Rugby Super League’s Huddersfield Giants have agreed a partnership with National League One Rugby League outfit Batley Bulldogs.

The agreement will see the Giants and Championship side exchange players, and Huddersfield say Batley will benefit from their welfare scheme, including medical cover.

Giants Managing Director Richard Thewlis said: “We were a prime mover behind the change away from reserve grade to a partnership scheme and Batley were the obvious choice for us to start talking to.

“We had firm ideas of what we wanted and in long conversations with Batley became aware of a clear gap in their offerings to their players and worked out a great way we could help.

“Whilst finances throughout the game are very tight we have welfare high up on the agenda so were surprised to find that overall the level of medical provision for part time players was not where we envisaged.

“John Kear and the Batley club are keen for that to change so we have devised a way whereby in essence Batley players can receive immediate Super League level medical treatment should they be injured.

“Furthermore as the season develops and our partnership grows we have a number of ideas that both clubs can benefit from but these will come in time.

“Naturally the main driver for us is to have a team for our fringe players or players returning from injury to play but again I would stress that we have no rights to our players being selected – every football decision at Batley remains 100% with John Kear.

“Our players who are not in that week’s main squad will train alongside the Batley lads and it’s up to them to earn the shirt there and then perform.”

MetLife announced today that it has completed its purchase of Reynolds Plantation, viagra order Georgia’s premier golf and resort community located on Lake Oconee.

The acquisition includes The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, cheap six championship golf courses, arthritis four full-service marinas and nearly 5,000 acres of undeveloped golf and waterfront property.

“We are extremely proud to own Reynolds Plantation, a premier community with world-class amenities,” said Robert Merck, senior managing director and global head of real estate investments for MetLife. “Reynolds Plantation is an exceptional addition to our real estate portfolio and we look forward to investing in Reynolds Plantation’s future to ensure it continues to be recognized for the extraordinary lifestyle it offers.”

As previously announced, Daniel Corporation will oversee the day-to-day operations at Reynolds Plantation. The Daniel team will work in cooperation with MetLife’s Atlanta Regional Office, led by Regional Director Tom Coakley. The Atlanta office manages the company’s real estate investments in the southeastern United States.

“Since announcing the acquisition in May, we have been working closely with members and the staff to ensure we fully understand the opportunities and priorities at Reynolds. As a result, and with the input and guidance from several stakeholders, we successfully established a new club, which has been well received by members and helps lay a strong foundation for future growth,” said Coakley.

“Over the past few months, we have had the opportunity to learn more about the great people and amenities that make Reynolds Plantation a wonderful community,” said Charlie Tickle, chairman and CEO of Daniel Corporation. “We are looking forward to this opportunity to ensure that members continue to enjoy an outstanding quality of life at Reynolds while also enhancing the economic viability and sustainability of this great community.”

Reynolds Plantation represents the latest addition to MetLife’s portfolio of real estate investments in Atlanta and the southeastern United States. Other properties include Georgia Pacific Center, Georgia 400 Center, Rocca Apartments and 12^th & Midtown.

Die Bundesliga-Stiftung und die Deutsche Sporthilfe starten eine neue gemeinsame Kampagne. Unter dem Motto “Sportler für Sportler” unterstützt und begleitet die Bundesliga-Stiftung bereits seit 2008 intensiv die Athleten der Deutschen Sporthilfe.

In dem heute vorgestellten Spot, der sowohl im Internet als auch im TV zu sehen sein wird, packen Stars aus dem Fußball, Handball und dem Wintersport mit an und bereiten die Sportgeräte symbolisch für die Sommerspiele in London vor. Uli Hoeneß, Präsident des FC Bayern München, schraubt Spikes auf Sprintschuhe, Biathlon-Olympiasieger Ricco Groß pumpt Bälle auf, Ski-Olympiasiegerin Maria Höfl-Riesch, näht noch schnell den Sporthilfe-Badge an ein Trikot. Schließlich schaut auch Handball-Ikone Heiner Brand um die Ecke, während er die Schrauben an einem Hochleistungs-Bike festzieht. Die Botschaft: Gemeinsam für unsere Athleten in London!

Ab sofort wird dieser Spot im TV (unter anderem bei Sky und Sport1) sowie im Internet zum Beispiel bei bundesliga.de zu sehen sein. Ziel ist es einerseits, zusätzliche Aufmerksamkeit und Respekt für die Leistungen der Sportler zu schaffen und den Teamgedanken für Deutschland zu stärken. Andererseits dokumentieren Bundesliga-Stiftung und die Deutsche Sporthilfe mit dem Spot ihre langjährige Zusammenarbeit zum Wohle der Sportler.

“Nach der erfolgreichen Reihe mit Spots unter anderem mit Felix Magath, haben wir nun einen Film zusammen mit Stars verschiedener Sportarten geschaffen. Im Vordergrund stehen dabei die Solidarität der Sportler untereinander, der gegenseitige Respekt und die Unterstützung füreinander. Das ist der Geist unserer Aktion ‘Sportler für Sportler’ “, sagt Kurt Gaugler, Geschäftsführendes Vorstandsmitglied der Bundesliga-Stiftung.

