OGL Computer has retained its designation as Official IT Partner of Worcestershire County Cricket Club.

OGL has again been tasked with ensuring IT infrastructure at New Road remains robust and future proof, asthma continuing a partnership that has now stretched for over 6 years.

Jon Graham, Business Development Director of Worcestershire CCC, “As with any business, IT is a key aspect of our operation and without the support and expertise that OGL offers us we certainly wouldn’t be capable of functioning effectively. It is a partnership that has been ongoing for some time now and we are delighted to continue this working relationship.”

OGL has achieved accreditations with some of the biggest names in the IT industry including; HP, Microsoft, VMware, WatchGuard, AMD and Kaspersky; and this level of expertise is imperative at an organisation as diverse as Worcestershire CCC.

“We are proud to be chosen to support WCCC particularly after the development they have undergone recently,” says Neil Morris, Operations Director at OGL Computer. “We wish WCCC all the best for the season.”

TSE Consulting have been selected by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to review how their main events are marketed and promoted to potential host cities around the world. 

TSE, working alongside IAAF long-term partners AMS and Dentsu, will assist IAAF in redefining how to reach out to potential hosts and to increase the visibility of its bid processes. This review will start immediately as the IAAF prepares to launch the bid process for the next round of events; the 2017 Cross Country World Championships, the 2017 Youth World Championships, the 2018 Continental Cup and the 2019 World Championships. These bid processes will be launched at the beginning of 2014.

Essar Gabriel, IAAF Secretary General, said: “We at the IAAF are always looking for ways to improve the way Athletics is showcased to the world, including its promotion to our future host cities. As part of the IAAF’s new strategic plan, we have launched a thorough review of our events and the way we connect these to host cities worldwide. We look forward to working more closely with host cities. This has started already with the launch of the first edition of the World Relay Championships in Nassau, Bahamas in 2014.” 

Greg Curchod, TSE Director, said: “We are pleased to continue working with IAAF and to assist them in better connecting to our large network of ambitious host cities. Athletics events bring great value and so we look forward to helping these events get the visibility they deserve.”

TSE Consulting has worked with the IAAF since 2002, guiding them in the development and implementation of the IAAF Athletics’ World Plan – that had the ten year mission to ensure that, at the time of the IAAF Centenary in 2012, Athletics would continue to remain the number one sport for individuals in a changing world. 

Coca-Cola has increased it’s commitment in the Hispanic market with a new marketing campaign  that celebrates the passion for the sport, the fans and the 30-year relationship with the Mexican National Soccer Team (MNT).

The campaign includes a new television commercial titled “Wave,” that looks to bring people together match after match.

“Seventy percent of the 52 million Hispanics in the U.S. today are Mexican or of Mexican descent, and many continue to follow their team,” said Lauventria Robinson, VP Multicultural Marketing, Coca-Cola North America Group. “Coca-Cola’s involvement in this campaign hits very close to home because we understand the feeling, the excitement, the hope, and the need to cheer and follow the Mexican National Team.”

Shot on location in Mexico City’s fabled Estadio Azteca, “Wave” shows Mexico fans’ unrelenting support for the Mexican National Team. The film starts in 1986, when an avid fan accidentally starts a wave, or “Ola,” after a near miss by Mexico. The wave then travels around the stadium, and also through time. We follow it as it goes through all the decades, taking us into the future, to 2014, where we reconnect with the avid fan from the beginning. Only this time, the fan has his son with him, keeping the support alive. They celebrate a goal with an ice-cold Coca-Cola as it ends with the message, “never stop believing.” “Wave” was created by Ogilvy & Mather.

Coca-Cola has been a partner of the MNT for more than 30 years in Mexico and 10 in the U.S. as part of the Mexican National Team’s annual tour. 

“Coca-Cola has always been part of our fans’ soccer viewing events – it’s simply a natural element of their soccer celebrations,” said Anali Cabrera, Brand Director Multicultural Marketing, Coca-Cola North America Group. “This new spot highlights our commitment to the Latino community, letting them know that we have and will continue to celebrate and support their team.”

The creative will premiere July 1 on Univision Deportes. “Wave” hits billboards July 15 and print Aug. 14.

