SBS makes $20m bonanza from World Cup

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SBS is believed to have already attracted up to $20 million in advertising for its Football World Cup coverage next year -- the biggest single injection of advertising dollars in the network's 29-year history.

The network has managed to sell five of seven major broadcast partnerships almost a year out from the event, which will also be its biggest ever single broadcast event.

McDonald's, Optus, Nike, Sony, Kia and Hyundai have all signed deals with the network to have their brands promoted on SBS in the six-month lead-up to the tournament and during the World Cup itself. It is also the first success for SBS since it brought its advertising sales arm back in-house after a long partnership with ad sales company Stenmark.

SBS national sales director Mark Fairhurst said the decision to target companies that were already global sponsors with FIFA or aligned with the code in Australia had paid early dividends in a tough sponsorship market.

All three commercial TV networks have reported sharp downturns in advertising revenue this year.

"We went to FIFA and Football Federation Australia partners and gave them 10 weeks to decide on a package at a special partnership price," Mr Fairhurst said.

"We gave the presentations in May and we can now confirm five partners.

"We created a value proposition the partners would appreciate.

"We have (developed) a Road to the World Cup (program) and then the event itself and from January to June we will have the Road to the World Cup in association with all our football programs."

While Kia and Hyundai will be separate advertisers, they share a global parent and will also share a package.

Mr Fairhurst said the network was waiting until September 14 to confirm if any other targeted companies would take up the offer before taking any remaining packages to the broader market.

He said SBS had been helped significantly in its bid to secure sponsorship for the broadcasts by the Socceroos' early qualification for South Africa. In 2006 SBS was left scrambling for sponsors for its broadcasts after Australia's last-minute qualification to go to Germany.

"When we (Australia) qualified in 2006 we did not have time to build momentum," Mr Fairhurst said.

"Qualifying early has given us a full year to work on it."

With revenue now guaranteed to support the broadcast, SBS is now well under way with its World Cup coverage plans.

Head of sport Ken Shipp said the launch of SBS2 on the digital spectrum meant SBS would broadcast more than 650 hours of football programming during the month-long tournament, including 160 hours of live games. Every match would also be replayed and the network was looking at screening some matches online, allowing viewers to access them on demand.

"We are also looking at radio, with our stations broadcasting all the games live in the languages of the competing nations," Mr Shipp said.