Heineken, the nation’s leading upscale beer importer, have announced they will debut the Heineken House at the US Open in its 22nd year of sponsorship.

The new installation will provide a unique oasis at the grounds with live screenings of the biggest matches, VIP service, food, entertainment and ice-cold Heineken. Along with the return of the Red Star Cafe and launch of “Crack the US Open,” an innovative interactive digital game, the destination marks Heineken’s return to the tournament and will be the must-see experience at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The LPGA have announced its return to a region rich in golf history with the announcement of the North Texas LPGA Shootout, there to be held April 25 to 28, therapy 2013 at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas.

The tournament is the Tour’s first in the North Texas region in more than 20 years, though the LPGA last made headlines in the area when LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame member Annika Sorenstam teed it up at the PGA TOUR’s Colonial Invitational in 2003.

The North Texas LPGA Shootout will also provide a unique opportunity for amateur players in the area to earn spots in the field through qualifying. Tournament exemptions will be awarded to the winners of a high school and collegiate “shootout” played in advance of the event. More information on the format of the qualifier will be announced at a later date. Tournament proceeds will benefit The Nexus Club which primarily supports and raises funds for the LPGA-USGA Girls Golf in North Texas.

Many of the LPGA’s current players were junior golf stars in Lone Star state including 2012 Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis, five-time LPGA winner Angela Stanford, 2012 Rolex First-Time Winner Brittany Lang and Katie Futcher.

“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to play in my home state again,” said Stanford, a four-time member of the U.S. Solheim Cup Team and native of Saginaw, Texas. “North Texas is a community with a passionate golf fan base and I know they will love having the Tour in town.”

The $1.3 million North Texas LPGA Shootout will host a full-field of 144 players playing 72 holes of stroke play over four days of competition. The tournament will be the Tour’s first stop in the state of Texas since the 2009 LPGA Tour Championship Presented by Rolex, played outside Houston. It will also mark the Tour’s first stop in North Texas since the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open, won by 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup Team Captain Meg Mallon at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.

“Irving has a deep history of hosting premier golf events,” said Irving City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. “We roll out the red-carpet and provide athletes the comforts and amenities they need while competing.  On top of that, we also have top-notch facilities that are accustomed to servicing large and passionate groups of sports fans. The LPGA will find Irving convenient, friendly and fun.”

“We are truly thrilled to return to the great state of Texas and to bring the LPGA Tour back to a region where we have a great history and passionate fans,” said LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan. “It makes sense for the LPGA to be in North Texas and we look forward to showing golf fans in the region why it’s different on the LPGA.”

Harry Scott Jr., longtime minority owner of Turner Motorsports, will expand his involvement with the team, partnering with Steve Turner as co-owner of the newly rebranded Turner Scott Motorsports.

Scott began his involvement with the team as both a minority owner and sponsor in 2009, first partnering with Braun Racing, which was later acquired by Turner Motorsports.

Scott’s decision to increase his stake in the racing organization was driven by his desire to be more involved in the operations of the team. In addition to sharing the duties of overseeing the organization, Scott will manage the team’s marketing, public relations and business development efforts, while Turner will manage the competition side of the multi-series team.

“Harry [Scott Jr.] becoming a co-owner is very positive for this organization as a whole,” said Turner. “This team has grown and accomplished so much in the last few years, and it is still continuing to grow. Harry has been committed to our racing program, its drivers and our sponsors for several years, and he is a vital part of our organization. He is passionate about our sport and our employees, and has proven himself as a very successful businessman, so putting him in charge of our marketing and business efforts is a natural and perfect fit. We have always considered him to be an integral part of the Turner Motorsports family, and this is an opportunity for him to formally take over some of the reins as we continue to build this organization into one of the most successful teams in NASCAR. I am very optimistic that Turner Scott Motorsports will build upon our solid base and achieve continued success.”

The organization, which captured the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) championship in 2012 with James Buescher behind the wheel of the No. 31, has already announced that Buescher, Miguel Paludo and Jeb Burton will all pilot trucks under the Turner Scott Motorsports banner in 2013. In addition to the NCWTS championship, Turner Scott Motorsports tallied seven wins and five pole awards in the Truck Series in 2012. In the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS), the team scored three wins and three pole awards last season. Details regarding the team’s driver and sponsor lineup for the 2013 NNS program are forthcoming.

