Cooper Tires is to continue as title sponsor of British Formula 3 until at least the end of 2014.

The American tyre company began its association with British F3 in 2009, when it took over supply from its affiliate brand Avon Tyres, which had previously been sole supplier to the series for 27 years, reports Autosport.

Julian Baldwin, managing director of Cooper Tires Europe, said: “Cooper’s role in British F3 is something that everyone who works at our Melksham base is very proud of – and rightly so.

“F3 is often referred to as the ‘university of motorsport’ for both drivers and engineers, and that requires a top-quality tyre that can be relied on. Over the years, our engineers have worked tirelessly to ensure that our tyres satisfy all the needs of a series that has become the world’s best.”

Lisa Crampton, general manager of British F3 promoter SRO, added: “Cooper Tires has put a huge amount into a powerful marketing and promotional programme, which has led to the success of British F3 today.

“Cooper has offered teams and drivers a high level of service and support for the past two years, and we look forward to seeing that dedication continue in the years to come.”

By Daniel Anwar

The 2014 U.S. Gymnastics Championships will be held in Pittsburgh for the first time, USA Gymnastics and VisitPittsburgh announced today.  

Scheduled for Aug. 21-24, the four-day competition, which serves as USA Gymnastics’ national championships, will be held at CONSOL Energy Center and tickets will go on sale late this summer. The USA Gymnastics National Congress and Trade Show will be staged at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

In addition to VisitPittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Penguins, AEG and CONSOL Energy Center were instrumental in bringing the event to the city.  The City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are also helping support the championships.

Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, exclusively told iSportconnect:  “One of the things that stood out to us is how well all of the entities in Pittsburgh work as a team. The combination of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Visit Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County Executive, AEG and other parties convinced us that Pittsburgh would be a fantastic location for our championships.

“In 2012 National Geographic Traveler Magazine rated Pittsburgh one of the Best of the World Must-See Places and it is clear to us why that is. Pittsburgh has become a truly magnificent town and has invested heavily in the visitor and sports experience. Not to mention, the city has one of the newest and most state of the art convention centers.

“We consider the U.S. Gymnastics Championships to be the annual Superbowl of our sport, and we are confident that Pittsburgh will help us celebrate the Championships at that level.”

Craig Davis, president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh, added: “It is an honor to be selected as the host city for this prestigious event. We are looking forward to the opportunity to showcase Pittsburgh’s revitalization. And, we’re committed to providing memorable experiences that exceed expectations for the thousands of out-of-town visitors.”

“CONSOL Energy Center and AEG Facilities are honored to be selected to host the 2014 USA Gymnastics Championship. Pittsburgh is famous for its strong sports culture, and hosting the Championships will once again showcase CONSOL Energy Center as the premier sporting destination in the region,” said Jay Cooper, regional vice president of AEG Facilities. “This is a fantastic event for the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, and we are looking forward to working with our partners, USA Gymnastics and VisitPittsburgh on this iconic event.”

“The Pittsburgh Penguins are excited that the 2014 U.S. Gymnastics Championships are coming to Pittsburgh and CONSOL Energy Center,” said David Morehouse, CEO and president of the Penguins. “Pittsburgh has a well-deserved reputation as a phenomenal sports town and we know that fans throughout our region will come out to support this unique national championship event.”

To read iSportconnect’s exclusive interview with Steve Penny click here>>

Discovery Communications could eventually take full control of the Eurosport group under proposals drawn up by TF1 CEO Nonce Paolini.

The board of directors at the French commercial network have agreed Paolini finalise negotiations with Discovery. The proposal is that Discovery would take a 20% minority interest in the Eurosport group, pharmacy levitra. which comprises both Eurosport International and Eurosport France for €170 million.

TF1 has granted Discovery at option to raise its interest to 51% in two years time. If Discovery were to exercise its option, prostate TF1 could then play its own put option over the remaining 49%, drugs which would increase Discovery’s ownership to 100%.

