European sports network Eurosport has secured live TV and online rights to the MCE British Superbike Championship, it has been announced.

The network has agreed a five-year deal, enabling it to retain the domestic UK Superbike championships up until 2015.

Eurosport’s agreement with MotorSport Vision (MSV) will see the Superbike series broadcast live and exclusive in the UK, with race action also seen across Europe on Eurosport 2.

MSVR chief executive Jonathan Palmer said: “I am delighted that MSV has agreed a new five-year contract with Eurosport to broadcast British Superbikes live throughout the world.

“BSB is the most successful national motorsport series in the UK, attracting more spectators and a greater TV audience than any other motor racing in Britain, whether on two wheels or four.”

Director of British Eurosport, Dave Kerr, added: “I am thrilled that we have been able to retain the British Superbike Championship on British Eurosport.

“We have worked really closely with MSV to grow the popularity of this great championship series and I believe this deal is an endorsement of our excellent production, comprehensive coverage and consistent scheduling.

“I’d also like to thank our increasingly large number of loyal and passionate viewers for making the show a major ratings success for us.”

Scottish Premiership team Hibernian have poached Motherwell chief executive Leeann Dempster in an appointment that will see Rod Petrie take a step back from the day-to-day running of the club.

Dempster will take over as chief executive of the relegation-threatened Scottish Premiership club on June 1, a role that the under-fire Petrie has filled on an interim basis.

He will continue as non-executive chairman and said in a statement: “We are delighted that Leeann is joining Hibernian. I am certain she will be a tremendously important signing and will provide the daily leadership needed next season to help achieve the board’s plans and meet the aspirations of supporters.

“Leeann is an outstanding football leader with a proven track record. In addition to a desire for sporting success, I know from our numerous discussions that there is a shared belief in the direction of travel towards increased involvement of supporters and greater community engagement.”

Dempster said: “I believe that to succeed in a sustainable way in the long term we need to grow club resources, re-engage lapsed supporters and strengthen the club collectively.

“As a big city club, Hibernian has a fantastic opportunity to build on the great physical assets and grow attendances through increased engagement and success on the pitch. I am looking forward to the challenge.

“There are a number of initiatives that we will be able to announce to supporters in due course and that will show we want to meet the shared ambitions of supporters. We want a vision that everyone can buy into so they can play their part in the future of our club.”

Sport Ngin announced today that is has been selected to develop and manage a full suite of technology solutions for USA Wrestling, sale the national governing body for amateur wrestling in the United States.

In addition to providing member state associations and clubs with websites and association management tools, clinic Sport Ngin will collaborate with USA Wrestling to develop membership and tournament management technology solutions including live scoring, scheduling, volunteer management, score-clock integration, video streaming, and more. As part of the landmark deal, Sport Ngin becomes a “Preferred Sports Technology Provider of USA Wrestling.”

“Sport Ngin provides us an opportunity to seamlessly connect our membership, market our sport, and provide our associations and clubs with easy-to-use technology solutions,” said Rich Bender, executive director of at USA Wrestling. “Through this partnership, the Sport Ngin platform will greatly improve the communication and engagement with our members and the hundreds of thousands of people who are connected to the USA Wrestling family including athletes, coaches, officials, family members, fans, and the media.”

Minneapolis-based Sport Ngin specializes in the execution of digital sports content strategy, design, marketing, and member and tournament management solutions. With more than 400,000 sports organizations, teams, leagues, clubs, associations, and tournaments currently using its proprietary software platform, the company is one of the largest privately held sports technology companies in North America.

“We’re extremely pleased that USA Wrestling has chosen Sport Ngin as a preferred technology provider,” said Justin Kaufenberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sport Ngin. “We are confident our platform will help USA Wrestling take a significant step forward as it continues to re-invent and re-establish the sport. Leveraging Sport Ngin’s innovative technology, and through a shared vision, this is a great opportunity to advance the sport at a critical time.”

