With the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games set to begin next week, medic the organisers are confident they will deliver the event within budget.
First Minister Alex Salmond, asthma chaired the final meeting of the Glasgow 2014 Strategic Group at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow this morning. The venue is going through its final preparations to transform into a spectacular sporting stage for the Commonwealth’s top rhythmic gymnasts who start competing there from next Thursday.
It was confirmed that a provision of £5.2 million would be put in place to be managed at Games time by the Games Executive Committee (GEC) which has the delegated authority of the Strategic Group.
Following the meeting the First Minister also announced a £3.5million investment from the Special Reserve to improve the spectator experience by increasing transport and traffic services, including enhancements to Park and Ride facilities. The Special Reserve was created as a fund of £23.84m which forms part of the Games’ overall budget.
First Minister Alex Salmond said: “Around 4,500 athletes from 71 competing Commonwealth nations and territories will compete in Glasgow and it gives me enormous pleasure to say Scotland is ready to host the greatest Games ever.
“A tremendous amount of work has gone into delivery of this sporting event over the last seven years and I’m delighted to announce that these Games are on time and within budget. That is an almost unprecedented position for a major event of this type and is testament to the immense planning, knowledge, expertise and sheer determination that everyone involved in the Games has shown.
“The eyes of the world will be on Scotland and we are ready to shine! With over a million tickets sold and 15,000 clyde-sider volunteers starting to play their part in making the Games a great success, the city is abuzz with anticipation.
“This is the biggest sporting and cultural event Scotland has hosted and this Government is determined to maximise benefits beyond 2014. The delivery on the Games is on track and the economic impact is already being felt across our communities. Glasgow 2014 is something for the whole country to be proud of and I for one cannot wait for the action to begin and to get behind Team Scotland.”
Lord Smith of Kelvin KT, Chairman of the Glasgow 2014 Organising committee said: “With five days to go until the start of Scotland’s biggest and most popular sporting festival the people of Glasgow and Scotland can take real pride in the history-making Games that, together, we have created for the Commonwealth.
“As an Organising Committee we set out with a vision of delivering an athlete centred, sports focused Games of world-class competition that would be celebrated across the Commonwealth and create enormous pride in Glasgow and Scotland and leaving a lasting legacy.
“Thanks to the people of Glasgow and Scotland, a world-class stage is now set. We are redefining the Commonwealth Games for a new generation.”
The Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will take place between 23 July – August 3.
The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) has today unveiled its brand new logo.
The logo – made up of five interlocking ribbons forming a globe, apoplectic each one representing one of the five Continental Associations – reflects the dynamism of the organisation and the universality of its global membership of 204 NOCs.
Speaking about the new ANOC logo, anesthetist ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said: “This is a very significant moment in the history of ANOC and our Association’s evolution. We wanted our logo to reflect the modern and professional era that ANOC began at the XVIII General Assembly in 2012 and this logo does just that.
“It symbolises many of our values such as cooperation, price innovation, transparency and respect while keeping at its very heart what is most important to us: serving the world’s NOCs and their athletes.
“The logo was unanimously approved by the ANOC Executive Council in Kuwait in March and the feedback we have received has been excellent. Our members can see that it is yet another example of ANOC delivering on its promises to reform for the benefit of the NOCs. We worked in very close collaboration with the IOC during the approval process and now that it has been ratified by the IOC we look forward to implementing it with immediate effect.”
The logo is one of many tangible reforms ANOC will be delivering in the coming months as part of its ongoing commitment to modernisation. The new look will feature heavily in the launch of ANOC’s new website later this month and in July’s inauguration of ANOC’s new headquarters in the heart of the Olympic Capital, Lausanne.
The iSportconnect Digital Media and Technology Masterclass sessions in association with LG Electronics proved to be a huge success, no rx with around 50 delegates debating best practise.
Attendees included 50 IT / Digital Media Directors from Arsenal, ambulance AS Roma, viagra AC Milan, AEG, BOA, Bwin, European PGA Tour, England & Welsh Cricket Board, FINA, IRB, Liverpool FC, Man United, Man City, NBA, Premier League, QBE, Red Bull & UEFA.
