Wales Rugby League, who govern the sport in Wales, have announced they will take over the running of South Wales Scorpions for the 2014 season after their founder and inaugural chairman Phil Davies stepped down.

Davies founded the club in late 2009 following the old Celtic Crusaders’ decision to move north and has been at the helm of the only professional rugby league club in South Wales for four seasons in Championship One.

Work and personal commitments now mean Davies is unable to continue with the running of the club, however he will remain supportive of the sport in Wales.

“We have known for some time of Phil’s wish to step down and following Friday’s WRL Board meeting it was unanimously agreed that the NGB would run the club in 2014,” said Chris Thair, chief operating officer of Wales Rugby League.

“The RFL have been notified of our intentions and whilst we recognise there are still a number of formalities to go through before we are officially running a club in Championship One, with the season beginning in March it is in everyone’s interest that this happens.

“The WRL Board wish to thank Phil Davies for his time, energy and investment into the sport in Wales and he leaves a legacy of having given many young welsh players their first opportunity as a semi-professional rugby league player.

“During his tenure in charge many players who played for the Scorpions have progressed onto getting full-time contracts at other clubs such as Rhodri Lloyd and Gil Dudson at Wigan Warriors and Lloyd White at Widnes Vikings.

“Wales Rugby League now wish to continue with this legacy of providing opportunities for young Welsh players and this certainly has a good strategic fit to our new performance plans.

“We now wish to engage with as many people as possible who can support this new venture and should anyone feel they have something to offer then we would be delighted to hear from them.”

Sportradar, anabolics one of the world’s leading suppliers of real-time sports solution, buy has acquired US data company SportsData it has been announced today. 

The joining of the two companies forms a global leader in live sports products, health with comprehensive coverage across over 40 sports and 200,000 events.

Sportradar’s investment is a testament to the strong foundation and rapid growth of SportsData, whose customers include Google, Bleacher Report, Facebook and Twitter. SportsData will focus on providing an expanded product portfolio to media customers and fantasy sports companies. Sportradar, who serves more than 450 businesses in over 70 countries, will complement its European product portfolio with U.S. sports.

“This acquisition marks another important milestone in our endeavor to become the world’s leading global service provider for sports content and information,” said Carsten Koerl, Sportradar’s Group CEO. “With its state of the art infrastructure and its focus on technology, SportsData perfectly matches our strategy of continuously investing in technology and development to provide our customers with an unrivaled product and service quality.”

“Sportradar’s strong position in the European sports market, their experience in growing businesses as well as their financial backing, provide SportsData the perfect backing to continue to rapidly grow our company,” said Rob Phythian, CEO of SportsData.

Troon Golf has announced a strategic partnership with Glenmorangie, cough one of the world’s most famous Single Malt Scotch Whiskies.

To mark the second year of Glenmorangie’s association with The Open Championship as the ‘Spirit of The Open’, ailment a unique campaign will be showcased to discover the world’s most “Unnecessarily Well Made” golf courses.

Troon Golf’s partnership will give monthly prize winners, drawn from entrants who nominate their chosen golf course, the opportunity to experience a Troon-managed venue from its impressive global portfolio that includes the likes of Abu Dhabi Golf Club, The Grove, and Prince’s Golf Club.

“Glenmorangie and Troon Golf have the strong brand synergies of discerning experiences, excellence, and meticulous process,” commented Bruce Glasco, Managing Director, International Operations, Troon Golf. “The ‘Unnecessarily Well Made’ golf courses campaign is centred on a topic that has long been debated between golfers the world over and it will be interesting to see what the distinguished ambassadors come up with. I know I speak for all our venues when I say we are thrilled to be involved and look forward to giving each winner a memorable experience.”

The campaign is a search for the top 18 most “Unnecessarily Well Made” golf courses in the world. A panel of experts; Sir Nick Faldo, Tony Jacklin CBE, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and legendary golf course photographer David Cannon have been tasked with identifying candidates for inclusion in this prestigious accolade. 

“Troon Golf presented an obvious partner for our campaign,” remarked Michael Atkinson, Global Marketing Manager, Glenmorangie. “They are responsible for some of the world’s finest golf courses and have a reputation around the world for their attention to detail and unparalleled expertise. We pride ourselves on similar values, which will see this relationship flourish.”

HRT’s foray into Formula One is likely to be over soon, according to technical director Toni Cuquerella.

It was believed the team’s departing owner Thesan Capital had set an end of November deadline for a new buyer to be found.

Indeed, as November became December over the past weekend, the FIA published the official 2013 entry list, and it made no mention of HRT F1.

But subsequent reports in Spanish newspapers suggested the dream may not be over for the team, who may have been granted more time by the governing body to pay next year’s entry fee.

However, leading team figure Cuquerella wrote on his micro-blog: “Four years ago, I suggested to a friend to make a Formula 1 team.

“Today after three seasons the last page of HRT has been written.

“It was certainly an experience,” the Spanish engineer concluded.

Ferrari test driver Marc Gene, another Spaniard, commented: “It leaves a bad taste, because the probability of another Spanish project (in Formula 1) is small and the precedent is negative.

“Support in Spain normally goes to the drivers,” he is quoted by the EFE news agency.

“I can think of several projects in which it was thought that the country would get behind it, but instead only the athletes are supported,” added Gene, a former Minardi driver.