A new city-based golf league in India is set to debut next month featuring four major winners.

The format is modelled on the country’s Twenty20 cricket league and is the brainchild of Indian golfer Shiv Kapur.

The league could feature former major winners Darren Clarke, Angel Cabrera, Michael Campbell, and Rich Beem.

“When I saw the Indian Premier League, I thought it made cricket look cool. I wanted to do the same in golf, without taking away the seriousness of course,” said Kapur, whose lone Asian Tour win came in 2005.

“It would be a great opportunity for the local players to team up with some of the big names. It would be an experience they would cherish for the rest of their life.”

The inaugural league is scheduled to begin on 8-10 February on a course near Mumbai and will feature two day-night rounds of strokeplay, followed by the third and final round of best-ball format.

Each three-hour round will be played over 14 holes, instead of the regular 18, by the teams comprising four golfers, both local and international, and a player auction is scheduled to take place later this month.

Following a a loss of $36 million this year, Korean Grand Prix organisers have suggested the race will bring long-term benefits.

The event is yet to post a profit since being introduced to the calendar as part of F1’s expansion into Asia. 2010’s race lost an estimated $50 million and that increased to a reported $56 million the following year.

The race has been plagued by a lack of accommodation and poor attendance, whilst the track was barely finished in time for the inaugural Grand Prix and speculation has mounted that it could be dropped from the F1 calendar.

However, organisers say that the losses are only a short-term problem.

“It’s hard to say what kind of impact the loss has on next year,” race organisers said.

“Although there are many concerns regarding the operating loss, the loss for a third straight year is only a short-term effect.

“In the long-term the F1 event will bring more benefits to the country. It will not only pave the way for South Korean car industries in the future but also help foster new industries.”

Bernie Ecclestone has reinforced the seriousness of his desire to see a grand prix in London, viagra saying: “It is no joke.”

Plans for a race on a 5.1km circuit taking in sights including Buckingham Palace, generic Big Ben and Trafalgar Square were unveiled last month.

The event was seen by many as nothing more than a publicity stunt for sponsors Santander, ask but Formula One supremo Ecclestone insists he is pressing ahead with the idea of a London Grand Prix in some form.

“We are getting on with it,” he told the Guardian. “It is no joke, 100% completely no joke.”

Ecclestone also suggested the sport could help to fund the race should it happen.

“With the way things are, maybe we would front it and put the money up for it,” he said.

“If we got the okay and everything was fine, I think we could do that.”

Discuss the issue here… Once around Piccadilly

The NBA Board of Governors have approved the sale of the New Orleans Hornets to Tom Benson, vialis 40mg the league announced.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed off on the state’s capital outlay bill, cheap which included nearly $60 million for improvements to New Orleans Arena, as well as on the extension of the Quality Jobs Tax Credit, both of which were vital in the state’s agreement with the Hornets to extend the lease in the arena through 2024.

According to sources with knowledge of the process, the NBA has been gathering votes all week from the 29 other Board of Governors’ representatives, a formality that can officially consummate the transfer of ownership from the league, which purchased the team in December 2010, to Benson.

 

On April 13, Benson, who also owns the Saints, signed an agreement to purchase the Hornets from the NBA for $338 million.

 

In the intervening months, the legislature debated, and eventually included, capital improvement funding for the arena, which will eliminate state subsidies of potentially $7 million to $8 million annually to assist the Hornets financially, money the team received under terms of the existing lease in the event certain financial levels were not achieved.

 

The building’s improvements are aimed at enabling the Hornets to reap additional revenues through various enhancements.

 

At the same time, the NBA has been vetting Benson, a standard process that customarily takes one to two months, while simultaneously waiting for the legislature to sign off on the funding requirements for arena upgrades.

 

Commissioner David Stern took the unprecedented step of buying the Hornets, then in a state of financial disarray, from founding owner George Shinn, who had offers from out-of-state suitors who intended to buy the team and move it out of New Orleans.

 

Shortly after buying the franchise, and essentially placing it in receivership, Stern put New Orleans native Jac Sperling in charge of finding an owner, preferably locally, who would keep the Hornets in New Orleans, while also attempting to improve the team’s economic condition and negotiating a more favorable lease with the state.

