Market research company YouGov has teamed up with sports marketing consultancy SMG Insight to launch a new business initiative that will “deliver a fresh approach to sports sponsorship research and consulting”.

The initiative will be targeted at rights-holders, prostate sponsors, brands, agencies and other investors in sport, and services will including measuring sponsorship opportunities and optimising sponsorship objectives.

The initiative will be headed by Frank Saez, former vice president of international sports agency IMG and managing director of IFM sports marketing surveys.

Saez said: “Many traditional sports and sponsorship market research services have become less insightful and obsolete.

“YouGov has a strong reputation for incisive international consumer research and and this exclusive partnership provides SMG Insight with an opportunity to provide the sports and sponsorship industry with higher added value services, delivering much more than traditional media valuations.”

Saez launched SMG in April after leaving IMF. As part of the alliance, YouGov has taken a minority stake in SMG.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) have announced today a three year integrity partnership with Sportradar.

Under the agreement, Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System (FDS) will monitor Super Rugby fixtures involving Australian teams and international test matches held in Australia for signs of betting-related corruption and fraudulent activity.

Sportradar’s technologically advanced FDS tracks betting odds movements across hundreds of different betting operators around the world in real-time. 

It has successfully monitored a range of sports since 2004 and uses core features such as a comprehensive betting database; a scientific alerting system; a fraud scoring database of individuals; vast professional analytical experience; an unrivalled level of coverage; and a proven ability to detect suspicious betting practices.  

Sportradar CEO, Carsten Koerl said, “We are delighted to sign this agreement with Australian Rugby and further strengthen our commitment to support Australian sports in countering betting-related corruption. The ARU’s forward thinking approach to protecting the integrity of Rugby is highly commendable and our revolutionary Fraud Detection System will greatly assist in this.”

ARU CEO, Bill Pulver, said, “Integrity is one of Rugby’s core values and we want to ensure our sport operates in a way that aligns with our values. We’re looking forward to working closely with Sportradar to use their expertise in addition to our existing integrity policies.”

The deal follows Sportradar’s recent partnership announcement with Football Federation Australia.

Malcolm Construction has been unveiled as a new sponsor of next year’s Commonwealth Games, Glasgow 2014 have announced. 

Malcolm Construction, which earlier this month began work to change Hampden Park into a world-class track and field venue for the Games, joins the Glasgow 2014 Sponsor Family with immediate effect as its Official Construction Provider.

Hampden Park will take centre stage as the venue where the Commonwealth’s elite track and field athletes will go head-to-head for gold and glory in front of sell-out crowds.

It is also where the Games’ most innovative construction project is currently under way.

As part of its temporary transformation, the stadium will be given a dramatic new look to gain the width and length required for an IAAF-approved athletics track.

An innovative technical solution being installed by Malcolm Construction will see the playing surface raised by more than 6ft on a grid of structural steel stilts. This will be the first time this technology has been used on this scale to deliver a world-class athletics event.

For Games-time the arena will be transformed into a 44,000-seater stadium, before returning Hampden to its current 52,000 capacity following the end of the Games.

David Grevemberg, Glasgow 2014 Chief Executive, said: “We warmly welcome Malcolm Construction to the Glasgow 2014 Sponsor Family. Our transformation plan for Hampden is both innovative and sustainable and it’s great to have on board a Glasgow-based company with a strong track record in construction to deliver this pioneering project.”

Martin Kiely, Managing Director of Malcolm Construction, said: “We are delighted to be named a sponsor for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in our home city. This will be a fantastic event for all of Scotland and we look forward to what we are sure will be a successful and historic Games.”

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced a loss of £6.3m for the year 1st July 2011 to 30th June 2012.

The RFU has suggested the loss was expected and “planned for”, with the financial year coinciding with the World Cup in New Zealand, which meant fewer home matches.

The RFU’s Chief Exectuive Officer Ian Ritchie said: “The Rugby Football Union is a dynamic, credible business underpinning the whole game in England.

“We have both solid financial foundations and security for many years to come and plan our finances on a four-year Rugby World Cup cycle, with each World Cup year also bringing only two home Six Nations matches to Twickenham.

“In this way we continue funding every level of the game in fallow years thanks to the profits we build up over the other three.

“There are many positives in the current accounts and much to look forward to as we head towards hosting Rugby World Cup 2015, especially as 2012-13 already promises record group turnover, contribution and investment in the game.”

Chief Financial Officer Stephen Brown added: “This was an excellent year in terms of underlying business performance with above plan revenues from our two Twickenham Six Nations matches, and record 103,000 weekend attendances and sales at the Marriott London Sevens.

