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 14-Oct-09:
PSA TV deal promises
live coverage of Squash
The PSA and Total Sports Asia (TSA), a leading
international sports marketing agency, have joined forces to
produce and distribute the television production of
Professional Men’s Squash Tour worldwide starting with the
2010 edition. The move, alongside PSA's move to work with a
new streaming partner, is part of the organisation’s drive
to increase access to squash and open the game up to new
audiences.
Sunset & Vine (S+V) is also part of the partnership
and will lend its production and distribution expertise to
the venture.
The new partnership will see TSA and S&V produce, for the
first time, live television coverage of all major Tour
events from the semi-final stage onwards. In addition, new
production elements including innovative camera angles,
improved graphics, speed gun tracking and virtual signage
technology will be explored.
Marcus Luer, Group CEO of TSA, said: “We are
extremely excited about the opportunity to work with the PSA
on production, distribution and sponsorship opportunities. I
personally believe the sport has tremendous potential and
the partnership is structured in such a way that it allows
us to bring our full set of skills and services to the party
and over time take the product to completely new levels.”
He added: “Our first goal will be to widen squash’s appeal
by strengthening distribution and quality of production.
Creating live images of all the major events will be a big
step in the right direction. Once that is done, I believe
broadcasters, sponsors and promoters will take a new look at
the sport.
“With the flexibility of taking glass courts to very unusual
places, this is perfect to create unique TV images. Events
are already being held next to the Pyramids, in Central
Station New York, Palacio Real de Madrid, etc. Which other
sport can do this? Not many,” Luer suggests.
PSA CEO Alex Gough commented on the new partnership:
“We are delighted to team up with TSA and S&V to take
Professional Squash to new levels. The arrangement provides
the PSA with a solid backing, strong partners and will be a
new beginning for the sport. We are developing a series of
changes that will radically improve the way people can view
squash. Having innovative, global live coverage will
undoubtedly take the sport forward and open up new
opportunities for the players and promoters.
“With events already spanning four continents and unique
locations on the schedule, we believe that we will be able
to provide a unique TV product to broadcasters from around
the world. This is only the beginning of a long-term plan to
take squash to completely new heights."
Jeff Foulser, Chairman S+V, also stated: “We look
forward to supporting TSA and PSA in their quest to bring
new production standards and ideas to the sport. It’s a
challenging opportunity and we are confident that our unique
abilities will bring the desired results.”
The new partnership will see TSA & S+V take over production
and distribution of the top 13 Professional Men’s events.
The 2010 Tour kicks off on Jan 18th 2010 with The
Tournament of Champions at the Grand Central Station in
New York. It also intended that several of the events will
also be co-sanctioned by WISPA and will see coverage of the
women's semi-finals and final as well.
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London based production company
Sunset+Vine was established in 1983 and is the
leading independent supplier of sports programming to
broadcasters in the UK. It is also a world leader in
International Advertiser Funded programming, producing over
2000 hours annually.
Sunset+Vine’s main UK production contracts include Five’s
Cricket coverage, the BBC’s Horseracing, Five’s through the
night sport, live International Football and the Tour de
France for ITV.
Internationally the company produces and distributes the
world’s most watched weekly sports show “Gillette World
Sport” (shown in 180 countries), The Volvo Ocean Race and
The Dubai World Cup. |
TSA represents leading sports federations and rights
holders from around the world including the US Open Tennis
Championship, Badminton World Federation, Manchester United,
Real Madrid and many more.
TSA’s wholly owned subsidiary, MAX Entertainment, also
manages a variety of music concerts and family entertainment
shows, including Dino’s Alive and the Da Vinci exhibition.
TSA is recognized as Asia’s specialist in personalized
sports & entertainment solutions. |
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