English League One soccer outfit Plymouth Argyle have secured their survival, for the short-term at least, after a winding-up petition from HM Revenue & Customs was dismissed in the High Court.

Cash flow is still a major issue at the club, who still owe their playing staff wages for the month of January, with their next tax bill due on 22 February.

Peter Ridsdale was appointed as a consultant to Plymouth’s board last month and told BBC Spotlight: “It was good news in the sense that we’ve paid the petition debt and are up to date with the revenue, but that’s just the first hurdle we’ve got over.

“Today isn’t a day of celebration, today is just a sober reminder of the fact that we’ve still got a lot of people to pay money to.”

The sale of four players during the January transfer window, including top scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips, enabled the tax debt relating to the winding-up petition to be paid off.

Peter Ridsdale, who has been working as an advisor to Plymouth’s board since December last year, claimed that a further £2m (US$3.2m) is needed to ensure the club survives until the end of the season.

Ridsdale, the former Leeds and Cardiff City chairman added: “This is an attractive football club and if we can get it right by paying off the creditors and putting enough cash in to see it through to the end of the season, there’s a massive upside opportunity.”

Premier League team West Bromwich Albion have announced the appointment of award-winning Midlands journalist Martin Swain as the club’s new Director of Communications.

Swain will take up his duties on September 1.

The appointment of the Express & Star’s chief sports writer, treat who was recently named Midlands Sports Journalist of the Year, continues the club’s extensive review of its internal structures this summer.

Chairman Jeremy Peace said: “We took a long, hard look at all aspects of the club’s operations at the end of last season and decided this was another appointment which we needed to make with some urgency.

“I fully recognise that the season ended with everyone relieved to have maintained Premier League status and our supporters registered their discontent on a range of other issues.

“I believe that as Director of Communications, Martin can begin and lead the task of healing some of those tensions and build a new way forward to ensure this perceived gap between club and supporters is closed.

“I know the fans want that, as do I and the rest of the board. We have to go forward together.

“Beyond that lies the wider task of the club’s media operation. Martin is an experienced and well-regarded figure within the football media industry with an advanced knowledge of this club’s community and heritage. I am delighted he accepted the post.”

Martin, 59, will leave his post at the Express & Star at the end of this week after 25 years during which he has covered major sporting events across the globe as well as much closer to home.

He said: “This is an exciting challenge and opportunity, one I could not resist.

“I think the very fact that the board at Albion have identified the need for such an appointment underlines their determination to resolve some well-documented difficulties which last season caused the club and the fans much anguish.

“Neither wants to be in conflict with the other and one of my priorities will be to try to ease those problems. A most important element in this is the genuine motivation from the chairman Jeremy Peace and all the board to get a much healthier ‘connect’ to supporters. With that, I’m sure much can be achieved.

“I’m also sure I am about to discover it is a lot easier looking in and commenting from the outside than being on the inside trying to solve problems and go forward!

“But I’m on record as saying that, pound for pound, few if any clubs across the country have performed better than the Baggies since the turn of the Millennium – it is a club with so much going for it and that should be celebrated and promoted.

“For the last 25 years, it’s been an amazing privilege to report on our region’s sport on behalf of the Express & Star. It will clearly be a big wrench to leave the newspaper but this job gives me a chance to make a positive contribution to one of our great institutions and that is what I shall endeavour to do.”

The San Francisco Marathon has agreed a partnership with Gameface Media, cheap the largest provider of free sporting event photos in the United States, pills to provide race participants with free photos of themselves running in the road race.

Gameface Media will deploy a skilled team of professional photographers to shoot memorable images that runners can easily download and share through all major social media platforms within days of crossing the finish line. The San Francisco Marathon is the first major city marathon to offer free photos to all of its participants.

“San Francisco is the tech epicenter of the world so it is only fitting that our race reflect the same values of our community,” said Peter Nantell, executive producer, San Francisco Marathon. “We sought innovative partners that could offer cutting-edge technologies that truly enhance every runner’s experience during Marathon weekend so working with Gameface Media seemed like a no-brainer. The company’s innovative offering will help runners relive the stunning views and historic landmarks of their race with beautiful photos. We think this is something that San Francisco marathon runners will love and want to share with all of their friends and family.”