“Der Spot ist das nach außen hin sichtbare Ergebnis der sehr fruchtbaren Partnerschaft zwischen der Deutschen Sporthilfe und der Bundesliga-Stiftung. Wir freuen uns sehr über die Solidarität der Bundesliga mit allen Sportlern”, erklärt Dr. Michael Ilgner, Vorstandsvorsitzender der Deutschen Sporthilfe.

Die Bundesliga-Stiftung fördert Projekte in den Bereichen Integration, Kinder, für Menschen mit Behinderung und für Sportler anderer Sportarten. 

YMS Promotion Ltd and Infront Motor Sports have secured a deal that brings the FIM Superbike World Championship to Russia starting in 2012 for a 10-year contract.

The accord, advice which will have a ten-year duration, stipulates that next year the FIM Superbike and Supersport World Championships will make their first appearance in Russia at the Moscow Raceway circuit on the outskirts of Moscow. YMS Promotion will officially organise the event.

Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports, declared: “In the last few months we have been working very closely with Alexander Yakhnich and his team and we have managed to define all the details in preparation for the arrival in Russia of the championship in 2012. To hold a race in Moscow, in the very first year, was our declared intention and we are therefore extremely satisfied with the choice of Moscow Raceway, a truly state-of-the-art circuit that is in an advanced phase of construction, and which will be completed in a few months time. World Superbike will be the first championship to arrive in Russia, a demonstration of Infront Motor Sports’ commitment to opening up important new markets for motor sport.”

Alexander Yakhnich, CEO of YMS Promotion Ltd added: “We are delighted to be able to officially represent such a prestigious championship as Superbike in Russia. We know that months of hard work lie ahead of us for the organization of the event but we are certain that in August everything will be ready to give a worthy welcome to the Superbike and Supersport Championships and their protagonists. The commitment of my group for the development of motorcycle sport in Russia will also be shown by the debut of the Yakhnich Motorsport team in the 2012 FIM Supersport World Championship with Russian rider Vladimir Leonov and another rider still to be decided.”

The date scheduled for the event is 26 August 2012.

The former president of the global governing body of motorsport (FIA), Max Mosley, has criticised the decision made on Friday, June 3, to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix to this year’s Formula One calendar.

The FIA, now led by Mosley’s successor Jean Todt, announced that its World Motor Sport Council had decided the Sakhir race could take place on October 30, with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix shifted to December 11 to accommodate the change to the schedule. Having been scheduled to open the 2011 season in March, the Bahrain Grand Prix was postponed due to political unrest in the country.

F1 commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone told The Guardian on Saturday that “unusual circumstances” led to the decision to reintroduce Bahrain to the calendar, and added: “It went through the World Council. The FIA sent people out there to check on the situation, they came back and reported everything is fine.”

However, Mosley warned that the decision to bring Bahrain back to the schedule “will cost Formula 1 dear”, writing in the Daily Telegraph: “Surely the line has to be drawn when a sporting event is not mere entertainment in a less-than-perfect country, but is being used by an oppressive regime to camouflage its actions.”

Mosley added: “If a sport accepts this role, it becomes a tool of government. If Formula 1 allows itself to be used in this way in Bahrain, it will share the regime’s guilt as surely as if it went out and helped brutalise unarmed protesters.

“By agreeing to race there, Formula 1 becomes complicit in what has happened. It becomes one of the Bahrain government’s instruments of repression. The decision to hold the race is a mistake which will not be forgotten and, if not reversed, will eventually cost Formula 1 dear.”

The decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix is believed to also be a boost for the delayed Indian Grand Prix, new to the F1 circuit, by affording the organisers with more time to ensure the Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida, is completed.

Gladstone Dainty, President of the USA Cricket Association, is attempting to arrange another set of matches involving New Zealand later this year, with the potential of staging in New York. 

Dainty told ESPNcricinfo: “We’re very seriously looking to do something in August. We don’t have another [team] yet, but we’re looking to do something in August.” 

USA hosted New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Florida last May for a pair of Twenty20 games that took place shortly after the conclusion of the World Twenty20 in the West Indies. 

While matches may again be played in Florida, New York could also become a viable option after Dainty revealed plans to install a turf wicket at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field. A USA XI played two matches against a West Indies XI captained by Brian Lara at the same ground in 2006. 

Dainty added: “We’re still working on getting this facility in New York going. I’m hoping that it’ll be ready by August.”

The National Basketball Association (NBA) hosts ten team owners who are worth ten figure sums, topped by New Jersey Nets, Mikhail Prokhorov. Prokhorov is believed to have funded the club, which has been in desperate need of financial backing, with around US$250m to buy 80 per cent of the team along with 45 per cent of the Barclays Center. The injection has meant that the team will be able to push through their ambitious plans to relocate to Brooklyn, New York.