Sport Ngin is currently working with over 35 USA Wrestling state associations to design, migrate, and launch a network of state websites. With a common design theme and consistent branding, the state association websites will facilitate improved communication of news, events, and membership information and establish the USA Wrestling brand at a local level. The membership and tournament management solutions are currently in development and will launch prior to the 2014-15 USA Wrestling membership season.

“We’re incredibly excited about this partnership,” said Les Gutches, Associate Executive Director of Programs and Strategy for USA Wrestling. “The tools and technology that Sport Ngin provides will allow us to deliver enhanced benefits to our membership – including state associations, individual athletes, coaches, and officials – and create more efficient avenues to market our sport and communicate to our constituents.”

India may have it’s first professional Beach Soccer Championship after Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) announced that it is looking to organise the event in Goa next month.

The Goa Football Association (GFA) and The Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) are backing the officially sanctioned event, which will become a bi-annual feature in India.

The tournament will see the participation of prominent players from Goa’s popular football clubs and other prominent teams from around the country.

This first edition of the tournament will be held in Goa from February 7-10, in accordance with official sporting rules as laid out by BSWW. The tournament boasts of an exciting format of the sport of soccer, one that requires a fun surrounding, the right attitude and minimal equipment.

The teams will comprise of 10 players each – five on field and as many substitutes. The duration of play will include three periods of 12 minutes each, with a break of three minutes. In case of a tie at the end of regular time, there’s a three-minute extra time, before the penalty shootout.

The Buckinghamshire Golf Club in southern England has commissioned design firm Thomson Perrett & Lobb to undertake a strategic review of its golf course, adiposity with a view to implementing proposed changes over a two to three year period.

Located in Denham, viagra pills to the north west of London, Buckinghamshire is the home of the Ladies European Tour, and plays host to one of its flagship tournaments, the ISPS Handa Ladies  British Masters, won this year by Lydia Hall from Wales. The course, which opened in 1992, was originally designed by legendary golf coach John Jacobs and developed by Kajima UK.

“Our key goal at Buckinghamshire is to improve the playing experience for the members, and help the club attract new ones,” said TPL principal Tim Lobb. “Obviously, though, we have to take into account the fact that the course is the home of the LET, and is hosting the Tour regularly. The owners are especially keen to increase the number of women among the membership, and we will consider playability for lady golfers very carefully during our review.

“Buckinghamshire has many, many bunkers – in total, they amount to 1.4 hectares of sand,” he said. “Naturally, that creates a lot of work for the greens crew, and we will be focusing on bunker strategy closely. We don’t want to reduce the challenge of the course, but we do want to give maximum bang for the bunker!”

Lobb cited the short par four eighth, which offers a direct route to the green over a lake, or a safe layup and pitch option, as one of the course’s stand out holes. “The eighth (pictured) is a terrific hole, but it needs to be made more enticing for golfers,” he explained. “We’re considering adding a little more fairway on the direct line to the green, to encourage more people to have a go at it.”

Former Ryder Cup player John O’Leary and director of golf at the Buckinghamshire, said: “We have a terrific golf course, as anyone who saw this year’s Ladies British Masters will know, but we believe that, with TPL’s help, we can make it better still, and we look forward to seeing their proposals.”

Michel Platini, the Uefa president is determined to stage the World Cup during the European winter for the first time at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

The move would require all major European Leagues to take a month-long winter break, including England’s Premier League which has no mid-season break at all.

“I hope it will be held in winter,” the Frenchman told the London Evening Standard today. “We have to go to Qatar when it is good for everybody to participate. What is better for the fans?”

Platini believes there is enough time to work out how to organise the domestic leagues around a winter World Cup. “In 10 years we can manage to decide how we can postpone the season for one month,” he added.

“January is difficult for the World Cup because you have the Winter Olympic Games. If we stop from November 2nd to December 20th, it means, instead of finishing in May, we stop in June. It is not a big problem. It is for the good of the World Cup, the most important competition in the world.”

