Chelsea seal huge shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama Rubber |
- Chelsea seal huge shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama Rubber
- Barnes & Noble to retain Nook division, to spin off education unit
- US dollar rises; Japan shares climb to biggest monthly gains since 2013
- Europa League champs Sevilla progress, Besiktas stun Liverpool
- Weather that freezes the east and heats the west — Mary Duenwald
- Lower viewer numbers, but Oscars still lucrative investment for advertisers
| Chelsea seal huge shirt sponsorship deal with Yokohama Rubber Posted: 26 Feb 2015 05:05 PM PST
The west London club, who agreed a 10-year kit deal with Adidas worth in the region of £300 million (RM1.666b) in June 2013, said the size of the deal with tyre manufacturer Yokohama Rubber was commercially sensitive. But it has been reported the five-year contract is worth £40 million per season, which in the Premier League is second only to Manchester United's shirt sponsorship deal with United States car manufacturer Chevrolet, worth a reported £47 million per season. Yokohama Rubber replaces Korean electronic giants Samsung, which has sponsored Chelsea since 2005 in a deal which was re-signed in 2013 and worth a reported £18 million. A Chelsea statement read: "Chelsea Football Club is delighted to unveil The Yokohama Rubber Company Ltd as our new official shirt partner in our largest-ever commercial deal. "This places Chelsea right at the top of European football, with one of the biggest shirt sponsorships ever signed. "This partnership with one of the world's leading tyre manufacturers is for an initial term of five years and begins at the start of the 2015/16 season. "It will see the Yokohama brand appearing on all of our shirts from our first team to our youth teams." Yokohama Rubber chairman Tadanobu Nagumo flew to London from Tokyo to appear in an official launch photoshoot with Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck, manager Jose Mourinho and captain John Terry. Chelsea hope the shirt deal will help the club, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in their bid to be self-sufficient. Chelsea plan "to be one of Europe's leading football clubs with a self-financing model which is fully compliant with the UEFA Financial Fair Play rules," the statement added. Former Liverpool chief executive Christian Purslow was influential in the deal after joining Chelsea as head of global commercial activities last October. Buck said: "We believe that Yokohama will play a key role in helping us drive our global expansion in international markets such as the US, where they have operated with distinction for many years. "Also, of course, Chelsea having such an esteemed and historic Japanese company as our partner enables us to accelerate our development in their home market too." Nagumo added: "This shirt partnership with Chelsea will give Yokohama an opportunity to showcase our company to a huge worldwide audience thanks to Chelsea's ever-growing popularity. "We look forward to launching our iconic new Chelsea Yokohama shirt this summer." Chelsea will likely make Japan a key future destination on pre-season tours, although the arrangements for their 2015 tour are understood to already be in place and do not include a trip there. — AFP  |
| Barnes & Noble to retain Nook division, to spin off education unit Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:58 PM PST
The company said it would instead spin off its education unit, which sells books on college and university campuses. The spinoff of the education unit is set to be completed by August, a statement said. "Separating Barnes & Noble Education will create an industry-leading, pure-play public company with more flexibility to pursue strategic opportunities in the growing educational services markets," chief executive Michael Huseby said. "At the same time, Barnes & Noble will be able to better capitalise on improving industry trends and merchandising initiatives within its core retail business. "Retail and the Nook digital business will be able to leverage a more integrated technology infrastructure for improved efficiency and to better serve digital customers." Nook was developed to help the struggling bookseller compete in digital content against the likes of Amazon and Apple, but has failed to gain traction in the marketplace. Microsoft last year ended its ties with the Nook division, which has also moved to make cobranded tablets with South Korean electronics giant Samsung. B&N said it posted a profit of US$12.3 million (RM44.3 million) on revenues of US$1.7 billion in the most recent quarter, with the Nook division seeing an operating loss of US$38 million. ― AFP |
| US dollar rises; Japan shares climb to biggest monthly gains since 2013 Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:55 PM PST
The greenback rose at least 0.2 per cent by 9.23am against the currencies of South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand, while the Bloomberg Dollar Index headed for an eighth straight monthly advance. Yields on Australian 10-year notes climbed five basis points, as US Treasuries held losses. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is up 4.3 per cent in February, with Japan's Topix index rising 0.3 per cent today to extend its jump in the month. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures lost 0.1 per cent. US oil held below US$50 (RM180) a barrel, while gold climbed a third day. While data yesterday showed oil's slump drove the broader US consumer price index lower in January, investors seized on a bigger-than-forecast increase in core inflation amid speculation over the timing for rate rises. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signalled this week inflation and wage growth remain too low to warrant tightening policy. Core price growth expanded less than expected in Japan, a report today showed, and US fourth-quarter economic growth may be revised down. "Headline is known information, but the core measure surprised to the upside," Daniel Brehon, a New York-based strategist at Deutsche Bank AG, said by phone. "Given that inflation surprises have been negative around the world, anything above consensus is a sign for optimism and a sign for higher rates in the US." — |
| Europa League champs Sevilla progress, Besiktas stun Liverpool Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:44 PM PST
