Perils of Promotion

The 2012 Olympic Sailing  medal races will take place at Weymouth Harbour. This will enable 4,600 spectators paying good money to watch the event, but many argue that the best sailing conditions are out at sea. Meanwhile the latest furore involving superstar Olympian Ben Ainslie perhaps highlights the increasing conflict between traditionalists and the marketing men trying to make sailing more attractive to television. At the World Championships in Perth, Australia Ainslie was disqualified by the International Jury after he was found guilty of gross misconduct. Ainslie took exception to the close attentions of a media boat which got so close that its wash impeded the 3 time Olympic gold medallist. Ainslie leapt into the sea and boarded the media boat and at the very least remonstrated with the crew. He later apologised for his uncharacteristic loss of cool, but it was too late. As Simon Barnes puts it 'Who runs sport - sport or television?'
Meanwhile there are similar disagreements rumbling through the snooker world. Barry Hearn, Chairman of World Snooker, and to some its saviour, has come under attack from Mark Allen, finalist this weekend at the UK Championships. Allen was unhappy that the second most important tournament of all had reduced matches from best of 17 frames to best of 11. He felt that this undervalued the tournament. Hearn counters that since his return to centre stage in the sport, the number of spectators, sponsorship and tournaments, as well as prize money, have all increased significantly. Both the fans and television want to be able to see a result within a session. Hearn says that the bottom line is giving his 3 customers, fans, sponsors and television what they want. Now even the World Championship may not be safe from innovation.