Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), “the Home of Motorsport in the Middle East,” has agreed a deal to utilise AudienceView e-commerce and fan management solution.

“Based on our research, AudienceView has proven itself to be a company that deserves every accolade. As such, we look forward to exploring avenues in which AudienceView can improve the way BIC rolls out unforgettable motorsport experiences, such as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, to our customers,” said BIC Chief Executive Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa.

BIC’s remote sales are made possible through mobile box offices and multiple white-label websites, which keep the circuit’s brand front and center at all times. Fans enjoy a unified shopping experience, including the ability to purchase tickets, merchandise and event parking in the same transaction. 

“We are proud to welcome Bahrain International Circuit to the AudienceView family. In doing so, our solution is now powering ticketing for three of the world’s major Grand Prix nations – Bahrain, Singapore in partnership with TicketWorld, and Australia in partnership with Foxtix. We look forward to providing our flexible solution to meet the growing needs of this world-class venue in Bahrain for many years to come,” said Jeff Koets, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for AudienceView.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) have awarded the 2013 ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships to Cogne, Italy and will be held on February 22-24, 2013.

The championships will be the first of seven ITU Multisport World Championships in 2013 in seven different countries across varied distances and disciplines. 

“We are thrilled to have so many multisports on the calendar for 2013,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “While triathlon is the cornerstone of our organization, we are committed to the development of all multisports. The growth of these disciplines is a great asset in the advancement of our sport across the world.” 

In addition to winter triathlon, which involves running and mountain biking on snow, and cross country skiing, the multisport calendar includes three duathlon events, long distance triathlon, cross triathlon, and aquathlon. 

The ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships will be the second multisport world championship to take centre stage of the 2013 season on June 2 in Belfort, France. The race will be decided over a grueling 4km swim, 110km bike and 30km run, approximately three times the Olympic triathlon distance. 

Cross triathlon, which consists of swimming, mountain biking, and cross-country running, will have its World Championships on July 13 in Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands. The Dutch city was the location of this year’s successful Cross Triathlon European Championships. 

Up next will be the three duathlon competitions, starting with the elite world championships as part of the World Games on July 26-27 in Cali, Colombia. Only the elites will race the 10km run, 40km bike, 5km run race in Cali, which marks duathlon’s debut in the World Games.  

From August 10-11, the Canadian capital of Ottawa will host the ITU Duathlon World Championships for Mixed Relay, Junior, Under23, Age-Group, and Paratriathlon categories. 

The duathlon portion of the calendar will conclude with the return of the Long Distance Duathlon World Championships to Zofingen, Switzerland for the third consecutive year in a continuation of ITU’s partnership with Powerman. The grueling 10km run, 150km bike, 30km run will take place on September 8 and marks the 25th anniversary of the Powerman Zofingen. 

The 2013 ITU World Championships for Aquathlon–a 2.5km run, 1km swim, 2.5km run–will coincide with the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final on September 11 in Hyde Park, the London 2012 Olympic venue.

MediaCom Sport have opened a new office in Russia with an additional three countries also preparing to launch.

MediaCom Sport Russia & CIS is now open for business in Moscow and will be followed by a further three new offices servicing North America, cough Latin America and Europe within three months.

The agency has named Ken Crease, pills the former Managing Director of Sport Media Group, click to lead its Moscow office. Ken has over 14 years of experience in the Russian market working with clients including Russian challenger team Marussia F1, Volkswagen, Megafon and Hankook.

Russia will be a key market for sports sponsorship with the country hosting both the Winter Olympics in 2014 and the Football World Cup in 2018. A number of MediaCom clients have already signed as partners for these events and total sponsorship deals around Sochi 2014 are claimed to be worth US$1.2 billion.

“Russia is going to be at the centre of global sport for the next six years. Participating in sport presents great opportunities for brands to forge strong bonds with consumers. Pride in Russia’s ability to win the rights to host these events will ensure that associated brands reap the rewards,” said Ken Crease, Head of MediaCom Sport Russia & CIS.

