The World Chess Federation’s Odd Marketing Partner
By DYLAN LOEB MCCLAINIn their campaigns for the presidency of the World Chess Federation, the candidates — Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the incumbent, and Anatoly Karpov, the former world champion — have different strategies for promoting the game if each is elected.
Mr. Karpov has laid out a marketing plan on his Web site. The plan includes organizing a world championship cycle and a global chess league similar to those in many countries, streaming chess “television” shows over the Internet with live analysis of the games from the championship cycle and the league, and selling advertising for those events.
Mr. Karpov’s plan estimates that it can generate at least $50 million a year to develop and promote chess, but does not spell out exactly where the money would come from.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov has been president of the federation, which is also known by the acronym FIDE (for Fédération Internationale des Échecs), since 1995, so his track record on promoting chess is well established.
During his tenure, there have been several world championships with prize funds of more than $1 million, but the organization of the world championship cycle has been inconsistent, angering some players. Critics say that the constant changes have made it difficult to attract sponsorship, particularly from corporations.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Ilyumzhinov has defended his record. But he and some members of the federation have also apparently come up with a plan to market chess through a parternship with a small start-up called Chess Network Company, or CNC.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov has not said anything publicly about CNC, but at a meeting last month of FIDE’s steering board in Tromso, Norway, a marketing contract with the company was discussed and, according to people who were there, approved.
To go into effect, the contract must apparently be ratified by FIDE’s general assembly when it meets next week during the Chess Olympiad. Of course, the main order of business is the election of the federation’s top officers. The election is Sept. 29.
Terms of the CNC contract have not been made available, though an earlier draft said that CNC would have exclusive marketing rights to FIDE events for the next four years. The draft also said that FIDE would receive at least $100,000 for those rights in the first year and at least $300,000 thereafter.
So who, or what is CNC? The company’s Web site contains no information about its history, and does not have an address, a phone number or an e-mail contact.
The site lists five staff, including, Anna Burtasova, a women’s grandmaster, as the chief strategy officer. The Web site says nothing of her qualifications other than “she is used to thinking strategically,” adding, “Since she is a grandmaster we just couldn’t put her lower than CSO.”
Alexandra Naydenova is the public relations manager. Her qualifications are cited as she “is an expert in everything related to the public. When you see her you will certainly understand what we mean. Already curious? That’s what we call good PR!”
The company’s Internet manager is Natalia Nedelko, and the site says her background is, “She is online at home, cafes, in her car and even in the office. Sometimes we think there is some kind of WiFi devise in her left heel. There is no better person to make the Network work.”
The event manager is Julia Elvartynova and the site says of her expertise, “To invent something absolutely new you need a person who will exceed everyone’s expectations. She fits this description perfectly!”
Only the chief executive, George Taylor, has extensive experience in marketing. He founded Sport Mondial, a sports marketing company, and worked for years with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA. His company ran the operations for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He also has worked with cycling organizations and stars, including Greg Lemond, the former Tour de France winner.
Since CNC began working with FIDE, it has been involved in two events: the world championship match in Bulgaria in April and May and the current Olympiad, which opened on Sunday.
CNC is privately held. The federation owns 12.5 percent of it, according to Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE’s deputy president. In a telephone interview last month, he said the rest is owned by a company called Chess Lane that is run by David Kaplan, who used to be the federation’s director of development and who is still listed that way on FIDE’s Web site, though Mr. Makropoulos said he had left since the contract with CNC was signed last year.
Chess Lane’s Web site does not mention or list Mr. Kaplan on its Web site, though it does have an address and phone number in London. Efforts to reach Mr. Kaplan to talk with him about the company, who owns it and his involvement were unsuccessful.
Mr. Makropoulos, who declined to provide a copy of the contract with CNC, said that FIDE is not making any investment in the company. Instead, he said, all the money was coming from Chess Lane and that so far it had invested half a million dollars, though he said he could not substantiate that.