Platini voted for Qatar to get the 2022 World Cup and was also in favour of Russia being awarded the 2018 tournament. “I voted for Qatar because it was time to go to a country in that part of the world,” he said. “They bid five times.”

He also denied voting for Qatar after being told to do so by former France president Nicolas Sarkozy. “I tell you one thing immediately,” Platini said. “One day I was invited to dinner by Sarkozy where there was the Prime Minister of Qatar. Mr Sarkozy never asked me during the dinner to vote for Qatar. They invited me to the dinner but they know I will be independent, that I will vote for who I want.”

Palace of Auburn Hills has announced renovations to the Detroit Pistons home focusing on improving fan-friendly technology and social interaction.

Palace Sports & Entertainment launched a $13 million-plus overhaul of the 24-year-old arena.

Among the areas targeted for overhaul — complete with new navy-blue accents — are the arena’s main concourse, clinic 100-level suite corridor and Club West bar and restaurant.

Forty lower-level suites will be renovated, cialis and 16 of the 80 third-level suites will be eliminated to create a full-service, ambulance open-air lounge on the Palace’s stage-facing end.

Another 16 of those third-level suites may eventually make way for what Palace CEO Dennis Mannion called an “innovations lab,” where companies such as Ticketmaster and Internet providers could create interactive programs for fans.

The moves reflect a broader rethink in the U.S. arena business, which in the 1980s turned to corporate suites as a key revenue source.

“It’s just changing, and that’s driven by technology rather than economy,” Mannion said. “Suites were largely developed at a time when corporate spending was big on hospitality. Even when it still is, they want something attached to it that gives bigger bang for the buck.”

Also in the works is arena-wide wireless service. Digital boards on the concourse and new screens inside suites will let fans publicly interact via text messaging.

“It’s always been about relevance, which drives the relationship you have with fans. We have to stay current, from food offerings to ticket offerings to in-game entertainment,” Mannion said. “Relevance leads to bigger, deeper relationships, which obviously translates into revenue.”

The work is expected to be finished by the start of the NBA season in October. It’s the latest phase in an ongoing makeover that began with last year’s renovation of the West Atrium, locker rooms and offices.

The project is the biggest enhancement at the Palace since completion of the $30 million Comcast Pavilion in 2006.

“We know it starts with good product — the team on the court has to be good, the performers onstage have to be good,” said Mannion. “But I want to make sure the accoutrements around it are first-class.”

English Rugby club, London Welsh, push for promotion has been halted after the RFU concluded their ground was not up to standard.

The English club which was prominent in 1960s and 70s, will not be promoted to the Premiership along with their playoff rivals Cornish Pirates.

In a statement, the RFU directors said: “The Rugby Football Union’s board of directors has considered the findings of the independent audit report requested by London Welsh, which determines a club’s eligibility for promotion to the Aviva Premiership in line with the minimum standards criteria (MSC).

“The report found that London Welsh has not met the MSC for the Aviva Premiership. The independent auditors identified various failures, including not having primacy of tenure at their nominated ground. This states that a club must demonstrate that they can host home fixtures at the time stipulated by Premiership Rugby and/or the host broadcaster.

“The RFU board ratified the findings and agreed, should London Welsh win the RFU Championship final following the second leg on 30 May, they would not be eligible for promotion and Newcastle Falcons would remain in the Aviva Premiership.

“Cornish Pirates did not choose to have an independent audit of the Mennaye Field and so do not fulfil the criteria for promotion should they win the final. As a result, there will be no promotion from the RFU Championship this season.”

The main problem for Welsh, who are based in west London, is their ground has only one small stand and is barely good enough for championship rugby.

Welsh, who were formed in 1885 and who supplied seven players to a British Lions tour in 1971, have 14 days to appeal against the decision.

KFC, try IBM Global Services, pills Dell, cialis and Nike were among the Top “Ambush Marketers” for the London 2012 Olympics as ranked by The Global Language Monitor (GLM), the Internet and Media Trend Tracking Company.  

