Basel in Switzerland has been announced as the host of the World Men’s Curling Championship in 2016, sale the World Curling Federation has announced.

The championship will take place between 2-10 April in the St Jakobshalle which has a capacity for 9, ailment 000 spectators.

This will be the third major international curling event hosted by the city, following the World Men’s Curling Championship in 2012 and the 2006 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships.

Significant interest was generated by the World Men’s Curling Championship in Basel in 2012. Over 45,000 people attended the event held in the St Jakobshalle over the nine days of competition. To add to that, TV coverage from the event was viewed by a global cumulative audience of 25 million people in the markets chosen for analysis by the WCF (Canada, Europe & China).

“We are delighted to be returning to Switzerland and the city of Basel for the World Men’s Curling Championship in 2016,” said WCF President Kate Caithness. She continued: “Basel has proven time and time again that it can put on a first class curling event and we look forward to seeing them showcase our sport to the world once again in 2016.”

Bruno Schallberger, President of the local organising committee for the event, is also excited about the event returning to Basel. He said: “I am very proud to welcome the world curling family for the third time to Basel and to Switzerland. We will work very hard to make the World Men’s Curling Championship in 2016 an unforgettable event for the competitors as well as for the spectators and we look forward to seeing you all in Basel in two years time.”

IMG has announced its subsidiary IMG Tennis has bought The AAMI Classic, an eight man singles-only tennis invitational event in Melbourne, Australia.

IMG purchased the tournament from Colin Stubs Enterprises who started the event in 1988 in partnership with the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club (KLTC). As a result, IMG and KLTC will be equal partners in this venture. 

The tournament, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, has been highly successful and over the years has attracted players such as Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer. It is widely considered the premier lead-up event for the world’s top male players to the first Grand Slam of the regular tennis season, The Australian Open, and the only tournament to be held in the same city as the Open, in Melbourne.

“We are very pleased to now own this outstanding event with our partner KLTC,” said Fernando Soler, Senior Vice President and Global Head of IMG Tennis. “It further strengthens IMG’s role in tennis in this important and growing area of the world and continues IMG’s long and successful role in the history of Australian Tennis.”

“We could not ask for a better partner in this outstanding event than IMG,” said Ian Hill, president of the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. Their expertise and global reputation for staging some of the world’s greatest tennis events will surely take the AAMI Classic to new levels.”

The tournament is held annually in January, a week before the Australian Open, on outdoor hard courts at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. Eight invited players participate in the tournament in a promotion/relegation format, playing three matches each over four days to determine the standings from the first place (won all three matches) to the eighth (lost all three matches).

“IMG is excited to take ownership and partner with KLTC on this important event,” said Brian Cooney, Senior Vice President, Director of Tennis. “It is a privilege and honor to follow Colin Stubs as Tournament Director following his 25 years at the helm. The AAMI Classic plays a very important role in the Australian Open Series. In addition, The KLTC is the most prestigious tennis club in Australia and the perfect location for the tournament. I’m looking forward to putting IMG’s stamp on the event.”

The Madeira Islands Open, there will return to Santo da Serra from 16-19 May, ampoule 2013.

Ricardo Santos will be bidding to become the first player to successfully defend the Madeira Islands Open title when Santo da Serra stages the €675,000 tournament for the 18th time next year.

Situated on the beautiful holiday island of Madeira, in the Atlantic Ocean, Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s creation boasts spectacular mountain views, and was recently voted Portugal’s third best course in The Rolex World’s Top 1,000 Golf Courses.

The tournament, which will be held in the same week as the Volvo World Match Play Championship, will again form part of both The European and Challenge Tour Schedules, with the prize money counting towards The Race to Dubai and Challenge Tour Rankings.

António Henriques, President of Club de Golf Santo da Serra, said: “It is with great pleasure that we will host the 21st edition of the Madeira Islands Open on our Championship Course, which was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and welcomes visitors all year round. May is the month of the flower festival which celebrates Madeira’s natural beauty, so it is a perfect time to visit the island.”

Keith Waters, The European Tour’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “The Madeira Islands Open has become an established stop on the Tour Schedule, and provide a welcome opportunity for all of members to play and earn valuable Race to Dubai and World Ranking points.

“The beauty and ambience of the Island makes the week all the more enjoyable. We are grateful for the continued support of the Government and the members of Club de Golf Santo da Serra.”

V8 Supercars will race at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide until at least 2021, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill announced at today’s launch of next March’s event.

The agreement with the South Australian Motorsport Board will assure the multiple award winning Australian icon would continue well past its twenty-first birthday.

“I am pleased to announce that those negotiations have been successful,” Premier Weatherill said.

“The result is that the event is now secure in South Australia for an additional six years, taking its future up to and including a race in 2021.

“We are making a long-term commitment to Australia’s greatest motorsport event.”

Mr Weatherill officially launched the 2013 Clipsal 500 Adelaide program, which will include rock bands Kiss and Motley Crue performing with the Hilltop Hoods, The Angels and Ian Moss.

The 2013 event will mark the beginning of a new era of V8 Supercars, with Nissan and AMG Mercedes joining the traditional rivalry of Holden and Ford.

“The 2013 Clipsal 500 Adelaide will kick off what is always an exciting time to be in Adelaide,” Mr Weatherill said.

V8 Supercar CEO David Malone, said: “It’s fantastic that such an incredible event as Adelaide gets the first opportunity to be part of a new era for V8 Supercars and motorsport in this country.”

“It’s tremendous to see the Premier’s passion for the Clipsal event which has been a massive asset for the state of South Australia over many, many years.