Mr. Makropoulos said that CNC has two directors from FIDE, himself and Nigel Freeman, the federation’s treasurer, and two from Chess Lane, one of whom was Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Makropoulos said that the CNC contract covered events where negotiations with organizers and sponsors have not begun, but even then CNC would not automatically be given all marketing rights. “We should study what rights we should give to organizers and what rights we should give to CNC,” said Mr. Makropoulos. He said that whatever contracts CNC signed, FIDE would get 20 percent of the gross revenue and then one-eighth (12.5 percent) of the net.
Mr. Makropoulos mentioned previous chess marketing ventures by FIDE and Mr. Ilyumzhinov, including Global Chess, that had been unsuccessful. “Now that Chess Lane is investing their own money, we are hoping for better success,” he said.
Mr. Taylor, the chief executive of CNC, who was interviewed by telephone last month, said that FIDE will continue to control marketing decisions. “FIDE has complete control of any and all events for which CNC has acquired the rights. FIDE still has to give approval for activation of those rights,” Mr. Taylor said.
He said the chess federation had made several mistakes in trying to build sponsorship in the past. Its biggest mistake was that it had only thought of events one at a time.
“Sponsors are interested in four-year platforms,” Mr. Taylor said. “That has not how FIDE has worked in the past. As a result of that procedure there was never a multiyear global platform for sponsors.”
Mr. Taylor said that events have also never left a legacy on which to build interest in chess — and in chess promotion. He said there needed to be facilities or some type of footprint left behind to keep people interested after an event ended.
He said there needs to be better educational efforts to teach people how to play in order to build the game’s fan base. “What we are going to do is to have an educational component in all events in the future,” Mr. Taylor said.
FIDE also has not done enough to capitalize on the social networking aspects of chess and to get people more involved. Mr. Taylor said, “Think about in general all these people would love to have an official ranking from FIDE.” He said that an analogous community was created around running by Nike. Mr. Taylor admitted it would not be easy. “Can you do that overnight? No.”
Mr Taylor said that he was hired early this year and that the staff was already in place. He said what he wanted to do would take a lot of work and “we do not have the personnel to do this right now.”
Mr. Karpov has laid out a marketing plan on his Web site. The plan includes organizing a world championship cycle and a global chess league similar to those in many countries, streaming chess “television” shows over the Internet with live analysis of the games from the championship cycle and the league, and selling advertising for those events.
Mr. Karpov’s plan estimates that it can generate at least $50 million a year to develop and promote chess, but does not spell out exactly where the money would come from.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov has been president of the federation, which is also known by the acronym FIDE (for Fédération Internationale des Échecs), since 1995, so his track record on promoting chess is well established.
During his tenure, there have been several world championships with prize funds of more than $1 million, but the organization of the world championship cycle has been inconsistent, angering some players. Critics say that the constant changes have made it difficult to attract sponsorship, particularly from corporations.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Ilyumzhinov has defended his record. But he and some members of the federation have also apparently come up with a plan to market chess through a parternship with a small start-up called Chess Network Company, or CNC.
Mr. Ilyumzhinov has not said anything publicly about CNC, but at a meeting last month of FIDE’s steering board in Tromso, Norway, a marketing contract with the company was discussed and, according to people who were there, approved.
To go into effect, the contract must apparently be ratified by FIDE’s general assembly when it meets next week during the Chess Olympiad. Of course, the main order of business is the election of the federation’s top officers. The election is Sept. 29.
Terms of the CNC contract have not been made available, though an earlier draft said that CNC would have exclusive marketing rights to FIDE events for the next four years. The draft also said that FIDE would receive at least $100,000 for those rights in the first year and at least $300,000 thereafter.
So who, or what is CNC? The company’s Web site contains no information about its history, and does not have an address, a phone number or an e-mail contact.
The site lists five staff, including, Anna Burtasova, a women’s grandmaster, as the chief strategy officer. The Web site says nothing of her qualifications other than “she is used to thinking strategically,” adding, “Since she is a grandmaster we just couldn’t put her lower than CSO.”
