The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Stoner targets Phillip Island return Posted: 27 Aug 2012 01:35 AM PDT  Honda MotoGP rider Casey Stoner of Australia rides during MotoGP practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis in this file photo of August 17, 2012. Stoner, who is to have surgery to repair damaged ankle ligaments, hopes to be fit enough for a tilt at a record sixth successive win at Phillip Island in October. – Reuters pic The Australian told local media today he wanted to race at his home grand prix on Oct. 28 before retiring in November. Stoner, who expects to be sidelined for up to seven weeks following surgery, said: "Being at Phillip Island is definitely my goal at the moment." The Honda rider, third behind Spaniards Jorge Lorenzo (Yamama) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) in the title standings, ruled out racing next year to try to end his career on a high. "I'm not in this championship to wait and finish it perfectly in a big fairytale," he said. "I'm not racing next year. "I could have a similar issue and something else could go wrong. I still have a season to complete, I want to get back to racing as soon as possible." Stoner added that he would like to squeeze in one race before Phillip Island – the Malaysian Grand Prix on Oct. 21. "As long as I can't cause any more damage, then I'll have a go," the 26-year-old told Australia's AAP news agency. "I don't really care about pain but if there is any chance of doing huge damage then there is no point. "I'm definitely planning to be fit and ready for the Island," added Stoner, who won the first of his two MotoGP world titles with Ducati in 2007. "It is the one race I don't want to miss. Until I have the surgery I can't say exactly when I can return." Stoner was ruled out of Sunday's Czech Grand Prix, won by Pedrosa, after a high speed fall in practice at Indianapolis the previous week. – Reuters |
| Fox, Dodgers in talks on multi-billion dollar TV deal, says source Posted: 27 Aug 2012 12:46 AM PDT LOS ANGELES, Aug 27 — Fox Sports and the Los Angeles Dodgers began preliminary talks in May on a multi-billion dollar cable TV deal, a person familiar with the talks said, the latest in a string of rich cable TV contracts for teams in the largest US TV markets. The talks would give the Dodgers the financial firepower for big player deals and began weeks before the major league baseball team went on a spending spree that included a high-profile Aug. 25 trade with the Boston Red Sox in which the Dodgers assumed four player contracts valued at more than US$260 million (RMRM780 billion) through 2018. The Dodgers and Fox, a unit of News Corp, cannot formally begin talks until Oct. 15, under terms of their existing TV contract, but the renewal being discussed includes joint ownership of English and Spanish language channels. Fox would not comment. Representatives of the Dodgers and Time Warner could not be reached. No financial terms were discussed, the source said, but both sides have acknowledged that any agreement would almost certainly exceed the 20-year, US$3 billion agreement that former owner Frank McCourt struck with Fox in 2011. That deal was rejected by Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig in June 2011, and included a provision by which the Dodgers would own 30 per cent of the channel. A new Dodger TV deal would take the place of the team's existing agreement with Fox, which expires at the end of the 2013 season. That agreement could cost Fox, or a competing bid, US$4 billion or more, said Marc Ganis, a Chicago sports consultant and president of SportsCorp Ltd who advised on the 2002 creation of the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network. Long-term commitment After preliminary talks with Fox began, the Dodgers acquired Miami Marlins star infielder Hanley Ramirez, whose contract calls for US$31.5 million through 2014. On Aug. 25, the Dodgers acquired Boston stars Arian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, both of whom make US$20 million a year, and pitcher Josh Beckett, who has a US$17 million a year contract, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. The Dodgers were acquired in a deal announced on March 17 for US$2.15 billion by a group headed by private investment firm Guggenheim Partners and including former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Hollywood producer Peter Guber and Stan Kasten, a long-time baseball and basketball executive. "Stan Kasten is one of the smartest guys in sports," said Ganis, the sports consultant. "He wanted to make sure he had a long-term TV commitment in the billions before he went out to make those deals." The new deal being discussed by Fox and the Dodgers would mirror the 2011 deal signed by Time Warner Cable with the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team that replaced an existing Fox contract. Under that deal, Time Warner agreed to launch separate English and Hispanic language channels and to pay an estimated US$2.5 billion over 20 years. The two channels are scheduled to launch on Oct. 1. Time Warner is expected to also bid for a sports channel with the Dodgers if Fox and the team are unable to the come to an agreement during Fox's six week long period of exclusivity that begins on Oct. 15. — Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan