Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE), manager of the San Jose City-owned HP Pavilion at San Jose, announced today the activation of Bloom Energy Servers at HP Pavilion at San Jose, the Bay Area’s premier sports and entertainment facility.

Installation of these energy servers will provide a cleaner, more reliable and more affordable energy source to power the venue which serves as home to the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League and hosts a multitude of sports and entertainment events annually.  The installation of these energy servers was completed in October and are already in use. With the implementation of the Bloom Energy Servers, HP Pavilion at San Jose becomes the first multi-purpose sports and entertainment facility to utilize fuel cell technology as a supplemental electricity source. Sharks Sports & Entertainment also utilizes Bloom Energy Servers™ at Sharks Ice at San Jose, a public recreational ice facility owned by the City of San Jose and managed by SSE. 

By installing the Bloom Energy Servers, HP Pavilion at San Jose is using cheaper and cleaner electricity to power the venue. The Bloom boxes (two 200kw servers), which are utilized by other corporations throughout San Jose and the Silicon Valley including Google, eBay, and Adobe, replace approximately 90% of the electrical utility power at HP Pavilion used during non-event hours and approximately 25% used on a Sharks game day. Due to the efficiency of the Bloom box, HP Pavilion at San Jose will reduce its carbon footprint by 4.8 million pounds of CO2 over a ten-year period. That equates to taking 427 passenger vehicles off the road. 

By electing to install the Bloom Energy Servers at HP Pavilion, Sharks Sports & Entertainment continues to demonstrate its support of the City of San Jose and its goals found in its Green Vision, Economic Development Strategy, and Climate Action Plan. 

“We are pleased to be utilizing the technology pioneered by Bloom Energy to reduce the carbon footprint of HP Pavilion at San Jose,” said Jim Goddard, General Manager at HP Pavilion at San Jose. “Utilizing the Bloom Energy Servers allows us to further the City’s Green Vision while continuing to bring national and international sporting events, concerts and family shows to San Jose that our patrons will enjoy.” 

“Congratulations to HP Pavilion for being the first arena in the nation to implement Bloom Energy’s cutting-edge fuel cell technology,” said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. “As the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose is a hub of clean tech innovation, and it is fitting that our arena would showcase how investing in renewable energy can reduce long-term operating costs and save energy.” 

“We are thrilled to play an increasing role in the Sharks’ ongoing efforts to utilize clean and reliable energy, and proud to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to the San Jose community,” said Josh Richman, VP of Business Development at Bloom Energy.

Hong Kong Football Clubs Tens committee has appointed international sports marketing agency Fast Track to deliver the media and PR services for this year’s rugby tens tournament with a particular focus on driving the international profile of the event.

The annual festival of rugby, anabolics which has been hosted by the Hong Kong Football Club since it began in 1986,  is widely regarded as one of the top international tens tournaments in the world and in recent years has attracted some of the game’s biggest names including New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu, former South Africa captain Bobby Skinstad and the world’s most capped player, Australian George Gregan.

Chris Harker, Chairman of the HKFC Tens committee said: “As the quality and prestige of the HKFC Tens continues to grow we felt we needed a PR partner who can leverage the tournament both in Hong Kong but also in key markets abroad.  With their international network of offices, extensive rugby experience and Hong Kong capability, Fast Track was the clear choice for the role.”

Dan Parr, Director of Fast Track Hong Kong was delighted at the appointment: “It’s a great start to 2012 and we are thrilled to be involved with the event for the first time.  We’re looking forward to working with the committee to help continue the growth of the tournament’s profile through a proactive programme of international, regional and domestic media engagement.”

Headquartered in London and part of Chime Communications, Fast Track Hong Kong opened in November 2010 and has rapidly grown to an office of 11 staff.  The agency works with international brands including HSBC and Ballantine’s helping deliver maximum business value from their sponsorship investments.

The Football Association (FA) have announced they expect England’s National Stadium, Wembley, to breakeven in 2015, a year after it was originally planned.

Football Association chairman David Bernstein said: “Wembley is doing very well, it has been extremely profitable.”

Mr Bernstein added that the rebuilt stadium was showing an annual operating profit of between £40m ($61.2m) and £50m ($76.5m).

He said he expected the stadium, built for £757m ($1.15bn) and opened in 2007, to start splashing cash into the game by 2015.

But a problematic issue that Bernstein identified was large interest charges and other continuing costs.

The FA, which owns the stadium through its subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Ltd, said earlier this year it envisaged Wembley breaking even in 2014.

But Mr Bernstein told delegates at the Leaders in Football event in London: “By 2015, Wembley should start putting money back into the game, instead of being subsidised by the game.”

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Lee McConnell, Scottish 400 metres track runner is set to be part of a Glasgow 2014 Legacy Board which has just been newly established.

The new body will be set-up in order to ensure that the much-promised legacy of the Commonwealth Games in the city is delivered.

The 32-year-old from Glasgow, who has represented Scotland in the past three Commonwealth Games, winning a silver in Manchester in 2002 and bronze in Melbourne in 2006, will be joined on the 2014 Legacy Board by a number of figures with five already having been named in a report published in The Herald.

Scotland’s chief medical officer Sir Harry Burns is part of the body along with the chief executive of Tesco Bank Benny Higgins and Vicky Rosin, a senior official at Manchester City Council who played a major role in staging the highly successful Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Another member of the legacy board is 18-year-old Glasgow 2014 medal hopeful Andrew Dearie.