Pokhorov, a former Russian basketball player himself, earned his fortune through metal and is currently worth $13.4bn, the highest in the league. A close second is Microsoft billionaire and owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, Paul Allen who is worth $12.7bn. Allen is funding a $13m upgrade of the teams home stadium, the Rose Garden.

Completing the top five wealthiest owners list for the league are Philip Anschutz, owner of the LA Lakers ($7bn), Orlando Magic’s Richard DeVos ($4.3bn) and Miami Heat’s Micky Arison ($4.1bn). Arison recently parted with around $100m to entice the league’s highest profile player, LeBron James.

The figures were released by Forbes in a top 10 list, to read the full story visit the site here – http://www.forbes.com/2010/12/16/lakers-nets-blazers-magic-business-sports-nba-billionaires.html?partner=alerts

This years Business India Forum was held on July 22, 2010 and the event once more organised by Celebrasian UK was held this year in London at Christie’s. A lovely small, niche auditorium amongst all those works of art from around the world.
The mix of topics this year was once more quite interesting with sports business meeting luxury and lifestyle in an Indian context, something with the exception of IPL isn’t really the case for India just yet. So something which is set to become more and more real for India in the coming years.

It was a half day forum with over 100 delegates attending. The opening session had the title “Overview of the Indian economy and three sectors”. Ridhika Batra, Director – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, UK; was in the chair with Vijay Goel, Indo-EU Business Forum; Deepak Lalwani, Astaire Securities; and Farid Haque, Global Markets, Accenture as panellists and they all gave their views on how business could and should be done in India plus where the opportunities and possible problems lie. This set to tone for the rest of the afternoon.

The second session had the topic “The Business of Sports” with myself as the moderator with the focus mainly on cricket and football. My panel included Ishan Saksena, Chairman, Queen’s Park Rangers FC; Ashish Ray, Author and journalist; Kevin Roberts, Editorial Director, Sport Business Group; Anders Grundberg, Partner, McGuire Woods; and Clive W. Leach, Chairman, Durham County Cricket Club.

I started off giving a general overview on the Indian sporting field with the IPL the often mentioned example of commercialisation of sports in India, but I also gave the audience the information that football is a fast growing sport in India with the question to be asked on how and where can cricket grow further. My aim was to give an overview not only of cricket and football, which still where the main focus. My seasoned colleague Ashish took the discussions to another level as he is a cricket purist and was more interested in Test cricket, while most of the world was interested in 50 Overs and T20. An interesting discussion developed as India has clearly shown that Test cricket is of no real interest for the general public these days, while T20 is the new craze through the IPL; while in England Test cricket still has its place of its own. An interesting comparison was made as a strong league doesn’t automatically mean a strong national side. England and the EPL in football were compared to India and its IPL in cricket. And yes, it scarily sounded correct as both national sides have failed in recent major competition.

We also focused in the session on the main topic of business of sports in India. There are numerous opportunities not only in cricket and football with the example of the 30 year deal signed by IMG-Reliance with the Basketball Federation of India recently made, but there are also chances in Formula 1 and Golf.

After a tea break “Session Three – The Burgeoning Luxury and Lifestyle Markets” was held with Amin Jaffer, Director Indian Art, Christies; in the chair. The panel included Fiona Sanderson, Managing Director, The Luxury Channel; Onita Prasada Vashish, Owner, Onitaa Fashion; and Kevin Rego, International Head of Sales and Marketing, B4U TV.

The fourth and final session was on “Doing business in India”. It had Carl Nisser, Board member, Europe India Chamber of Commerce Counsel & McGuire Woods; as the moderator. The panel included Atul Gupta, Director, Euro Max Capital; and Parvinder Bhatia, Wasserman Media Group – India. They talked about the does and don’t in the Indian market. One thing that came out clear of this session was anyone interested to do business in India needs to know and then also understand how to do it in India. And that is the difficulty for international business across all fields as even multinationals have failed in India.

By Arunava Chaudhuri

http://arunfoot.blogspot.com/2010/07/business-india-forum-london-review.html

Sportradar have extended their partnership with Football Federation Australia (FFA).

Sportradar already provides its industry leading Fraud Detection System (FDS) to the FFA to cover the A-League and FFA Cup competitions. Under this extended agreement the FDS will monitor betting patterns on the state National Premier Leagues (NPLs) for the 2014 season. In addition Sportradar has become the “Official Sports Data Partner of the National Premier Leagues”.

Since 2004, ask Sportradar’s FDS has successfully monitored a range of sports and has unrivalled experience and expertise in the identification of suspicious betting practices around world.

Sportradar CEO, medicine Carsten Koerl said, no rx “We are delighted to extend our cooperation with Football Federation Australia and look forward to continuing our excellent working relationship with them.”

FFA CEO, David Gallop, said, “Football Federation Australia is pleased to extend our partnership with Sportradar, a global leader in the provision of sports data and integrity services. Safeguarding the integrity of football in Australia is at the core of everything we do and this agreement is an important extension of our robust and forward thinking integrity programme.”