The day started with presentations from Paul Rogers, Head of International Digital Development at Liverpool Football Club and Jonathan Levy, Global Business and Communications Director of The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. The pair offered great insights on how they have tapped into the potential of digital media.
Rogers (pictured above) talked to the delegates about how Liverpool has created an international digital presence that satisfies their global fan base. The club have localised their content rather than simply translating the main English site into different languages. This means that content is more relevant to fans across the world. The same has been done on Facebook and as a result Liverpool have incredible engagement on the social media website. As Rogers said, research shows “the Thailand Facebook page is more engaged than the other 19 Premier League clubs combined.”
For Levy (pictured above) and the Clipper Race, digital media needs to be used differently. Levy explained how a niche sport is making use of new technologies to keep their fans, sponsors, partners and crew members happy and engaged. Levy commented that they are “driven by our followers” on social media and that the race has learned to respond rapidly, be transparent and far more.
Following the presentations, the room of delegates, who all work in digital media and technology, gathered to listen to the Digital Media Panel discussion, sponsored by Omnigon. The panel consisted of Richard Clarke, Managing Editor at Arsenal FC, Jo Binding, Head of Media at Manchester City and Mark Lichtenhein, CIO – Head of TV, Digital Media and Technology for the PGA European Tour.
The panel brought their collective experience from two vastly different sports to talk about how they are engaging with fans and the business models they are applying to monetise digital media as best as they can. Clarke used examples of various Arsenal videos that were well received by fans including a short clip of their fans celebrating victory over arch rivals Tottenham. The panel agreed that sometimes content can come out of nowhere and as long as you have great members of staff, this can be turned around quickly and do surprisingly well on social channels.
Lichtenhein also highlighted the difficulties that golf has and said it was critical for golf to find ways of enhancing the user experience, when they do not have stadiums to engage with their fans. Interestingly Binding said she looks at other brands from outside sport to take ideas from, including the Science Museum and Tesco.
Technology, monetisation and CRM
(Pictured L-R Sanjeev Katwa, IT Director at City Football Group, David Jones, Vice President of IT for AEG Europe & Daniel Marion, Head of IT at UEFA.)
The second session of the day was the iSportconnect Technology Masterclass in Association with LG Electronics. With a panel of Daniel Marion, Head of IT at UEFA, Sanjeev Katwa, IT Director at City Football Group and David Jones, Vice President of IT for AEG Europe.
Despite “everyone expecting to be connected in a stadium” according to Marion, sports venues in Europe are far behind their US counterparts in this field. The discussion focused on how sports and entertainment venues can make a business case to install technology including LED screens and Wi-Fi.
As Katwa highlighted, “Wi-Fi is very popular in US venues, but that is not the same in European stadiums.” One of the difficulties that was discussed in depth was the cost of installing Wi-Fi in venues like The O2, which is run by AEG, when technology is constantly changing. Then the panel discussed the importance of knowing your customers and how CRM is helping them build a technology business model.
(Pictured L-R Matthew Baxter, Liverpool FC Chief Media Officer, Paul Rogers & Xavi Garcia, Euroleague Head of IT)
The panel also informed delegates of initiatives they have implemented to try and enhance their technologies and improve fan engagement. Jones said The O2 is looking at airline style upgrade packages, which will allow both them and the fan to benefit from discounted prices and a better experience.
Over at City, Katwa described their fanzone as on a different level to most teams in the Premier League. The fanzone means supporters are staying and engaging with Manchester City for around six hours on a matchday, with food, drink and entertainment before and after the game.
iSportconnect would like to thank all of our panellists, delegates and partners for another fantastic Masterclass session. Video highlights will be available through iSportconnect TV soon. We look forward to seeing you all for the iSportconnect Stadia Masterclass in association with Populous.
