BMO Harris Bank and Y&R Midwest announced today that they’re launching a new marketing campaign featuring Chicago Blackhawks players, to celebrate their ongoing multi-year sponsorship of the team.

The new advertising includes two 30-second spots airing throughout the Chicagoland area. This is the second time BMO Harris Bank has featured Chicago Blackhawks players in its advertising, the first time being 2010, just before the Blackhawks went on their Stanley Cup run.

In the new spots, BMO Harris Bank partners with the Chicago Blackhawks to help find solutions for their customers. “Ice Bank” and “Defense” will launch at the end of the month. “Ice Bank” features Chicago Blackhawks Forward Patrick Sharp, helping new BMO Harris employees with their skating skills, including a cameo appearance by Rob Belushi, son of Chicago actor Jim Belushi. In “Defense,” the Blackhawks Patrick Sharp, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook share BMO Harris’ commitment to helping their customers by having a little friendly pushing and shoving over who gets to help a customer in line.

“This work recognizes our strong five-year partnership with the Chicago Blackhawks which has been an important part of our overall efforts to support leading Chicago-based organizations,” says Justine Fedak, Senior Vice President and Head of Brand, Advertising and Sponsorships for BMO Financial Group, North America. “BMO Harris and our revered Blackhawks, one of the ‘original six’ of the NHL, are both strong brands with strong Chicago roots that share a long history of supporting the Chicago community.”

“We are really proud of our new work for BMO Harris Bank,” said Bill Cimino, Chief Creative Officer and president of Y&R Chicago. “With the Blackhawks having such a great season and Chicago’s excitement over the team, it’s a great time to celebrate our partnership with the Blackhawks. And hopefully these new spots will also be a part of a Blackhawks championship season as it was in 2010.”

Event owner IMG have confirmed Perth International golf tournament in Western Australia, allergist will return to Lake Karrinyup Country Club from 17 to 20 October, 2013.

The Perth International forms part of the 2013 European Tour’s International schedule announced yesterday and will again be the only event in Australia to partner with the European Tour.

Senior Vice President and Co-Global Managing Director of IMG Golf, Robbie Henchman, said they were delighted to be staging the event at the club for a second time.

“Lake Karrinyup Country Club proved to be an outstanding venue for our inaugural event and we are delighted to return in 2013.

“We remain indebted to Tourism Western Australia for its invaluable support and look forward to building on the success of this year’s event and to welcoming more of the world’s best golfers to Perth next October.”

Tourism Western Australia worked closely with IMG to create a major annual international event for Perth and Chief Executive Stephanie Buckland said they were looking forward to building on the success of 2012.

“Tourism WA is delighted that Lake Karrinyup Country Club, WA’s premier golf course, has been confirmed as the host for the 2013 Perth International, and that the event has retained the same date on the European Tour schedule for next year.

“The inaugural Perth International was an outstanding success by every measure and we look forward to working with IMG to build on that success in 2013 and beyond,” she said.

President of Lake Karrinyup Country Club, Chris Carey said they were proud to have the event return.

“The members of Lake Karrinyup Country Club were extremely pleased and proud to host the 2012 ISPS HANDA Perth International and look forward to once again working closely with the European and Australasian Tours, the Western Australian Government and IMG to produce an even more exciting and engaging event in 2013.”

Brian Thorburn, CEO of the PGA of Australia said they also looked forward to the 2013 event.

“Lake Karrinyup proved the perfect host for the inaugural Perth International, receiving wonderful reviews from both our Australian and international competitors. I’m sure I speak not only on behalf of the PGA Tour of Australasia but also our Tournament Members when I say we look forward to returning to Perth and Lake Karrinyup in 2013.”

The 2013 Perth International will again be co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia and in addition to the outstanding support of Tourism WA will continue to have the support of premium brands including Volkswagen, Crown Perth, TAG Heuer and Schweppes.

The Perth International will carry prize money of US$2,000,000, making it currently the richest tournament in Australia.

The promoters of the brand new FIA Formula E series are reportedly considering India as a venue for a race in their inaugural series in 2014.

The series will involve cars powered by electric energy.

Governing body FIA President, cialis Jean Todt, capsule has signed a deal with a group of investors, health Formula E Holdings Ltd., to stage the Formula E series, which will feature 10 teams and 20 drivers. The series will use cars powered by electric energy.

