Community, Author at iSportConnect

New England Patriots Select Barracuda Networks to Simplify Business Operations

New England Patriots have selected cloud-connected security and storage solutions company Barracuda Networks to simplify business operations through eSignature platform, Barracuda SignNow.

In preparation for this weekend’s home opener, the New England Patriots will implement SignNow to help streamline operations for multiple departments across the organization.

“Barracuda has a rich history of supporting professional sports organizations, in resolving IT security and storage challenges as well as sponsorship support for many pro teams. We are thrilled to add the New England Patriots to our list of valued customers,” said Chris Hawkins, GM eSignatures, Barracuda.

“”We’ve seen tremendous value for these types of organizations, particularly as they deal with multiple player and vendor contracts on a daily basis. SignNow helps simplify and organize those processes quickly and efficiently.”

Barracuda SignNow allows organizations to share, sign and collaborate in a secure environment. As one of the first NFL teams to implement this new technology platform, the New England Patriots will use SignNow for a variety of operations such as employee contracts, player contracts, on-the-field programs and vendor relationships. Using SignNow, New England Patriots employees and partners can create, sign and share documents via a computer, tablet or mobile device.

“We’re very proud to work with Barracuda to simplify our operations,” said Jim Nolan, SVP Operations, New England Patriots. “We have hundreds of contracts and official documents at any given time, and being able to use innovative technologies like SignNow to improve efficiencies saves us valuable time and resources.”

Seventh Edition of London Directors’ Club Hits the Mark

The seventh event in the iSportconnect London Directors’ Club series took place yesterday.

Everyone enjoyed the great hospitality provided by Red Bull at their London Studios and the networking and discussions, which are the trademarks of every Directors Club event.

iSportconnect Directors Club is an invitation only event exclusively for CEOs, chairmen and director level executives from governing bodies, sports teams and sponsorship brands. There was a prestigious panel made up of Nathan Wilson, Sales and Marketing Director at TUI Travel Sport, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Founder and Chairman of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, Simon Bazalgette, Group Chief Executive of the Jockey Club and Blake Solly, General Manager of the First Utility Rugby Super League.

The panel provided insights into the business of sport and specific issues such as top line growth, new income streams, experiential marketing, brand building and digital customer-facing products. Questions came from the audience which was made up of director level executives. The networking carried on long after the discussion had ended with many new contacts forged and old ones renewed.

Sree Varma, CEO and Founder of iSportconnect said: “I am absolutely thrilled with yesterday’s Directors’ Club. Our flagship event once again provided an evening of real interaction, debate and insights between the panel and delegates. I hope everyone had a great evening, and made many new and valuable contacts. We are looking forward to the next event, which is planned for November 12th.”

Check out what the Panel had to say about the event below:

More Pictures Below:

(iSportconnect Founder & CEO Sree Varma with Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Founder and Chairman of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and colleague Jonathan Levy)

(Networking in full flow at Red Bull’s London HQ)

(Panel discuss the latest topics intriguing the sports industry)

(Alex Chamberlen, Managing Director of Omnigon, asks a question to the panel)

(Delegates listen intently as the debate continues)

Egypt to Host 2014 WSF World Cup

Egypt will host the 2014 WSF World Cup the World Squash Federation has confirmed.

The fourth staging of the unique two-man-one-woman team event will take place at Soho Square in Sharm El Sheikhfrom 11-15 December.

It was at the same Sharm El Sheikh venue that the Women’s World Championship took place in September 2010.

The location will give hosts Egypt the chance to defend the 2011 title they won for the first time in Chennai, India, on home soil.

“The WSF World Cup features a mixed team format that allows us to showcase the best male and female players competing together for their country,” said WSF President N Ramachandran. “For us to be able to do so this year in Egypt, a squash powerhouse, is especially pleasing.”

IEC Becomes Official Media Agency of FIG

International sports marketing agency IEC in Sports, owned by Lagardère Unlimited, has become the new official media agency of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG).

IEC in sports has worked directly with a number of international gymnastics events rights holders in recent years and has developed a strong understanding of the gymnastics business. The agency has built a good relationship with FIG and looks forward to further growing the partnership.