As well as Eurosport, Discovery would also become a shareholder in the TV Breizh, Ushuaia TV and Stylia channels. An initial 20% for €14 million could lead to a 49% share.

The channels that focus their output around documentaries, magazine and current affairs channels are prime Discovery territory.

Employee representatives are to hold discussions with management on the proposals with a decision said to be weeks away.

Rangers chief executive Charles Green has suggested the Scottish Football League are to unveil plans for a league reconstruction this week.

He says SFL clubs will meet on Wednesday to discuss possible changes to Scottish football.

Green will be unable to attend the talks personally as he will be south of the border with roadshows aimed at generating further investment in Rangers.

He told Talksport: “I understand that the Football League on Wednesday are having a meeting of clubs and it’s the intention of the executive to unveil what they think would be a restructuring plan for Scottish football.”

“I won’t be there unfortunately because we are doing the presentations in London but one of the other directors and the club’s secretary will be there so we will find out what the SFL plan is.”

Green’s consortium purchased the business and assets of Rangers when they were consigned to liquidation in the summer and the club was subsequently re-launched in the Irn Bru Third Division.

Hearts are the latest Clydesdale Bank Premier League side to experience financial turmoil and are battling for survival after Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs issued a winding-up order over a tax bill of almost £450,000.

Green added: “Hearts have got into financial difficulty and there were rumours in the papers that there were another couple of SPL clubs in financial difficulty so it is a time for change.

“Whether the SPL could survive if two clubs go out of business would be really questionable.

“We are just focusing on winning the Third Division and getting promotion.

“We are a football club, we just win matches and, if you keep winning games, you will end up at the top.

“What the top will be called in three years, who knows?

“If it happens beforehand because of restructuring, or because clubs go out of business, that’s unfortunate, but we had to get on with our lives and other clubs will have to do the same.”

NBA’s Golden State Warriors announced on Sunday that Snøhetta and AECOM have been selected as the architecture team that will design the team’s new sports and entertainment complex at Piers 30-32 in San Francisco.

The centerpiece of the project is a new arena for the Warriors when the team returns to San Francisco in 2017.

“We conducted an exhaustive search of local and global architects and designers,” said Peter Guber, co-owner of the Warriors. “In the end, we felt that the combination of Snøhetta and AECOM was the best team to design what we envision as the most state-of-the-art multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex of its kind.”

“The Warriors have set ambitious goals for their team and their sports and entertainment complex which are really very exciting,” said Craig Dykers, Senior Partner/Director/Architect of Snøhetta. “They’re interested in connections to the entire Bay Area and creating a venue that’s useful for many people on many levels.”

Some of Snøhetta’s projects include the Oslo Opera House in Norway, the redesign of Times Square in New York and the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts.

“Snøhetta’s extensive experience with ambitious waterfront projects and its world-class architects’ familiarity with San Francisco through their work on the SFMOMA expansion was a huge factor in our decision,” said Joe Lacob, co-owner of the Warriors. “All you have to do is look at what they’ve done for the new National Opera House in Oslo and the Great Library of Alexandria in Egypt to see what is possible at Piers 30-32.”

AECOM, a Fortune 500 company, is an international firm with broad experience designing sports facilities. The company owns Bill Crockett/Ellerbe Becket, one of the most prolific sports arena architects over the past two decades. Bill Crockett/Ellerbe Beckett is the only sports architecture group based in San Francisco.

“We’re thrilled to be working with the Golden State Warriors and Snøhetta,” said Bill Crockett, Director of Sports Architecture for AECOM. “We are well aware of the significance of this location, and we intend to work hand-in-hand with the city, and the community, to put forth a design that maximizes the sight lines and view corridors of the location and the surrounding area.”

Some of AECOM’s NBA projects include San Antonio’s AT&T Center, Memphis’ FedExForum, Washington DC’s Verizon Center, and Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center.

