Sports data company Sportradar have signed an agreement with the Thai Premier League Company Limited to employ its Fraud Detection System (FDS) to monitor betting activity related to the Toyota Thai Premier League 2014 season. 

The agreement builds on Sportradar’s existing partnerships in the region with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Football Federation Australia (FFA), apoplectic and under it Sportradar will scrutinise betting behaviour and patterns for all 380 games of the season, including those games that were completed earlier in the year. 

Speaking about the partnership, Sportradar’s Managing Director Strategy and Integrity Andreas Krannich said: “Thailand has been recognised by the AFC as a Tier One League, commercially and professionally speaking. It is encouraging that with this maturity comes a recognition of the importance of integrity. The Toyota Thai Premier League is taking the front foot to ensure that its competition can be trusted and enjoyed by fans. We are delighted that they in turn have trusted us to support their commitment and we look forward to working with them this year”. 

At the signing ceremony, President of the Toyota Thai Premier League Ong-Arj Kosinkar added: “The integrity of the Toyota Thai Premier League and its matches is paramount. We will not compromise on this. As we grow the popularity of this competition, it is important that we remain vigilant to dangers. This is why we immediately looked to Sportradar. Their Fraud Detection System is trusted by federations, leagues and sports around the world and their support and expertise will bolster our defences. Sportradar will give us the inside track and that is invaluable as our league goes from strength to strength.”

World Snooker have announced the Players Championship, look the conclusion to the European and Asian Tour series, treat will not be staged in Thailand in March due to political unrest in the country. 

The 32-man tournament was due to take place in Bangkok from March 25-29, but World Snooker have now been advised not to stage the event in Thailand. 

Negotiations are taking place with alternative venues in the UK and Europe and a new location for the £300,000 event will be announced as soon as possible. 

The tournament will feature 24 players qualified from the European Tour Order of Merit plus eight players from the Asian Tour Order of Merit, with the winner to receive £100,000.

National Hockey League’s (NHL) Phoenix Coyotes are set to stay in Glendale, Arizona as the city council passed a new arena lease.

The Glendale City Council voted 4-3 to approve a 15-year, $225 million lease deal for Jobing.com Arena to Renaissance Sports & Entertainment a.k.a. IceArizona, the NHL-backed group that will take over the Coyotes and keep them in Glendale.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers summed up the city’s exhausted approach to the latest Phoenix Coyotes ownership group, bidding to keep the team in Glendale: “I don’t know if we’re fixing a problem or delaying a problem.” 

The deal was approved without the controversial “out clause” the city asked for, allowing it to end the lease after five years. That was removed in the approved deal, although IceArizona continues to have one of their own in the lease, in which they can leave in the fifth year if the team loses $50 million.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke before the council on Tuesday. “Through the fits, the starts, the ups and downs, we’ve had incredible support from the fans in the Valley,” he said. “In the face of all the uncertainty, the fans and the business community were supportive.”

The whole procedure, which started in May 2009, has taken over four years to get to this stage.

us ends an ordeal that began in May 2009 for the NHL.

Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook has agreed to appear in a advertising campaign with Champs Sports and the Jordan brand.

The 30-second television commercial serves as the centerpiece for the campaign. It centers on a high school basketball player picking up the latest Jordan brand gear at a Champs Sports store. Once he dons fresh apparel featuring the iconic Jumpman logo, the teen looks into a mirror and sees Westbrook staring back. Through several fast-paced sequences that follow, the player morphs into Westbrook while driving to the basket in practice, leading his basketball team in a pre-game ritual and hoisting a state championship banner in front of hundreds of applauding classmates. At the end, the player spots Westbrook roaming the halls of his school and gives him a nod as a show of respect.

The spot will debut online through digital media placements appearing on the sites of key sports and lifestyle media partners beginning May 15. It will begin airing in cinema May 17 and on network and cable TV broadcasts, including the NBA Conference Finals, starting May 20.

“Champs Sports is an unrivaled destination for Jordan brand product. And we’re extremely excited to be working on this campaign with Russell, who really personifies on-court and off-court Game,” said Frank Bracken, vice president of marketing, Champs Sports. “We think this program will really connect with our consumer because of the great product that’s featured, the vivid color stories, and the clever use of Russell in the creative. And our ability to tell this campaign story through TV, cinema, digital and social media means we can surround the consumer with our story in the most relevant media places this summer.”

The lead agency for the campaign is Zambezi. The commercial was produced by Mothership and Digital Domain and was filmed at Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City on April 2. Rapper T.I.’s “Go Get It” serves as the commercial’s soundtrack.

The inaugural Chiangmai Golf Classic will be launched in Thailand in March, capsule 2013 in another positive development which underscores the strength of the Asian Tour as it expands professional golf in the Kingdom and across the region, online officials announced today.

The full-field Asian Tour event will be held at the magnificent Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai, store which is situated in northern Thailand, from March 28-31 and offer a total prize fund of US$750,000.

Organizers will assemble a collection of international stars along with the region’s elite players led by Thai heroes Thongchai Jaidee and Thaworn Wiratchant to grace the Chiangmai Golf Classic.

In conjunction with IMG, who is the event promoter, Asia’s newest showpiece will be broadcast live over four days on the Asian Tour’s global television platform which reaches over 200 countries and 650 million homes. This will ensure the Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai and the picturesque city of Chiangmai, which the Asian Tour will visit for the first time, are beamed throughout the world.

The launch of Thailand’s newest tournament will raise the number of Asian Tour events in the country to four, which will boost Thai players’ aspirations to qualify for the Olympic Games in 2016 through the Official World Golf Ranking.

Asian Tour Executive Chairman Kyi Hla Han said the birth of the Chiangmai Golf  Classic was another strong endorsement from corporate Asia towards professional golf at the highest level in the region.

