German Bundesliga club, medicine Bayer Leverkusen have renewed a four-year marketing deal with Sportfive, with their stadium BayArena becoming the 1.Bundesliga’s first Wi-Fi enabled stadium.

Their partnership began in 2007 with the establishment of Bayer 04 Marketing. The agreement will now extend until 2019, with the club stating the two parties have agreed to make the BayArena the 1.Bundesliga’s first venue with a digital signage system complete with “extensive Wi-Fi connection”. The initiative has been designed to drive new marketing opportunities.

“The last five years in collaboration with Sportfive has seen the marketing of Bayer 04 develop in new dimensions,” said Bayer Leverkusen managing director Wolfgang Holzhäuser. “Against the backdrop of increasingly demanding challenges, we want to set further goals together in the future. We are firmly convinced that our partnership will continue very positively.”

Philipp Hasenbein, managing director of Sportfive, added: “Bayer 04 Leverkusen has been one of the top clubs in the German Bundesliga for many years and is very professionally run. In addition, our cooperation has been very positive. It is therefore very pleasing that we could extend the agreement well in advance. Together with Bayer 04, we want to continue the marketing successes.”

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has announced the selection of HARBORcenter Development, clinic | LLC (the development company affiliated with the Buffalo Sabres) as the preferred developer of the Webster Block to create a state-of-the-art ice rink.

He also released the term sheet, discount outlining the plan to create two new ice rinks, help which coupled with the existing rink, makes this facility the “first of its kind” in the United States. The project also calls for a hotel, retail, a restaurant and new parking, for a total estimated project cost of $123 million.

“This is an exciting day for Downtown Buffalo and its waterfront,” said Mayor Brown. “I want to thank HARBORcenter Development, LLC and the Buffalo Sabres for putting before us a remarkable proposal that will re-make this prime piece of city-owned land, and bring tremendous economic impact to the community.”

“We are proud to be named the preferred developer of the Webster Block,” said Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Sabres. “This project will further enhance the current development at Canalside and in the process, create a destination attraction to draw hundreds of thousands of people to Buffalo’s waterfront on a yearly basis. Canalside has seen a rebirth the past few years and we expect our project to act as a catalyst for future development on the waterfront.”

The Webster Block, a 1.7 acre city owned site located directly across from First Niagara Center, is considered a prized downtown parcel due to its location in downtown Buffalo, its proximity to Canalside, two major sports venues, and the Peace Bridge. The HARBORcenter Development project is expected to provide approximately 1,500 construction jobs. Once complete, the facilities are expected to create 350 full-time jobs, and generate $4.1 million in state and local taxes, $48 million over the next ten years.

“The City received two excellent and competitive proposals for the Webster Block, and there was strong support for each plan,” said Mayor Brown. “In the end, the Selection Committee recommended the project it believed would be best for the City of Buffalo, and selected HARBORcenter Development and the Buffalo Sabres.”

Australian Waratahs Rugby and the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union have reached an agreement that both parties believe will have mutual long-term benefits.

The agreement was facilitated by  HSBC, a major partner to both organisations, and is aimed at helping Hong Kong RFU develop its rugby operations and developing the Waratahs Rugby brand in Asia.

Waratahs Rugby CEO, Jason Allen, said: “There are great synergies between our businesses, and we are delighted to be able to formalise our arrangement.”

Last month, three of Hong Kong’s potential future rugby, Cado Lee , Kenneth Wong Kit-leung and Terry Tsang Kai-cheuk stars, spent a week in Sydney training with the HSBC Waratahs as part of the agreement between the two parties.{jcomments on}

The English Football League is attempting to expand its commercial output by promoting its head of marketing  David Malkinson to a new strategic partnerships role in a bid to step up its chase for global sponsors.

The League is building a commercial team to drive revenue for its clubs through sponsorship of grassroots initiatives and digital campaigns with global commercial partners.

Activity is being led by chief commercial officer, online Richard Heaselgrave, clinic who will work alongside former head of marketing David Malkinson who was promoted to head of strategic marketing and partnerships.

It is the latest phase of the League’s push to court commercial partners that are not purely UK-centric, such as its current roster of sponsors, which include Npower, Carling and Johnstone’s Paint.

The Football League, which distributes money it collects from sponsors to member clubs, hopes the increase in headcount will help it to accrue some of the £23m it will lose when its new television rights deal with BSkyB launches at the start of the 2012/13 season.

