Perform Serves Up Winning Formula For Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open is to break new digital ground thanks to a partnership with Perform, the new name for the UK-based global digital sport and entertainment specialists Premium TV/Inform Group.
For the first time, tennis fans throughout the world will be able to watch live online action from the opening Grand Slam of the year from six show courts, including the Rod Laver Arena and the Vodafone Arena, on Australian Open TV (AOTV) http://www.australianopentv.com/ a dedicated broadband channel on the official tournament website (http://www.australianopen.com/).
The announcement of the Australian Open agreement comes on the day that Premium TV/Inform Group officially unveils the company’s new name following a successful five month’s trading as the merged Premium TV/Inform Group. In September 2007, Premium TV and Inform Group merged to create a global market-leading digital media company with branded and white label channels, production, distribution, rights management and sales functions. The merged company is led by joint CEOs Oliver Slipper and Simon Denyer and has offices in the UK, Singapore, Australia and Italy.
This is the first time Tennis Australia, the organisers of the tournament, have sought to commercialise the tournament’s digital rights worldwide and have turned to Perform to deliver over 240 live online matches throughout the course of the two week tournament. Organisers are hoping to attract 10,000 subscribers, with fans able to purchase packages for the whole tournament or on a daily basis.
Andrew Croker, Executive Chairman of Perform, said: “Perform specialises in monetising sport and entertainment rights in digital media. We are experts in providing commercial and distribution solutions to digital rights holders. For the Australian Open, we have helped Tennis Australia find new revenue streams outside the traditional rights fees paid while also opening the tournament up to a wider digital global audience than ever before.”
Commenting on the new company name, Croker added: “The reason we chose the name Perform, apart from being a logical amalgam of the two names, is that it reflects our core propositions. Firstly, that based on our years of experience, our websites and digital solutions are reliable and creative, and that secondly we have a proven track record of delivering incremental revenue to our clients.”
Steve Wood, CEO, Tennis Australia, said: “Perform has a proven track record in tennis through its long-standing relationship with the ATP Masters Series. The Australian Open is a truly global sporting event which attracts the best players from all around the world. We want to be able to give fans wherever they may live the chance to watch the action and Perform knows better than anyone how to build broadband channels and how to deliver TV quality pictures. Perform has provided us with a total digital solution which opens up our event to a new audience.”
Perform’s agreement with Tennis Australia also covers marketing the tournament to the wider digital community. Perform has entered an agreement with YouTube to distribute footage and has content sharing agreements with 20 other affiliate sites around the world. Perform is expecting these partnerships will add an extra 1.5m users to the official tournament website.
About Perform
Perform is a world leader in monetising sports and entertainment rights in digital media and has been a consistent and renowned innovator since 2000, and a major driving force in the commercialisation of sport and entertainment rights online, on mobile and on TV.
Perform provides a range of user friendly, end-to-end products and services for businesses involved in sport and entertainment rights:
Services: We provide the platform and tools that enable rights holders to place, manage and monetise their content online and on mobile.
Channels: We own and distribute branded and white label sport and entertainment channels for broadcast online and on mobile.
Sales: We sell advertising, sponsorship and content partnerships around sport and entertainment on a wide network of UK and international web and mobile sites.
Perform operates over 200 websites including those for over 80 UK Football Clubs, Cricket Australia, Warner Music, ITV, Turner Broadcasting and works with various rights holders, including The Premier League, Virgin Media and the ATP Masters Series.
About The Australian Open
The Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament is the jewel in Australia’s world-renowned sporting crown. Also known as The Grand Slam of Asia Pacific, this vibrant and unique spectacle is in its 102nd year, and has established a global reputation within the game’s internal and external fraternities, and is comfortably the biggest sporting event in the world in January.
The Australian Open, 2008
Anticipated as being one of the most exciting Open’s in recent years and with attendances between 14th and 27th January expected to be well in excess of 550,000, the total prize pool has soared, with 500 of the world’s top players competing for A$20.6m ($18.9m US).
http://www.australianopen.com/
http://www.australianopentv.com/
For information, contact James Scholefield, Pitch PR
Tel: +44 7736 677977/+44 20 7494 1616
Email: james@pitchpr.co.uk