The appointment follows the federation’s decision to centralise the media rights for a series of events for the first time. The agreement, which has been designed to actively raise the profile of FIG sanctioned competitions, includes leading FIG events such as the FIG Artistic World Cups, FIG World Challenge Cups (Artistic) and FIG Rhythmic World Cups.

In addition to distributing the media rights for these events, the experienced teams at IEC in Sports and across Lagardère Unlimited’s media hub will provide a range of consulting services, focusing in particular on the re-positioning of key events beyond the World Championships and the development of FIG’s digital strategy.

Daniel Franck, CEO of IEC in Sports and joint-CEO of Lagardère Unlimited’s media hub across Europe and Africa, expressed his enthusiasm for the new partnership: “We have been working with gymnastics for a number of years now and our teams have developed a solid understanding of the business.

This partnership with FIG is a good progression and demonstrates both our commitment to the sport and our desire to accompany FIG with its media projects to increase the profile of gymnastics across the world. We are delighted to sign the agreement and look forward to the opportunities which it will bring. The team at IEC in Sports will work closely with our colleagues across the Lagardère Unlimited network to provide the best possible agency services.”

Olivier Strebel, Marketing and Communication Director of FIG, added: “This partnership is the result of a long-term collaboration with IEC in Sports and we trust in the professionalism of their teams. Whilst the distribution of the World Championships remains our responsibility, we have secured deals in certain territories in collaboration with IEC in Sports. Our new global strategy is here to last and has been designed to build comprehensive distribution and exposure of our sport. We have no doubt that additional developments will occur by working with the Lagardère Unlimited group, with the mutual goal of taking gymnastics to the place where it belongs.”

Grand-AM & American Le Mans Merger Renamed United SportsCar Racing

The merger between GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series has resulted in a new series called the United SportsCar Racing.

United SportsCar Racing will debut in 2014 with the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“The new name says it all,” said Ed Bennett, president and CEO of GRAND-AM Road Racing. “In only six months, GRAND-AM and the ALMS have taken huge strides to become one organization that will redefine sports car racing in North America. United SportsCar Racing reflects the fundamental spirit of how we are working together toward a common goal.”

Bennett and ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton unveiled the organization’s new logo at Sebring’s Chateau Elan, along with the names of the series’ five race classes. The lead Prototype (P) class combines GRAND-AM’s Daytona Prototype with the ALMS’ P2 and DeltaWing cars. Prototype Challenge (PC) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) will retain the existing ALMS classes. GT Daytona (GTD) combines the GRAND-AM’s current GT class and the ALMS’ current GTC class. GX is retained from the current GRAND-AM structure.

The announcement culminates a four-month project that involved New York-based SME Branding, which conducted stakeholder research as well as fan input to develop the series’ name, logo and brand identity.

“When it came to the branding of our newly merged entities, we felt we had one chance to get it right – and now we believe we have done just that,” Atherton said.

Also announced was the retaining of the storied International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) as the sanctioning body for United SportsCar Racing, with an updated version of the iconic IMSA logo unveiled. IMSA, co-founded in 1969 by Bill France Sr. and John Bishop, will also sanction the organization’s ancillary series, including the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Ferrari Challenge, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Series, the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda Series, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series, which was introduced this morning at Sebring.

Schmidt-Curley Design to Renovate Honda LPGA Thailand Course

Schmidt-Curley Design, one of golf’s most active and innovative design firms, has announced its extensive renovation of Siam Country Club’s Old Course which will be showcased during the Honda LPGA Thailand, Feb. 21-24.

Originally opened in 1971, the Old Course was rebuilt from tee to green by the Schmidt-Curley team in 2006-07. While the routing remained intact, the project required construction of new greens and bunkers, installation of new turf, expansion of water hazards and removal of approximately one quarter of all trees.

“We are experts not only at building new courses from scratch, but also fixing poorly designed or outdated layouts,” says 40-year industry veteran and firm co-founder Lee Schmidt. “At Siam Country Club, our work on the Old Course has been so well received that the LPGA will bring its only Thailand event there for the fourth time since 2007.”

Eighteen new greens were built to eliminate issues with standing water and reclaim pin locations. All bunkers were tiled to assist with drainage and high flashed to help give the course a distinctive, uniform look. The extensive tree removal not only improved strategic options on many holes, but also enhanced turf health by increasing air flow and sunlight exposure.

