The Auction
Channel
announced Monday that it has signed a 12-month agreement with UK sports
channel
Sky Sports to broadcast live
sports auctions.
“The audience for The Auction Channel’s programming — both the previews and
the live auctions — has proved to us there is a strong interest and an
opportunity to expand this genre,” said Roger Moody, head of commercial
development for Sky Sports.
“We have held five successful auctions in the past six months, each with
a 30 minute preview show, and we look forward to showing more events,
featuring more sports, over the next year,” he added.
Among the auctions already held was a Tennis Memorabilia sale by
international
auction house, Christie’s, during which 30 percent of the lots recorded
electronic bids — while bidders from The Auction Channel secured 10
percent of the lots.
Founder and CEO of The Auction Channel, Jason Gleave, mentioned that
Sky Sports had a cumulative audience reach of 724,000 for the Bonhams
Soccer Legends auction preview program earlier this year.
“We expect to continue building a large viewing audience through Sky
Sports and to significantly expand our auction audience on television
and the Internet as well as the pool of active bidders using our
innovative Internet and television e-commerce capabilities,” said Gleave.
Upcoming auctions will focus on soccer, formula 1 racing, rugby,
angling and boxing. Full details are available from The Auction Channel.
The Auction Channel is a subsidiary of
Brilliant Digital Entertainment.
