Wrangle over TV rights for Cup event

Press, 24 August 1988, Page 72

Wrangle over TV rights for Cup event

NZPA-AP San Diego The New Zealand America’s Cup syndicate is at loggerheads over television rights to next month’s three-race series with the defence manager, Sail America.

“It is extremely irregular,” said the challenge lawyer, Andrew Johns, “to have the rules for the conduct of an event dependent on the terms of promotion of the event “It’s a bizzare type of extortion for Sail America to say ‘Your television pictures depend on you agreeing to different rules.’

“They are trying to extort race conditions from us that are totally disadvantageous to the challenge.” A television rights expert, Mike Watt, negotiating on behalf of the Kiwi syndicate, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it in any sport When you have two teams on the field, the teams share ownership of the event, since there is no event at all with only one of them.

“We’ve asked to-be included, at a modest level, in the television rights

package that Sail America has sold for $1.7 million. "They’ve said first that we have no claim, second that they can’t spare the cash because of the cost of the event. But their costs should be the same as ours, the cost of putting a boat in the water and racing it. There is not much more to it.”

A challenge spokesman, Peter Debreceny, said: “We’re working as hard as we can to ensure that New Zealand gets the best possible television coverage of this event.

“There have been two rounds of discussions and we are available and anxious to resolve our differences in this area. “But Sail America is refusing to consider us sharing in the rights package, even at a modest level, unless we agree to change the courses for the event to six-leg triangular affairs which would fur-

ther disadvantage the New Zealand Big Boat. "If you go just by the uncontested figures reported for sponsorships going to Sail America and income from various media deals and merchandise packages, Sail America have well over $lO million in the media services centre which is not only paid for by a sponsor, but is based on additional cash payments. So where is all the money going?” Mr Debreceny said that he felt the terms of the races, now scheduled for September 7, 9 and 11, did not belong in the same conversation with negotiation on promotional rights. “The television questions are very complicated as are the racing questions and they are completely separate. It’s impossible to mix them up.”