The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) announced today that it has accepted a bid from Traffic Sports for the commercial partnership rights to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2013/14 and 2014/15 CONCACAF Champions League tournaments.

The multi-year agreement was reached after due process from the CONCACAF Evaluation Committee assigned to this bid, comprised of Mr. Pedro Chaluja, Panamanian Football Federation President, Mr. Dan Flynn, General Secretary of the United States Soccer Federation and Mr. Canover Watson, Treasurer of the Cayman Islands Football Association, who evaluated all  bids submitted.

“The strategic alliance with Traffic is the result of a long assessment process that showcases the vast and growing interest in the market for our Confederation properties and tournaments,” said CONCACAF President, Jeffrey Webb. “The number and quality of interested parties are also a true testament to all of our Member Associations’ efforts to elevate the game in our region.”

The agreement includes commercial partnership rights for the 2013 Gold Cup, CONCACAF’s biennial championship for national teams that continues to grow in popularity with fans worldwide, and also for the 2013/14 and 2014/15 editions of the CONCACAF Champions League, the regional club team competition.

Under terms of the deal, Traffic Sports acquires the right to package and market these CONCACAF properties globally with assets that include field of play branding, use of tournament marks, and hospitality, among others.

“We are honored to have been selected by CONCACAF to represent these prestigious competitions,” said Aaron Davidson, President of Traffic Sports USA. “Our company has been investing in soccer in the Americas for 32 years including being the commercial agency for CONCACAF from 1991 – 2003 and holding media and sponsorship rights to the majority of the CONCACAF Member Associations until today.  These are exciting times for football in the CONCACAF region and we look forward to globalizing Gold Cup and Champions League as we have done with Copa America, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana over the years.”

Former FIFA presidential candidate and executive committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his provisional ban from football, bronchi the latest episode in a long-running saga.

Bin Hammam, impotent who challenged Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency last year, was provisionally suspended by the sport’s world governing body on July 26, only one week after CAS had overturned his life ban from football.

Bin Hamman’s lawyer Eugene Gulland said in a statement to Reuters that the former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president had filed an appeal with CAS “challenging the provisional suspension ordered by FIFA.”

In overturning Bin Hammam’s life ban in July, CAS said FIFA had provided insufficient evidence over allegations that he tried to bribe Caribbean officials in the run-up to last year’s election.

However, it said the decision was not “an affirmative finding of innocence” for Bin Hammam, and that the case could be re-opened with new evidence.

One week later, FIFA said Bin Hammam would be banned for 90 days while its ethics committee collected further evidence.

Bin Hammam was accused of trying to buy the votes of Caribbean officials by handing them $40,000 each in brown envelopes at a meeting in Port of Spain one month before the FIFA election.

He withdrew his candidacy for the FIFA elections and was subsequently suspended pending an investigation.

Blatter was re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as FIFA president, while Bin Hammam was found guilty of breaking seven articles of FIFA’s ethics code, including one on bribery.

Proceedings against former CONCACAF president Jack Warner, also present at the meeting in Trinidad & Tobago, were dropped after he resigned his post.

The NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins have employed Los Angeles-based AEG Facilities to manage the Consol Energy Center.

AEG has a five-year deal to replace SMG effective Sept. 1. SMG had managed the Consol Energy Center since it opened two years ago and the Civic Arena, the team’s former arena, for nearly 20 years before that.

AEG runs the Staples Center in Los Angeles and more than 100 major arenas around the world, including O2 Arena in London, O2 World in Berlin and MasterCard Center in Beijing.

The trade publication, Venues Today, last month ranked Consol Energy Center 10th in the world in arena revenues.

Arena workers including ticket takers and ushers will retain their jobs, though AEG Facilities will decide whether to keep the SMG’s senior management team at the arena.

After years of planning and failed proposals, vcialis 40mg London Irish have sealed consent for a new training complex that will be “on par with anyone in Europe.”

