View from the Compound

An occasional column from inside the world of sports broadcasting…

• Impressed by the grass on the roof at the Broadcast Centre at Wimbledon, as well as the view over some of the nearby courts. Allegedly one major broadcaster almost went off air one year due to all its staff legging it up there to watch Anna Kournikova knock up.
• Busy arranging trips for forthcoming sporting events, including the Women’s World Cup match between Equatorial Guinea and Brasil in Frankfurt next week. Looking forward to it and also kudos to all the broadcasters that are taking women’s sport seriously nowadays.
• Also busy times in France with many OB contract negotiations up for grabs over the forthcoming weeks. Not a good time to try and get anyone on the phone in Paris…
• New sports lexicon: Wimbledone: the sinking feeling you get when you realise the bus has dropped you off exactly on the wrong side of the All England Club from where your pass is situated…
• Wimbledon’s Broadcast Centre does kind of take the fun out of truck spotting, as most people are working out of flyways nowadays. Only counted ten all told, though an old Type 7 probably counts for bonus points.
• IBC press releases are starting to flutter in. Will be sorting the wheat from the chaff and posting the best ones starting soon.
• Looking forward to the SVG Europe Advisors’ meeting this week. SKY, BBC, UEFA, FOM, HBS, ITV, ESPN, IMG…lots of people turning up to discuss some of our more interesting future plans.
• Talking of which, awed by ESPN’s mighty video wall in their suite in the BC – the sort of set-up that normally only Bond villains enjoy. Will be back there on Friday so will look out for a button marked ‘Initiate World Domination’.