National governing body USA Triathlon has announced today Chuck Menke has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer.

Menke joined the organization in February 2010 as Director, health Marketing & Communications. The announcement was made by Chief Executive Officer Rob Urbach.

Menke’s professional background includes nearly 19 years of high-level sports marketing and communications experience, tadalafil including the U.S. Olympic Movement, the National Hockey League and NCAA Division I Athletics.

After doubling the organization’s sponsorship revenue in Menke’s first three years, USA Triathlon realized a 31 percent year-over-year increase in 2013. Overall marketing cash revenue also increased more than 50 percent since end-of-year 2009. Menke has led efforts to broaden the partner portfolio while signing non-endemic sponsors such as MetLife, Transamerica, Capital One and Avis/Budget. Menke has overseen communications for the London 2012 Olympic Games, a re-launch of usatriathlon.org, and several national television agreements.

A member of USA Triathlon’s senior management team, Menke is responsible for all strategic marketing efforts, including corporate sponsorship, licensing and advertising. He directs all branding, event marketing, and membership acquisition and retention, while supervising a department of 10 staff members. An organizational spokesperson, Menke also guides public relations initiatives, USA Triathlon Magazine, social media and creative services.

“Our marketing and communications platform has reached new heights under Chuck’s leadership, and I look forward to collaborating with him in the years to come,” Urbach said. “Chuck’s elevation to CMO will enable USA Triathlon to further benefit from his expertise, work ethic and broad capabilities.”

“I’m extremely appreciative for this recognition and the increased level of responsibility that accompanies it,” Menke said. “Our accomplishments over the past four years are the direct result of a team-wide effort, and I’m fortunate to be surrounded by talented professionals who thoroughly embrace USA Triathlon’s mission.”

In an attempt to boost Rugby in the country, USA Rugby have revealed they will bid bid to host the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 2018.

Interest in the USA has increased ever since it was announced Sevens would feature in the 2016 Olympic Games.

USA Rugby director Will Chang, who is a part owner of the San Francisco Giants baseball team, will lead a delegation which will visit Moscow later this month to study how they are going about organising the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens which takes place at the end of June.

“Hosting this tournament will support our goals of developing the game and further its popularity in the United States,” Chang said. “We are looking forward to hearing more about the bid process and will do everything we can to ensure the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens will take place on United States soil.” 

The International Rugby Board said the next tournament would take place in five years’ time rather than four, in order for it to be integrated into the Olympic cycle.

Danish software company GolfBox A/S have signed a new 3-year agreement with the Nordic Golf League, health which is a cooperation of professional golf tours from Denmark, therapy Finland, ampoule Norway and Sweden.

This third level tour is one of the breeding grounds for the upcoming professional, and many talents which are now on the European Tour are a product of the Nordic Golf League.

GolfBox have been a partner of parts of the Nordic Golf League for many years, but since the Nordic Golf League have joined forces for the upcoming 2013 season, they have brought GolfBox and their new tournament software into this new setup to enhance their service and tournament management.

GolfBox has not yet officially released this new software, but during the recent Q-School for the Ecco Tour(the Danish part of the Nordic Golf League), the new software was shown in public during this live pilot test. The feedback was extremely positive, not only from the organizers, but also from players and spectators.

“We are very pleased with this new agreement. This is a confirmation that the significant investment into the new tournament software has paid off. We started this project in August 2011 and now almost 10.000 production hours later we can’t wait to release it,” says Christian Faergemann, CEO of GolfBox.

Faergemann adds that the new tournament software has been designed completely to embrace the fact that tablets and mobile devices are a central part of the future software usage. It may also be groundbreaking in several areas with new modules to assist Tournament Directors, referees, TV crews and other official’s connected to high profile tournaments.

GolfBox are not rookies in supplying tournament software. They have many high profile clients and in 2012 close to 30.000 tournaments was handled using the current GolfBox tournament solution.

More than 900 golf clubs and several golf unions, such as The Danish Golf Union, Norwegian and Swedish Golf Federations, European Golf Association, Scottish Golf Union and Golf Union of Wales today use GolfBox or parts of the software.

