The Houston Golf Association (HGA) and Redstone Companies Hospitality, a division of The Redstone Companies, Wednesday announced a five-year contract extension for the Shell Houston Open PGA TOUR event to be played on the Redstone Golf Club — Tournament Course.

Steve Timms, president and CEO of Houston Golf Association, and Greg Nielson, Senior Vice President of Houston Golf for Redstone, jointly made the announcement at Redstone Golf Club, which has been the host venue for the Shell Houston Open since 2003.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Redstone Golf Club,” said Timms. “This announcement underscores the long-term commitment of our organization and The Redstone Companies to the PGA TOUR and the youth of our community who we serve through the Shell Houston Open.”

“We are thrilled to host the Shell Houston Open through 2017,” said Nielson. “Our goal is to continue providing an exceptionally manicured course and first-class venue for the PGA TOUR, the players and all the spectators who come out to support the event.”

HGA has been promoting professional golf to the area since 1946 and the local event is the 10th oldest among 40-plus events on the current schedule. The Shell Houston Open moved to Redstone Golf Club’s Member Course in 2003 and then to the current Tournament Course in 2006.

In conjunction with the contract extension the HGA announced it has underwritten a series of spectator enhancements for the Tournament Course, some of which have already been completed. Those enhancements will all be in place for the 2013 Shell Houston Open, set the week of March 26-31.

“We want to ensure that every patron who walks on the property has a world class viewing experience that matches the quality of the course that our friends at Redstone provide,” said Timms.

Leading Chinese solar energy company, Yingli Green Energy will leverage its sponsorship of Bayern Munich when  the team arrives in Beijing for its exhibition match next Tuesday.

Yingli is an official premium partner of the club and has arranged for the team to play Beijing Guoan in an exhibition match to be called the ‘Yingli Cup’.

Yingli has been  a sponsor of the FIFA World Cup since 2010 and  is also sponsor of US Soccer.

Yingli was the first Chinese company to sponsor football on the international stage and the first renewable energy company to promote its business through football.

Liangsheng Miao, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yingli Green Energy, said:”We are also honoured to be using our global marketing platforms not only to contribute to diplomatic relationships between China and Germany but also to give back to the community.” {jcomments on}

IndyCar continues to move forward with its investigation into the 15-car accident on Lap 11 of the Oct. 16 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in which two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon sustained fatal injuries.

As part of Phase 1 of the investigation, an internal team led by series safety and competition officials is evaluating data to make a factual determination of the circumstances surrounding the entire incident.

The investigation team will utilize outside, independent experts and consultants for analysis of various aspects of the data. The results of the investigation will be turned over to an independent, third-party group for validation.

Randy Bernard, CEO, IndyCar, said: “We must continue to move forward with a thorough investigation. Fortunately, that has already begun, and we have the protocols in place to get this done. This was a tragic accident, and IndyCar needs to understand everything possible about it.”

IndyCar anticipates Phase 1 will be complete in several weeks. Phase 2 of the investigation will utilize the information learned in Phase 1 to minimize risks in the future.

Guidelines emphasizing improved driver safety and quality car construction were the key specifications stressed to chassis manufacturers that produced the current generation car, which was introduced in 2003. Key safety mandates include energy-absorbing materials, side intrusion panels and increased distance between front and pedal bulkheads.

IndyCar and Dallara continue to work on developing its next generation chassis, which will debut in competition in 2012; a universal road/oval chassis with an enhanced driver safety cell and design, which reduces the risks of wheel-to-wheel contact and interlocking wheel.

While IndyCar are conducting their investigation more than dozen IndyCar drivers met with series officials for three hours on Monday to discuss ways to make the sport safer.

Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, two of Wheldon’s closest friends, say they talked about how to prevent another fatal crash. Neither discussed specific proposals. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard and Brian Barnhart, the series’ president of competition, both attended the meeting.

Kanaan says drivers must continue to push for better safety measures during the six-month offseason.

The scheduling of the Bahrain Grand Prix into the 2011 season Formula One schedule may still be in doubt after rights-holder Bernie Ecclestone raised fresh concerns about the safety situation in the troubled Middle Eastern country.

The race was initially postponed from its season opener slot on March 13 a month in advance due to civil unrest. The Grand Prix was reinstated to the calendar last week, with the event scheduled for October 30 after A vote by the International Motorsport Federation’s (FIA) World Motor Sport Council saw the Grand Prix reinstated last week, pushing the new Indian Grand Prix back to the end of the season on December 11 in turn.

However, Ecclestone stated in The Times newspaper that the race could be shifted to the end of the season, saying: “The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen. Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go. If they are not, then we don’t go and there are no problems.

“We listened to that report from the FIA and that was saying there were no problems at all in Bahrain. But that is not what I am hearing and I think we can see that we need to be careful.”

Former FIA president Max Mosley, who spoke out against the decision to restore Bahrain to the F1 calendar at the weekend, told the BBC on Tuesday: “I will be astonished if the event goes ahead. I don’t think it will happen.” Mosley said the FIA did not have the authority to make changes to the calendar without the written consent of the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). You need the written agreement of every team and I don’t believe that is going to be forthcoming.”

Three English County Cricket Club’s announced annual losses yesterday, March 8, for 2010 with Kent posting the highest operating loss, despite making an overall profit due to the sale of land at their St Lawrence Ground home in Canterbury.

The club’s overall profits of £3,535,426 (US$5,727,895), overshadowed concerning operating losses of £595,000 ($964,000). This was majorly affected by a decrease of £243,000 ($393.715) on gate receipts in 2010, a drop of 36 per cent.

Club treasurer Simon Philip stated: “There is no doubt that the World Cup and the lack of a cricket narrative last summer, with the major Test series not starting until late July, had a huge impact.

“With cricket off the back pages throughout, the low profile of the game in the nation’s sporting consciousness in 2010 had a direct effect on the more casual cricket fan.”

The other two sides to have announced losses yesterday were Gloucestershire and Derbyshire who posted post-tax losses of £216,000 ($350,000) and £187,037 ($303,000) respectively.

Gloucestershire treasurer Tony Elgood said: “We clearly cannot continue to run the club at this level of loss.”

He added: “This is the second year running that the club has had a significant deficit.

“We have set a positive budget for the current year and we will be making every effort to ensure we deliver against this budget.”

While Derbyshire chairman Don Amott said: “With the World Cup swamping our FP t20 campaign and new fee payment regulations, 2010 has been a difficult year.”

The share price of sportswear manufacturer Nike has reached an all-time high of US$83.40 following the announcement of its five-year deal with the National Football League (NFL).

Nike has agreed a deal with the NFL giving them official endorsement of on-field and sideline personnel apparel as well as fan gear rights from 2012 onwards.

The company replaces Adidas-owned Reebok, mind which paid US$300 million for a ten-year deal that runs out next season.

President of Nike Brand Charlie Denson said of the deal: “We believe our agreement with the NFL enhances the Nike brand, viagra order and provides a significant opportunity to drive growth across the business -both in our performance products and sportswear.”

The NFL also made licensing rights deals with New Era, GIII, VF, Outerstuff and ’47 brand. Reports claim the six deals could be worth a combined US$1 billion.

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.”