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Richard
Worth
Photo: ©2010 Ron
Sellers/
americascupmedia.com
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Two of the most distinguished figures in world
sport will lead the regeneration of the America’s Cup.
Richard Worth will be Chairman of the America’s
Cup Event Authority (ACEA) Management Board. He has
specific responsibility for the commercial, media and television
aspects in one of sport’s most iconic events.
Craig Thompson has been appointed CEO of ACEA
and is charged with bringing his skills to the rejuvenation of
the oldest trophy in international sport. He will work closely
with Richard to re-position the America’s Cup to attract more
fans and commercial interest, while delivering the events in new
and exciting formats.
The 34th America’s Cup, staged in 2013, will
feature the best sailors in the world on the fastest boats.
Foremost amongst many innovations is a new wing-sailed 72ft
catamaran, a new World Series annual championship and the new
Youth America’s Cup.
Among their long list of achievements, Worth
and Thompson are recognized for their pivotal roles in the
phenomenal growth of the UEFA Champions League, one of the most
successful properties and most watched competitions in world
sport.
Each also has worked closely with the governing
bodies for the Olympics, soccer and athletics -- the IOC, FIFA,
UEFA and IAAF plus other leading sports federations and rights
holders.
Worth forged an enviable partnership with
Thompson at the highly regarded sports marketing agency, T.E.A.M.
During their leadership as Chief Executive and Managing Director
respectively, T.E.A.M. marketing developed an unrivalled model of
sales success, event delivery and partner servicing.
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Craig
Thompson
Photo: ©2010 Ron
Sellers/
americascupmedia.com
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Prior to that, Thompson was Vice-President at
another respected sports marketing agency, ISL, and Worth lead
sports producer at Britain’s ITV network.
Commenting on the key appointments Jérôme
Valcke, Secretary-General of FIFA, soccer’s world governing
authority, said: "Richard brings an intimate understanding of how
to balance the conflicting needs of different stakeholders to
generate overall growth and success for a major event, from his
history in the sports marketing industry at the top level."
Tom Liston, Managing Director T.E.A.M.
Marketing, commented: "Craig Thompson, with his 11 years of
experience as Managing Director of T.E.A.M. Marketing, has the
necessary leadership, vision and insight to develop, add value
and enhance the America's Cup as a brand and a commercial
property."
The appointments were made by BMW Oracle
Racing, winners of the 33rd America’s Cup.
CEO Russell Coutts explained: “We studied best
practice in the world’s top sporting events. Now we are
fortunate to have secured two of the best practitioners.”
On September 13, 2010, Coutts outlined the
ambition for the 34th America’s Cup: an event where uncertainty
has now been replaced with certainty thanks to a fair competition
managed by a neutral and independent body, and a stop-start
business cycle replaced by sustainability.
Australian businessman, Olympic competitor, and
four-time America’s Cup participant Iain Murray was appointed to
head the independent sporting and logistics administration,
America’s Cup Race Management (ACRM). Thompson and Worth
head-up the counterpart commercial organization, ACEA.
A key objective is offering the best-ever fan
experience with social media, on-line coverage and broadcast
television integrated into innovative and compelling content.
“The America’s Cup has a wonderful past, but it
is the potential of its future that is exciting,” said Thompson.
“The unique nature of the America’s Cup has allowed the current
holder to take bold but sensitive steps to equip this iconic
event for the future and impact all of sailing.”
Worth added: “The America’s Cup is one of the
most recognized events in the world.
The challenge is to develop the event to a
commensurate level.”
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Richard Worth Bio:
A former CEO of T.E.A.M. Marketing
and Sportfive, with a 35 year history in sports
broadcasting and sports marketing, which also includes
a 20-year association with ITV, the UK’s leading
commercial TV channel.
Worth (54, Switzerland) joined ITV in
1975, and worked in an editorial capacity on all of the
network’s top level sports programming, including FIFA
World Cups, the Olympic Games, IAAF World Athletics
Championships, Rugby World Cup and international
boxing, culminating in Executive Producer
responsibility for most of ITV’s sports output.