The expansion of the MediaCom Sport network coincides with three new appointments at its London headquarters: James Hough, John Scurfield and Misha Sher.

James Hough joins the team from Havas Sports & Entertainment in the UK where he ran the sport divisions within Havas-owned media agencies MPG and Arena Media. He will work alongside former Fuse Sport & Entertainment executive John Scurfield as part of the leadership team, charged with presenting and delivering integrated sports strategies for clients.

James has previously worked at Carat Sponsorship and Walker Media, while John joins from OMD’s Fuse where he was head of sponsorship in the UK and worked on brands including Vodafone, Carlsberg and McDonald’s.

Misha Sher is responsible for developing MediaCom Sport’s exclusive deal to support brand extensions for Brazilian legend Pelé. Misha has previously overseen global partnerships for Glasgow Rangers FC and also worked for Fox Soccer Channel, Soccerex and Brown Brothers Harriman & Co in Boston.

“I am very pleased to have secured the kind of talent that has now joined our existing team. MediaCom Sport is a unique proposition that not only connects clients with bespoke properties but also ensures they are activated early in the planning process and integrated with their entire marketing programmes. We believe that the combination of key local office expansion and the strengthening of our global team with such high calibre and experienced personnel will put us in an even stronger position to unleash the power of sport for more of our clients across all markets,” said Marcus John, Global Head of MediaCom Sport.

Northamptonshire County Cricket club have announced they now own the freehold of the County Ground for the first time in their 107-year existence.

The club have been locked in talks with Cockerill Masonic Trustees, who previously let the ground to Northamptonshire on a long-lease basis, for the last five years.

But after completing the purchase last week, Northamptonshire – for the first time in their history – will have the freedom and opportunity to develop the ground in accordance with their ambitions to become one of ‘the best non Test Match County Grounds in the Country’.

The purchasing of the freehold, alongside the County Ground’s new outdoor nets facility that is due to be completed later this summer, has been made possible through a generous legacy left to the club by its former president Lynn Wilson.

Club chairman Martin Lawrence said: “This was the best thing the club could do and we are very happy that we have been able to achieve this.

“Although the Cockerill Trustees had allowed us to occupy the County Ground on a long leasehold basis there is nothing better than to have secured ownership of the site ourselves.

“This will help to sustain the long term financial security of the club and will enable the club to develop the site to the highest standards possible.”

“Douglas Iles one of the corporate partners at Friday Legal Solicitors and a member of our board, was very helpful to us in getting this purchase done and I would like to thank him for his efforts in this regard.”

Chief executive David Smith added: “This purchase gives the club a good opportunity to continue developing the County Ground, and developments such as the outdoor nets facility will enhance our reputation within the game and it should benefit the club in securing future international touring team fixtures, as our improving facilities will be a big attraction to them.”

The British Olympic Association (BOA) have officially scrapped their domestic by-law for athletes found guilty of doping offences.

Former drugs cheats Dwain Chambers and David Millar have been formally cleared to take part in the London 2012 Olympics.

The move follows a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling which declared the ban to be in contravention of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.

It means Chambers can now be selected for Team GB’s track and field team, and the same for Millar for the cycling road race team.

A BOA statement said: “Following a discussion period, during which members of the National Olympic Committee reiterated their support for the decision taken by the BOA board to defend the Eligibility Bye Law before CAS, it was agreed that the bye law would immediately be rescinded in order for the BOA to comply with the CAS ruling.

“The BOA will now notify WADA of this decision in writing.

“Additionally, the NOC encouraged the BOA to remain actively and constructively involved in the ongoing consultation process to amend the World Anti-Doping Code.

“NOC members expressed a desire to see the Code amended in a manner that would provide stronger penalties for serious doping offences, and for the autonomy of National Olympic Committees in determining selection criteria for their Olympic Teams to not be undermined or subjugated as a result of the Code.”

FanOne Marketing has been chosen by the Oakland Raiders to develop and execute fan communication and engagement activities.

