NFL (National Football League) has reneged on its game-time prohibition of Twitter and encouraged players to tweet during the 2012 Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Sunday, cough January 29th.

The step is a huge volte-face for the league. The current social media rules stipulate that through preseason, there regular season and the play-offs all players are banned from using any such networking websites from 90 minutes before kick-off through until the cessation of post-game media commitments.

In 2010, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was fined $25,000 for tweeting during a preseason game in violation of the NFL social media policy and possession of an electronic device.

Ochocinco’s teammate Terrell Owens was also fined $5,000 in the same year for using Twitter within of the 90-minute “pre-game window”.

On Sunday, however, NFL will install computers on each sideline to allow all Pro Bowl players to utilise Twitter during commercial breaks or when their offensive or defensive unit is not in play. Players must use the official outlets to enter any social media post; participation is voluntary.

League spokesman Brian McCarthy stated, “Players are encouraged to interact with fans, teammates and opponents during the game, and can also update on Facebook”.

“We are always looking for ways to bring fans closer to the game and the players,” McCarthy added. “The nature of the Pro Bowl enables us to have players tweet during the game.”

At present, McCarthy claims “the league has no intention to adopt a similar approach for preseason, regular season or postseason games”.

The Pro Bowl includes selected players from the American Football Conference and National Football Conference as voted for by the fans. (No players affiliated with this year’s Super Bowl teams, the New York Giants and New England Patriot will be in participation as preparation is already under way for the NFL championship game on Sunday, February 5th).

The 2011 Pro Bowl secured the game’s highest average rating for fourteen years with an average of 13.4 million viewers.

The Turkish soccer match-fixing scandal has taken another twist today as Turkish police have detained the chairman of Trabzonspor, widening an investigation which has already put 26 people in jail pending trial and left Turkish soccer in disarray.

The major nationwide investigation has plunged preparations for the new season into chaos less than a month before kick-off and could result in champions Fenerbahce being stripped of their title.

The detention of Trabzonspor’s Sadri Sener came just hours after the chairman of Fenerbahce, Aziz Yildirim, was remanded in custody on charges of match-fixing and forming a criminal organisation.

Trabzon’s Sener was on a list of 22 people who were expected to be held in a second wave of detentions a week after police launched their first raids.

Police also detained the former Turkish Football Federation chairman Mahmut Ozgener at his home in the Aegean province of Izmir and were bringing him to Istanbul.

Shares in Fenerbahce tumbled on the Istanbul Stock Exchange last week on speculation it could be stripped of its title.

Shares in Trabzonpsor, runners-up last season, rose last week on speculation they could be awarded the title but they fell 5.5 percent on Monday after the detention of its chairman. Fenerbahce dipped 2.8 percent.

Other Fenerbahce board members are also among the 26 people who have been remanded in custody after police raids a week ago, prompted by evidence of manipulation in 19 matches.

Angry Fenerbahce supporters demonstrated in their thousands in streets near the club’s stadium after the court ruling on Yildirim. The club won the league for a record 18th time last season.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a member of the Fenerbahce congress, has called on fans to respect the judicial process and has said the match-fixing affair has stained Turkey’s image.

Meanwhile, European soccer’s governing body UEFA has set a deadline of July 15 for confirmation of the team taking part in the third Champions League qualifying round.

Those already jailed pending trial now include four Fenerbahce executives, the chairman of Sivasspor, the coach of Eskisehirspor, Sivasspor’s goalkeeper and the former chairmen of Diyarbakirspor and Giresunspor.

Soccerex has secured a deal with KantarSport become the convention’s official research partner, providing insight into media trends and consumption, consumer awareness, engagement and behaviour to sporting federations, rights holders, clubs, teams, venues and sponsors around the world.

The partnership will begin at this month’s European Forum in Manchester on March 30-31 and Soccerex will cover all events this year.

Richard Brinkman, head of KantarSport, stated: “Football has always, and continues to be, the dominant player in not only our business, but for sponsorship globally. Therefore it is only natural that we should link up with the world’s largest dedicated football networking organisation since both ourselves and Soccerex are dedicated to giving the football industry insight into future trends and development.”

Soccerex marketing director David Wright added: “We are extremely pleased to be working with KantarSport, their specialist knowledge and insights into the industry will help us to improve our offering to football’s business elite even further.”

THE 2010 Grand Slam of Darts will be sponsored by the UK newspaper, cialis Daily Mirror.

The tournament, bronchi broadcast live in the UK on ITV4 from 13th to 21st November, order will now be named the Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts.

The Daily Mirror will celebrate their sponsorship of the Grand Slam of Darts with an eight-page pull-out about the event in Tuesday’s newspaper, beginning their comprehensive coverage of the tournament.

“We’re delighted to welcome the Daily Mirror as the title sponsors of the Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts,” said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

“The tournament has grown in stature since being introduced in 2007 and to have the backing of such a highly-respected major national newspaper is a further indication of its popularity.