Two earlier proposals had been rejected, but planning permission was granted by Spelthorne Borough Council, allowing the club to develop the Hazelwood Golf Course and the Avenue sites in Sunbury, Surrey.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, London Irish Chief Executive, Andy Martin said: “We managed to get planning consent for a fairly major proposal that gives London Irish a new training complex which will be on par with anyone in Europe.

“It’s quite a ground breaking and game changing deal for London Irish.

“It secures the future of the club and it enables us now to build something that we’ll be proud of that will bring in both amateur and professional players in the future.”

Martin also told iSportconnect that plans to develop the centre of excellence were one of the ambitions of the club that originally attracted him to his current job.

206 new homes will be built on the site, and one condition of the planning consent is that the local community can use the facilites.

The club plan to have the centre up and running in good time for the 2015 rugby season.

Keep an eye on the Featured Profiles section of iSportconnect for the full interview with Andy Martin.

The New England Patriots, NBC/Telemundo and ESPN have gained new advertising revenue at the Super Bowl following the introduction of the world’s first Video Mic Flag.

Broadcasters at the NFL Superbowl are joining the ranks of CBS, CNET, ABC, FOX, CNN and Bloomberg by using Video Mic Flag. Telemundo.Through this ESPN, NBC and the Patriots are getting advertising revenue from major advertisers including Ford, Toyota, Subway, Gillette and Pepsi.

This is the same Video Mic Flag that was used at the NBA Finals broadcast by ESPN/ABC Sports. Now broadcasters are realizing the Video Mic Flag is bringing major advertisers to this amazing innovation.

New England Patriots: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Brian Waters, Jerod Mayo and even Mr. Robert Kraft himself have all used the Video Mic Flag with paid advertisers that include Subway, Toyota and Gillette.

The Video Mic Flag is the latest in innovations from leading Technology Manufacturer “The Recom Group.” This is the same company that introduced the World’s First Video Trading Cards for Superstars Kobe Bryant and Blake Griffin by Panini America. States Rob Norden, CEO of Recom Group,

“The response has been tremendous. Our Video Mic Flag incorporates 3 to 4 OLED (Organic LED) Displays that can play continuously for 8 to 10 hours on a single battery charge. You can create multiple playlists at any time. We have created an entire new advertising medium that has unlimited potential.”

“In fact,” declares Norden, “this advertising space will be at an extreme premium as it’s part of the broadcast and not a commercial interruption. It’s simply a matter of creating the video logos or content that can be recognized by the viewer without detracting from the interview.” Norden notes that many broadcasters are also creating content that applies to the interview. “Yes, we have one client that is using it for celebrity interviews and showing the guest’s own movie trailer during the interview.”

The Video Mic Flag is part of the Video Name Tag group of products. The original Video Name Tag is an OLED display that you can wear to stand out or promote yourself like nothing you’ve ever experienced.

Anheuser-Busch has told Richard Petty Motorsports that the NASCAR team “will not receive the final payment on its 2010 sponsorship contract,” according to sources cited by Dave Moody of Sirius NASCAR Radio.

Anheuser-Bush’s contract with RPM “called for Kasey Kahne to be the driver of the Budweiser Ford, and when Kahne left the team five races early to join Red Bull Racing, that contract became null and void.”

There has been “no confirmation from either the team or Budweiser, and no word on what the final installment of that sponsorship would have been worth to the team.”

Budweiser was on RPM’s No. 9 car driven by Aric Almirola for Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy Juice 500, but ESPN’s Terry Blount noted it is unclear whether they will be on the car the rest of the way and how that affects whether the 9 car will finish the season.

RPM’s future is in jeopardy due in part to co-Owner George Gillett’s financial woes, but Blount said, “It does no one any good — not Richard Petty if he hopes to take over the team, not Roush Fenway and not the creditors — to shut things down with three races to go. I think they’re going to do everything possible to have all four cars finish the season for the last three races.”

U.S. Squash have announced the prize purse for the 2013 Delaware Investments U.S. Open Squash Championships will provide equal prize money for both the women’s and men’s events becoming the first major in the sport to do so. 