The Turks went into the game looking to claw back a 1-0 first leg deficit but Arslan scored the only goal of the game at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium and then, following a goalless half hour of extra-time, struck the decisive penalty before Dejan Lovren blazed his effort for Liverpool over the bar. With a tough clash against Manchester City in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday, it was the nightmare scenario for Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers. Not only did they play an energy-sapping 120 minutes of football but also had the mentally draining penalty shoot-out and a morale-sagging defeat to contend with before making the long trip home from Istanbul. Besiktas had levelled on aggregate in the 72nd minute with a stunning strike from Arslan, assisted by a deft back heel from Senegalese striker Demba Ba, who had been the scourge of Liverpool last season when his goal, following a slip from Steven Gerrard, set Chelsea on the way to a 2-0 win at Anfield that wiped out the Reds' advantage over eventual champions Man City in the league. With penalties level on 4-4 after all the takers had held their nerve, Arslan deftly slotted in. Lovren stepped up for Liverpool but his effort went high, leaving Besiktas fans running onto the pitch in joy. Title-holders Sevilla are also through to the last 16 following a 3-2 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach yesterday. Machin Vitolo scored a brace as the Spanish La Liga side earned a 4-2 aggregate win after winning the first leg 1-0 in Andalusia. Borussia didn't go quietly, though, twice fighting back from a goal down — Martin Stranzl's own goal opened the scoring — through Granit Xhaka and Thorgan Hazard before Vitolo's second ensured there would be no dramatic turnaround for the Germans. Spurs gamble scuppered Mauricio Pochettino's gamble on resting several first-choice players, including star striker Harry Kane, backfired as the Tottenham Hotspur crashed out against Fiorentina. With one-eye on Sunday's League Cup final against Chelsea, Pochettino had made seven changes to the team that started against West Ham last Sunday. Veteran German forward Mario Gomez and Mohamed Salah scored the goals as La Viola won 2-0 on the night in Florence to progress 3-1 on aggregate. But it could have been so different had it not been for a glaring miss by Kane's replacement, Spaniard Roberto Soldado in the first half, before Fiorentina's second half goals. Soldado raced onto a lovely through ball from Erik Lamela with Nacer Chadli joining him in escaping a faltering offside trap. Two-on-one against goalkeeper Neto, Soldado badly underhit his pass to Chadli, allowing the Fiorentina stopper to snatch the ball and prevent a goal. Everton are the only English side remaining in the competition after completing a crushing victory over Young Boys. Having hit a hat-trick in the 4-1 win in Switzerland last week, Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku scored two more in a 3-1 victory at Goodison Park that secured a 7-2 aggregate success. Roma went through 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 win at Feyenoord in a match that was twice stopped by the referee — coming after the vandalism committed by Feyenoord fans in Rome last week, it was another blot on the game. The first time came just before the interval when a plastic banana was thrown onto the pitch in the direction of some Roma players. Then, after Mitchell te Vrede was dismissed soon before the hour mark, Feynoord fans hurled projectiles onto the pitch and the referee took the players off the field for 15 minutes. Goals from Adem Ljajic and Gervinho either side of Elvis Manu's equaliser saw the Italians through. Fredy Guarin struck a late winner for Inter Milan as Roberto Mancini's men qualified for the last 16 with a 4-3 aggregate victory over 10-man Celtic, for whom Virgil Van Dijk was dismissed. It was a good day for Italians as Napoli and Torino ousted Trabzonspor and Athletic Bilbao respectively. Zenit Saint-Petersburg completed a comfortable victory over PSV Eindhoven, as did Ajax against Legia Warsaw. Villarreal defeated Salzburg while Dinamo Moscow and Dynamo Kiev progressed at the expense of Anderlecht and Guingamp respectively. VfL Wolfsburg saw off Sporting Lisbon, Club Brugge knocked out AaB and Dnipro overcame Olympiakos. — AFP |
| Weather that freezes the east and heats the west — Mary Duenwald Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:44 PM PST FEBRUARY 27 — As the snow piles up toward record heights in Boston, San Francisco is going through an extraordinary dry spell—this was the first January in 165 years in which the city recorded no rain at all. As another snowstorm keeps schoolkids home in the Southeast, flowers are blossoming in the Pacific Northwest, where temperatures in February have been above 60 degrees. Yet this is not as contradictory as it sounds—just the opposite. This kind of winter doesn't happen every year (obviously), but the divergence reflects a weather syndrome long familiar to forecasters, borne of climate conditions originating over the Pacific Ocean. Scientists view this weather—especially what's happened in February—as the outgrowth of two so-called teleconnection patterns. One is the Pacific North American pattern, in which high pressure persists over Hawaii and the mountain West, while low pressure prevails over the Aleutian Islands and the Great Lakes. The jet stream spools around these pressure zones, rising northward over the West Coast (drawing warm air up) and dipping southward through the centre of the US (pulling arctic air down). Once in place, this pattern can last weeks. In the winter of 1976-77, a PNA kept going for four months, relentlessly holding the eastern half of the US in the freezer, and keeping the West warm and dry. This year, the PNA has been in place most of February. But it isn't the only weather phenomenon at work: A second pattern known as the East Pacific Oscillation has been in its negative phase, causing a north-south ridge of high pressure to build from Alaska down the West Coast. Working together, the two patterns have steered frigid air from Siberia eastward through the Arctic Circle and then south through central Canada and deep into the eastern US Hence, this year's "Siberian Express" has replaced last year's "polar vortex."