“We are proud to create a groundbreaking partnership with the San Francisco Marathon,” said Gameface Media CEO David Lavallee. “The event organizers understand the power of social media in creating buzz and brand loyalty for their race. As marathoners ourselves, we know that finishing this race is an emotional milestone that most runners will want to share with friends and family. The San Francisco Marathon will create significant goodwill by creating hundreds of thousands of professionally-shot photos that their participants will gladly share online.”

Budapest has been announced as the host of the inaugural Women’s EHF FINAL4 in May 2014, the European Handball Federation (EHF) has announced.

The winning joint bid from Hungarofest, a leading event management company, and the Hungarian Handball Federation (MKSZ), will organise the final event of the Europe’s four best female club teams in close co-operation with EHF Marketing GmbH, the marketing arm of the EHF.

The two-day event will be played in the Papp Laszlo Budapest Sportarena in the capital – an arena with a capacity of 12,500 seats.

The arena played host to the final weekend of the Women’s EHF European Championship in 2004 and will once again host the event in December 2014.

The official launch for the event will take place at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday, 4 December 2013, where the commencement of ticket sales will be announced.

Semi-finals will be played on Saturday, 3 May 2014, the third place match and the final will follow on Sunday, 4 May 2014. Playing times will be confirmed later.

EHF President, Jean Brihault, said: “The Budapest bid was very impressive and we are convinced that this event will be a great success in its first year.

“Handball has a huge following in Hungary and we know that this first event will attract fans from across Europe. We’re looking forward to a fantastic atmosphere in Budapest in May.”

The awarding decision of the 2014 event to Budapest was made by the EHF Finance Delegation on behalf of the EHF Executive Committee.

Slovenia’s Ljubljana with its Stozice Arena was the other possible venue in the race for the premiere of the Women’s EHF FINAL4.

MediaCom Sport has announced the launch of their first Asian office expanding their global reach.

The Singapore hub will act as the Asian headquarters for the WPP-owned sports consultancy. 

MediaCom Sport Singapore will be headed up by Jin Wei Toh, adiposity previously Singapore managing director at sports marketing, advice media and event management company Parallel Media Group Asia. Prior to PMG Asia, he held a series of executive level positions at IMG Group and has also worked at IQPC Worldwide. 

In his final role at IMG, Jin Wei Toh led the development of golf’s Asian Tour as Vice-President, Director of Sales at IMG and Asian Tour Media, helping create four new events in Indonesia, Macau, Thailand and Korea. 

The new Asian hub is the latest stage in the rapid expansion of MediaCom Sport which was set up in 2011 to give MediaCom clients both better understanding of the opportunities around the world’s biggest sporting events and ensure advertisers could maximize the benefits of these unique opportunities. 

MediaCom Sport will work closely with GroupM’s ESP division across the region to ensure best practice and full integration across the GroupM network. 

It has offices in the UK, Russia and Germany with plans to open in Brazil and the US later this year. 

“Asia is a fantastic, growing region with a young, digitally enabled consumer audience. Building strong relationships with the sports they care about will enable brands to connect and engage much more powerfully than traditional advertising. Jin Wei’s success at establishing new events and new opportunities for sponsorship will ensure MediaCom Sport continues to grow rapidly,” said Marcus John, Global Head of Sport at MediaCom Worldwide. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining MediaCom Sport and leading its development in Asia. During my time in sports marketing I’ve seen many brands fail to take maximum advantage of sponsorship rights, aligning these rights within the media agency ensures that they become part of every message to create a truly integrated communication,” said Jin Wei Toh, Managing Director, Asia ,MediaCom Sport.

MediaCom Sport currently represent global sports legend Pelé and currently works with clients such as Dell, Allianz, Shell and Proctor & Gamble. It is also the exclusive commercial partner for the world’s first electric powered racing series Formula E.

The South African Rugby Union (SARU) have announced pre-tax profits of 6.2 million rand (US$684,393) for the year ended December 31, 2012, it announced at the organisation’s annual meeting today.

Group revenue rose 15 percent to US$75 million from $65 million, due mainly to an increase in income from broadcasting rights, sponsorships and home tests, which were typically depressed in the 2011 rugby World Cup year.

That rise was offset by group operating expenditure, which increased by 20 percent, largely due to costs associated with the hosting of the test at FNB Stadium and the IRB junior World Cup.

SARU CEO Jurie Roux said: “The overall position remains reasonably healthy – despite the macroeconomic situation.

