Reigning Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks have promoted Amy Sprangers to Vice President of Corporate Partnerships and Suites, it has been revealed.

She will be responsible for leading Seattle’s sales and service efforts across both departments, helping to drive revenue through the development and execution on all regional and national sales campaigns.

Since 2012, she has led the suites department as the Managing Director of Suite Sales and Service and has a proven track record of fostering key corporate relationships. Under her leadership, she has provided the foundation by which the Seahawks have been able to drive revenues, increase sell-through rates and build strong partnerships.

Sprangers began her Seahawks career in 2002 as a Corporate Sales Manager in the corporate partnership department and transitioned to the suite department as a Manager in 2004 and Director prior to the 2005 season.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced a deal to use Sportradar’s integrity monitoring services.

Under the agreement, mind Sportradar will monitor all of the domestic Rugby Union competitions (Aviva Premiership Rugby, Greene King IPA Championship, LV= Cup, British and Irish Cup) as well as the autumn QBE Internationals for signs of betting-related corruption and fraudulent activity.

Working in conjunction with the Rugby Players Association (RPA), who have been active in educating players on betting integrity for the last three years, Premiership Rugby and the Championship Clubs, this latest initiative by the RFU is part of an overall joint Rugby Union strategy designed to proactively safeguard the sport from corrupt activity.

RFU CEO, Ian Ritchie, said: “Although rugby union is not seen as a high-risk sport in this regard, the RFU recognises that it is essential to take proactive, preventative action to protect rugby union, its participants and its integrity. The engagement of Sportradar is only one of the many steps that the RFU is taking as part of its Anti-Corruption Strategy.”

Sportradar CEO, Carsten Koerl, added: “Sportradar are delighted to be working with the RFU to protect their sport. Their proactive approach will ensure that English rugby union can continue to prosper for years to come”.

In an embarassing blunder for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), 17 Indian track and field athletes have been kicked out of the Asian Youth Games in China because they are over the age limit.

The Athletics Federation of India says the athletes were born in 1996, while the rules stipulate that only athletes born in 1997 or later – meaning under 17 – are eligible to compete at the games in Nanjing.

The Indian Olympic Association was suspended by the IOC last December for not adhering to its own constitution during elections and for electing corruption-tainted officials.

Indians are competing in Nanjing as ‘independent athletes’ under the IOC flag.

In another blow, four Indian badminton players were barred from competing in Nanjing because their entries had not been submitted in time.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) have revealed today that the 2013 World Triathlon Series and World Cup events will have its largest prize money ever.

The total prize money for the World Triathlon series has increased by $182, store 000 (all USD), see with the bonus pool up $70,000 this year to a total of $670,000. The increase makes the World Triathlon Series the richest series in triathlon with over $2.25 million dollars up for grabs. 

The World Cup events also received a sizeable boost, with an extra $280,800 allotted for the eight-race circuit, bringing the total sum for the two series to just under three million dollars. 

“Not only have we increased the overall prize funds for athletes this year,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado, “We have also deepened the pool of how many athletes will receive the prize money at World Cup and World Triathlon Series events to encourage National Federations to send athletes to races.” 

Notably, the Auckland and Yokohama World Triathlon Series races will now award prize money to the top 30 finishers, as opposed to the top 20 as in previous years. Likewise, the top 20 athletes at the Ishigaki, Huatulco, Edmonton, Tongyeong, Cozumel and Guatape World Cup races will take home prize money, where as previously only the top 10 received compensation. 

The PruHealth London Grand Final will offer a $280,000 purse to the winners, while the ITU World Champions will each take home an extra $10,000 from the bonus pool. An additional five triathletes will also vie for the bonus pool, as it will now include the top 35 athletes, as opposed to the previous top 30. However, while money has increased, race primes will not be offered at events this year. 

The 2013 ITU World Triathlon Series opens on 6-7 April in Auckland, New Zealand. The series will touch down in eight cities across four continents and the 2013 ITU World Champions will be crowned at the iconic 2012 Olympic course at the Grand Final in London on 11-15 September.

The European 18 Foot Skiff Grand Prix series has appointed Icarus Sailing Media to take care of class sponsoring and media coverage of the sailing competition.

Icarus will be in charge of finding Series sponsors, viagra Event- and individual sponsorship – as well as of the media coverage of the events and the distribution of the footage worldwide.

The 18 Foot skiff has one of the most interesting media profiles in sailing and was one of the first dinghy classes that made sailing famous to the public through its TV showcasing.

Icarus is an experienced sailing company producing high quality filming and able to distribute the footage in many TV channels and websites around the world.

 

International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission, who completed their first visit to Lillehammer to inspect preparations for the 2016 Youth Olympic Games, are impressed with the early progress since the city won the bid in December, 2011.

The Coordination Commission visited all the venues that will be used to host the seven sports on the Youth Olympic Programme. The majority of the venues that will be used in 2016 were built for the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, thereby extending the legacies of those Games. One of the few venues to be built from scratch for the 2016 YOG will be the Youth Olympic Village (YOV), which will house the athletes and be the site of all the Culture and Education Programme activities. The YOV will be used afterwards as student housing for both the Lillehammer University College and the Norwegian College of Elite Sport, with construction beginning in the summer of 2013.

