight
  • Tough Mudder CEO Will Dean says the course is all about helping others
  • YouTube screenings are a one off, say BT sport

                                                                                                    

That's all for the Telegraph Business of Sport 2016

Until next year...

BT Sport to cut YouTube screenings

This month’s free YouTube screenings of the Champions League and Europa League finals are likely to be a one-off.

Delia Bushell, the managing director of BT TV and Sport, said: “We’re doing this just as a one-off for the final”, adding: “The business model on which we’ve done the deal was more pay-centric.”

BT had pledged to air the finals free in the wake of dismal viewing figures following their exclusive £897 million three-year deal for the rights to Champions League and Europa League football.

Bushell shied away from forecasting a slowdown in the skyrocketing rights contests, comparing broadcasting rights to housing prices.

She said of the threat posed by pirated streams of the matches: “I don’t think at the moment it’s of a magnitude to undermine the broadcast rights [...] but we’ve got to be careful we reflect the value of those rights.”

Sharing the platform, the BBC’s director of sport Barbara Slater said of the feeds: “Is that going mainstream? Is that how people are going to want to access sport? I don’t think it is.”

Delia Bushell, BT Sport; Peter Hutton, Eurosport, and Barbara Slater, BBC

Slater deferred commenting directly on today’s White Paper on the future of the BBC, but said: “There are some big ambitions the BBC has, and we hope that the White Paper paves the way for a strong, independent BBC.”

Defending free-to-air TV alongside Peter Hutton, the CEO of Eurosport, she said that people want to “belonging to a great event, to know that others are sharing that event - that water cooler moment, if you like.”

YouTube screenings are a one off, say BT sport

 

"People want the Olympics covered well"

The White Paper will "pave the way for a strong and independent BBC", the broadcaster's director of sport hopes.

Barbara Slater, who witnessed the first BBC online webpage, said she hoped the organisation had a strong and impartial future.

When challenged about BBC staffing levels at major events, she added: "people want the Olympics covered well."

Ms Slater also hopes that over 90 per cent of the UK population will access either the 2016 Euros or the Rio Olympics.

The panel, on broadcasting, also features Peter Hutton of Eurosport and Delia Bushell of BT TV and Sport.

Barbara Slater - Director of sport at the BBC

 

Tough Mudder's CEO was stuck in the mud

One of Tough Mudder’s main attractions is the chance to help people, said its CEO - after telling how a rival left him stuck in a wetsuit.

Will Dean said that when he founded the gruelling mass-participation obstacle course company in 2010, he “wanted to create a mass-participation event that had that sense of team.”

“People who are in good shape will take an hour helping other participants over the obstacles,” he said, adding that this chance to help was one of the chief attractions of the courses.

He admitted, though, that not all participants shared this altruistic spirit, telling how he had asked another entrant for help with a stuck wetsuit zip after a dip in icy water - only to be rebuffed.

“The participant is the hero,” he said, adding that live streaming allows the company “to put the participant at the heart of the story."

Dean explained how the course includes electric shocks, before claiming: “You’re seven times more likely to be injured driving your car to the event than actually participating in it.”

Later, the CEO, dressed in a Tough Mudder gilet, said the company had turned down a lot of money because it didn't match their ethos.

He said: "We've turned down deals in the past because... we didn't think it was right for our brand."

He sat with Travis Snyder, of the Color Run, and James Young, head of sponsorship at Lucozade Ribena Suntory, on a panel discussing the changing face of mass participation in sports.

England cricket players are boring because of Root and Warner fight 

England cricket players give bland interviews because Andy Flower took fright at David Warner’s attack on outspoken batsman Joe Root, said Graeme Swann.

Swann, the former England cricketer and Ashes winner, said  ex coach Flower, who stepped down in 2014 after five years, “got very frightened of his young stars being in the media spotlight.”

Root had been hit in a nightclub in 2013 by Australia player and Ashes rival David Warner - though the pair have since made up - and Swann said this resulted in Flower cracking down on self-expression in interviews.

