ISL Worldwide reports exceeding its sales goal of CHF 1 billion for territories outside of Europe. The 2002 FIFA World Cup has a number of firsts: it will be the first of the new millennium, the first in Asia and the first to be co-hosted. As planning moves up a gear, the broadcasting rights unit of ISL Worldwide, ISL Television, is pleased to announce the television agreements put in place so far.

‘The year 2000 has proven to be very successful for FIFA and ISL in terms of the agreements we have managed to conclude,’ says ISL Television’s Managing Director, David Schiller. ‘Not only is the television coverage excellent, but financially we have already exceeded considerably our initial sales target of CHF 1 billion for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/ Japan. We now look forward to completing the task with sales in the few remaining unsold territories during 2001’.

FIFA Secretary General Michel Zen-Ruffinen added that FIFA was also satisfied with the progress that the rights sales have been making. ‘Last year was clearly the key year in this process,’ he said, ‘and the basis has been laid to ensure a worldwide audience in keeping with the unique status of the FIFA World Cup.’

Preparations for the event are in full swing, reports David Schiller: ‘We are also looking forward to welcoming all our Broadcast Partners to the First World Broadcaster Meeting in Yokohama on 24 and 25 April 2001, when we shall begin to finalise production plans to ensure the success of this great Event for all their billions of viewers’.

ISL is responsible for the sale of 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup broadcasting rights in all territories outside of Europe and the USA. Those rights have been acquired in 1996 by the parent holding ISMM AG (then Sporis AG) for a minimum amount payable to FIFA of CHF 1.4 billion (CHF 650 million for 2002, CHF 750 million for 2006). Independently from ISMM, broadcasting rights for Europe have been acquired by Kirch Media.

Agreements that ISL have already concluded are as follows:

AFRICA: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape-Verde, Chad, Central African Republic, Comorres Island, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Eritrea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe

AMERICAS: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela

ASIA PACIFIC Australia, Hong Kong , India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan.

CARIBBEAN Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guyana, Grenada, Guyana, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Martin, St Vincent, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, US Virgin Islands

MIDDLE EAST Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen

Contacts:

Roland Haefeli
Head ISL Media Relations

Tel. (+41) 41-725 47 11
Fax (+41) 41-725 44 10
E-mail roland.haefeli@islworld.com
http://www.islword.com and http://www.ismmgroup.com