The good news for everyone everywhere is that the pattern is about to change. By next week, the extraordinary cold from Texas to the Carolinas will end, forecasters say. And cooler, stormier weather will arrive in the West. California may still not get a ton of rain, but there will be increased snowfall in the Rockies and the interior West, where it's also needed, says Dan Leonard, senior energy meteorologist for the private forecasting company WSI. The northern Plains, Midwest and East Coast will remain colder than normal, alas, but perhaps not as cold as February. Then in a few weeks, spring will arrive and winter will be gone—though not forgotten, at least by meteorologists. "There will be a lot of interesting talks about this winter as a whole," said Leonard, because it came in two parts. December was warm in the East, and usually when that happens the whole season is mild. This year, winter turned sharply colder in January, Leonard said, and "everything just opened up big time in February." That didn't fit any pattern. * To contact the author on this story: Mary Duenwald at mduenwald@bloomberg.net. ** This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Lower viewer numbers, but Oscars still lucrative investment for advertisers Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:42 PM PST
This year's telecast — which producers believed could build off 2014's big audience of 43.7 million — attracted its lowest audience in six years and the oldest demographic ever with a median age of 53. Despite a 15 per cent drop in viewership to 37.3 million, however, it is still worth the price tag for advertisers and broadcaster ABC, analysts said. "It's definitely a showcase place to be, and they (ABC) never have a problem selling it out year to year," said Steve Kalb, a director at ad agency Mullen. This year's telecast hosted by actor Neil Patrick Harris commanded US$1.9 million (RM6.84 million) for 30 seconds of advertising time, up from last year's US$1.76 million, the highest among awards shows. Last year's Ellen DeGeneres-hosted ceremony reaped US$95 million in ad revenue, according to Kantar Media. This year's figure is not yet available. ABC pays US$75 million annually to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for TV broadcast rights, said Brad Adgate, the research director at Horizon Media. The contract with Walt Disney Co's ABC and the Academy runs through 2020. However, the search for a way to attract the younger viewers that advertisers prize most leads many to believe the Academy might have to make long-term changes to the ceremony. Criticism this year focused on lack of diversity among acting nominees, clunky jokes and the perennial complaint that it is too long. The show clocked in at three hours and 40 minutes and went past midnight on the East Coast. It also hurt that it was a lacklustre year at the box office, and only one film that Americans went to see in droves, "American Sniper," was in the running for best picture. "It's up to the Academy to change it," Adgate said. "It's up to them to make this awards show more compelling." The Academy selects the show's producers and host, and its 6,100 members choose winners on merit. The biggest recent change was expanding the best picture nominees from five to up to 10 for the 2010 ceremony in an effort to boost interest. "As we do each year, the Academy will meet in the coming months to evaluate not only the telecast but also our awards season in its entirety," an Academy spokesperson said in a statement. ABC declined comment. Although the Academy might be taking a long view on how to keep the show relevant in a world where TV viewership is on the decline, advertisers are not likely to complain. They like the Oscars reach, prestige and loyal viewers, particularly among women, said Kalb. One-fifth of Oscar viewers this year said ads increased their likelihood to purchase a product, three times greater than the Super Bowl's audience, according Extreme Reach, a distributor of video advertising. "It's sort of the Super Bowl for women," Kalb added. — Reuters |
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