Mumbai has been mooted as possible venue and JPSI, the owners of Buddh International Circuit, the venue of the F1 Indian Grand Prix, said that they are “open to the idea” of holding the race.

Brian Sims, F1 consultant, told iSportconnect: “Electric racing in India? Monaco has Casino Square……perhaps Formula E”s around the Magnicent Exotic Marigold Hotel? It might just work.”

Mark Gallagher, Managing director of CMS Motor Sport Consultancy, told iSportconnect: “If the FIA Formula E Championship visits venues such as the Buddh circuit in India, I think it will add credibility to the championship and show the extent of the ambition that the FIA and Formula E Holdings has for the series.  Although Formula One commenced racing in India only last year, the enormous success of that first Grand Prix showed what can be achieved in India.  It is a country which does not have the depth of motor sporting heritage that we take for granted here in Europe, but Indians love sport and they like technology.

“The relevance of Formula E to fast-developing nations is important.  It underlines the fact that motor racing has a roll to play at a time when electrically powered vehicles are becoming mainstream within the automotive industry. Going electric doing not necessarily mean compromising on performance, and Formula E can really help push that message in markets which recognise that millions more cars using internal combustion engines is not a viable transport solution.”

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Formula One Group, the motor racing franchise owned by private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners Ltd., has received the go-ahead from the Singapore Exchange for a $2.5 billion initial public offering (IPO) ahead of a listing next month, people familiar with the situation said Monday.

The IPO is set to be priced before the end of June after the company and its bankers meet with investors and fund managers to gauge demand for the IPO, the sources said, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Formula One would join British luxury jeweler Graff Diamonds in braving equity markets despite a slump in global stocks. Graff started taking orders on Monday from institutional investors for its up to $1 billion Hong Kong IPO.

IPOs had their worst start in about four years in the Asia-Pacific region with overall equity market activity down about a fifth from 2011 as investors fretted at buying new shares because of falling markets.

A source close to the Formula One deal said on May 12 the IPO could be delayed because of the ongoing market jitters.

Formula One could have its B+ long-term debt ratings lifted one notch after the IPO because of an expected improvement in its debt profile, Standard & Poor’s said in a May 15 report when it put the company on “positive” watch.

The decision “mainly reflects our view that after the IPO in the next two to three years, Formula One’s adjusted leverage is likely to lessen significantly and durably and that private equity sponsors will exit Formula One’s capital in the medium term,” S&P said in the report.

Formula One’s IPO approval by the Singapore exchange was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

Formula One, which holds 20 races around the world and has a more than 500 million television viewers, is controlled by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners CVC.UL, with a 63.4 percent stake.

CVC plans to reduce its stake as part of the IPO along with other shareholders in Formula One, the source added.

Formula One earlier this month unveiled a $1.8 billion refinancing package to help lay the groundwork for the IPO. 

Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and UBS (UBSN.VX) were hired to lead the IPO. Spain’s Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Singapore’s DBS Group (DBSM.SI) and Malaysia’s CIMB (CIMB.KL) will also act as joint bookrunners on the deal.

Ben & Jerry’s, the iconic ice cream brand famous, has apologized for including fortune cookies in its “Taste the Lin-Sanity” frozen yogurt sold at a Harvard Square location in Boston.

The Vermont-founded company has replaced the fortune cookies in its honey-swirl, Jeremy Lin-inspired variety with waffle cones.

“We offer a heartfelt apology if anyone was offended by our handmade Lin-Sanity flavor,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement.

Lin, the New York Knicks point guard who shot to NBA stardom this month after spurring a win streak in the absence of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, played four seasons for the Harvard Crimson before turning pro in 2010.

“We are proud and honored to have Jeremy Lin hail from one of our fine, local universities and we are huge sports fans,” Ben & Jerry’s said in the news release. “Our intention was to create a flavor to honor Jeremy Lin’s accomplishments and his meteoric rise in the NBA, and recognize that he was a local Harvard graduate.

“We try (to) demonstrate our commitment as a Boston-based, valued-led business and if we failed in this instance we offer our sincere apologies.”