Leading the way in the industry, and ahead of many other professional sports yet to achieve parity for both genders, the prize money for the women will be raised to $115,000 to make it equal to the men’s fund. 

The women’s draw will also be increased to 32 players from a previous 16 player draw, now in line with the men’s draw, providing greater opportunity for female professional players to compete in the World Series event. 

“It is a top priority for us to promote opportunities for girls and women to play squash,” said Kevin Klipstein, CEO of U.S. Squash. “Offering equal prize money is one way we are able to help more female squash players compete at the highest level and to their full potential.” 

Sports icon and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King said: “Any time you can achieve equality in any field of endeavour – be it in sports or in life – everyone wins. This announcement is so much more about the message than the money and I am thrilled another U.S. championship event has stepped up and done the right thing.” 

Klipstein added: “In the US we have the same number of girls playing as boys and a nearly equal number of women and men competing in college. The women’s tour has an incredible, dynamic and entertaining World Champion and recent U.S. Open Champion in Nicol David. The women’s tour is equally as significant and competitive as the men’s tour, and the opportunities for both genders should be equivalent.” 

This year’s prize purse will total $230,000, paying $115,000 to each division, making it among the largest prize money events worldwide. 

Last year the U.S. Open offered the highest prize money in the history of the event and attracted all of the world’s top ten men and women players. The event continues to grow in stature and the competition intensified with this latest raise, becoming one of the most prominent tournaments in the world, and one of the most popular amongst the world’s best players. 

In professional sports, tennis has become the role model for prize money parity since the U.S. Open in tennis did so in the early 1970’s. 

The US Squash breakthrough is also hailed by the World Squash Federation: “This initiative for the US Open signals clearly how seriously we take the promotion of our top women athletes alongside their male counterparts,” said WSF President N Ramachandran. “Our United States federation deserves great congratulations.” 

The 2013 Delaware Investments U.S. Open will be held at Drexel University in Philadelphia from 9-18 October.

The University of Kentucky (UK) today announced it has extended its partnership agreement with The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC), buy an affiliate of IMG College, to continue managing its domestic U.S. trademark licensing program through 2018.

CLC will also maintain its partnership with the University to manage its international trademark licensing rights. 

Kentucky, a CLC partner institution since 1985, will continue to gain access to leading brand protection, brand management, and brand development services through a comprehensive trademark licensing program customized by CLC, which currently represents nearly 200 collegiate properties nationwide. Kentucky will also continue to benefit from CLC’s proven licensing services, which afford the University the opportunity to contract with best-in-class licensees that advance its goals and marketplace position.

“Throughout our 27-year partnership with CLC, the Kentucky licensing program has experienced tremendous growth in the sale of licensed merchandise, including a 40 percent increase in royalties in 2011-12 over the previous year,” said Jason Schlafer, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Corporate & University Relations, University of Kentucky. “We value CLC’s knowledge and experience in the collegiate licensing industry, which will help us further grow our program and expand Kentucky’s market presence.”

Through nearly three decades of partnership, CLC has worked closely with the University of Kentucky to expand its retail presence in the marketplace, and to leverage national licensing programs for the University such as the College Vault, a vintage inspired collection of products, Victoria’s Secret PINK, and Old Navy. 

CLC has also helped Kentucky capitalize on hot market opportunities including its 1996, 1998, and 2012 basketball national championships.

“We are honored to extend our long-term relationship with the University of Kentucky to continue building on the success of its licensing program,” said Cory Moss, Senior VP & Managing Director, The Collegiate Licensing Company. “Kentucky has a tradition-rich history with a national base of supporters, and we look forward to continuing to help the University connect its passionate fans to the renowned UK brand.”

Kentucky is one of 13 schools in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) represented by CLC including The University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, Auburn University, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Missouri, University of Mississippi, Louisiana State University, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, and Vanderbilt University. CLC also represents the Southeastern Conference.

IMG College, an affiliate of CLC and creator of the premier national marketing platform in college sports, has represented Kentucky’s multimedia rights since 1974.