Peyton Manning has reportedly agreed to become a part-owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, ailment according to Chris Vernon of ESPN Radio in Memphis.

The quarterback joins Justin Timberlake and former basketball player Penny Hardaway as minority owners of the team.

Ubiquiti Networks CEO Robert Pera is in the process of purchasing the Grizzlies from Michael Heisley. He has formed a group of minority owners that are looking to take over the franchise.

Pera experienced some trouble in negotiations with current ownership. He originally agreed to pay $350 million for the team, sale but his company’s shares have fallen since news of his potential purchase became public.

In July, NBA commissioner David Stern said the process of selling the Grizzlies was “proceeding on pace and we hope in the next couple months to be able to approve that.”

Manning currently plays for the Denver Broncos, but spent four years in Tennessee during his college years. There was talk of him joining the Titans in the offseason when he was released by the Colts.

The Pakistan Cricket Board will use the Decision Review System for the one-day series against Australia in the UAE next month.

A board official said  a sponsorship deal that would allow the board to use DRS technology in the series “has nearly been finalised.”

The official said: “The sponsors will tie up directly with the broadcasters to cover expenses for using the technology.” The official said that Pakistan is also “looking to implement DRS when it tours South Africa in January.”

The PCB hopes to profit from the series through its broadcasting deal with UAE-based Ten Sports, cialis and the board has reportedly sold its title sponsorship and other ground rights for between $550,000-$600,000. {jcomments on}

The Minnesota House have passed a public subsidy package for NFL’s Minnesota Vikings new stadium, sending the project marching toward final passage at the State Capitol.

The final vote came after a day of high drama and a weekend of intense lobbying by Gov. Mark Dayton and the team, and produced a relatively easy 73-to-58 approval in the House. Though Republicans hold a majority in the House, members of the Democratic Farmer Labor Party did the heavy political lifting on the final vote, producing 40 of the 73 votes. The victory was also noteworthy because House Speaker Kurt Zellers — the leading Republican in the House — voted against the project.

The stadium project now goes before the Senate, possibly on Tuesday, and could be ready for Dayton to sign into law by the end of the week.

“The voices of the people of Minnesota were heard tonight,” Dayton said after the House vote.

“There’s not many other issues that bring this many people to the Capitol,” said Rep. John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove, one of the project’s biggest supporters. “Professional sports provides an escape from reality, a much-needed distraction from stressful lives.”

In one pivotal change however the House voted overwhelmingly to boost the Vikings’ contribution to the nearly $1 billion stadium, upping the team’s share from $427 million to $532 million. The change, which would lower the state’s share to $293 million, may not survive further legislative negotiating this week and was opposed by the Vikings.

“That particular amendment is not workable,” Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said. “(But) I don’t want to take away from the moment.”

Bagley — notably — did not say the team would reject the overall proposal should the provision remain.

The eight-hour House debate did leave many pleading for legislators to set aside the stadium at a time of a stressed state budget. “Let’s not build a monument to misplaced priorities,” said Rep. Doug Wardlow, R-Eagan.

Though Vikings owner Zygi Wilf had never explicitly threatened to move the team — and was already committed to play in the existing Metrodome for one more year — Monday’s vote was driven by a sense that the team would leave without a new, taxpayer-supported stadium. The surge to build the stadium, which had been hotly debated across Minnesota, seemed to gain its final momentum after the National Football League commissioner made a personal visit to the state Capitol last month.

“Lo and behold, Commissioner (Roger) Goodell came to town, and people got starry-eyed,” said Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan.

For the Vikings, the victory came after years of public polls that showed widespread opposition to using taxpayer money for a new stadium and after the team watched as the Minnesota Twins won approval six years ago for its own publicly subsidized ballpark.

Monday’s vote culminated a long journey for the team, which in recent years had supported — and then rejected — plans to build a new stadium in Anoka County and more recently in Ramsey County’s Arden Hills. The Arden Hills plan in fact was still viable at the beginning of the year, but lost steam when Dayton said that only a new stadium in Minneapolis could possibly win legislative approval this year.

Stadium supporters began the weekend believing they did not have the necessary votes to pass the agreement, but a handful of legislators came out in the last day to announce they would vote for it. One who changed was Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, who had helped temporarily kill the project in a House committee last month but said that despite heavy reservations he was now supporting it.

Though Winkler said the lobbying by the Vikings had shown that the affluent were “very good at bending the rules” to get what they want, the project provided “jobs for construction workers right now.”

Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, banned Lisle Austin, the former acting president of Concacaf, after he took legal action over his suspension as head of the Soccer organisation.

The disiplinary committee decided to ban Lisle Austin from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) for a period of one year for lodging a claim related to football matters in front of the ordinary courts in the Bahamas, constituting a breach of art. 64 par. 2 of the FIFA Statutes. Lisle Austin had been provisionally suspended by the chairman of the Disciplinary Committee on 4 July 2011, the date from which the one-year suspension will start to be counted.

Austin took over as interim president of Concacaf, which runs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, after previous president Jack Warner was suspended over bribery allegations. He was banned on June 2 by the ruling body after he fired General Secretary Chuck Blazer, who made the initial bribery allegation against Warner.

Austin tried to fight the ruling in the Bahamas but was in violation of FIFA rules. The one year ban could be extended depending if Austin drops his claim.