Bernie Ecclestone visited the London’s Olympic Park on the weekend against a backdrop of F1 being considered as one of four bids involved in the legacy planning of the site once the 2012 games are over.

The F supremo was impressed by the number of people supporting the London games. “It’s surprising how many people have come out,” he said. “It’s good. I’m sure we’d get big crowds.”

The Intelligent Transport Services company is the driving force behind the F1 project and Ecclestone added: “Somebody is looking about going into the centre of the arena and out again, so whether it’s going to happen or not, we’ll have to look and see.”

The other three bids related to the future of the site are all soccer-based, with West Ham United being favourites. Leyton Orient are also in the bidding, as well as the University College of Football Business. An F1 future for the site is thus regarded as being a long shot.

The 80,000 capacity Olympic Stadium will be reduced to 60,000 after the games, will retain its running track and will host the World Athletic Championships in 2017.

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) has said that it is possible that more than one bid will be successful. The two football clubs have ruled out a ground share, however, to potentially a joint lease deal may prove possible if permission was forthcoming for the running of a London-based grand prix in and around the stadium site.

Such approval would not be the work of a moment, however, and the LLDC has said that a decision is expected by autumn.

The Philippines is behind only China and the US and the world’s the top NBA follower on social networking sites.

Outside China and the US, the Philippines has the most Facebook followers of the NBA, ahead of Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico and France.

The island nation leads Indonesia, Brazil, the United Kingdom and India in terms of twitter followers.

Around 280 million fans follow the NBA on social networking sites worlwide.

Miami Heat’s Filipino-American, Erik Spoelstra, coach said: “The one thing about the Philippines is they are rabid basketball fanatics, and it’s been that way for a while. They’ve been following us now for the last couple years as well.”

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Croke Park bosses are optimistic of staging an NFL game in 2013 following the American Football organisation’s decision not to come to Dublin in 2012.

NFL heads have been looking for a second European venue to host a game in 2012 with Croke Park touted as a possibility but in a year crammed with sporting events and with a college football game already scheduled for Dublin this autumn, NFL bosses have decided to defer any further expansion.

On Friday the NFL confirmed details of this year’s International Series in Wembley when the St Louis Rams take on the New England Patriots this October, the first of the annual “home” games which the Rams have signed up to play in London over the next three seasons.

The announcement came as no surprise to Peter McKenna, stadium director of Croke Park, who said that the Dublin bid committee have been looking beyond 2012 for some time now.

“There has been an ongoing dialogue between ourselves and the NFL, so we’ve been aware for a while now of their decision to only hold one game in Europe in 2012,” McKenna said.

“There’s a lot of activity in the European sports market in 2012, which they had to take account of. But we’re still very much in the running for 2013, so we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to bring the NFL to Dublin then.”

The case for a Dublin game in 2013 gathered pace earlier this week when Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II conceded that any game involving his franchise was “more likely” to happen next year, thus avoiding a clash with the college game between Notre Dame and Navy in the Aviva Stadium on 1 September.

Rooney’s father — Dan Rooney, the American Ambassador to Ireland — has made no secret of his desire to bring the Steelers to Dublin, but the final call on teams and a venue will be “very much an NFL decision,” McKenna says.

No timeline for a final decision on 2013 has been set by the NFL, although a date in January or February of next year would be in keeping with previous announcements. Details of Wembley’s first-ever American football game, between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins in 2007, were publicly confirmed in February of that year.

Regardless of when the decision is made, Croke Park will be prepared, McKenna insists.

“From a stadium perspective, we’d certainly be able to manage a quick turnaround and get ready in a short space of time. From a marketing perspective, I’d imagine that the sooner plans are put in place, the better,” he added.

“But the NFL are experts at this, they know exactly what they’re doing.”

An estimated 10,000 American football fans are due in Dublin for Notre Dame v Navy this autumn, providing a much-needed cash injection for the Irish economy. Considering the bigger stadium capacity and the higher profile of an NFL regular-season match, a successful bid by Croke Park is projected to be worth about €50 ($65m) million, although McKenna admits that “it’s very hard to know.”

“At an estimate, it might generate somewhere in the region of €50 ($65m) million. There’d be a lot of visitors flying in and that will obviously be of huge benefit for hotels, restaurants, bars, taxis. It’s a multi-million euro stimulus anyway.”

Whats your take on NFL’s latest expansion plans, discuss here

Three Besiktas officials have been arrested as the match-fixing investigation that has shocked Turkish football continues.

Soccerex has announced that Eurosport, Europe’s leading sports entertainment group, has become the Premium Media Partner for the Soccerex European Forum until 2014.

Under the terms of the three-year partnership, Eurosport will provide news coverage of the Soccerex European Forum, 30-31 March 2011, Manchester, across their channels as well as broadcasting a dedicated programme on the Forum post-event.

The European Forum brings together the leaders of the soccer industry, from some of the biggest clubs, brands, leagues and federations from across Europe and the World for two-days at the Manchester Central.

Soccer is key to Eurosport’s editorial strategy and this year Eurosport’s TV soccer offering includes the FIFA Women’s World Cup, live Bundesliga, as well as the award-winning interview series Eurogoals One-to-One.

David Wright, Marketing Director at Soccerex commented: “I am delighted to be working with Eurosport. They are a great partner for Soccerex as there is a natural synergy between the two brands – in particular with the European Forum. Eurosport is a recognised brand in the football industry and this partnership will bring great positive attention to our Forum and will also provide fans across Europe with exclusive Soccerex content for the next 3 years.”

Heather Bowler, Eurosport’s Global Communications Director, added: “Football is a pillar sport for Eurosport and it makes perfect sense for us to partner with Soccerex, a global leader in the business of football. The European Forum is an opportunity to showcase our superb year-round multi-platform football offer featuring top football live events, coverage and news on our TV, online and mobile platforms.”

Brewer Fosters Group has signed an agreement between its beer VB and Surfing Australia.

The new deal guarantees VB the tag as “The Beer” of Surfing Australia for the next three years, discount along with its state branches (NSW, allergist VIC, TAS and WA).

VB will be supporting the grass roots of Australian surfing via the new Surfing Australia “VB Boardriders Club” program.

Surfing Australia CEO Andrew Stark said he was excited to be partnering with VB.

“VB is such an iconic national brand and a great partner for the iconic national sport of surfing,” he said. “This sponsorship will flow down to state branches, grass roots club surfing and even something for the recreational surfing community. The partnership greatly assists Surfing Australia with its mission to develop the sport across Australia.”

Fosters Group representative Paul Donaldson said working with Surfing Australia would allow VB to reach the lifeblood of Australian surfing.

“VB is keen to really support grass roots surfing in Australia. You won’t see VB logo’s on the boards of the next super-grom – that’s not what this is all about. We want to support the clubs and surfers who are in the carpark at Winkipop, Newcastle or Yallingup at 6am in the middle of winter and run the club events rain, hail or shine. We know VB is loved by many real surfers all over the country, so this is one way we can give something back for all their support over decades. After all, there is simply nothing better than an ice cold stubby or longneck after a long session.”

Adding to the agreement, VB will be offering support sponsorship to the Australian Surfing Festival, comprising of the Australian Longboard, Open Surfmasters and Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) Titles, as well as an array of events on the state branch calendars and Australian surfing’s night of nights, the Australian Surfing Awards.

The deal also incorporates VB’s support sponsorship of some of the country’s most iconic events including the Margaret River Prime Pro Surfing event in Western Australia and the Noosa Festival of Surfing in Queensland.

Financial details of the deal were not released