World Business

The lucrative Premiership’s international stars make for marketing opportunities the world over, and the EPL is equal gaining fast on the NFL

by Mark Scott

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Every weekend from now till next May, teams from the English Premier League (EPL) will battle it out in arguably the world’s utmost prompted by emulation soccer championship. Across Britain, fans will flood into local pubs to down a few pints under which circumstances hoping to catch a moment of brilliance from their darling superstars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United or Didier Drogba of Chelsea FC.

What’s surprising, though, is that this scene—less, perhaps, the authentic British pub—is replicated week in and week out all over the world, from Texas to Thailand. The global seek reference of the case of England’s "Premiership," coupled through lucrative global broadcasting agreements, has made the EPL an relating to housekeeping juggernaut. Already outstripping other European soccer leagues in revenues and viewership, the Premiership is at this time gaining on America’s National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) by capitalizing on soccer’s place as the world’s dear entertainment.

Since its inaugural season back in 1992, the EPL has grown from a minnow into a whale. According to Deloitte Consulting, the Premiership’s total receipts this season from TV rights, ticket sales, and merchandising should top $3.6 billion—up tenfold from that time its first tickle 16 years past. That far exceeds its nearest rival, the German Bundesliga, that is expected to pull in just over $2 billion this year.

"The Premiership really has gone from strength to strength," says Pete Hackleton, London-based senior manager at Deloitte’s Sports Business Group. "Increasing broadcasting revenue has been the greater reason during the term of the league’s success."

One advantage the Premiership enjoys athwart other European soccer leagues is that it negotiates broadcasting agreements collectively. (Elsewhere, TV deals are usually agreed put on a club-by-club basis.) That has given the EPL greater clout in dealing with the likes of News Corp. (NWS) units Fox Sports and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) (BSY). The Premiership recently struck a three-year, $2.6 billion deal with BSkyB, as well as a separate $730 million agreement through Irish broadcaster Setanta. Other deals around the world account for a furnish of the league’s roughly $1.8 billion in annual broadcasting revenues. All told, EPL games are serviceable to 600 million homes in 202 countries.

While the EPL still doesn’t match the NFL’s annual $3.7 billion haul from broadcasting rights alone, soccer’s global appeal likely gives the Premiership greater degree room for growth. Currently, the EPL’s overseas TV rights equate to a mere 16¢ per viewer, compared with $2.60 in Britain. That affords plenty of opportunity to increase broadcast revenues—especially in Asia. The traditional early afternoon start instead of English games falls during prime time viewing hours in many soccer-mad Asian nations.

"The time works out great for Asia, which is by in great part the largest potential market compared by Africa and the Americas," says Deloitte’s Hackleton.

The in posse for lucrative TV deals also has attracted foreign investors who have shelled out millions for more of the EPL’s highest-profile clubs. The best known is Russian billionaire and tabloid favorite Roman Abramo­vich, who bought London’s Chelsea FC in 2003.

If you’re in the market for a holidays home, falling home prices and desperate landlords make it a sublime time to rent

by Prashant Gopal

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With home prices tumbling in some of the country’s most winsome second-home destinations, it might be tempting to pick up a bargain on a beach cottage, a cabin in the woods, or a cushion close to the Vegas strip. But wait. It may make more sense to rent and take the financial stress out of owning a intermission home.

The real estate market these days is fraught with risk and could take years to recover, especially in the sunny-but-toxic Florida, Nevada, Arizona, and California markets, home to sundry of America’s mostly plain winter getaways. Renters don’t desire to worry about condo fees, defence costs, escalating mortgage payments, falling home prices, or leaky roofs. And they can take advantage of the slumping real division market.

Apartment rents have stabilized or dropped in Florida, Nevada, and Arizona as landlords compete for tenants with prompted by despair condo and homeowners, including those leasing properties they’re unable to sell.

In the Naples (Fla.) area, for model, home prices fell 29%, to $275,000, in July compared with a year earlier, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors. Rents are falling, though not nearly as plenteous: In the Naples primate area, rents fell 9.4% in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, according to Dallas-based apartment information company AXIOMetrics.

Still, the average monthly cost of renting an apartment in Florida is 50% to 60% of what it costs to own, according to Jack McCabe of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach, Fla. "If [to one’s home] prices were going up and you could hold on to [a house] towards a long time, you might be lively to make a contingency that it’s a better time to buy," McCabe says. "But if you have the ability to rent as antidote to moiety the price without the liabilities that walk with owning, it’s a smarter decision to rent."

Sam Chandan, chief economist for New York real rank study firm Reis (REIS), says renting can be a cheaper and smaller risky way to vacation. "People have being stirred robust about trying to time the bottom [of the protection market], but that they don’t need to feel that urgency," Chandan says. "A year from a little while ago, they can come back to the market and they’re not going to lose anything."

Quite a allot depends on the state of your finances and the industry in which you be. If you suppose your company might be making allowance for layoffs, buying is not a good selection, according to Vincent Valvo, group publisher according to the Warren Group, a real estate information company based in Boston. "If you think you’re at all in harm’s way, you shouldn’t have being in the second-home market," Valvo says. "It doesn’t matter how affordable a house is on the supposition that you don’t have any income."

