Disney's ESPN faces rising rights fees: report

Walt Disney Co's ESPN cable sports network, which has broadcasting deals for events ranging from the National Football League to Nascar, is facing higher costs while renewing some of the contracts amid falling advertising revenue, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.

Since Disney acquired 80 percent of ESPN in 1995 the most-watched U.S. sports channel has become one of the company's most valuable properties, providing $4.1 billion in operating income in fiscal 2008 ending September 27, the newspaper said.

However, ESPN is feeling the impact of the recession and its advertising revenue is declining even as costs associated with many of its rights deals increase on schedule, the paper said.

ESPN's NFL payments nearly doubled from $600 million during the last round of negotiations, and each of its other major rights fees rose by at least 20 percent, a trend most industry people expect to continue, it said.

ESPN spends about $2.2 billion annually for the broadcast rights to major sports in the U.S. alone, the paper said.

Walt Disney could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.

http://www.reuters.com/news/entertainment

Pacquiao is Leading on ESPN’s Champion of Champions 2008

Our very own Manny Pacquiao is currently leading in the finals of ESPN and Star Sports’ “Champion of Champions” 2008 online poll.

Pacquiao, who fought in three weight divisions in 2008 and emerged victorious in all of those bouts, could very well be the winner of the online poll contest as he enjoys a huge lead over Malaysian squash player Nicol David.

As of Sunday afternoon, Pacquiao received an astounding 82.4% lead over Nicol. Our Pambansang Kamao amassed 91.20& of votes while the world’s top ranked squash player earned 8.8 percent.

Pacquiao made history in 2008 when he became the first Asian to wear four world titles in three different weight divisions. He is the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) and The Ring magazine’s super featherweight champion after beating Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in a split decision on March 15.

He then added the WBC lightweight belt after scoring a ninth-round knockout win over David Diaz last June 28. And his greatest victory so far is his eight-round demolition of future Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya on December 6.

He earned the Ring Magazine’s top pound-for-pound boxer title after then holder Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired this year. Pacquiao is also a former Ring Magazine featherweight champion, once hold the International Boxing Federation bantamweight crown and held the WBC flyweight belt.

Manny Pacquiao and Nicol David are the last 2 standing on the online poll after beating cricket superstars Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly in the semifinals. They also beat NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, Indian cricket sensation MS Dhoni, Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, reigning world no.1 tennis player Rafael Nadal, Beijing Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, legendary football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, world 100-meter record holder Usain Bolt, Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, golf’s Tiger Woods and world MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi in the preliminaries.

The final day of voting is on December 30 with the winner to be announced in ESPN Sports Center.