Rumors of Getty Images losing the exclusive business of the National Football League have been circulating for over a week and were finally confirmed during this week’s annual meeting of The Associated Press. In passing, AP president and chief executive officer Tom Curley mentioned that last week, the AP became the exclusive licenser of NFL photography for commercial use, winning the business from Getty. (No additional details are available for the moment.)
Getty has held the NFL contract since 2004. Until now, Getty sports partners have included all the major U.S. baseball, basketball, football and golf leagues. In February, Getty added the Association of Surfing Professionals to this list of more than 50 international sports leagues and governing bodies to which it is the official photo supplier.
At the same time, the AP had announced a much more significant acquisition: an exclusive three-year distribution partnership with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, whose popular events include Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. This week’s news of a deal with the NFL confirms that the AP intents to give Getty a run for its money.
Increased competition from the AP can be expected in all editorial segments, not just sports. Curley said: “In the past year, we shifted resources to business, real estate and economic coverage at the right moment to deliver comprehensive and continuing coverage of the biggest story in a generation. At the same time, we delivered on another presidential campaign and vote count and found a way to increase coverage of celebrities to feed the growing demand for entertainment news.”
Curley was not talking just about textual stories; his comments revealed that AP Images, the cooperative’s commercial image-sales arm, is its fastest-growing revenue area. While most image companies the world over just had the worst financial three months in their histories, “AP Images continued to show revenue and profit growth in this year’s first quarter,” he boasted.
Surprising if not shocking in light of the current economic climate and the AP’s trend of reducing fees to accommodate its ailing client base, the cooperative is growing revenue and is profitable. Its revenues rose by over 5% to $748 million in 2008, while it reduced its operating income by 33% to $23 million.
The AP sees its image division’s footprint getting bigger and bigger. “Next month, we extend to members a dynamic new e-commerce platform for AP Images.”