( Pictured L-R Charlie Greenwood, AEG Europe Director of Digital, Chris Pearson, NBA & Chris Ault from LG Electronics)
(Hywel Sloman, Arsenal Football Club IT Director)
( iSportconnect partner, Huggity CEO, Mike Sikorski & Neal Herman, Manchester Utd Head of Mobile Products)
(Daniele Sano, Bwin Party Head of Sponsorship & Events)
(Pictured L- R Giuliano Giorgetti, AC Milan Head of Digital with Paul Rogers & Matthew Baxter from Liverpool FC)
(Nick Mott, Sponsorship Manager – Corporate Communications at QBE)
(Harold De Vries, B2B Marketing Manager at LG Electronics)
(Shergul Arshad, AS Roma Head of Digital)
(Elizabeth Liebenhals, Stadium Vision Project Director at Wembley Stadium)
(Leah Davis, Marketing Manager at British Olympic Association)
The exclusive, invitation only Masterclass series, is aunique gathering giving sports technology executives the chance to learn from other top level executives, hear industry insight based on pre-submitted questions, join in on group debates, network in a relaxed environment and book one on one meetings with our top quality panellists.
The University of Bath has been tasked to host the 2015 European Modern Pentathlon Championships – the first senior international modern pentathlon competition held in the UK since the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The event, one of more than 26 World and European Championships targeted to be hosted in the UK as part of UK Sport’s £27 million Gold Event Series, will be held in Bath, home to Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre, from 17 to 23 August.
More than 100 top pentathletes from around Europe will compete at the championships, which will be their first opportunity to try to achieve the qualifying standard for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Simon Morton, Director of Major Events & International Relations at UK Sport, said: “The Senior European Modern Pentathlon Championships will be the first of UK Sport’s Gold Event Series Championships to be held in Bath and is a great example of UK Sport’s commitment to staging world class sport throughout the UK to help build a strong legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“I am delighted that through the National Lottery funded Gold Event Series we continue to attract prestigious events to the UK. The combination of outstanding venues, technical know-how, passionate fans and thousands of experienced volunteers mean the UK is recognised as one of the best places in the world to stage international sport.”
Jon Austin, Pentathlon GB CEO, said: “We’re delighted to bring the European Championships back to the UK in 2015. It’s good news for the sport and good news for Britain’s modern pentathletes.
“Because of the way Olympic qualification works, the European Championships the year before an Olympic Games traditionally provide the earliest and best opportunity for Britain’s pentathletes to try to achieve the Olympic qualifying standard. Our athletes will have the opportunity to do that with British supporters cheering them on, and that’s got to be good news.
“We look forward to working closely with UK Sport and the University of Bath to help make the event a big success,” he added. “It’s also great news for our volunteers. Our events wouldn’t come together without them so it’s great that they will have the opportunity to support such a high profile and exciting competition.”
Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University of Bath said: “The University of Bath is proud to be chosen to host the 2015 Modern Pentathlon European Championships.
“We have a terrific track record of hosting major sporting events, training camps and teams. The world-leading sports facilities at the Sports Training Village, along with both accommodation and catering on campus, is a winning combination.
“All this in the city of Bath, a World Heritage Site that combines some of the nation’s finest heritage with a vibrant city centre.”
Front Row Marketing Services has extended their partnership with The Breeders’ Cup to market and sell commercial rights and sponsorship opportunities for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
“After a thorough review, we chose Front Row because they have established a stellar reputation and a proven track record of success with world class properties like Formula 1 Grand Prix and America’s Cup in sponsorship acquisition and integrated event services and strategies that increase the value and dynamic presence of those enterprises,” Drew Sheinman, Breeders’ Cup senior vice president and chief revenue officer, said in a statement.
“The Breeders’ Cup is a multifaceted event that cuts across a number of marketing platforms, including broadcast, digital, and social media, along with a number of special events and high-end hospitality at Santa Anita. We look to Front Row to develop these initiatives and bring brand marketers to the Breeders’ Cup.”
“There are few annual sports properties that are more global in scope than the Breeders’ Cup, and we are looking forward to joining Drew and his team to help increase awareness and create new brand partnerships,” said Chris Lencheski, CEO of Front Row Marketing Services.