GolfBox have previously been consecutively awarded as a “Gazelle” company by Danish financial magazine Børsen and nominated to “Entrepreneur Of The Year” in the “Start up” category by Ernst & Young. GolfBox was also given the award “Owner Leader 2010? by PWC. GolfBox anticipates their international growth to continue in the years to come.

NFL defensive lineman Calais Campbell of the Arizona Cardinals announced today that he has signed with Centurion Strategies, asthma a high-level marketing, medstore advertising and public relations firm.

“The players I surround myself with off the field are just as important as my teammates on Sundays, for sale ” said Campbell. “Centurion’s team has proved they are dedicated to producing results with speed and integrity, and I look forward to working with them.”

The four-year veteran finished the 2011 season with a career-best eight sacks and two forced fumbles, leading his team’s defense. In March 2012, Calais received the franchise tag from the Arizona Cardinals. He is founder of the CRC Foundation, an organization named after his late father that assists with the development of young people by empowering them with quality life skills. As a result of his hard work in the community, Calais was named the Arizona Cardinals 2011 Walter Payton Man of the Year.

“Calais is one of sports’ brightest young stars,” said Michael Bilello, president and CEO of Centurion Strategies. “We are excited that he chose Centurion Strategies as his agency of record and anticipate success as we continue to surround him with opportunities that showcase both his athletic successes and community achievements.”

by Ismail Uddin

Taiwan have hosted its first surfing competition in the form of Asia’s Surfing Championship (ASC), earning its status as one of Asia’s best surfing spots, and building Taiwan’s repertoire.

The Taitung County 2011 International Surf Challenge, the first ASC sanctioned event held in Taiwan, attracted contestants from around a hundred different countries, including Japan, the U.S., Indonesia, Australia, France, and Canada. Also included was this year’s Australian surfing champion Jackson Close, who has helped transform Taitung into Asia’s Hawaii. The competition, took place on the 26th and 27th of November at Taitung’s Donghe Village, separated into different categories with five different judges from countries such as Australia and Indonesia. The environment of Taitung, including geography, waves, and climate, has been recognized by the ASC as “four-star” out of a maximum rating of six stars.

The Taitung County Government has been working in tandem with the Department of Tourism, the Department of Education, the East Coast National Scenic Administration, and other government departments to make the 2011 Asian Surfing Championships happen. Taitung County Governor Justin Chang expressed his affirmation that the selection of Taitung as the location for this competition, earning recognition from competitors all over the world for its geography, waves, and scenic value, solidifies the county’s reputation as one of Asia’s top surfing spots.

Aside from the competition on the 26th and 27th, there was a welcome night party on the night of the 26th, which was open to participants and guests alike for a night of song and dance. The awards ceremony took place from 16:00 to 17:30 on the 27th. The organizers also offered transportation service that took commuters back and forth to ensure maximum convenience throughout the day at the event.

Chelsea FC are looking into the possibility of building a new stadium at at Battersea Power Station and have employed London’s leading developers to find out if they can do so.

The club, who still need to buy back the freehold of Stamford Bridge before they can move anywhere, are acting in order to ensure they would not miss out should the location emerge as their most viable option were they to choose to relocate from their current home.

The Blues have appointed Mike Hussey, chief executive of Almacantar, as their development partner and have hired architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox to draw up plans for the construction of a 55,000-60,000-seater stadium to the south-east of the Grade II listed power station site.

A Chelsea spokesman said: “In the past, we’ve talked to various people with interests in Battersea Power Station, but we haven’t had any substantive discussions with anyone regarding that site for several months.

“However, in light of current developments, we now think it prudent to look again at the feasibility and potential for the BPS site to be developed for a football stadium.

“We have made no decision to leave Stamford Bridge, and we continue to discuss with the local council any economically viable options to expand the the Bridge, but we will continue to investigate various options close to Stamford Bridge.”

Chelsea have still not given up hope of persuading the owners of Earls Court to give them permission to build there but the prospects of doing so are fading by the day.

There would also be complications involved in moving to Battersea Power Station, which has been empty for nearly two decades. Its owner Real Estate Opportunities, largely owned in turn by Treasury Holdings of Ireland, has been trying for a year to find an equity investor to fund a proposed £5.5billion ($8.5bn) redevelopment.