 

In late March, Sperling and team president Hugh Weber announced an agreement in principle with the state regarding a lease extension through 2024, contingent upon the franchise’s sale, state funding for arena improvements and an extension of the Quality Jobs Tax Credit. The tax credit provision, which was originally approved when the Hornets relocated here from Charlotte in 2002, provides the team about $3.6 million in annual tax breaks. It was due to expire this year.

 

Wednesday’s approval by the NBA Board of Governors officially closes the 17-month saga during which the league was almost universally criticized for taking the unique step of owning the team.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has agreed a four-year $14 million sponsorship deal with Aamby Valley, search an affiliate of Sahara India Parivar, sickness and Axiom Technologies. It is the biggest sponsorship deal in Bangladesh cricket.

Sahara replaces Grameenphone which sponsorsed Bangladesh between 2003 and 2011. Sahara won the bid for several rights including branding rights for the national team and the national cricket academy, cialis and title sponsorship and in-stadia sponsorship for 2012-13

Axiom secured title sponsorship and in-stadia sponsorship for 2014 and 2015, and beverage and ticketing rights from 2012 to 2015.

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St Louis Rams will host a regular season game in the United Kingdom in each of the next three years.

The agreement will see St Louis Rams become the first NFL team to play regular-season games abroad on an annual basis.

The first of the series of games pits the Rams against the New England Patriots at London’s Wembley Stadium on October 28th 2012.

There will be further “home games” in the UK in 2013, prescription and 2014 all of which will be played at Wembley.

Wembley Stadium Managing Director Roger Maslin has stated, discount “This deal, which gives Wembley the exclusive staging rights to all NFL games in the UK for the next five years, cements the extremely positive partnership that exists between Wembley and the NFL and is acknowledgement of Wembley’s position as one of most important and iconic sports venues in the world. We are delighted that the success of previous NFL events, combined with our commitment to making improvement year on year, has given the NFL the confidence to expand their presence at Wembley for the next five years. We look forward to being the home away from home for the NFL for many years to come”.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated, “The response to NFL games in the UK among our British fans has been exceptional. We are confident that having the Rams host one game in the UK in each of the next three seasons will allow us to better serve the growing popularity of our sport beyond the borders of the United States”.

The move comes after the NFL owners approved a resolution that authorized the league to schedule regular-season games in the UK in each of the next five years last October.

Rams Owner Stanley Kroenke who has strong ties in the UK capital as majority shareholder of Arsenal FC expressed his contentment with the agreement.

“This is a tremendous honor for our franchise, the city of St. Louis and our fans throughout the world. We are excited about the opportunity to reach new audiences globally. This is a great platform to showcase the city of St. Louis to London and the UK.

“We’ve seen first-hand the increased popularity of the NFL not only in London but throughout Europe. To play a role in that growth over the next three years will be incredible and is a testament to the many good things happening not only in the NFL but also in the St. Louis Rams organization”.

New England Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft also gave his reaction.

“We are honored to be selected for this year’s game and eager to return.

We had such a great experience during our last visit to London. We are proud to have great support from our fans when we are on the road. The United Kingdom is home to some of our most passionate Patriots fans, including the UK Patriots, who are among our most active fan clubs overall, not just overseas. We look forward to another memorable experience.”

There has been increased NFL fan interest in the UK over the past five years with television ratings up 154% in terms of Sunday viewership and a rise of 74% in Super Bowl audience figures since 2006.

The current fan base is understood to be 11 million, based on the number of people who watched NFL programming last season.

NFL Vice President of International Chris Parson explained the thinking behind the decision to host regular season games in the UK.

“When the initial resolution to play international regular-season games was approved in 2006, the thinking at the time was that we would have two new teams every year.

As the series evolved, we saw that having a team return to the UK on a regular basis would increase fan interest for that particular team, which in turn would drive fan growth for the entire league. We are incredibly excited to introduce a young, talented team like the Rams to our UK fans. And to do so against a team with the rich history and tradition of the Patriots makes it even more exciting”.