The middle-distance runner is from Glasgow and the inclusion of the teenager is intended to reach out to young people across the region.

Further details of the Glasgow 2014 Legacy Board will be unveiled in a new report this week that will reveal the progress being made in delivering the event.

The report comes with Glasgow 2014 set to receive their first Coordination Commission visit from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). The five-man Commission, chaired by Canada’s CGF vice-president Bruce Robertson, will visit Glasgow from October 3 until 6.

They are due to inspect all the major operational elements that will be in place for the 2014 competition and be given a tour of the venues that will be used for the Games.

World Snooker will break new ground next September when it stages a £130,000 ( US $204,000) invitational tournament in the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo.

The Brazilian Masters, the first world event to be staged in South America, is set to feature the top 12 ranked players and four wildcards.

Steve Davis is guaranteed an invitation, with Brazilian Snooker Association chairman Marcilio Cavalcanti describing him as the Zico or Rivelino of the baize.

Brazil’s top player Igor Figueiredo will also be invited and World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn expects the tournament to be a pre-cursor to staging a full ranking event in 2012.

“This is samba time for snooker,” said Hearn, who made clear that all the world’s leading players will be obliged to participate.

“Football is like a religion in Brazil. Our job is to make snooker their second religion.

“I believe this is the dawn of a new era. This is bigger than a 200,000-dollar tournament.

“We are working on the globalisation of our sport and this opens up a continent for snooker. Breaking into South America is a huge step towards our ambition of making snooker a truly global sport.”

The Brazilian Masters is one of 16 new tournaments World Snooker have added to the programme since last season, including a new full ranking event in Germany and 12 minor ranking events spread across six European countries.

Snooker enjoyed a brief period of popularity in Brazil during the early 1980s, when Davis took on local cult hero Rui Chapeu and won.

Hearn, who travelled with Davis to Brazil, recalled today how that 11-frame match was played in a raucous atmosphere and drew a television audience of 30million.

As part of his attempts to rejuvenate the sport, Hearn wants the Brazilian fans to turn the 1,200-seat Transamerica Expo Center into a cauldron next September.

“That passion and atmosphere is why we are there,” said Hearn.

“In recent years the crowds at snooker have been getting quieter and quieter.

“We want to encourage crowd participation because it creates the buzz of live sport. We want tough crowds.”

World number six Shaun Murphy said: “I am over the moon to be going to Brazil. I never thought it would be on the snooker map.

“The more atmosphere the better, the louder the better, the more fun the better.”

Figueiredo, who reached the final of the World Amateur Championship last year and is now playing his first season on the professional tour, said: “It’s very exciting news that there will be a tournament in Brazil. Snooker is already popular in my homeland but there is potential for it to be much bigger.

“This event will bring snooker to the Brazilian fans and I know they will respond by welcoming the top players and creating a great atmosphere.

“Hopefully I can be successful on the main tour and provide an example for more Brazilian players to follow me.”

The Brazilian Masters will be played between September 14-17 and broadcast live on Eurosport.

The tournament will be a straight knock-out on one match table. The first two rounds will be best of seven frames with the semi-finals and final the best of nine.

One Direction star Louis Tomlinson and former chairman John Ryan’s takeover of Doncaster Rovers is in doubt after The Tomlinson Ryan Trust funding scheme collapsed. 

The takeover was scheduled to be formally completed on Friday, following the exchange of contracts and a press conference held in London last month.

The Trust set up a funding scheme with the aim of raising £2million but the deadline for pledges passed on Thursday with the total more than £1million short of the target, which means Ryan will now not pass the Football League’s ‘fit and proper person’s test.’

“The Tomlinson Ryan Trust Crowdfunder project has failed to reach the target as set out under the terms of the funding arrangements,” said the Trust via a statement.

“The result of which will be that all pledges will be cancelled and funds returned to the relevant parties.

“As a result of the funding not being available from Crowdfunder for the DRFC project, John Ryan is unable to meet the requirements of the Football League Fit and Proper test.

“The consequence of this is that the deal to take over the club is now in serious doubt.”

The Trust had previously stated the takeover of the club would go ahead irrespective of the success or failure of its crowdfunding project.

Premier League club Southampton FC have promoted Gareth Rogers to Interim Chief Executive Officer following the departure of Chairman Nicola Cortese. 

Cortese left the club last week after reportedly disagreeing with the running of the club with owner Katharina Liebherr.

His replacement is currently the Club’s Chief Financial Officer. Gareth has been the Club’s CFO since March 2011. Before that, he was a senior manager at the accounting firm Deloitte. He has a BSc in Economics and Accounting from the University of Southampton.

Southampton FC Chairman Katharina Liebherr said: “I am delighted that Gareth has agreed to step into this role. After the events of the past week, my priority has been to bring stability to the management of the Club and I am pleased that we have been able to make this appointment from within. We had a very positive meeting with all the staff of the Club on Monday and I am sure Gareth’s appointment will be warmly received.”

Gareth Rogers said: “I am very pleased to be able help the club by stepping up to the CEO’s job on an interim basis. We have a fantastic staff and everyone is working together to make sure the club ends the season as strongly as possible.”