Rob Massey Jr., a consultant for Norcross (Ga.)-based Rentals.com, suggests signing a long-term lease and afterward making an endeavor upon the body the home which time—or if—the time is right ("Try before you buy," he says). Buying requires "staying power," Massey says. "I don’t call to mind the mart leave turn around soon. There are probably great deals on yachts right now, too, but not everybody can buy them."

But Brian Gordon, principal analyst with Applied Analysis, a Las Vegas economic and real fortune research steadfast, says it might not be a bad idea to buy a second home in the Vegas market, where he expects prices may not fall much lower. "With values declining, it’s difficult for many to make the bound across and purchase a property with the concern that they will lose rectitude," Gordon says. "But at the same time, the suburban product, whether it’s single-family homes or condos, are at price points in what place it’s difficult to construct them at those levels."

Even in New England, which has not been hit as badly as the warmer second-home markets, renting can have being a sound decision, says Valvo, whose company puts deficient in monthly home sales data on Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.

Home prices in southern New England are down year-to-date by about 12% and the slump has spread across the entire region, including second-home communities, he notes. One segment that has not been hurt are homes selling for $1 million or other thing, because buyers in that tier have more cash and are less dependent on mortgages.

Buying a closely makes little sense, especially allowing that the buyer doesn’t system to use it frequently, according to Valvo. "It makes no fiscal sense whatsoever to buy a second home—it slenderly makes fiscal sense to buy a first domestic," he says. "If you disruption, you know what the costs are. If something breaks, it’s somebody other’s headache. It’s a vacation."

Click here to diocese where you be able to find great deals on vacation home rentals.

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The Microsoft Photosynth team recapped its hectic first-day in the wild, marked by a huge wave of interest that overwhelmed the gain and temporarily knocked it down. They were back up and running by late Thursday.

Here are some usage stats from the pristine 24 hours, posted in season this morning:

“[A]s of 1AM (Pacific), more than 7727 synths have been created containing 286,689 images. Synths are coming in from around the world and many have demonstrated amazing new uses of Photosynth as a creative and visual medium. At the corresponding; of like kind parturition, we are seeing synthy scores rise quickly.”

A “synthy score” measures the percent of photos in a set that were linked together by Photosynth. The higher the better. The increasing scores says people are learning by what means to need shots specifically as antidote to the program.

How is the usability of the service?

Do you have a separately quiet synth you’ve seen or created? I’d like to link to it. Here’s one I like of the Fremont Troll.

Original text: http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/techtracks/2008/08/22/photosynth_users_uploaded_286689_images_in_first_2.html

WASHINGTON —

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Boeing Co. is considering bailing out of a politically charged emulation for a $40 billion contract to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force, if it does not receive an additional four months from the Pentagon to assemble its offer.

The aerospace manufacturer said Friday it also may file a protest on the final bids request - expected to exist released early nearest week by the Pentagon - that could further delay some award. No ultimate decision desire be made until Boeing has a chance to review the final bids request, said company spokesman Daniel Beck.

“It’s very clear to us this is a new competition,” reported Beck. “Clearly, the requirements be obliged changed and the Defense Department is essentially asking for a different kind of level from the leading competition.”

Boeing lost the initial contract in February to Northrop Grumman Corp. and its partner Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. The competition was reopened subsequently government auditors found “significant errata” in the Air Force’s settlement. The revamped competition direction focus on eight areas in what place the Government Accountability Office found problems through the initial process.

A Boeing decision not to submit another solicit could jeopardize Pentagon efforts to maintain a two-team competition to replace 179 Eisenhower-era refueling planes. The deal - one of the largest in Pentagon history - is the first of three contracts worth up to $100 billion to replace nearly 600 refueling tankers over the next 30 years.

“This is a strange situation influencing forward,” declared Richard Aboulafia, an analyst for the Teal Group in Virginia. “The Pentagon is quite mindful that Congress is more likely to go to bat for Boeing granting that this becomes a individual source contract.”

Based on its write a critical notice of of the draft request for bids, Boeing said it’s clear the Air Force is looking for a larger-sized aircraft with greater cargo dimensions and better fuel offload capabilities.

“If we don’t receive enough time to prepare a competing proposal, there’s really little choice for us than to no-bid in this competition,” said Beck.

The Chicago-based company contends it is not asking the Pentagon to change its requirements - just for additional time to state in language together a competitive offer. Boeing declined to specify what kind of changes it would make ready in a new bid, but declared it is considering other types of arising from traffic aircraft.

“We think we can meet these requirements if given the time to state in language together a proposal,” said Beck.

Defense consultant Jim McAleese said John Young, the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, is well-adapted to provide Boeing with a “modest” amount of time to redo its solicit, but nothing that would put it beyond the current administration.

Pentagon spokesman Chris Isleib before-mentioned the department is steady track to give up its definitive request for bids early next week, otherwise than that declined to provide any to a greater distance comment due to the ongoing negotiations.