“Working with AECOM and having the vast sports arena knowledge and experience of Bill Crockett and Ellerbe Becket as part of our team will be invaluable as we design the complex,” said Dykers.

The sports and entertainment complex will be privately financed and is estimated to cost over $500 million.

“We want to build a venue that is not only innovative by today or tomorrow’s standards, but that will stand the test of time and befits the importance of the location,” said Guber. “Great cities have great buildings in great locations. San Francisco is a great city.”

The Bradford Bulls coaching and backroom staff has been made redundant following the Rugby club going into administration.

Along with head coach Mick Potter, nurse goes Ryan Duckett, decease and Stuart Duffy. Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle indicated that the redundancies were neccesary to cut the cash flow problem asap.

He intends for the game against London Broncos on Sunday to go ahead. Although he does intend to have a meeting with the RFL this afternoon to seek assistance on this.

The Bulls still need at least a further £500,000 to ensure that the fantastic win against Wigan on Friday night , was not their last.

Guilfoyle has said that just to continue forward into July, they will need approximately £250,000. The problem with that is the Bulls only have £20,000 in the bank.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has selected CommerceTel Corporation, an award-winning provider of proprietary mobile marketing technologies and solutions to handle mobile marketing tactics such as voting, text alerts, and special offers for in-venue and in-broadcast initiatives.

The UFC is the fastest growing sports organization in the world, producing the world’s premier mixed martial arts (MMA) events and is available in almost a billion homes worldwide. The UFC’s debut on network TV last November was the most watched fight in a decade, drawing over 9 million viewers to FOX in the US.

“The UFC holds the unique distinction as the largest Pay-Per-View event provider in the world while the mobile platform provides the largest digital audience in the world. We’re very pleased to support the UFC’s progressive strategy of connecting to their audience via mobile devices,” said Michael Falato, Vice President of Sales & Business Development of CommerceTel’s Txtstation division.

With CommerceTel’s C4 and Txtstation Pro web-based platforms, the UFC will be equipped to deliver HD-quality graphics and animations to screens, whether it is broadcast, in-venue boards, or digital signage. Fans text their messages to a short code and within seconds the real time results can appear live on the screen. The dynamic display of responses has been proven to not only improve overall response rate but it also engages the consumer in a fun an interactive way. Additionally, fans can opt-in for real-time alerts from in-venue or online calls-to-action.

UFC President Dana White, said: “We are always looking for new ways to improve the audience experience for our fans. This is another way for fans to get even closer to the action, to get even more interactive, and this partnership with CommerceTel’s Txtstation allows us to do that in a new and exciting way.”

by Ismail Uddin

A four-year renewal of a marketing partnership between the PGA Tour and Beringer Vineyards was announced by the parties yesterday, doctor January 31. The agreement secures Beringer’s designation as the “Official Wine of the PGA TOUR, generic Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour” through 2014 in the United States and Canada.

The renowned Napa Valley winery was the first wine brand to become an Official Marketing Partner of the PGA Tour.

Francesca Schuler, ed Chief Marketing Officer of Beringer Vineyards, stated: “We knew from the outset of our partnership that the PGA TOUR and Beringer Vineyards would be a great fit, and we are very pleased with what we accomplished in our first year. The TOUR presents exceptional opportunities and environments in which to showcase our acclaimed portfolio of wines. We look forward to building on the relationship we’ve developed with the loyal TOUR fans, and offering more unique wine experiences over the next four years.”

Throughout the 2011 season, Beringer will be executing retail promotions in conjunction with the PGA TOUR schedule, which will include discount ticket offers to tournaments as well as opportunities for fans to win VIP golf experiences. Beringer will be showcasing its luxury wines at several tournaments, providing fans with an upgraded wine experience while they watch tournament play.

Tom Wade, Chief Marketing Officer for the PGA TOUR, added: “We are very happy that our fans and partners have been able to enjoy the wonderful Beringer products at our events. We are particularly pleased that Beringer will be expanding its activation and even more of our fans can enjoy Beringer over the next four years.”