The site reportedly owes Lloyds Banking Group and the Irish National Asset Management Agency around £300million ($464.8m), a debt which can be called in at any time. A Malaysian investor, SP Setia, has offered to buy the senior debt for £255million ($395.3m) at 85p in the pound, according to reports.

That is the least of Chelsea’s concerns for now as they try to formulate a proposal to persuade Chelsea Pitch Owners to sell them the Stamford Bridge freehold after iSportconnect reported that the supporter-led company rejected last month’s offer. The club cannot move unless they are able to sell the land beneath their current home.

Emirates Airlines looks unlikely to extend its multi-million dollar sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup following the voting scandal that marred the 2018 and 2022 bidding process.

Boutros Boutros, sale divisional senior vice president of corporate communications and one of the Dubai-based airlines most senior executives, said it has had no contact with the organisation about the crisis and felt it had been “overlooked” by it despite being one of its largest benefactors.

Emirates has now commissioned research into its association with FIFA to see if there has been any long term damage to its brand.

On a visit to Australia to attend the Emirates sponsored Melbourne Cup yesterday, Boutros told B&T: “We are seriously thinking about not renewing our partnership with FIFA beyond 2014.”

In 2006 Emirates signed a record-breaking $195m deal with football’s world governing body to become its partner – the highest level of association a company can have with FIFA – from 2007 to 2014.

The agreement was the largest sponsorship association the airline has ever signed and followed its strategy of sponsoring football teams and major sporting events around the world.

Boutros commented: “We don’t get into politics but we believe the situation with FIFA went beyond an internal problem and became much bigger.

“As a sponsor you expect they will come and write to you in the middle of the issue or at the end of it. To them they act as if it’s nothing for sponsors. For us, in our history of sponsorship, it is the only event that when it happened our clients started writing to us saying ‘why do you support this organisation?’

“You’d expect at certain times that FIFA would send you some assurances so that we don’t read about it in the newspapers or press conferences when you are one of the main partners. We are considered a partner, but if you are a partner in the business I think once a year you owe him a report. And that’s why we felt we were overlooked by FIFA. At the end of the day they were probably too busy, but at the end of the day we haven’t seen any changes. There is nothing telling you these things will not happen again.”

Boutros said he hoped Emirates’ association with FIFA had not damaged the brand, but said it was waiting the results of research before a final decision on its commitment for 2018 and 2022 had to be made by June next year. He added: “With social media when you get negative reports from your passengers questioning why you are supporting FIFA, that has never happened to us before.”

Societe Generale has announced its sponsorship as Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand and Rugby World Cup 2015 in England. A long-term partner of rugby in France, Societe Generale acquires a new dimension by building a long-term partnership with one of the world’s foremost sporting events.

Frédéric Oudéa, Societe Generale Group’s Chairman and CEO, says, “Societe Generale and rugby share strong values: team spirit, commitment and respect. Societe Generale has supported the development of rugby for many years, at both elite and amateur levels. Today our commitment, already deeply rooted in France, is acquiring a new dimension: being a Worldwide Partner of the next two Rugby World Cups will enable us to illustrate our Group’s international strategy and strengthen our ties with rugby around the world.”

In addition to being an official partner of the French national team and of the French rugby championship, Societe Generale also provides support to over 400 amateur clubs throughout France and strives to develop local initiatives with players of all levels. Since 1987, Societe Generale has gradually extended its involvement beyond France and now supports numerous national rugby federations in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Societe Generale first became a partner of Rugby World Cup in 1999, when the tournament was hosted in Wales, with a communication strategy limited to France. In 2007, Societe Generale was the first Worldwide Partner to be announced for Rugby World Cup held in France, that beat all records in terms of audience and attendance.

Bernard Lapasset, Chairman of the International Rugby Board (IRB), is very pleased with this renewed partnership, “We are delighted to be extending our partnership with Societe Generale, a strong supporter of Rugby around the world, across the next two Rugby World Cup tournaments.”

“The strength of the commercial programme is integral to the success of Rugby World Cup and the development of the Game worldwide and this ongoing relationship with one of the world’s leading banks is a massive boost for the Tournament. We look forward to working with Societe Generale over the next five years to further the promotion of the Game around the world.”