“Despite the anticipated loss, we have a significant asset base and very secure revenue streams, combined with substantial cash inflows and reserves which enable us to comfortably meet all of our ongoing responsibilities.”

 

Casino resort Venetian Macao, owned by Sands China, has signed as the title sponsor of the Macau Open golf tournament for one year.

The deal marks the first time the gaming operator has backed the Asian Tour event. The Macau Open will continue to offer prize money of $750,000. The tournament will be played from October 11-14 at the Macau Golf and Country Club (Macau Open).

The Asian Tour hopes the Venetian’s deal will allow for expansion of the event on all fronts — from more prize money to bigger name players. The goal is to turn the city into an entertainment hub where more than just gambling is offered.{jcomments on}

 

Meistertrainer Jürgen Klopp hat Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer offenbar als Werbekönig im deutschen Fußball abgelöst. Das berichtet das Nachrichtenmagazin Focus.

Meistertrainer Jürgen Klopp hat Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer offenbar als Werbekönig im deutschen Fußball abgelöst. Wie das Nachrichtenmagazin Focus berichtet, viagra kommt Borussia Dortmunds Coach Klopp auf mittlerweile sieben Sponsoren (Die Volksbanken, here Seat, Puma, Metylan, Titanflex, FAZ und Philips).

„Klopp hat sich als Marke etabliert“, sagte Philipp Kupfer, Berater des Kölner Marktforschers Sport+Markt, dem Focus. Aufgrund seiner charismatischen Ausstrahlung sei Klopp im Vergleich zu anderen Sportgrößen universeller einsetzbar. „Das spiegelt sich in den Sponsoringeinnahmen Klopps wider, die mehr als 1,5 Millionen im Jahr betragen“, so Kupfer weiter.

Former Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter believes IndyCar racing is the most potent form of motor racing and has even urged his son to quit the series after the sad death of British IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon

The 33-year-old, a two-time winner of the country’s most prestigious race, the Indy 500, died after suffering multiple injuries in a 15-car crash at the season finale in Las Vegas on Sunday.

Scheckter was a spectator at Sunday’s Las Vegas Indy 300 and had an anxious wait before discovering son Tomas had escaped unharmed from the crash.

“I’ve wanted him to give up for a while,” said Scheckter.

“Hopefully this will knock some sense into him and realise there is more to life. It really isn’t worth it.”

Asked whether the sport was safe, Scheckter said: “No. It is the most dangerous form of motor racing at the moment.

“I think the set-up they put in so it can be more of a spectacle makes it very, very dangerous on circuits like this. Some others [circuits] aren’t as bad.”

Scheckter, 61, who won the Formula 1 title in 1979, has stated the crash was “inevitable” due to the changes designed at making IndyCar more competitive.

He said wings allowing more downforce were aiding the speed of cars, and also the excessive amount of drivers, in this case 35, who took part in the race.

“There is hardly any difference in speed between the good drivers and the bad drivers,” said Scheckter, a South African who now runs an organic farm near Basingstoke.

“They were basically touching wheels at 220mph. They all bunch up together so there are 35 cars in a small space of track. One person makes a mistake and this happens. You [shouldn’t] have to get killed if you make a mistake. It was madness. Formula 1 is not like that anymore and it is still quite exciting.”

Scheckter said he was in a hospitality suite when the crash happened and feared the worst for his son, who has competed in 115 races, winning two.

“We really just hoped,” he said. “I had the headset on through to his channel and I heard him say ‘someone had hit me in the back’ so I knew he was OK after that.

“Dan raced with or against some of my sons in England in Formula Vauxhall. We have known him for years really. He has been very successful. A bubbly guy all the time. It is very sad.”

Other motor racing experts have weighed in with their thoughts.

Former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver Mark Blundell said the Las Vegas track was unsuitable for cars of the power and speed used in Indy 300.

“It was inevitable in many ways,” the Briton said of Sunday’s accident. “It was a recipe for disaster. These type of cars shouldn’t be on these type of circuits.

“Fifteen cars wiped out – 40% of the grid – and we’ve had a fatality. That’s not acceptable.”

Scottish IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, a four-time IndyCar series champion and close friends with Dan Wheldon, also had concerns about the race.

“I could see within five laps people were starting to do crazy stuff,” he said.

“I love hard racing but that to me is not really what it’s about, one small mistake from somebody. Right now I’m numb and speechless. One minute you’re joking around and the next he’s gone. He was six years old when I first met him. He was this little kid and the next thing you know he was my team-mate.

“We put so much pressure on ourselves to win races and championships and today it doesn’t matter.”

Fellow IndyCar driver Danica Patrick after the tragic event announced she would be leaving the series, no doubt the catastrophic events playing on her mind.

To discuss the news join our iSportconnect discussion Dan Wheldon.