In the rankings, encompassing Q3 and Q4 of 2011, GLM measured the strength of the brand affiliation for each official Olympic sponsor as well as those of their primary competitors.

“Though ‘ambush marketing’ is well understood to mean an organization knowingly exploiting a brand affiliation with the Games — without the benefit of official sponsorship.  However, all perceived Olympic sponsors according to their presence in the global media, and statistically linked to the London Games, qualify for GLM’s Ambush Marketing Index, said Paul JJ Payack; president of the Austin, Texas based Global Language Monitor.  “There is more than pride at stake, since the official sponsors generate some 30% of the revenue needed to stage the Games.”

There are twenty-five top official Olympic sponsors divided into three tiers:  Worldwide Partners, Official Partners, and Official Supporters.  GLM tracks over fifty non-affiliated companies that are direct competitors with the Official Olympic sponsors.

Measuring each tier against their ambushers, GLM has found that for the second half of 2011, each tier of Ambushers beats their legitimate competitors according to the Tier’s Q4 Brand Affiliation Ranking.

Among Worldwide Partners, Coca-Cola, DOW, and P&G scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for Q4 2011.  In terms of movement, Omega and Coca-Cola both improved their BAIs by some 350%, over the last half of 2011.  Among Worldwide Partner Ambushers, IBM Global Services, Royal Phillips, HP, Barclaycard, and Dell all scored significantly higher on GLM’s BAI for Q4 2011 than their Worldwide Partner competitors.  In terms of movement, IBM Global Services, Dell, and KFC all improved their BAI’s by 250% or more through the end of 2011.

Among Official Partners, EDF Energy, Lloyds TSB, and the BT Group scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for Q4 2011.  In terms of movement, Lloyds TSB, the BT Group, and BP, all improved their BAI more than 100% over the last half of 2011. 

Among Official Partner Ambushers, UnitedContinental (BA), the 3i Group (Lloyds TSB), and all scored significantly higher on GLM’s BAI for Q4 2011 than their Worldwide Partner competitors.  In terms of movement, the 3i Group (Lloyds TSB), UnitedContinental (BA), and Nike (Adidas) all improved their BAI’s by 250% or more through the end of 2011.

Among Official Supporters, Arcelor Mittal, UPS, and Cadbury scored the highest on GLM’s Brand Affiliation Index (BAI) for Q4 2011.  In terms of movement, Arcelor Mittal, Cadbury, Cisco Systems, and Adecco all improved their BAI more than 200% over the last half of 2011. 

Among Official Supporter Ambushers, Hebie Steel (Arcelor Mittal), Kraft (Cadbury), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (Delloite) all scored significantly higher on GLM’s BAI for Q4 2011 than their Official Supporter competitors.  In terms of movement, Hebie Steel (Arcelor Mittal), DHL (UPS), and Ericsson (Cisco) improved their BAI’s by 250% or more through the end of 2011.

Mark England has been named Team GB’s Chef de Mission for the Baku 2015 European Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, discount the British Olympic Association (BOA) has announced.

Mark is the current Director of Sport Services at the BOA and in his 13 years at the organisation has previously been a deputy Chef De Mission at six Olympic Games, arthritis including London 2012 and Chef De Mission for a number of Olympic Youth Festivals.  Mark’s appointment was unanimously approved by the Board at today’s meeting.

BOA CEO Bill Sweeney commented: “Mark has been leading the BOA’s preparations for both events and brings a wealth of Olympic knowledge and expertise to the roles. Baku 2015 and Rio 2016 will both will require complex planning and Mark’s experience and relationships in those cities will help ensure no stone is left unturned in providing Team GB with the best possible environment to perform at its best at both Games.”

Mark England commented: “I’m hugely honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead the teams heading out to Baku and Rio over the next couple of years. I look forward to working with my Team GB colleagues and the National Governing Bodies to ensure the preparations being put in place are world class.”