LeSports reported the Chinese Super League received more than 16.6 million online viewers in last weekend's first round, "including 700,000 from overseas." LeSports also estimated the total online audience for the 30-round league will reach 500 million "due to rapid growth in the number of new media users." Game attendance for the 16-team league "has reached 26,500 per match" (GLOBAL TIMES, 3/8).
MEDIA BRIEFS ...
Suzi Perry will return to MotoGP fans' screens for the '16 season after the former Formula One presenter was "unveiled as one of BT Sport's new broadcasters." Having been part of BBC's F1 coverage from '13 until the end of last season, Perry "will return to presenting grand prix racing on two wheels -- a role she held while with the BBC for 13 seasons" until the end of '10. Craig Doyle, who helped present the MotoGP coverage last season, "will stay on and share presenting duties with Perry" (London DAILY MAIL, 3/9).
The cost of broadcasting the Spanish F1 Grand Prix on free-TV this season will be €700,000 ($771,000). This is what TVE will pay to air the qualifying as well as the race on May 15. Catalan public broadcaster TV3 will pay €300,000 ($331,000) for its coverage in the territory (MARCA, 3/9).
Sportradar announced a strategic partnership with sports marketing business the WWP Group. Sportradar has invested in WWP's subsidiary D/UNIT, a digital communication and marketing agency in the sports sector, which is based in Munich. Based on the partnership with Sportradar, D/UNIT will be able to leverage proprietary sports content to create unique sponsorship solutions (Sportsradar).