FanOne will be responsible for assisting the Raiders in the development and deployment of a variety of digital promotion and marketing activities. FanOne’s proprietary solution is specially designed to help sports teams and venues increase fan engagement, sell more tickets and raise overall revenue.

Working very closely with the Raiders, the FanOne team will create segmented behavior based communication programs supported by current social media and digital tactics.

Jonathan Martinez, Database Marketing Manager for the Oakland Raiders, said: “The FanOne partnership will help increase the Oakland Raiders fan touch-points, communications and overall ticket sales. FanOne will also support the reduction of the Raiders’ current staffing needs required to execute essential fan communication and engagement activities.”

The Raiders signed-up for a full-service partnership with FanOne after achieving great success with a 2011 season ticket holder renewal campaign that doubled online renewals. The original renewal campaign, which included combination use of personalized URLs, email and surveys, required minimal resources from the Raiders and also reduced the organization’s print mail costs. The flexibility of FanOne’s services, and expertise of the digital strategy team, often reduces an organization’s cost and time associated with marketing activities. The Raiders and FanOne’s next initiative will focus on a behavior based tactic triggered to those fans showing some interest, but have yet to take action.

FanOne’s marketing segmentation and personalization tools promote fan engagement by producing higher email open and click through rates, and increased ticket sales. The company’s technology often reduces customer’s campaign management needs by allowing fan based communications to be pre-scheduled and delivered without the presence of staff.

Jennifer Zick, Senior Director of Strategy and Business Development for FanOne Marketing, added: “FanOne gives facilities amazing insight into customer behavior, while also decreasing the time and resources required to qualify leads and sell tickets. Customers won’t truly appreciate the technology until they’ve experienced it firsthand.”

Red Bull Racing has agreed a one-race deal with SKY, meaning the largest high-definition satellite TV provider in Latin America will become a Race Partner for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The agreement means SKY’s logo will feature on the bargeboards of Red Bull Racing’s Formula One cars throughout the race weekend. The well-known TV company, which has over 2 million subscribers, has been a partner of the Red Bull Racing Brazilian Stock Car team since 2009.

SKY Brazil CEO, Luiz Eduardo Baptista da Rocha said: “Since we have such a successful partnership with Red Bull Racing in Stock Car for the last two years, it is natural that we extend this project to include the Formula One team also. We look forward to an excellent race and hope for a successful result.”

Red Bull Racing Team Principal, Christian Horner said: “It’s great that we have signed this deal with SKY, which is recognised globally as an exciting and progressive brand. SKY entertains via the latest technology and so is an excellent fit with Red Bull Racing, which seeks to do the same. I hope that together we produce an inspiring result at the Brazilian Grand Prix.”

The Asian Golf Tour has postponed next month’s Macau Open, it has been announced.

Reports have claimed the postponement is down to the event promoter, the Macau Sports Development Board, failing to attract a private sponsor to back the event, which was getting more and more expensive every year.

The Tour said in a statement: “The Macau Open, which was slated from October 21-24, 2010, has been postponed by the event promoter, the Macau Sports Development Board.”

An Asian Tour spokesman added that he didn’t know whether the tournament would be rescheduled later this year, saying: “Only the Macau Sports Development Board can tell that.”

The Macau Open has been running since 1998, and Colin Montgomerie, eight-times European champion, is one of its past winners.

English Rugby League team London Broncos have announced restructured their management team following the departure of chief executive officer Gus Mackay.

Jason Loubser, who has been the financial controller at the club for three years, has become general manager, while Tom Williams, who has been working with Hemel Stags, has been recruited to head up the commercial side of the business.

Niel Wood, formerly of the RFL, will oversee marketing and community operations, and David Lawrenson will be responsible for media and communications.

Announcing the restructure, the Broncos, who have yet to pick up a point in this year’s Super League, admitted on their official website that it been a very difficult time for supporters.

“We want the Broncos to be a sustainable club at the heart of the Rugby League community in London,” read a club statement.

“We realise there’s an awful lot of work to be done but with support from the community and from Broncos fans we feel that is achievable.”