A thorough knowledge of how
successful commercial programming is made, through a
range of formats embracing studio-based shows, outside
broadcasts, live, recorded and documentary-style
programs has been harnessed to enhance the critical
relationships between sports organizers, promoters,
federations and viewers and fans.
Worth joined T.E.A.M. Marketing in
1995, playing a leading role in developing the now
widely admired commercial success story of the UEFA
Champions League.
His initial role in delivering
substantial television rights sales, and improving
television distribution worldwide ultimately grew to
becoming CEO with responsibility to oversee the
integration of television and sponsorship strategies
for the UEFA Champions League and other UEFA
competitions.
Worth gained an innate understanding
of the competing needs of commercial broadcasting
organizations worldwide, high-profile blue-chip
sponsors, UEFA, leading football clubs across Europe,
and the owners and shareholders of T.E.A.M. Marketing
and its publicly owned parent company Highlight
Communications.
The role demanded the development and
maintenance of high-quality relationships within UEFA,
and a full understanding of the political environment
that controls and governs a major international
football competition.
From October 2007 to June 2009, Worth
was Group CEO of Europe’s largest sports marketing
agency, the Groupe Lagardere-owned Sportfive, a
multinational with 450 employees worldwide.
During this time, Worth secured a
15-year marketing partnership with Italy’s Juventus
Football Club and a historic TV sales partnership with
the IOC for TV rights in Europe for the Olympic Games
of 2014 (winter) and 2016 (summer).
Immediately prior to joining ACEA,
Worth has been advising leading football associations
and media companies on securing major events and
developing successful sports marketing strategies. |
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Craig Thompson Bio:
Craig Thompson (61, California) has
one of the most distinguished records in sports
marketing.
Winning an athletic scholarship to
the University of California at Los Angeles, he studied
cultural anthropology and graduated cum laude in 1972.
His career started in volleyball,
owning the instructional firm Volleyball International,
Inc., which led to his appointment as director of the
volleyball competition at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic
Games.
Next, as director of the
International Volleyball Federation in Switzerland,
Thompson was responsible for launching the first World
Beach Volleyball championships in Rio de Janeiro in
1986.
He switched codes in 1986-87 as the
International Equestrian Federation’s Director of
Marketing, creating a new showcase event: the
quadrennial World Equestrian Games.
In 1988, the world’s premier
team-sport marketing agency, ISL Marketing in Lucerne,
Switzerland, recruited Thompson to assist in the
marketing and event management of worldwide sport
bodies such as the IOC, FIFA, UEFA and IAAF, with a
particular focus on IAAF Track & Field.
Together with other ISL executives,
Thompson opened a new agency, T.E.A.M. Marketing in
1992 and soon won the contract as exclusive worldwide
marketing partner for the UEFA Champions League.
Within months brand and marketing strategies were
developed, a worldwide television and sponsorship
network established, and an event management group
trained to organize the many matches.
The UEFA Champions League grew to 157
annual matches, with revenues of 1 billion Swiss Francs
(not including ticket revenue), and 4.8 billion
worldwide television viewers for 11,000 annual programs
by 2003.
Thompson left T.E.A.M. Marketing in
2003 and partnered with Tom Huston to start a new sport
marketing company called Mindspring. The client
list has included ERC Heineken Cup Rugby, the Spanish
Basketball League, FIFA Beach Soccer Worldwide, Turkish
Football Association, and the UEFA EURO 2008 Promo
Tour.
Mindspring also managed the United
Arab Emirates professional football league from offices
in Dubai and Switzerland.
In 2007, under Craig Thompson’s and
Tom Huston’s leadership, a new company was added to the
group: Ovation Sports AG, based in Switzerland.
The company conceived the Champions Hockey League
together with the International Ice Hockey Federation.
This 12-team league has become Europe’s premier
professional league. |
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