Alexandra Naydenova is the public relations manager. Her qualifications are cited as she “is an expert in everything related to the public. When you see her you will certainly understand what we mean. Already curious? That’s what we call good PR!”
The company’s Internet manager is Natalia Nedelko, and the site says her background is, “She is online at home, cafes, in her car and even in the office. Sometimes we think there is some kind of WiFi devise in her left heel. There is no better person to make the Network work.”
The event manager is Julia Elvartynova and the site says of her expertise, “To invent something absolutely new you need a person who will exceed everyone’s expectations. She fits this description perfectly!”
Only the chief executive, George Taylor, has extensive experience in marketing. He founded Sport Mondial, a sports marketing company, and worked for years with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA. His company ran the operations for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He also has worked with cycling organizations and stars, including Greg Lemond, the former Tour de France winner.
Since CNC began working with FIDE, it has been involved in two events: the world championship match in Bulgaria in April and May and the current Olympiad, which opened on Sunday.
CNC is privately held. The federation owns 12.5 percent of it, according to Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE’s deputy president. In a telephone interview last month, he said the rest is owned by a company called Chess Lane that is run by David Kaplan, who used to be the federation’s director of development and who is still listed that way on FIDE’s Web site, though Mr. Makropoulos said he had left since the contract with CNC was signed last year.
Chess Lane’s Web site does not mention or list Mr. Kaplan on its Web site, though it does have an address and phone number in London. Efforts to reach Mr. Kaplan to talk with him about the company, who owns it and his involvement were unsuccessful.
Mr. Makropoulos, who declined to provide a copy of the contract with CNC, said that FIDE is not making any investment in the company. Instead, he said, all the money was coming from Chess Lane and that so far it had invested half a million dollars, though he said he could not substantiate that.
Mr. Makropoulos said that CNC has two directors from FIDE, himself and Nigel Freeman, the federation’s treasurer, and two from Chess Lane, one of whom was Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Makropoulos said that the CNC contract covered events where negotiations with organizers and sponsors have not begun, but even then CNC would not automatically be given all marketing rights. “We should study what rights we should give to organizers and what rights we should give to CNC,” said Mr. Makropoulos. He said that whatever contracts CNC signed, FIDE would get 20 percent of the gross revenue and then one-eighth (12.5 percent) of the net.
Mr. Makropoulos mentioned previous chess marketing ventures by FIDE and Mr. Ilyumzhinov, including Global Chess, that had been unsuccessful. “Now that Chess Lane is investing their own money, we are hoping for better success,” he said.
Mr. Taylor, the chief executive of CNC, who was interviewed by telephone last month, said that FIDE will continue to control marketing decisions. “FIDE has complete control of any and all events for which CNC has acquired the rights. FIDE still has to give approval for activation of those rights,” Mr. Taylor said.
He said the chess federation had made several mistakes in trying to build sponsorship in the past. Its biggest mistake was that it had only thought of events one at a time.
“Sponsors are interested in four-year platforms,” Mr. Taylor said. “That has not how FIDE has worked in the past. As a result of that procedure there was never a multiyear global platform for sponsors.”
Mr. Taylor said that events have also never left a legacy on which to build interest in chess — and in chess promotion. He said there needed to be facilities or some type of footprint left behind to keep people interested after an event ended.
He said there needs to be better educational efforts to teach people how to play in order to build the game’s fan base. “What we are going to do is to have an educational component in all events in the future,” Mr. Taylor said.
FIDE also has not done enough to capitalize on the social networking aspects of chess and to get people more involved. Mr. Taylor said, “Think about in general all these people would love to have an official ranking from FIDE.” He said that an analogous community was created around running by Nike. Mr. Taylor admitted it would not be easy. “Can you do that overnight? No.”
Mr Taylor said that he was hired early this year and that the staff was already in place. He said what he wanted to do would take a lot of work and “we do not have the personnel to do this right now.”
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