Swann said: “All coaches and team captains are very paranoid about the wrong message being put out there.”

The former Nottinghamshire spinner said: “When you retire, it’s an incredible thing, because you think, ‘I can do whatever I want’ - and then you realise you’ve got nothing to say anymore!”

He conceded, however, that players can be “like children in many ways”, and might require some management.

He added : "Sportsmen aren't the most intellectually superior... sometimes they do need to be treated like kids."

This was borne out by Samsung’s Ben Blanco comments - who worked on the Rugby World Cup-themed advert in which Jack Whitehall flails in training with burly internationals -  that they worked with previous players like Martin Johnson because they were “freer” than current players.

Sporting talent panel: Ben Blanco, Samsung; Caroline McAteer, The Sports PR Company; Graeme Swann, former England cricketer; Richard Thompson, M&C Saatchi Merlin and TwoFour Group, and Claire Balding, presenter

Blanco and Swann shared a stage with Caroline McAteer, CEO of The Sports PR Company, who recalled working with Matt Stevens when the rugby player tested positive for cocaine.

She said: “He was physically distraught. He was very upset.”

McAteer had pushed for Stevens to explain what had happened on Sky Sports, before the RFU quashed the idea: “We felt that [interview] was the honest and straightforward way of doing it.”

Stevens spoke instead to print journalists through the RFU, and resumed his top-level career after a two-year suspension.

RFU tried to block Matt Stevens from interviews after cocaine test

 

Clare Balding is leading the panel on sporting talent

 

Katrien Meire's statement to the audience of the conference

Ben Rumsby reports on the Charlton CEO's outburst.

Ms Meire said:

"For the last couple of months, I've had extreme abuse, I've had criminal offences committed against myself, and I'm disappointed about governance in sport, that none of the governing bodies contacted me and stood up for the fact that things are not allowed, that's one step too far.

"I also ask the governing bodies in this country, that sometimes some of the fans have crossed the line, very far, and this is just acceptable. It's been reported by the media as it's normal and it's actually not, and the governing bodies have a responsibility to make people aware that that is not what sport is about."

Katrien Meire, Charlton Athletic CEO, at match on May 7 against Burnley Credit: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

 

The future of fantasy sport

DraftKings chief international officer Jeffrey Haas hopes his company will be the future of fantasy football - and his company has had a little help from Jimmy Bullard.

Speaking on the future of fantasy sport alongside Rufus Hack, of PGA European Tour, Haas spoke of the engagement potential offered by fantasy sport.

He said: “People want to follow not just the clubs they support, but the players in their rosters.”

Hack said that "fans are looking for second-screen experiences,” and forecast that armchair fans would increase their use of fantasy sports games, in which participants pick a team which is rewarded with points for how well its players do in real life.

Haas said DraftKings' partnership with former footballer Bullard, a cult hero at Wigan and Hull City had helped them reach many more fans.

“He’s an amazing personality and we’ve used him in a number of social campaigns.”

On integrity in golf, Hack said: "40% of golf fans bet on the sport so player integrity is very important to us."

The future of fantasy sport: Jeffrey Haas, of DraftKings with Rufus Hack,  head of media, digital and strategy for PGA European Tour.

 

Charlton CEO says she has been abused

Katrien Meire speaks out in audience, saying criminal offences have been committed against her:

 

Tottenham Hotspur promises to put fans first

Spurs' new stadium will put fans first, said the club's head of technology.

Speaking alongside Christopher Lee, managing director at Populous, the firm in charge of the redevelopment, Sanjeev Katwa said: "The key thing is atmosphere. We don't want technology to change that." 

He said the new 60,000 arena "would have everything we need to enhance fan experience and give us the technological leapfrog we require."

Lee admitted to helping rivals Arsenal with their own stadium redevelopment, saying the North London clubs "have tried to do a very similar thing", but Spurs' will be "a bespoke stadium for NFL."

