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.

In an interview with the BBC, the president of motorsport’s world governing body (FIA), Jean Todt claimed the decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix to the F1 calendar was made after a report revealed the country’s situation has “stabilised”.

Todt added that the FIA voted unanimously after advice from vice-president Carlos Gracia, saying: “Our special envoy had many meetings in Bahrain, even with the human rights people responsible.

“He found a stable situation, a quiet one, and we unanimously agreed.”

The race was postponed from its initial March 13 date because of pro-democracy protests in which more than 20 people died and will now be held on 30 October.

Todt added: “Carlos’s report was discussed by the World Council and the decision was taken to accept to re-programme the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2011.

“We got a request from the opposition to the government to run the event and Carlos met with many people, including those working on the circuit, those in all the suburbs of the capital, and the report came back after that.

“The messages coming out are about peace, about restoring a good situation in this part of the world. Lots of other authorities have been encouraging [things] to go back to normal. My thinking is that, as a sporting body, we must support that.”

Sports marketing agency World Sport Group (WSG) has taken strong objection to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) move to float tender for television, internet, mobile and radio rights of the Indian Premier League (IPL), announced yesterday, March 8.

In a strongly worded statement, WSG has stated that BCCI’s move is in contrary to its submission in the Bombay High Court which restrained it from entering into any agreement with any third party for the worldwide broadcast rights contract for the IPL till the dispute is resolved.

The statement from WSG read as follows: “In its strongest public statement yet, World Sport Group (WSG) today condemns the BCCI’s decision to issue a tender notice for media rights to the Indian Premier League (“IPL”) even though the BCCI is yet to have its appeal in a dispute with WSG admitted by the Supreme Court following the Bombay High Court’s ruling in WSG’s favour.

“The invitation to tender is contrary to the decision of the Bombay High Court made by its ruling on 23 February 2011 and WSG believes it is an unfair, unwarranted and unnecessary attempt by the BCCI to create facts on the ground in the context of the Supreme Court’s forthcoming consideration of the admissibility of an appeal itself.

“The BCCI has issued a tender in spite of the undertakings given by it to the Bombay High Court, and WSG is advised that the tender violates the undertaking the BCCI has given to the Supreme Court.

“WSG is currently challenging the BCCI’s unfounded termination of its contract for the IPL’s worldwide media rights outside of the Indian sub-continent. BCCI’s purported termination of the contract was in itself a contravention of the contract’s terms for termination and was based on totally false allegations for which no evidence has ever been produced.

“In the recent decision of the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court on 23 February 2011, the High Court clearly stated that the BCCI had not produced any prima facie evidence that WSG had committed any fraud and promptly invited the parties to pursue the application for the appointment of an arbitrator in accordance with the very contract the BCCI was seeking to terminate.

“WSG notes that the unusually worded public tender notice make no mention whatsoever of the current proceedings before the Supreme Court. Further, based on information available in the market, WSG is also recently aware that a broadcasting agency close to the BCCI has already made claims to third parties in certain markets that it will be broadcasting the IPL on its channels. These claims have been made prior to the tender being issued and whilst the Court proceedings were taking place.

“The BCCI’s invitation to tender illustrates its continuing unwillingness to follow due legal process. WSG will take the necessary action to protect its commercial rights and those of its licensees around the world.”

National Basketball Association (NBA) reigning champions, viagra order the Los Angeles Lakers have signed a wide-ranging 20-year broadcast distribution deal with Time Warner Cable.

The agreement, ed touted to be unprecedented in terms of length and comprehensiveness, will see Lakers games and content feature on two specially-launched regional sports networks and begin with the launch of the new services at the start of the 2012/13 NBA season.

The Lakers current major broadcast rights holders KCAL Channel 9 and major broadcast partner Fox Sports Net will both be replaced by Time Warner Cable.

No official numbers were released by either party but Tim Harris, vice president of business operations for the Lakers, was quoted by ESPN as saying: “Suffice to say, any sports team in any league in any country if they’re going to be doing a broadcast agreement, there is a component that includes a discussion of economics and economics was something that needed to make sense for the Lakers and it does.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers’ previous deal with Fox Sports West was worth some US$30m per year in fees to the franchise. It also said that Time Warner Cable had dismissed outlandish speculation that the new deal could be worth as much as $3bn over two decades once all elements are taken into account.

A source familiar with the structure of such deals suggested that the Lakers could have secured as much as a 50 per cent share in the new channels.

Fox Sports had already admitted that it had tabled a significantly higher offer than its previous agreements with the Lakers in an attempt to renew the rights deal. Its exclusive negotiating period with the Lakers ran out, according to the LA Times, at the end of 2010.

Included in the deal are plans for English and, in a first, Spanish-language networks, which will utilise new facilities in Los Angeles and be made available to all cable distributors in an area including all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii.

Broadcast rights to live games, including pre-season, regular season and post-season fixtures, are included where the NBA’s network broadcast contracts allow.

Time Warner Cable chairman and chief executive Glenn Britt stated: “This long-term agreement represents a huge win for all Lakers fans, providing destination channels, more content and more platforms for the Lakers, one of the premier brands in professional sports today.

“It allows us to secure great ‘must-have’ content for our customers in an advantageous arrangement that affords us greater control over our own economic destiny for decades to come.”

Jerry Buss, majority owner of the Lakers expressed his delight, adding: “Time Warner has been producing quality sports programming for over a decade and the Lakers have been producing championship seasons for even longer. I am particularly proud of being part of the first ever Spanish-language RSN in the country. Together I’m confident we will delight our fans.”

The Lakers recently lost its position as the most valuable franchise in the NBA to the New York Knicks after being valued, by Forbes, at US$643 million, a figure that the company now estimate will rise to over $1bn.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has signed a four-year contract extension with Red Bull for the energy drink to remain an official supplier of the England Cricket team until the summer of 2013, capsule it has been announced.

As part of the deal, abortion Red Bull, who first became an ECB partner in 2005, will supply the team with their products at all international matches. In return it will receive a comprehensive range of sponsorship assets including in-ground advertising, ticketing and hospitality and product placement around international cricket stadia.

ECB head of sponsorship Mark Pearce said: “Red Bull is an established partner of the England cricket team and we are delighted it continues to see great benefit from its association with the team.

“Having recently regained the Ashes and been crowned ICC World Twenty20 champions this is an exciting time for the England cricket team.

“Over the coming 12 months the team has the chance to retain the Ashes down under and compete for the ICC World Cup in India in early 2011 so it promises to be a year in which cricket continues to attract huge media attention.”

Earlier this month the ECB announced Jaguar as its Official Vehicle Supplier of the England team.