“However, cash reserves ($1.09 million) are significantly lower than those of the previous year.”

Qantas has been awarded the Australian Olympic Committee’s inaugural Gold Inspiration Award for excellence in Olympic marketing.

The AOC created the Inspiration Awards to recognise excellence in Olympic sponsorship leveraging. This inaugural award is presented to Australian Olympic Team sponsors who have achieved extraordinary success through the innovative and effective use of their Olympic sponsorship across any or all aspects of their business, cialis having regard to the particular circumstances of the different industries and the diversity of the leveraging programs.

The independent judging panel involved a wealth of experience from the corporate, cheap advertising, media, marketing and Olympic worlds and comprised former advertising Chairman/CEO, Ian Elliott, Olympian and Commonwealth Games representative, Lisa Forrest, media and communications executive, Harold Mitchell AC and AOC Executive Committee member, Russ Withers.

The panel regarded the Australian Olympic Team program from Qantas as one of the most comprehensive campaigns ever witnessed in Olympic marketing, adding that it integrated all aspects of the Australian Olympic Team brand and delivered unsurpassed results for the airline.

Lewis Pullen, Executive Manager Marketing. “Qantas is proud to accept this award. We’ve been getting behind the Australian Olympic Team for over 60 years because we believe in the values the Olympics represent. We are pleased to have played our part in supporting the Team, as a sponsor and as official airline and the Gold Inspiration Award is testament to our commitment to the Australian Olympic Team.”

Telstra was awarded the Silver Inspiration Award with a program that galvanised Australians to inspire the Olympic Team. The campaign leveraged not only sport but also the educational and cultural pillars of the Olympic Movement as well as national pride to deliver exceptional metrics throughout the business.

Not dissimilar to the Olympic Games, there was a dead-heat between Swisse and Coles for the Bronze Inspiration Award. Swisse generated outstanding results across all key metrics by leveraging an integrated campaign that included opportunities such as Olympic Day and the AOC’s ASPIRE Schools network, while Coles enjoyed strong business results by promoting the benefits of health, fresh food recipes and encouraging sport participation in conjunction with the Australian Team.

AOC Secretary General, Craig Phillips said the inaugural Inspiration Awards demonstrated the pride and efforts of Australian Olympic Team’s sponsors.“The Australian Olympic Team enjoys extraordinary support from our sponsor family, which includes the TOP Worldwide Olympic Partners, AOC Partners and Suppliers. These companies help make it possible for Australia’s Olympians to achieve their goals at the Olympic Games but importantly, also help perpetuate the Olympic Values to inspire the nation. We are most grateful for their support,” said Mr Phillips.

Judging Panel Chairman, Mr Withers said the submissions illustrated the uniqueness of the Australian Olympic Team as a sponsorship property. “All our Partners had great campaigns that worked brilliantly for them and generated fantastic results for their business. But as in the Olympic Games, there has to be a winner and we congratulate our gold, silver and bronze medallists,” he said.

Having witnessed unprecedented sales increases, double-digit lifts in brand awareness, improved favourability ratings, and entire workforces energised by the Olympic Team across a wide range of industries, Mr Mitchell said “Judging this prestigious award has left me with no doubt that Olympic sponsorship really works.”
Mr Elliot commended the Team sponsors for their marketing strategies, adding:

“The creativity displayed by brands, both big and small, in leveraging their Olympic sponsorship has been remarkable. They demonstrated, from the most integrated and comprehensive to very targeted campaigns, how brands can effectively connect with consumers through the Olympic Team.”

Ms Forrest said Australia’s Olympians are fortunate to count of the financial and promotional support of some of Australia’s leading brands. “But the big winners are the partners who can engage with communities through an unmatched set of brand values,” said Ms Forrest.

KB Financial Group has become a major sponsor of the Korea Golf Association and become title sponsor of the Korea-Japan Women’s National Golf Team Match Play tournament.

KB Financial Chairman and CEO, arthritis Euh Yoon-dae, view said the serious golfers and recreational players in Korea has increased substantially, demonstrating the nation’s enthusiasm for the sport. He said the company is keen to help the sport expand further in Korea.

KB Financial will sponsor the last KLPGA game of the season- the KB Financial Group STAR Championship, which will be played this weekend.

The Korea-Japan Women’s team competition will be played in December.{jcomments on}