The governing body of the Championship, League One and League Two is also close to finding a sponsor for the Football League Cup to replace Carling, which has come to the end of its three year exclusive deal, according to Richard Heaselgrave, who was appointed commercial director in October.

The League wants to talk to brands with “global aspirations”, which it says the UK-centric Carling does not have, to take advantage of the competition’s increased exposure overseas.

by Ismail Uddin

After talks of a partnership agreement between the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and the PGA arose again this week, no rx the former have denied any such negotiations.

Spokesman David Higdon spoke on behalf of the LPGA Tour on the topic of a PGA Tour/LPGA Tour partnership: “We are pleased with our on-going strong relationship with the PGA Tour. Our Commissioners talk regularly, we serve on committees together, we’re in step with them on the introduction of golf to the Olympics in 2016, and we share the same interest in growing the game.

“We certainly have discussed ideas on even more collaborative efforts, but there have been absolutely no discussions with the PGA Tour about any sort of business agreement or ownership stake in the LPGA.”

Edmonton might remain on the IZOD IndyCar schedule after all. The race appeared dead earlier this month when the city and promoter could not agree to terms. The Edmonton City Council approved a plan involving an additional $3 million in parking revenues and private partnerships.

That is expected to pave the way for Montreal-based Octane Motorsports Events Inc. to serve as race promoter for the next three years.

The Edmonton Sun has also reported the race is expected to held in late July, health but the promoter still has to re-work a deal with IndyCar.

Octane also runs the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and NASCAR Nationwide races in Montreal.

FIFA has announced that to go along with their website, there which is the most-visited football website in the world, they have launched their official app.

The launch of the application coincides with the Final Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, which fans can follow live with the app on Friday, 6 December 2013.

FIFA estimates the app to be the most downloaded sports application ever, with over 70 million  downloads predicted in its first few months. The application is built on the foundations of FIFA.com, which during tournament months can receive in excess of 7 billion page views and 150 million unique visitors.

FIFA President Blatter commented: “Our mission is not only to develop the game, but to touch the world and build a better future. With the official FIFA app, we are using mobile technology – the most personal technology ever known – to unite and inspire fans, ensuring they never miss a moment of the beautiful game.”

The app, available in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish, is free to download and available for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets from today.

The World Curling Federation (WCF) has extended its partnership with the Canadian Curling Association (CCA) which will see Canada host the World Men’s Curling Championship in 2015 and 2017 and the World Women’s Curling Championship in 2016 and 2018.

The WCF and CCA will look to build on the previous success of this partnership which allows for the sites of the Canadian World Curling Championship events in 2015-2018 to be determined by the CCA, see in consultation with the WCF. Canada is already scheduled to host the 2014 Ford World Women’s Championship from March 15 to 23, cough at Harbour Station in Saint John, clinic New Brunswick.

The extension of this partnership will also see the CCA continue to own the presenting sponsor position for all world men’s and women’s events held outside of Canada, while host committees of world championships, held inside Canada, will continue to receive a percentage of gross ticket sales.

Additionally, TSN/RDS, the official broadcast partner of the CCA, in an agreement that runs through the 2019-20 curling season, will continue to hold exclusive broadcast rights in Canada for the world championships, regardless of where they’re played.

“The WCF is delighted to extend our agreement with the Canadian Curling Association,” said WCF President Kate Caithness. “This will ensure that alternating World Championships will continue to be held in Canada and will be a joint operation between the WCF and CCA. Our partnership to date has been extremely constructive and beneficial to the development of our sport and we look forward to building on this success over the coming years.”

Canadian Curling Association Chief Executive, Greg Stremlaw, said: “The extension of our partnership with the World Curling Federation will benefit curling fans in Canada and around the world,” adding: “This agreement is another sign that the CCA and WCF want to work together to continue building the sport of curling and showcase its top players in the best way possible on a global stage.”

The WCF’s marketing agent, Infront Sports and Media, has also agreed to partnership terms with the CCA to allow the CCA comprehensive sponsorship and marketing rights related to the World events held in Canada throughout the agreement.

On the continuation of this partnership, Andreas Biffiger, Associate Director, Winter Sports at Infront Sports & Media AG, said: “As the exclusive marketing and media partner of the World Curling Federation, we welcome the extension of the partnership with the Canadian Curling Association. In previous years, the agreement has enriched and enhanced the sport both internationally and on a domestic level. The continuation will enable all three parties to collaborate in the future – in the best interests of the athletes, commercial partners and the rapidly expanding global fan base.”