ESPN have already disciplined its editors for using racist remarks towards Lin and MSG have apologised to make a similar fortune cookie reference in its ads.

by Ismail Uddin

The Dallas Cowboys have continued their dominance as the most valuable National Football League (NFL) franchise by being top of the annual rankings for the fifth straight year according to Forbes Magazine.

The team are worth $1.85 billion, denture up 2% from last year. Team owner Jerry Jones and his Cowboys continue to find ways to leverage their powerful brand. In 2008, they launched Legends Hospitality Management, a stadium-logistics business run in partnership with the New York Yankees and Goldman Sachs. The $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium opened in 2009 with a splash thanks to its 160-foot wide scoreboard and seating for up to 100,000 for special events.

Cowboys Stadium continues to be a gold mine for Jones. The 320 suites and 15,000 club seats at JerryWorld generate $115 million in revenue annually. Sponsorship revenues are $50 million even with the Cowboys inability to ink a naming rights partner for the venue. The Cowboys earned $119 million in operating income last season, the most in the NFL for a second straight year.

The Forbes Magazine annual rankings als showed the NFL’s 32 teams have an average value of $1.04 billion, 4 percent more than last season. Team values dropped an average of 2 percent to $1.02 billion in the 2010 Forbes ranking, the only decline since the survey started 13 years ago.

The Washington Redskins are second in franchise value at $1.55 billion, followed by the New England Patriots at $1.4 billion. The New York Giants at $1.3 billion and the New York Jets at $1.22 billion round out the top five.

Average team revenue rose 4 percent to $261 million during the 2010 season, Forbes said. While operating income fell 8.1 percent because of higher costs for stadium operations, training facilities and marketing, the NFL’s new labor agreement will give owners a bigger portion of overall league revenue, the survey found.

Owners will pay between 47 and 48 percent of total revenue to players under the new collective bargaining agreement, down from 51 percent under the previous accord.

The value of the top 10 teams rose an average of 4 percent in the latest ranking because revenue-sharing payments by the biggest franchises to low-revenue clubs drop under the new labor deal, Forbes said.

All 32 NFL teams rank among the 50 most valuable sports teams in the world, according to Forbes.

English League One soccer club Leyton Orient have followed fellow Londoners and Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in applying to the High Court for a judicial review to try and prevent West Ham United moving to the Olympic Stadium after next year’s Games.

Orient’s chairman Barry Hearn claims that West Ham’s move will throw their own existence in doubt, stating Premier League has broken its own rules in sanctioning a move by one club close to the established home of another in the same area.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) in February approved West Ham as the preferred bidder for the 80,000-seater stadium which will be reduced to 60,000 for soccer. Newham Council are loaning £40 million ($65 million) to West Ham to facilitate the move.

Hearn told Sky Sports News: “We are taking action against Newham Council because the loan is unlawful.

“We will follow this with judicial applications against the Government, the Minister of Sport, the Mayor of London and will take action against the Premier League for being in breach of their own rules as well.”

Hearn said his club’s interests should have been taken taken into account, adding: “It is an all-encompassing charge by Leyton Orient, a battle by the little man against the big forces of evil if you like.

“This represents a challenge to our entire future and our survival and we have no choice but to fight our corner.”

The United States Olympic Committee met with representatives from Boston, apoplectic Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., last week in Colorado for a bid city briefing.

The briefing marks the next step in the USOC’s domestic process as it considers a U.S. bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“I’d like to thank each city’s civic and political leadership for the commitment they have shown to our process thus far,” said USOC Chairman Larry Probst. “Our discussions this week have created a foundation for something that could be truly unique. There is a great deal of work left to do before we can make a decision, but I’m more optimistic than ever that a U.S. bid for the 2024 Games can be successful.”

The four remaining cities were identified in June following 16-month process that began with outreach to approximately 35 U.S. cities.

“This week marks another important milestone as we evaluate whether the time is right to bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We’ve tried to create a thoughtful and deliberate process and I think everyone involved believes we’re getting closer to a decision,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.

“Each city has necessarily evaluated how hosting a Games in its community fits into the long-term plans for that city, but equally exciting to me is the universal commitment to making a positive contribution to worldwide sport and the Olympic and Paralympic movements. That’s something I truly believe a Games hosted in the U.S. can do and I’m excited about the potential.”