Deals, Exposure Growing

Football is in high gear, the NBA is off and running and NASCAR’s “chase,” with three races left, is going down to the wire.

But other sports are also making TV news.

An indication that soccer is alive and well in the U.S. came with the announcement of FIFA’s new eight-year contracts with Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 and with Spanish-language Univision.

The combined rights fee of $425 million -- $100 million for Disney, $325 million for Univision -- is an increase of 120% over the current deals that run through next year’s World Cup in Germany. They have a combined rights fee of $190 million.

Then there’s golf. PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem is in the midst of negotiating a new television contract and is looking for an increase in the current rights fee of $850 million over four years.

In hopes of getting more TV money, he announced changes that will take effect with the new TV contract in 2007.

One change will be a season-long points system that is golf’s version of NASCAR’s “chase.” The “playoffs” consist of a three-tournament series that will lead up to the Tour Championship in mid-September, where a points champion will be determined.

With tennis, there is nothing really new. But there is the season-ending, six-day WTA Tour Championships that will be at played at Staples Center beginning Tuesday, with ESPN2 offering 16 hours of coverage.

The weekend semifinals and final will be televised live, and some of the earlier coverage will be shown on tape delay.

ESPN has sort of designated ESPN2 as its tennis channel. In all, ESPN2 will televise about 600 hours of tennis this year.

Cliff Drysdale, who along with commentator Mary Joe Fernandez will call the action, says his employer’s commitment to tennis is one indication that the sport, despite reports to the contrary, is doing OK.

“This may sound self-serving,” Drysdale said, “but the fact that ESPN is so interested in tennis, sometimes at the expense of golf, has really helped the sport.”

Another indication that tennis is doing OK is the existence of the Tennis Channel, which has rights to 43 of the world’s top 50 tournaments.

“I think the Tennis Channel does a terrific job covering tennis, particularly the Masters Series in Europe,” Drysdale said.

The Tennis Channel still has distribution issues. For one thing, it needs to get on satellite TV. But it is moving in the right direction.

Recommended Viewing

Bud Greenspan’s look back at last year’s Athens Olympics, “Stories of Olympic Glory,” will be on Showtime on Monday at 8 p.m. The two-hour film, produced by Greenspan, Nancy Beffa, and Sydney Thayer, is vintage Greenspan.

In Closing

New Laker radio play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes arrived among accolades, and in the early going has lived up to them.