“The sport of horse racing is in the midst of an industry-wide repositioning in the new landscape we are in, and there is no better leading property to take advantage of that repositioning that this elite, lucrative, season-ending event. It has tremendous upside and unlimited potential.”
Front Row Marketing Services, a division of Comcast-Spectacor, is a sports industry leader in building commercial rights programs for professional teams in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and NCAA Division 1 college teams, and the operation and management of more than 100 stadium authorities and entertainment companies.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) have revealed the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013, medicine which kicks off in Moscow today, price will be the most broadcast Rugby World Cup Sevens event ever.
The flagship tournament, viagra pharmacy which brings together the world’s top Sevens players across 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams representing 28 nations will be broadcast to 321 million homes (more than double 2009) in 152 territories (up 11 on 2009) through 29 international broadcasters in 19 languages.
The figures, released by the IRB’s broadcast managers ProActive Television, show that total coverage of the world’s premier men’s and women’s Sevens tournament has increased exponentially. The previous record was set at Dubai 2009, an event that played a major role in delivering Rugby Sevens to the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games programme.
The strong broadcast platform includes live coverage for the first time in Brazil, the Netherlands and Russia and increased live coverage USA.
“Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 in Moscow is on track to be a resounding success. Sevens’ winning formula of exciting, explosive action, competitive matches, world class men’s and women’s players and plenty of spectacular tries is proving a major hit with global broadcasters and has proven highly successful in reaching out to new audiences,” said IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset (pictured).
“These figures clearly show that while Sevens continues to grow in traditional markets such as Europe and Oceania, there has been significant growth across emerging markets such as North and South America, Asia and Africa since the 2009 Olympic decision.”
“The announcement is another positive step for Rugby and illustrates the truly global enthusiasm for Rugby Sevens at a time when the sport is counting down to our Olympic Games return at Rio 2016,” added Lapasset.
The Rugby Sevens success story is underpinned by the HSBC Sevens World Series, the popular grand prix style championship comprising nine international events and the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, which enjoyed a successful debut in 2012/13 with events in Dubai, USA, China and the Netherlands.
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013 in Moscow kicks off on Friday at 15:00 (local time) at the Luzhniki Stadium with Samoa versus Zimbabwe in the men’s competition. The women’s competition kicks off at 09:00 on day two when debutants Tunisia face New Zealand.
Ian Ayre, Liverpool’s managing director, has endorsed the £260m regeneration plans for Anfield and the surrounding areas.
A Liverpool City Council led consortium with support from Your Housing Group and the club, has revealed a vision to include new housing, shopping facilities, public space, office buildings, a hotel and development of Stanley Park.
Liverpool are still in the process of buying up the properties surrounding Anfield in order to push ahead with their stadium redevelopment, but Ayre told the club’s official website “The unveiling of this vision for the wider regeneration of the Anfield area is another important step towards transforming the area for the better.
“The club has a track record of working successfully with LCC and others to drive forward improvements to the area, having made a major investment towards the transformation of Stanley Park.
“We are looking forward to working with the partnership and playing a part in the development of the regeneration vision and we strongly encourage local residents, businesses and community groups to get involved in the process and have their say.
This initiative to regenerate Anfield was launched almost 18 months ago.
“This is also an important milestone as we seek to investigate the feasibility of expanding our stadium,” he added.
“We will continue this work, which is just one part of the wider Anfield vision, and there is a great deal of work still to be done to bring those plans to fruition.
“We have always said that any stadium expansion will be subject to detailed economic and social feasibility studies and the community and home owners’ support, which includes our ability to purchase the land for the proposed expansion.
“Any expansion is also subject to the club being able to navigate the planning landscape and we are pleased to say that very positive progress is being made.”
Barclays have tried to appeal to their asian consumers by revealing that perimeter advertising at Premier League stadiums will display the Barclays messaging in Chinese, site viewable worldwide during April.