“Premier Weatherill shares the incredible commitment and loyalty to the event of all South Australians; and we absolutely love that pride in the event. The Clipsal 500 is a huge economic driver for South Australia, as are all V8 Supercar events around the country.”

Red Bull Racing drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber unveiled their Wings for Life cars ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

Both will drive their specially-branded RB8s, which each feature more than 25,000 photos that have been sent in by fans, throughout the race weekend. 

Organised for Wings for Life, the charity that is striving to find a cure for spinal cord injury, the initiative was open to fans all over the world who wanted to race with Mark and Sebastian at this year’s Silverstone race and support an incredible cause.

People from around the world have been uploading their photos and donating to Wings for Life. Red Bull Racing matched every donation made and 100% of all donations will go directly to spinal cord injury research projects around the globe. The initiative has raised more than one million Euros.

Every continent is represented on the car and photos were sent from a range of countries, including Costa Rica, Fiji and Guadeloupe. Famous faces on the car include former F1 driver Niki Lauda and footballer Thierry Henry.

Mark Webber commented: “The paint scheme on my car for this weekend looks awesome, the guys have done a great job. It’s great that the fans can travel with me round the circuit for the whole weekend, while supporting an incredible cause – let’s hope the livery gets a good result! I’m proud to be an ambassador for Wings for Life, which is doing fantastic work in its search for a cure for spinal cord injury.”

Sebastian Vettel added: “I think chances like this for the fans to be involved are great – I will have thousands of wing men and women with me on every lap of the track this weekend. The Wings for Life cause is a special one, I care a lot about the work they are doing and have been an ambassador of the charity for many years. It’s great for the fans to be able to join Mark, the Team and me at this year’s race in Silverstone – I’m looking forward to it.”

(dapd) So viele Fans wie noch nie haben in der abgelaufenen Saison die Spiele in derBasketball-Bundesliga gesehen. 1.463.802 Zuschauer kamen zu den 331 Begegnungender Hauptrunde und Playoffs. Pro Spiel entspricht das einem Schnitt von 4.422 Besuchernpro Partie und einer Steigerung gegenüber der Saison 2010/2011 um 9,2 Prozent (4.051).Zuschauerkrösus war Alba Berlin mit 207.475 Anhängern, was einem Schnitt von 10.920Fans pro Spiel entspricht.

Danach folgen Meister Brose Baskets Bamberg (156.340), Finalist ratiopharm Ulm (123.000)und Aufsteiger Bayern München (117.368) auf den Plätzen. “Wir können sehr stolz aufdiese Entwicklung sein. Angesichts der Tatsache, dass neue Arenen, wie beispielsweisein Oldenburg, entstehen oder in Planung sind, bin ich sehr zuversichtlich, dass wir dienoch vorhandene Distanz zur spanischen Liga sukzessive schließen”, sagte Bundesliga-Geschäftsführer Jan Pommer.

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The National Football League is confident it will receive increased offers for new contracts with CBS, NBC and Fox, after ESPN paid a substantial sum for their contract a top executive said.

“I think in the next year or so we will have these deals done,” said Brian Rolapp, head of the NFL’s media business, of impending negotiations with its broadcast partners on the Sunday package of games. The NFL’s current contracts with CBS Corp, News Corp’s Fox and Comcast Corp’s NBC expire after the 2013 season.

Rolapp added that once those deals were done the league will look at selling the TV rights to a new package of Thursday night games.

The NFL in September announced an eight year, $15.2 billion extension with Walt Disney Co’s ESPN for Monday Night Football. The deal, which included additional rights beyond just the TV broadcast, represented a roughly 73 percent increase over the previous contract.

“We think what ESPN paid is an indication of the strength of our product,” Rolapp said, speaking at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York.

ESPN’s willingness to pay what amounts to nearly $2 billion a year underscores the importance of live sports, and particularly the NFL, to TV networks.

Sports is almost always watched live by viewers, which is of immense importance to advertisers and separates it from most programming such as dramas and comedies that are often recorded and watched later.

The NFL has an exclusive negotiating period with partners CBS, Fox and NBC, whose current contracts collectively add up to about $2 billion a year, or the same amount ESPN alone agreed to pay under its new deal. After that it can open up talks with other networks, if necessary.

“Those are all great partners and we hope they remain partners,” Rolapp said of the broadcast trio. “That’s always our goal going into these discussions.”

After avoiding some of the heavy on-field advertising of other sports such as MLS soccer, the NFL is now studying what would be a major sideline sponsorship, Rolapp said.

A deal should be struck before next season that could include rights to sponsor technology such as tablet computers and communications systems used by players and coaches, he said.

Rolapp said he is currently holding talks with a number of technology companies, though he declined to identify them. In the end, a deal could see coaches and players on the sidelines gathered around an iPad from Apple Inc. or an Android device by Google Inc, formulating plays or deconstructing defenses in front of millions of TV viewers.

“That is probably one of our most interesting opportunities,” Rolapp said. “We have had lots of conversations and been approached by, or have approached, a wide swath of technology companies.”

He added, “We want to make sure we get this one right.”

As for the NFL Network, which the league launched eight years ago, Rolapp said that it could expand its current package of seven Thursday night games. He did not rule out, however, that additional Thursday games could be sold to another cable or broadcast network.

The NFL Network’s absence from Time Warner Cable is likely to continue, however, as Rolapp said that discussions with the company over a distribution deal were nonexistent. While most major cable companies now carry the network, talks between the NFL Network and Time Warner Cable to end their standoff broke down earlier this year.