Businesses

2008 ACTIVITIES

• Send

Today, Lagardère Sports prides itself on its very firm position in the sporting-rights market, especially with regard to its flagship product, football (soccer). Moreover, Lagardère Sports’ geographic footprint expanded considerably in 2008 with the acquisition of World Sport Group, which has a solid presence in Asia.

Lagardère Sports broadened its scope considerably in 2008. The division now comprises five entities:

• Sportfive, a company with a firm foothold in the European media and marketing-rights market, particularly involving football (soccer) rights.
• IEC in Sports, a company specializing in sportingrights management, mainly active in such Olympic disciplines as tennis, athletics, volleyball and gymnastics.
• Upsolut, a German sports-marketing agency that organizes mass sporting events, particularly in such disciplines as triathlon and cycling.
• PrEvent, which organizes the ATP Swedish Open and will soon launch the Swedish Open Women’s WTA tour event.
• World Sport Group, a sports-marketing agency for such major Asian events as the Asian Football Cup, the Indian Premier League Cricket competition and the Asian Golf Tour. Lagardère Sports is active in three main business
  segments:
• Television production and media rights, including sports broadcasting and production rights for television
  and new media.
• Marketing rights, including sponsorship, hospitality and stadium consulting.
• Events, including ownership and management of sporting activities.

In 2008, Lagardère Sports continued with the development strategy that began in preceding fiscal years with the acquisition of Upsolut, PrEvent and World Sport Group and the launch of the Transorientale rally raid. Its policy of organic growth and acquisitions has enabled Lagardère Sports to strategically position itself at the core of the sports economy
and strengthen its foothold in the sporting-rights market.

After building a firm foundation in Europe and Africa with Sportfive and IEC in Sports, Lagardère Sports is now solidly established in Asia via World Sport Group, which made a signifi cant contribution to the consolidation of its international position.

Furthermore, 2008 offered Lagardère Sports opportunities to boost its positioning across the value chain. Through
the acquisition of Upsolut and PrEvent, it was able to expand its activities to encompass further athletic disciplines like tennis, triathlon and cycling.

In addition, Lagardère Sports affirmed its identity as a leading organizer of sporting events with the first Transorientale rally-raid marathon for bikes, cars and trucks.

Significant events in 2008

World Sport Group

The year 2008 was marked by Lagardère Sports’ expansion into the Asian market. World Sport Group holds a portfolio of premium football, cricket and golf assets in the Asia-Pacific region. Its principal activity involves managing media and marketing rights for such rights-holders as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and various golf tournaments. World Sport Group also produces several events.

World Sport Group won the tender to manage hospitality services for Singapore’s upcoming sports complex, Premier Park, via its participation in the consortium that submitted the successful bid for the facility’s construction and commercial management.

The Transorientale

With a course stretching from St. Petersburg to Beijing, the Transorientale rally raid (a Lagardère Sports property) was an ambitious undertaking and a resounding success. More than 150 vehicles and 400 competitors participated in the 10,000-km marathon, organized by a team of 300 people.

The Transorientale received wide international coverage with a total of more than 180 broadcasting hours in 150 countries, including the United States (CNN) and various countries in Asia (ESPN Star Sports) and Europe (France Télévisions, RTL).

Upsolut

Upsolut, which concentrates primarily on cycling and triathlon, now organizes world championship competitions for the International Triathlon Union. Upsolut is in fact participating in the creation of a new series of triathlon world championship events and has signed a marketing agreement with Sportfive pertaining to the sale of media rights for these activities.

Sportfive

One of Sportfive’s major marketing achievements in 2008 was an agreement signed with MATCH Hospitality, which appointed Sportfive as its exclusive sales agent in Continental Europe for the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s official hospitality programme.

It further consolidated its football-rights portfolio in Italy by signing a 15-year agreement with Turin’s Juventus football club.
Sportfive also continues to boost its presence in other sports. The Triathlon World Championships, organized by Upsolut, now have a title sponsorship (signed in 2008) thanks to the Sportfive teams’ marketing expertise.

In addition, Sportfive became a marketing partner with the Bundesliga (German Football League) for the sale of media rights in selected Asian and European countries. In early 2009, Sportfive also produced streamed videos of the World Handball Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

IEC in Sports

In 2008, IEC in Sports expanded its network of audiovisual distributors throughout the world. The company also renewed its contract with the Portuguese Football League until May 2011.

PrEvent

PrEvent is organizing the Swedish Tennis Open. In conjunction with its development of this tournament, PrEvent acquired a WTA license in 2008, giving it the right to organize a Swedish Open Women’s tournament. In 2009, the first women’s competition will be held in the week preceding the men’s tournament, thus broadening the scope of this event.

Outlook for 2009

Lagardère Sports has three major objectives:

• To accelerate growth through complementary acquisitions and organic growth projects.
• To incorporate new entities and adapt its organizational structure to refl ect market developments.
• To promote and expand its owned-events strategy.