Commission Chair Ruggiero said: “We are very impressed with the work already completed in such a short time. LYOGOC is leveraging the foundations of Lillehammer 1994 while gathering knowledge from the hosts of the first Winter YOG, Innsbruck 2012. We have full belief in Lillehammer to not only deliver a successful Games, but also leave a legacy for youth sport development long after the Games have concluded.”

Scottish Premier League (SPL) side, herbal Aberdeen Football Club have had their bid to move to a new stadium rejected by the council, much to the annoyance of Chairman Stewart Milne.

Aberdeen City Council rejected the Dons bid to build a new community sports centre at Cove, that would also act as a training facility for the side.

On top of this, the football team wanted to build a 21,000 capacity stadium close to the proposed centre.

The council’s decision has left Milne upset: “Disappointment and frustration do not come close to how my colleagues and I are feeling right now.

“As was made crystal clear, the Calder Park development has been designed as part of the master planning exercise to be completely integral with the new AFC stadium at Loirston and this decision has effectively also killed off that development.”

The Dons had planned to move to the new stadium at the start of the 2014/15 season and Milne commented further: “We also note that the Tories and Independents voted with Labour which confirms our earlier concerns about cross party whip being invoked.

“Without wishing to scaremonger in any way, the implications of this completely illogical verdict could have major implications for both AFC and indeed Cove Rangers and right now, the Board require some time to discuss both the consequences of the judgement and what our next move is likely to be.”

The council have responded to Milne’s statement, through local authority leader, Barney Crockett, Speaking to BBC Radio, Crockett said: “There’s no decision that directly pertains to Aberdeen Football Club that was made yesterday and there’s a lot of room for discussion.

“Megaphone diplomacy is not helpful.”

The IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2012, viagra sale which just concluded in Salt Lake City, troche Utah, on Saturday has made an enormous positive impact on the Game in the USA and beyond, according to CEO of USA Rugby Nigel Melville.

Speaking after a hugely successful tournament, which the home team won by beating Japan in the final, Melville praised the IRB for bringing the event Stateside.

“The JWRT has made a great difference to Rugby in America,” he said.

“It has raised the profile of the Game, particularly in Utah, and has left an important legacy that we will capitalise upon in the coming years. I would like to praise the vision shown by the IRB in awarding the staging of the tournament to USA Rugby and thank them for demonstrating the faith in us to deliver.”

“It’s an exciting time for Rugby in the USA. It continues to develop and grow stronger. Being able to attract international events like the JWRT to our shores certainly helps us in that process.”

The 2012 edition of the JWRT was very well received in Utah with packed crowds filling Murray Rugby Park on all four match days. The matches were also followed by hundreds of thousands around the world via the tournament website, official social media platforms and the fact that every match was streamed live globally.

“Salt Lake City has proven to be a wonderful venue for this important tournament,” said JWRT Tournament Director Tom Jones.

“The IRB is very pleased with how it has all come together and the teams have delivered their part of the bargain by offering up some exciting and high-class Rugby. It is noticeable how the standard of play at this Under 20 level continues to rise year on year and the gap is definitely closing between the JWRT teams and the top teams at this level, who take part in the IRB Junior World Championship.”

“And on that note, I would like to wish USA all the best in that tournament next year as they have won promotion to take part in the JWC 2013 in France.”

For hosts USA, the Trophy was a huge success, underlining the burgeoning appetite for the sport at all levels.

“I would like to extend the thanks of the IRB to Nigel Melville and his hard-working team at USA Rugby. Their dedication, passion and high standards have delivered a fantastic event of which we can all be very proud,” said Jones.

“The legacy of this JWRT will be manifold. The state of Utah now has a fine Rugby facility that has proven itself capable of staging an important world event. Through local media and a general excitement around the event, awareness of Rugby in this area has clearly been enhanced.”

“And the athletes now possess the invaluable experience of the pressures and pleasures of playing at an important international competition. That is something that will stand to them as they all seek to take their Rugby careers to the next level.”

Sports apparel giant Nike is the brand most affiliated with the 2012 Olympics even though it is a non-Olympic sponsor according to new research by digital agency Jam.

Research on web buzz, carried out by BrandWatch, commissioned by digital agency Jam – from 1 December to 7 February, shows that Nike is dominating conversations on the internet, with 7.7% of the conversations about the Olympics associated with the brand.

By contrast, Adidas is only pulling in 0.49% of conversations, despite a reported £100m sponsorship deal to be the official Olympic sponsor.

In January, Nike launched its “#Make it Count” campaign, which features a number of British, Nike-sponsored athletes, such as cyclist Mark Cavendish, through black-and-white photographs.

Observers believe the campaign has clearly resonated with the public as being aligned to the Olympics, despite Nike not being a sponsor and not breaking any Olympic rules in the campaign.

HSBC is the brand that is receiving the second-most buzz on the web in relation to the Games, but it is far behind Nike with just 0.68% of the web buzz.

Coca-Cola and British Airways have come in third and fourth, ahead of Adidas in fifth.

Coca-Cola has come out on top of the “Olympic Sponsors’ social leader board”, which takes into account Facebook fans, Facebook engagement, Twitter followers and YouTube video views.

The drinks brand had 38.9 million Facebook fans, half-a-million Twitter followers and 55 million YouTube views on the 7 February.

Samsung Mobile claimed second place in the table, while BMW, Adidas and McDonald’s came in third, fourth and fifth respectively.

Separately, the three most-followed UK athletes on Twitter are tennis player Andy Murray, Mark Cavendish and diver Tom Daley.

by Ismail Uddin