In a bid to communicate with Chinese audiences in Asia directly through their local language it’s hoped the move will further strengthen the association between Barclays and the Barclays Premier League and helps to support the brand in Asia.
The Chinese translation will convey the message ‘Barclays Bank sponsors of the Barclays Premier League’.
Robert Morrice, ailment Chairman and Chief Executive, Barclays Asia, said: “Interest from the Chinese communities across Asia in the Barclays Premier League has seen a considerable growth in recent years, and the launch of the Chinese language perimeter boards mean that Chinese fans in Asia can instantly identify with the Barclays brand while watching the games.
“The Chinese language boards are an important step for Barclays that mirrors the firm’s global footprint and allows China to stay connected to the Barclays Premier League, the worlds most popular and exciting domestic football league.”
KemperSports, sale a golf course management company, drug has been selected by Grupo Shahani to manage the golf course and beach club at Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort in San Carlos, Panama.
In addition to managing resort amenities, KemperSports will also assist with the development of a future clubhouse, as well as other planned amenities including a spa and fitness center.
Developed by Grupo Shahani, one of the largest construction and real estate development companies in Panama, Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort is an exclusive beach and residential community located approximately one hour from Panama City on more than 700 acres along the Pacific Coast of Panama. The central feature of the resort is an 18-hole, par-72 golf course designed by renowned golf course architect J. Michael Poellot. The golf course features expansive Paspalum fairways with strategically placed bunkers, undulating putting greens and multiple teeing areas to offer ample risk and reward shot-making opportunities for both skilled and novice golfers. The golf course at Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resortoffers an ocean view from every hole, as well as majestic views of the mountains located to the North.
“KemperSports has proven expertise in managing and developing resort properties similar to Vista Mar,” said Rolando Shahani, co-owner of Grupo Shahani. “We are eager to leverage this expertise to achieve our vision of welcoming guests from around the world to Panama.”
In addition to golf, Vista Mar provides a variety of amenities and activities for its members and guests. The resort features a private beach club with an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, tennis courts, a meditation garden and an oceanfront restaurant Terrazas Del Mar, which features the Haute Cuisine of renowned Chef Pascal Finet. The resort also includes two helicopter landing pads to accommodate air travel.
“Vista Mar Golf & Beach Resort has great potential to be a very special resort,” said Steve Skinner, chief executive officer of KemperSports. “Panama is one of the fastest growing countries in Latin America, and we look forward to working with Grupo Shahani to elevate the guest and member experience.”
Ford has revealed today that it will withdraw from the World Rally Championship at the end of this season, bringing an end to its work programme.
The company said it made the decision as part of a ‘review of its European business in the current difficult economic environment’.
“Ford has a long and proud history in the WRC and this was not an easy decision,” said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales and Service, Ford of Europe. “At this time, however we determined that it was better for the company and the Ford brand to reduce our commitment to the WRC and deploy our resources in other areas.”
Ford’s long-term rallying partner, UK-based M-Sport, meanwhile plans to continue competing in WRC with the Fiesta. Ford is in discussions with M-Sport to provide ‘continued vehicle and engineering support’, including for the recently announced Fiesta R5 for the new-for-2013 WRC-2 series, and the Fiesta R2 for grass-roots national and regional driver programmes.
“We have great respect for M-Sport and Malcolm Wilson, who have run the Ford WRC team since 1997, and there is no organisation with more expertise and commitment to winning,” de Waard added. “Working together, we have reached a point where the Ford Fiesta has become the car of choice in rallying, and we want to see this continue in the future.”
Malcolm Wilson, managing director of M-Sport, added: “I would like to thank Ford of Europe for their enthusiastic support and the faith shown in the team over the past 16 seasons. We understand that tough decisions have had to be made and look forward to continuing our strong technical partnership into the future.
“M-Sport is extremely proud of our history with Ford since 1997; 208 podiumfinishes, scoring points on 156 consecutive events and 52 wins from 225 starts in the WRC along with two world titles underlines the dedication and commitment of the whole team in Cumbria.”