“We are delighted to announce the inclusion of the Chiangmai Golf Classic on our 2013 Schedule. I would like to thank Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai and IMG for delivering a new and exciting tournament in Thailand, which is one of our biggest partners in developing professional golf in Asia,” said Han.

“This will be our first visit to Chiangmai and we look forward to competing and entertaining fans at the Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai. The launch of a new event is fantastic and exciting for the Asian Tour and our players. It will have a positive effect on the game here and inject new impetus for many more great players to emerge from the Kingdom.”

Alpine Golf Group’s Udomsak Ngowsiri said: “On behalf of Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai, we are delighted to partner the Chiangmai Golf Classic as the host venue. It will be memorable to stage Chiangmai’s first Asian Tour tournament and we will leave no stones unturned to ensure the Chiangmai Golf Classic is launched successfully. The tournament will extensively promote Thailand and Chiangmai as a leading golfing destination through the global live television broadcasts.”

Thongchai, the only player to win three Asian Tour Order of Merit crowns, said: “The launch of the Chiangmai Golf Classic is a wonderful development for the game as it shows the growing strength of the Asian Tour which continues to create playing opportunities for Thai players and Asian Tour members. I am looking forward to playing in a new destination in Thailand which will promote the game further afield in our country.”

IMG Senior Vice President, Grant Slack, said: “We believe the Chiangmai Golf Classic will positively impact the landscape of golf in Thailand and Asia, as achieved by other major events which IMG are involved in such as last week’s very successful Thailand Golf Championship on the Asian Tour and the long-running Honda LPGA.

“IMG is proud to add another Asian Tour event in a new and very beautiful area of Thailand and to be able to provide further playing opportunities for golfers in the region.

“Sponsors continue to support the game at the highest level in Asia via the Asian Tour. Through Asian Tour Media, which will produce the live television broadcasts, the Chiangmai Golf Classic will be beamed to every corner of the world which will place Chiangmai and Thailand firmly on the world’s golfing map.”

The Chiangmai Golf Classic will be a 72-hole strokeplay tournament showcasing 144 players with the leading 94 Asian Tour players featuring in the elite field alongside 10 players from the top-200 of the Official World Golf Ranking, 30 players from Thailand and 10 sponsor’s invitations.

Sauber Formula One team has said Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi’s future will not be decided based on the sponsorship funds he can raise for the team.

The team principal, vcialis 40mg Monisha Kaltenborn, said when the team signed Kobayashi in 2010 he had no sponsors and were fully aware of his sponsorship status.

Kobayashi has reportedly been courting potential sponsors in Japan and may well be looking at opportunities with other F1 teams next season.{jcomments on}

Waddell & Reed has picked up another $500 million stake in Formula One increasing their aggregate stake to 20.9%. 

CVC Capital Partners has nearly halved its stake in Formula One over the course of the year, thanks to the investment firm. 

CVC had a 63% stake in Formula One, but this latest news, which follows on from May’s $1.6 billion deal with Waddell & Reed, BlackRock, and Norway’s Norges Bank Investment Management, sees the private equity firm’s total share in the business reduced to 35%.

According to the financial analysts at Reuters, this latest deal with Waddell & Reed will reduce the pressure on CVC to get F1 listed on the Singapore stock market. The Formula One IPO expected to take place this summer was delayed two weeks ago following concerns about stability in the markets; as yet there is no news concerning a revised schedule for the flotation.

With a 21% stake in the business, Waddell & Reed are now part owners of Formula One. The investment management firm, which is based in Kansas, is itself a publicly traded company. One of the core elements of their business is retirement planning and pension packages. As such, many of their investments are businesses with long-term growth potential.

The fact that Waddell & Reed have decided to acquire a sizeable stake in Formula One speaks volumes about their confidence in the future viability of the sport.

London’s O2 Arena will host the 2013 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Fours, Europe’s premier basketball event, with a mutual option to hold the 2014 edition.

Euroleague Basketball and AEG will join forces to put on the tournament in the 20,000-seat indoor arena which will host the basketball and gymnastics at the 2012 London Olympics and staged a series of NBA exhibition games..

It is the first time a European basketball title game will take place in the United Kingdom and the announcement took place in Istanbul ahead of this year’s final on Sunday.

The event features the best four teams from the Turkish Airlines Euroleague season as well as the annual Nike International Junior Tournament and other parallel events.

Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO, said: “Six years ago we signed a strategic agreement with AEG, which has already borne wonderful fruit.

“In these six years we have worked together, with AEG as both consultants to our teams to maximize their arena resources and as hosts for our Final Fours.

“After our very successful Final Fours in Berlin and Paris, in which AEG has displayed great efficiency and professionalism in developing such a major event like the Final Four, we arrive at the opportunity to host it at London’s magnificent O2, one of the most modern and spectacular arenas in the world.

“I am confident that the Final Four, which is already an unforgettable experience for Turkish Airlines Euroleague fans, will take another step forward in London.

“We’re trying to help the growth of basketball in the UK and this is one of the ways we can make a contribution.

“The success of the NBA games proves that the interest is there from the public. The British team participating in the Olympics has to add value to promoting the game.”

Jay Marciano, President & CEO AEG Europe, said: “We’re very excited to announce that AEG and the O2 will be hosting the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four in both 2013 and 2014.

“Whilst The O2 is no stranger to basketball – it has hosted regular season NBA games and is gearing up for the London 2012 basketball finals –we are proud that Euroleague Basketball have, for the first time, chosen to hold the Final Four at the O2 for the next few seasons.

“I’m personally looking forward to building upon this great relationship after two extremely successful Final Fours organized jointly at the O2 World Berlin in 2009 and at the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy in 2010.”