“Darts provides sponsors with outstanding value for money, which is of critical importance in these challenging times and we look forward to a long and successful relationship with the Daily Mirror.”

The estimated £450,000 deal was brokered by Mean Broadcast and gives the paper naming rights, full branding at the event and on tickets as well as broadcast advertising opportunities.

Rugby World Cup matches for the 2011 and 2015 tournaments will be televised by Universal Sports and NBC, bronchi the International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced.

Matches for the 2011 tournament in New Zealand and 2015 tournament in England will now be shown by US network television for the first time, prostate as the popularity of rugby has grown worldwide over the last few years.

NBC will broadcast the final of both tournaments, while Universal Sports will show all 48 matches from the events.

Universal Sports Chief Executive David Sternberg said: “This is a very significant rights acquisition for Universal Sports, especially given the growing popularity of rugby around the World and in America.

“We are delighted to be partnering with the IRB for the Rugby World Cup and other top events, and we look forward to showcasing global rugby, at its highest level, for our audiences across all of our platforms – television, online and mobile.”

The Welsh Rugby Union have appointed Anthony Buchanan (Llanelli) and Gareth Davies (Newport Gwent Dragons) to two WRU National Director positions available with two new District Appointed Directors in Chris Morgan and David Young also voted in.

The 18-strong board will be reformed with its new members at the WRU’s AGM on Sunday 19th October, with the incumbents remaining in position until that time.

Buchanan and Davies won the vote over David Pickering (current WRU chairman, who will now stand down in October), Dai Davies (Newtown) and Dennis Jones (Cefneithin) for the two WRU National Appointed Director positions.

Three of the WRU’s current District Representatives who, like Pickering, had completed current three year terms, stood unopposed. They are consequently installed for a further three year term following the AGM they are: Ken Hewitt, Ray Wilton and Richard Gwynn.

WRU President, Mr Dennis Gethin, is unopposed and will therefore continue to serve in office for a further three year term following the AGM.

Pickering will now relinquish his position as chairman of the WRU following October’s AGM and leaves the WRU Board after a 15 year term, although he will remain on the board of Rugby World Cup ltd, to which he was appointed by the International Rugby Board.

An IRB council member for over 10 years he will go down in history as one of the national game’s most distinguished leaders with a truly global reputation.

The former Wales captain was appointed WRU chairman in 2003 and has presided over a new golden era of international success.

“I want to be the first to publicly congratulation both Anthony and Gareth on winning the vote,” said Pickering.

“I know both of them personally, they are great rugby men and I will be offering them all the help I can as they join the board of the Welsh Rugby Union.”

Pickering has represented the WRU on the IRB council for ten years and also held the honour of being chairman of the Six Nations for a record 4 years; one of his key achievements on behalf of Welsh rugby was to secure the hosting of RWC matches in Cardiff in 2007 – a feat he has managed to repeat for England 2015.

He will continue in office until October, when he says he will bring a series of governance reforms to the attention of the WRU’s AGM with a view to passing a series of measures.

The Group Chief Executive of the Welsh Rugby Union, Roger Lewis, said: “The clubs of Welsh rugby have spoken in an open and transparent election process.

“I want to personally thank David Pickering for his exceptional service to the game in Wales as a player and an administrator who has earned the respect of all involved in rugby.

“He has chaired the WRU and the Millennium Stadium boards with great distinction over the past twelve years. Under his chairmanship Wales has won three Grand Slams, reached a Rugby World Cup semi-final and has supported community rugby with record investments.

“I also wish to congratulate Anthony and Gareth who are two rugby men who made their reputations as players and, off the field, either through coaching or administration. I also give my best wishes to David
Young and Chris Morgan and welcome them onto the Board as district representatives.”

The American Athletic Conference (AAC) has agreed a new multi-year extension with IMG College for the marketing and sponsorship rights

The conference has partnered with IMG College since 2006 for its promotion and marketing rights.

The agreement, effective immediately through the 2017-’18 academic year, encompasses sales and marketing rights for each of The American’s postseason championships, including the 2014 American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championship in Memphis, Tenn., and the first Women’s Basketball Championship in Uncasville, Conn. The agreement also includes the American Athletic Conference Football Championship, which will begin with the 2015 football season, and all Olympic sport championships.

“This is yet another extremely significant step as we continue to rebrand our conference,” said AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco. “IMG College is the unrivaled industry leader in collegiate marketing. Just as we have done previously through our television partnerships with ESPN and CBS Sports, we are proud to align ourselves with an organization that has set the standard for marketing and brand management in intercollegiate athletics.”

“We are honored to consummate this agreement with the American Athletic Conference and look forward to helping this league extend its reach to the 190 million college sports fans around the nation,” said Ben Sutton Jr., President of IMG College. “We will collaborate as a unified team to create new marketing opportunities aimed at adding value, exposure, and additional revenue for the Conference.”