The Old Course is a par 72 and will play 6,469 yards for the Honda LPGA Thailand. In 2012, Yani Tseng successfully defended her title capturing a one-shot victory over 2010 champion Ai Miyazato.

New Jersey F1 Race Postponed Until 2014

New Jersey will not host a Formula One race in 2013 according to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone suggested organizers “misjudged” the commercial and logistic requirements for hosting the event. Instead the American race will take place in 2014 .

“They didn’t really realize how difficult it is to arrange these things, medic commercially and with everything else,” Ecclestone said by telephone today.

The race was to be run along the waterfront in Weehawken and West New York, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was placed on the 2013 Formula One calendar last month with an asterisk alongside showing it wasn’t confirmed.

Citing Mayor Richard Turner of Weehawken, New Jersey, the Jersey Journal reported yesterday that the race was canceled because road repairs and permits for the 3.2-mile (5-kilometer) course are behind schedule.

Event promoter Leo Hindery, managing partner at InterMedia Partners LP, said as recently on Oct. 5 the race would go ahead as planned on June 16, 2013.

Formula One, the most-watched auto racing series, is scheduled to return to the U.S. for the first time since 2007 on Nov. 18 at a new $300 million track in Austin, Texas.

NBA to Launch 3-on-3 Tournament in India

The NBA will launch the NBA 3X presented by Sprite in India. The free interactive event will combine basketball and entertainment to bring an NBA experience to fans in four cities from September 15 to October 21.

The event will visit Delhi, unhealthy Hyderabad, asthma Chennai and Mumbai. It will be the first time the NBA visits Hyderabad. It will be the largest 3-on-3 tournament ever staged in India with 400 teams expected to take part.

There will be two age divisions: 16-18 and 18-23. The winners in each city will be flown to Mumbai to compete in a national championship on October 21. The National Champions in each division will qualify to participate in a 2013 FIBA/NBA Asia 3-on-3 basketball tournament. {jcomments on}

PCB Hopes for Financial Boost

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is hoping the proposed India series and the Twenty20 league it has planned will help it overcome a shortfall of $US 7.5 million in its budget for 2011-12.

The deficit was confirmed at the board’s governing council meet in Lahore on Wednesday.

The PCB financial problems are largely because of teams refusing to tour Pakistan security concerns following the attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in 2009. Pakistan has since had to host teams at neutral venues.

The 2010-2011 budget also showed a deficit before it was boosted by the hefty compensation that the ICC paid PCB after Pakistan was removed as co-host of the 2011 World Cup.

“We are forced to play away from home, this makes a difference,” a member of the PCB’s governing board said. “But we have plans and the board is optimistic that by the end of this fiscal year, [even if we do] not cover [the deficit], we will be able to reduce the gap.” {jcomments on}

Conference USA & Mountain West Merges to Create New League

There likely will be one less Football Bowl Subdivision conference in 2013 after Conference USA and the Mountain West announcing they are working on finalizing a merging the two leagues.

The new unnamed league would include Alabama-Birmingham, East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, Southern Mississippi, UTEP, Tulane and Tulsa from C-USA and current Mountain West schools Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming.

WAC schools Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii, which were planning to join the Mountain West in 2013, will also be part of the league, with Hawaii being a football-only member.

According to a joint release, the plan for the new conference would include 18 to 24 schools and hold a football championship format that includes semifinals and a title game.

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson admitted the new league still has much to work out before the agreement is formalized.

“Today’s announcement is both a culmination of several months of discussion between the presidents and chancellors of these 16 universities and an historic starting point to forge a ground-breaking, new conference,” Thompson said in a statement. “There are a myriad of details and moving parts that will be finalized in the weeks and months ahead, but there is positive momentum toward long-term stability and a tremendous opportunity for all involved.”

The creation of the new league would look similar to structure to the Western Athletic Conference expansion to 16 teams in 1996 when it added Southwest Conference schools TCU, Rice, SMU along with UNLV, Tulsa and San Jose State.

Three years later, eight teams broke off from the league and formed the Mountain West because of concerns about revenue decline, loss of rivalries and travel costs.

Logistics should also be an issue in the new league. The football conference will span from Honolulu to Greenville, N.C., a distance of more than 5,700 miles. Other sports would see travel from western cities Fresno and Reno to eastern locations in Birmingham and Huntington, W.V.

by Ismail Uddin