ITPV » nels like to deal with one company that provides so much

Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors is doing a Reddit AMA on reddit.com right now on behalf of Sprite Canada and BarDown. For those not familiar with Reddit or AMAs, its an acronym for "Ask Me Anything" and its a great way for an athlete or a celebrity to talk to his or her fans directly and in a community setting. Get in on the action here, or keep reading for a few select highlights. 3:26 from BJ_Dangle What was going through your mind when you were about to destroy Kenneth Faried? I didnt think it would look as good as it did. I kinda thought I dunked to the side of him but it happened so fast. I didnt know how good it looked until I saw the photo. From my teammates perspective it was pretty cool too. 3:20pm from macaroniandgainz How did it feel to score 51 points in only your second year in the NBA? The 51-pt game felt like a pickup game. It felt like we were just playing for fun with a bunch of pros and we were going bucket for bucket. It was the kind of game that people dont usually get to see, but this time it happened during the season. ...I thought the franchise high was 56 so I didnt think I could get there. If I knew it was 51, maybe I wouldve pushed for it. 3:52 from blakerose Would you like to see the Raps logo go to a throwback purple style? A black and gold Drake style? Or something else altogether? I wanna go back to the purple on the front and the black on the back. I like the two tone jerseys. 4:01 from BulbyBlast Hey Terrence, do you think they should retire Vince Carters jersey in Toronto? Honestly, YES! They should retire his jersey simply because he put Toronto on the map. He did a lot for this city and this franchise, so STOP BOOING HIM! For more highlights, click here. Cheap Under Armour Shoes . Boston is making its first appearance in the ALCS since 2008. For Detroit, its a third straight trip to the ALCS and its fourth in eight years. Under Armour Sale Womens .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. http://www.underarmoursaleuk.com/ . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Under Armour Outlet Uk . Reyes, 26, was traded from Atlanta to Toronto in July 2010 and spent the remainder of the season in the minors. He began 2011 in the majors and made 20 starts with the Blue Jays, going 5-8 with a 5.40 earned run average before he was waived on Aug. Under Armour Sale Mens . In the calls, Hernandez discussed the murder of Odin Lloyd, including his "belief about his criminal liability" and the "extent of his control over persons charged as accessories," according to the request filed Thursday in Fall River Superior Court.ROME - Avoid going head-to-head with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.Dont stop for Christmas.Its that easy to make drastic improvements in the slumping Italian league, according to the man whose company controls Serie As foreign TV rights.Said Italian entrepreneur Riccardo Silva, The bottom line is that the Spanish league is more interesting than the Italian league.His remedies involve moving more Serie A matches to Friday or Monday nights, starting them earlier than the Spanish games, and playing over the Christmas and New Years holidays when TV viewership soars.Its the best period for viewing, Silva said in an interview with The Associated Press. People are home and they dont know what do. If you want to be viewed, do these types of things. Try not to clash with the Spanish league. Play at Christmas time. Its not so difficult to understand.In October, Silvas company, MP & Silva, renewed in a three-year deal with Serie A worth an average of 185 million euros (more than $200 million) per season — a 60 per cent increase over the previous deal.For a league beset by an exodus of top players, falling attendance, fan violence and racism, thats a lot of money. So its no wonder Silva is frustrated.I took my kids to see Tottenham-Chelsea on Jan. 1 while our (Italian) players were sitting in the sun, Silva said, referring to Serie As two-week holiday break, when clubs like AC Milan usually decamp to places like Dubai.Silva rarely speaks with the media, making him somewhat of a mystery man in the intertwined world of media rights.Most of the stories written about him have focused on his sprawling penthouse in Miami, the lavish parties filled with models on his luxury yacht, or his close ties to AC Milan and fellow media company Infront.Maybe it was our mistake. We didnt communicate enough, Silva said. I dont want a positive story. I just want the truth. I dont have anything to hide in my story.Born into a family that owns one of the biggest cleaning soap businesses in Italy, the 44-year-old Silva started a media career instead, and founded MP & Silva in 2004 with a couple of fellow Milanese.MP & Silva holds the rights for the English Premier League in 51 territories — mainly in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. The company also distributes Roland Garros in Eurrope; the NBA in Latin America and Scandinavia; plus numerous other leagues and events.ddddddddddddWe are not a business (for) consumers, so we dont really need to have advertising, Silva said. We just buy from the leagues and federations and they all know us. We sell to TV channels and they all know us.With an annual turnover of $700 million, MP & Silva ranks third in the sports media rights business behind New York-based IMG and Switzerland-based Infront.With 100 people in 20 offices dotted around the globe, MP & Silvas profits this year will be about $90 million.Last year, the company set up its tax base in Luxembourg.The first nine years we had 20 different companies. It was a nightmare. Then some of the leagues asked for consolidated balances. So we created a holding company, Silva said. Its super-transparent.Silva specializes in selling clients products like Serie A that they hadnt intended to buy.For example, when Silva throws Serie A into a package deal for a client in, say, Vietnam, that already includes the Premier League, the French Open, 10 smaller tennis tournaments and the NBA, the TV station is more inclined to take it.Then they can build a programming schedule, Silva said. The channels like to deal with one company that provides so much content.In the insular world of Italian football, however, Silvas connections to Infront have been a source of concern.The MP in MP & Silva stands for Media Partners, the Milan-based agency led by Marco Bogarelli that was folded into Infront, the company controlled by Philippe Blatter — the nephew of FIFA president Sepp Blatter — in 2006.Bogarelli and Silva each got their starts with Milan Channel and Infront advised Serie A in its bidding process for foreign rights, which MP & Silva was awarded over two significantly lower offers from IMG and B4 Capital.The leagues 20 presidents selected MP & Silva unanimously.In Italy its very transparent because its an auction, and whoever makes the best bid wins. There is no negotiation. It doesnt matter if Im friends with Marco Bogarelli, Silva said. We won with a 30 per cent margin so we probably overbid.What matters, Silva says, is improving the product, and thats an area where Serie A needs help.___Andrew Dampf can be followed at www.twitter.com/asdampf ' ' '