He walked the audience through ambitious plans for the new stadium, including a retractable pitch that will expose an NFL-ready surface, whose lowered height would suit stadium sightlines.

Christopher Lee said:"The new stadium for Tottenham is really about community, on many levels.

"This 17,500-capacity stand will really drive atmosphere in the stadium generating that community."

Case study: Populous and Tottenham Hotspur FC

Architect Christopher Lee, of Populus, and Sanjeev Katwa, on Tottenham Hotspur's tech team, are talking about the clubs new stadium.

class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">

"The new stadium for Tottenham is really about community, on many levels" - Christopher Lee #TelegraphBOS pic.twitter.com/4jIxlPILZI

— Populous in London (@PopulousLondon) May 12, 2016

 

Lord Coe speaks about the future of athletics

In the Business of Sport opening speech, the president of the IAAF announced they will appoint a chief executive "probably by the end of this month."

Lord Coe spoke about difficulties in the IAAF,  and said:

"When you're up to your arse in alligators, it's often forgotten that the initial objective was to drain the swamp.

"For far too long in sport, without any process and any procedure, far too many people have worn far too many hats."

Lord Coe  also argued that, despite recent scandals, "our sport is not broken".

Calling for federations to consider not picking former drugs cheats, he said:

"We are only as strong as our weakest and least secure member federation.

“We do need the member federations to recognise that it is entirely at their discretion if they choose to select an athlete that has been previously banned.

“Maybe the moral maze leads to an extension of the period beyond the ineligibility of an athlete to compete.”

 

Lord Coe, President of the IAAF, at the Telegraph Business of Sport event

 

 

Charlton Athletic CEO pops up 

Having heard the Addicks mentioned along with the likes of Leeds and Portsmouth as poorly-run clubs, Katrien Meire - the club's CEO - pitched in from the audience.

She's very upset with fans' aggression towards the club's ownership - Charlton were just relegated, to the fury of already-disaffected fans - and told the panel that  "sometimes the fans cross the line."

Governance in sport panel: Jane Purdon of UK Sport, Damian Collins MP, Ed Warner of UK Athletics

Minutes earlier, the onstage trio - Ed Warner, chair of UK Athletics, Damian Collins MP, of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, and Jane Purdon, formerly of the Premier League and now Head of Governance at UK Sport - had discussed shoddy ownership with our very own Jim White, moderating.

Collins had called for football administrators to have more power to challenge club takeovers, but Meire wanted more protection for owners.

Purdon sympathised, but added: "We have to accept that all that passion drives football."

Charlton fans - what do you make of this?

 

And that's that from Lord Coe

We'll have a more detailed look at his speech later, but the agenda has moved on to a panel on the governance of sport.

Ed Warner, the chairman of UK Athletics, lines up with June Purdon, head of governance at UK Sport, and Damian Collins MP, who's a member of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee.

 

'Our sport is not broken'

 Lord Coe presents optimistic view of the state of athletics, but makes no secret of his contempt for cheats. He says: “I really care very little for the rights of those athletes who have violated the sport. I care for the clean athletes.”

Lord Coe takes stage

Here's the IAAF president, and he reveals the federation he heads is likely to  appoint a chief executive by the end of the month.

He's now moved into discussion of doping in athletics, saying: “We are only as strong as our weakest and least secure member federation.”

 

Good morning

Greetings from the BT Centre, where the Telegraph Business of Sport conference has entered its second day. 

Today's conference follows a busy first day in which John Whittingdale, opening the conference, threatened to strip the FA of its £30m government funding if it does not follow through on its reform programme.

Lord Stevens, a former Metropolitan Police commissioner, warned "there is a crisis of confidence in sport" and said that taking performance-enhancing drugs should be criminalised.

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish suggested some Premier League games could make up to £500 million in TV rights, and Rio Ferdinand recalled West Ham players drinking Guinness to aid recovery.

Here's hoping today's speakers pick up where yesterday's left off.

Steve Parish, David Gold and Rio Ferdinand at yesterday's conference

 

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