The National Pro Tour (NPT) positioned itself as the largest developmental tour on the West coast by acquiring the Arizona based All-American Tour.

The NPT is also currently working with other major tours in an effort to further consolidate the failing mini-tour system.

“By acquiring the All-American Tour, we clearly have the biggest and most impactful developmental tour in the country,” said National Pro Tour CEO/COO Dusty Dean. “Our players now have the opportunity to play professional golf year round while developing their games in pursuit of playing the PGA Tour.”

Will Cumberland, founder of the All-American Tour, stated that “When I started the All-American Tour four years ago, my dream was to provide professional golfers the opportunity to develop their games by playing great courses for better purses. It has become clear to me as Dusty Dean and I have worked together that Dusty has a clear understanding of why the current system does not work in the best interest of the players or the other tour owners. Dusty has an incredible vision of how to truly change this fragmented industry.”

The acquisition of the All-American Tour could not have come about at a better time for both the players of the NPT and All-American Tour. “As the new owner of the National Pro Tour, I made a commitment to pay the players the $1.2 million that was owed under the previous tour’s ownership,” said Dean. “Although it was not my debt, I wanted to send the players and the industry a message that we are changing the landscape of developmental tour golf and the players will be the direct beneficiaries of these changes.”

In 2013, NPT players will be competing for purses significantly larger than the amounts they are used to playing for in recent years under the old mini-tour model. “Our purse sizes will consistently range from $200,000 to $275,000 with all entries secured and all purses announced well before the start of each tournament,” said Dean.

In addition to larger purses, NPT’s 2013 tournaments will be conducted from Wednesday through Saturdays with practice rounds on Tuesday, thereby allowing the players to play in Web.com and PGA Tour Monday qualifiers. The 2013 schedule will also allow players participating on the PGA TOUR Canada the ability to fully participate on both tours so they can maximize their income while they continue the pursuit of their PGA Tour cards.

The acquisition of the All-American Tour is also bringing about many enhancements for the players, including an expanded schedule for 2013. Players who have previously signed up for the All-American Tour, the National Pro Tour or both tours will have all memberships honored and will receive special member nuances as the consolidation develops.

“In listening to our players, it was clear that drastic changes needed to be made for the health of this segment of the golf industry,” said Dean. “Our acquisition of the All-American Tour is a very important first step but we have much bigger plans which truly reflect the dreams of Will Cumberland. Joining our two tours allows Will’s vision to become a reality while providing our players the most exciting playing opportunities in the country.”

“This is an exciting time for our industry,” said Dean in response to the acquisition. “We are already reaching out and talking to other major tour owners to show them the power of this consolidated model and how it’s the only way to make it immediately better for our players. More changes will be announced in the near future in which both the players and other tour owners will benefit as our industry makes the necessary changes needed to truly flourish.”

IMG, the global sports, fashion and media company, has been appointed championship promoter of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for a period of at least 10 years starting in 2013.

The agreement is IMG’s first with the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) and the long-term ambition is for the series to develop into a World Championship in the coming years.

As Championship promoter IMG will have responsibility for all commercial areas connected to the series while the FIA retain all sporting, technical and regulatory aspects. IMG Motorsport will work closely with IMG Media to maximize TV and digital coverage for the sport around the world.

Martin Anayi, Managing Director of Rallycross for IMG Motorsports, said: “The Championship will be run at existing tracks in Europe in 2013 and combine the best aspects of traditional mixed-surface Rallycross action with an exciting new racing format that will offer drivers and spectators more races in an easily understood visual event that has a clear path of progression from heats to finals.

“Rallycross has the components to be the perfect 21st century motorsport; it’s short, sharp, full of action and has some great personalities. We need to keep those core elements that make Rallycross so special but repackage it and present it to an audience that has not yet discovered how great it is.”

All three current classes (Supercar, Super1600 and TouringCar) will continue in the new structure and each will retain its FIA Championship title. Supercar will become the featured class, with 25 cars taking part in each event and racing in a ’round robin’ series of heats that lead to semi-finals and the final. The 25 starters in each event will consist of 20 permanent drivers who will drive in every round of the Championship, the remaining five places taken by a mix of superstar wildcard entries and national hero qualifiers.

The Super1600 and TouringCar categories will continue in their current form during 2013, but will move to a ’round robin’ format of races in 2014. All three classes will race over both days of Championship events, the Super1600 and TouringCar finals being run between the Supercar finals and included in television coverage.

The FIA European Rallycross Championship run by IMG will be the only rallycross championship or series officially sanctioned and endorsed by the FIA at the top level and has already secured support from the best drivers, teams and venues in the world of rallycross. The Championship will officially launch in the coming weeks with the inaugural event of the new Championship taking place in Spring 2013.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has suggested Formula One needs to take control of their spiralling cost sas discussions about the new Concorde Agreement and the future of the sport continue in the background.  

Montezemolo used his company’s Web site to send out a clear message, while also expressing support for the FIA. 

“The world economic situation, and that of Europe in particular, is very serious, and the world of Formula One cannot ignore the fact,” he was quoted as saying. “We cannot lose any more time—we need to tackle urgently and with determination the question of costs. Ferrari is in agreement with the FIA’s position that drastic intervention is required. We are absolutely convinced that, as I have always said, the teams and the commercial-rights holder must work together with the Federation on this front. 