“I am very excited to be taking on this new role within the organization,” said Scott. “As a Carolina native, NASCAR racing is something that has always been in my blood, and my passion for the sport has only grown since I began my involvement with Steve Turner a few years ago. He has built a very strong organization with incredibly talented people in place, and I can’t thank him enough for the opportunity to be a co-owner of this team. This race team has already experienced so much early success at many different levels, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that everyone here is committed to working together toward a common goal. We are fortunate to have some of the best sponsors, partners and team members in the sport, and I look forward to continuing those relationships, as well as building new ones. I foresee a very bright future for Turner Scott Motorsports.”

Several Formula One teams have expressed an interest in a budget cap after FIA president, erectile Jean Todt, viagra recently warned  teams could be lost if costs were not reduced by 30 percent over three years.

Talks are ongoing between the governing body and teams to attempt to find a solution and some of the teams are expressing a willigness to agree to a budget cap.

“We for a while have been proposing a budget cap, drugs which we are still convinced about because it will allow everyone to make use of their strengths,” Sauber CEO, Monisha Kaltenborn, said. “It would be a level playing field and everyone could go the way they wanted to, which I think would make the sport very exciting. But we should not start at a level that is even beyond what people are doing right now. Fans want to see competition between teams, and what strategic decision you take on the development side as well as on track.”

Mercedes team principal, Ross Brawn said: “I think we welcome any fair and proper constraint on resources.”

“There is no attraction to spending more than you have to, to have a successful and competitive F1. Most teams on the grid are perhaps not operating to those limits, but there are five or six teams on the grid who do operate to the upper limits.”

Lotus team principal, Eric Boullier, added: “There are three ways: budget caps, maybe a more conservative technical and sporting regulations because I am sure there are changes to be made in sporting one to save money, and the RRA. But what happens is going to have to suit all the teams. There is not just one way: there are three ways to make sure we can control costs in F1.”{jcomments on}

 

Jeremy Lin’s new marketing agent, Jim Tanner, said he would begin sorting through potential opportunities from corporations interested in endorsement deals with Lin, particularly companies based in Asia.

“Our main charge at this point is to get our arms around the many opportunities available to Jeremy,” said Tanner.

“He has an extreme amount of interest from any number of companies, including companies in Asia.”

Tanner would not name any of the companies interested in Lin. Lin currently has endorsement deals with Nike and Volvo.

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The recent recession plaguing America has helped build TV audiences for NFL games according to commissioner Roger Goodell.

Speaking on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which aired on Sunday, Goodell says the nearly 60 million people tuning in to watch last Sunday’s conference championships show that.

“People want to feel part of a group, feel like they’re connected, and right now during these difficult times, they can turn on free television and watch the greatest entertainment that’s out there,” Goodell says. “They can forget their worries for just a few hours.”

Goodell also expresses his concern about getting fans to come to the stadium rather than watching at home.

“Our biggest challenge going forward is how do we get people to come to our stadiums because the experience is so great at home,” he says. “When you turn on (a football game), you want to see a full stadium.”

Goodell was given a five-year contract extension this week, through March 2019.

The NFL recently signed nine-year extensions with its broadcast partners and could bring in as much as $3 billion in broadcast revenues by 2022. The league’s overall revenues for this year are projected to exceed $10 billion.

Players from USA’s American Football league, the National Football League (NFL), say they want to settle multiple legal cases simultaneously as part of a new labour agreement that would end the four-month lockout of the country’s most popular sport.

George Atallah, a spokesman for the NFL Players Association, said that work remains to be done even though the sides are close to an agreement that would reopen the league before the scheduled start of the season.

He said: “Nobody cheers for you at mile 25 of a marathon.You still have to cross the finish line. There still are things that can get you tripped up and we’re going to push through.”

NFL owners could ratify an agreement at a meeting scheduled for July 21 in Atlanta.

The Associated Press said that if an agreement is ratified that day, team executives would be briefed on the effects on league business, including rookie salaries and guidelines for player transactions.

Any agreement would also have to be approved by players.

NFL owners in March locked out players, who sued in federal court claiming antitrust violations and wage fixing, behind Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. A federal appeals court upheld the lockout two weeks ago, saying a lower court erred in blocking it.

Atallah said players would prefer a “global settlement” that ends all cases. The sides also await a decision by U.S. District Judge David Doty, who ruled in March that owners didn’t negotiate television contracts fairly. Players then asked him to place US$4 billion in escrow during the lockout.

The sides are trying to reach a deal before missing one or more rounds of preseason games, which the league estimates are worth about US$200 million in revenue each week.

The start of the NFL regular season is scheduled for September 8.