“This is no longer the moment for getting bogged down in sterile discussions or the meanderings of engineers, usually only concerned in defending the interests of someone or other. The question has to be tackled at the highest level, without further delay.”

seek helvetica, health sans-serif;”>The ECB announced today that it will exceed the government’s voluntary target for spending on grassroots development, ambulance which proposes that national governing bodies invest 30% of their UK broadcasting revenue on the recreational game.

The ECB has committed to spend an additional £17.5million on grassroots and recreational cricket under the current cycle of UK broadcasting agreements (2010-2013) compared with the previous period from 2006-2009 and, thus, will exceed the voluntary target.

During the past year, the ECB invested a record £23million, £5million more than the previous 12 months, which complimented the £6m given by the government in revenue funding.

Chief executive David Collier said: “As a governing body, we are committed to re-investing the revenue we receive from the sale of broadcast rights into the development of the game at grassroots level in addition to the investment we make in county and international cricket.

“We are fortunate to have recently secured long-term funding for all sectors of the game following the renewal of our broadcasting agreements, which in some cases extend through to 2019.

“This income will help develop future generations of club and county cricketers and enable us to sustain the success enjoyed by both our England men’s and women’s teams in recent years.”

The NFL is contemplating only allowing a few teams playing regularly in Britain to build an overseas fanbase with a mind in creating a franchise that could be permanently based in London.

Commissioner Roger Goodell said Saturday the league is looking into whether such a scenario would “advance our cause here by growing the fan base quicker.”

He is talking to several teams about becoming regulars in the British capital, a development he thinks would be “very powerful and lead us to what we ultimately would like to do — have a franchise here in London.”

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made their second trip in three years to Wembley in their defeat 24- 18 to Chicago Bears on Sunday. It is the fifth regular-season game held in London since 2007.

The league decided this month to keep playing in London through at least 2016, with an aim to play at least two games a year.

Goodell said multiple games in Britain could happen as early as next year, and he hopes more teams will agree to make regular trips.

Goodell said: “We want as many teams to come over. We want to see the more popular teams come over. Should we focus on just a couple of teams as consistently coming back here to build a fan base around those teams? The Bucs are coming back now for a second time in a five-year period of time. And the idea is, will that allow them to build a fan base quicker?”

Goodell thanked the Glazer family, which owns both the Bucs and Premier League team Manchester United, for taking a leading role in promoting the game overseas. He said the Bucs are one of several teams the league has been in discussions with over more London visits.

“Obviously, the Glazer family has an interest over here with Man U,” Goodell said. “And I think they want to see the Bucs become a global franchise. And I think that’s a great thing for Tampa. I think it’s a great thing for the NFL.”

Organizers failed to sell the capacity of 82,000 with just under 78,000 attendance but Goodell  put this down to the lockout, which delayed tickets going out on sale until September several months later than usual.

“We started late,” Goodell said. “But we’re thrilled with our ticket sales. We obviously love to sell as many as we have, and we’re still selling.”

He said the NFL has no plans to play in other European countries in the near future, looking to establish as big a presence as possible in Britain first.

“We want to bring our game to continental Europe. The issue is, we want to make a success out of it in the U.K.,” he said. “We think this (London) has got all of the basics that we need to be successful. It’s got an advanced fan base, a strong media market, a great stadium. We have a long history here. So all those things contribute, let’s make it work. And if we can be successful here, then we can take that model, potentially, to continental Europe.”

The English Football Association (FA) has hired a senior UK lawyer for its own inquiry into allegations of improper conduct made by its former chairman, pills Lord Triesman, prostate against four members of FIFA’s Executive Committee.

Triesman told a parliamentary inquiry earlier this week that the men on world soccer’s top committee engaged in “improper and unethical” behavior by seeking favors in return for their votes for England to stage the 2018 World Cup.

The FA, doctor which is also cooperating with a FIFA inquiry into the claims, has enlisted James Dingemans QC, to look into the evidence behind Triesman’s statements and present a report, to be made public, by May 27, four days before FIFA’s presidential elections.

FA chairman David Bernstein, who replaced Triesman on a permanent basis at the start of the year, stated: “If Lord Triesman’s allegations can’t be supported then I suppose they’d die a death. Unsupported evidence doesn’t get anybody very far.”

Meanwhile, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has been called to give evidence to a British parliamentary inquiry into soccer governance.

John Whittingdale, chairman of the committee on culture, sport and media, which is conducting the inquiry, has said that the FIFA president will be called to give evidence, quoted in the Times saying: “The committee’s work has largely been done by putting these issues out in the open. It is now up to football authorities to take the lead.”

World Bowling has expanded its digital presence with the launch of a new website and various social media channels. 

World Bowling, and the federation that now unites all of international bowling under one name, aims to connect international bowlers worldwide, while also developing new global fans.

To support these efforts, the federation has increased its digital presence with the launch of a new website (www.worldbowling.org) and several social media channels (including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter).

The website will act as the central hub for the Bowling community which consists of hundreds of millions of bowlers worldwide. World Bowling is set to encourage interaction and sharing within this active community.

Kevin Dornberger, President of World Bowling, commented: “We are very excited by the opportunities that this website will provide for the Bowling community from all around the world. We are committed to engaging with the Bowling community as we develop and enter a new era for international Bowling. Our new website and our social media activities represent the first steps of how we will unite the sport of bowling worldwide.”