Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and Tickets.com, provider of state-of-the-art technology solutions to over 1000 sports clients have inked a long term contract for the use of the ProVenue ticketing platform for all events at the team’s iconic Oriole Park at Camden Yards ballpark.

The Orioles are eager to be part of the leading-edge technologies that Tickets.com has developed with the ProVenue platform. Tickets.com were pioneers in Mobile Ticketing, being the first ticketing company to allow fans to search for, purchase and have tickets delivered to a mobile device. Recently, Major League Baseball Advanced Media and Tickets.com took mobile options a step further by being first adopters of Apple’s Passbook application for iPhones.

“It is important that the Orioles utilize new and emerging technologies to benefit our customers,” says Greg Bader, Orioles Vice President of Communications and Marketing. “We have very sophisticated fans in our region, and they request that we deliver content to them in the latest manner. This includes access to their game tickets and will extend to other programs we will be launching in the future such as loyalty and stored value programs. ProVenue and Tickets.com are positioned to help us get there quickly.”

“The Orioles made it clear from the beginning of this process that they were looking for new technologies that would benefit the fan experience, and we’re excited that ProVenue will be at the core of this change for the Club,” said John Walker, President and CEO of Tickets.com. “We’ve seen a shift in the market on the client side towards embracing systems with open-architecture. Along with the Miami Marlins and New York Mets (in 2012), and joining the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2013 season — the Orioles represent the 4^th MLB Club to move to Tickets.com in two years. Clearly ProVenue is at the heart of that shift,” added Walker.

Tickets.com will provide ticketing solutions for 16 teams in Major League Baseball during the 2013 season, as well as prominent sports and live entertainment organizations around the world. Built on a hosted, open architecture, ProVenue offers functionality and extensibility beyond what has been traditionally available to teams and venues in live entertainment, and is quickly developing a reputation for its innovative solutions.

German sportswear maker adidas has revealed record earnings in 2011 which it says is because of strong demands for the brand and will use the London 2012 Olympics to beat those records.

Adidas net profit rose by 18 percent to 671 million euros ($881 million) last year, with earnings per share hitting a record high of 3.20 euros.

Operating profit grew by 13.1 percent to 1.011 billion euros on an 11.3-percent increase in sales to 13.344 billion euros.

“We enjoyed our fastest organic (sales) growth rate since 2006,” boasted chief executive Herbert Hainer.

“We made progress on improving profitability. And we ended the year with our balance sheet in top shape,” Hainer said.

The 2012 Olympics in London and the UEFA Euro soccer championships would enable adidas to race to record earnings again this year, the chief executive said.

“We begin 2012 fully energised and fully prepared for another bright year for our group. There is always great buzz and excitement around major sports events, and they don’t come bigger than the London 2012 Olympic Games and the UEFA EURO 2012,” he said.

“We are all set to achieve new records and sustained momentum.”

by Ismail Uddin

 

The FIFA Ethics Committee, tadalafil chaired by Claudio Sulser (Switzerland), has investigated 16 members of the Carribean Football Union and dealt out small fines and short term bans for their alleged partake in the bribery scandal.

The proceedings had been opened in regard to apparent violations of the Code of Ethics connected to the investigation of the cases related to the special meeting of the CFU held in Trinidad & Tobago on 10 and 11 May 2011. On this day former CFU president Jack Warner allegedly offered 25 colleagues $40,000 each for their support of Mohammed Bin Hammam in his bid to oust Sepp Blatter atop world football’s governing body.

The members got caught up with the scandal and were investigated, all receiving their individual punishments.

Franka Pickering (British Virgin Islands) has been banned for a period of 18 months from taking part in any football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other) and has received a fine of CHF 500 ($558).

Horace Burrell (Jamaica) has been banned for a period of six months with three months suspended and a probation of two years

Osiris Guzman (Dominican Republic) and Ian Hypolite (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) received the same ban from the sport of a period of 30 days and has received a fine of CHF 300 ($334). The Ethics Committee decided to suspend 15 days of the ban, subject to a probationary period of six months.

Also Aubrey Liburd (British Virgin Islands) and Hillaren Frederick (US Virgin Islands) has received a reprimand and a fine of CHF 300 ($334).Anthony Johnson (St. Kitts and Nevis) has received a reprimand but no fine.

However some officials came out the ordeal unscathed with David Hinds (Barbados), Mark Bob Forde (Barbados), Richard Groden (Trinidad & Tobago), Yves Jean-Bart (Haiti) and Horace Reid (Jamaica) Felix Ledesma (Dominican Republic) not reprimanded.

The hearing of Noel Adonis (Guyana) has been postponed, while in the case of Patrick Mathurin (St. Lucia), more information is required and therefore no decision has been taken at this stage.

The cases of David Frederick (Cayman Islands) and Joseph Delves (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) were closed since they are no longer football officials. Should they return to football official positions, their cases would be examined again by the Ethics Committee.

Organisers have insisted that the Korea International Circuit is nearing completion and the inaugural Korean Grand Prix will go ahead as planned in October.

The race is set to take place on 24 October at the Hermann Tilke-designed track, online but some reports have suggested that construction of the site has been delayed by up to a month.

However, ailment president and CEO of the Korea Auto Valley Operation (KAVO), adiposity Yung Cho Chung, said: “We are delighted with the progress of the project, which is both on schedule and being finished to an extremely high standard.

“We look forward to welcoming everyone to the Korea International Circuit and our fascinating circuit in October.”

 

The Japanese Olympic Committee’s (JOC) Symbol Athlete sponsorship program aims to raise US$6.7million over four years.

Popular Japanese figure skater, Yuzuru Hanyu has become the latest athlete to join the program, which is comprised of top Japanese athletes. Sponsors receive image rights of the athletes signed up to the program.

Skaters Daisuke Takahashi and Joji Kato are reportedly planning renew their involvement with the program and women’s speed skater Nao Kodaira could soon join the program.{jcomments on}

Phizzle, a leading technology provider of advanced mobile marketing products and digital advertising solutions, today announced it will continue to enhance the mobile experience for fans of the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2012-2013 NBA season.

The Suns and Sixers will provide fans the ability to receive instant news, updates, special offers and scoring alerts through SMS messages powered by Phizzle’s platform. Whether fans are at the game or watching at home, Phizzle’s proprietary solution, Broadcaster iX, produces real-time, interactive HD graphics enabling fans to be part of the action by providing fun and stimulating experiences, including Text-2-Vote instant polling, trivia opportunities, Text-2-Win promotions as well as Text-2-Screen elements through SMS messages, tweets and pictures displayed during the game on any screen.

The renewal of both teams also brings enhancements to the platform for both teams. Understanding the importance of social media and how it fits into the overall strategy for teams, the Sixers and Suns can now manage their SMS messaging as well as their social media outlets from Phizzle’s platform. Additionally, the Suns have successfully integrated Phizzle’s “chat” feature into their smartphone application enabling fans to have a direct, one-to-one SMS conversation with a guest service representative to enhance the in-venue experience by reporting issues or requesting assistance. These enhancements will enable the Suns and Sixers to streamline operations as it relates to social and mobile management as well as adding one more element that enhances the experience for every fan in the arenas.

“In the previous seasons which we’ve worked with Phizzle on various mobile campaigns, we’ve been able to consistently deepen the touch-point connection with our fans,” stated Nick Gesacion, Director of New Media for the Philadelphia 76ers. “Engaging our audience through mobile marketing, as with any successful, productive relationship, inherently requires a mutual exchange of value and that’s what Phizzle, as our mobile marketing provider, has helped us to develop and deliver.”

“We are pleased to continue our valued partnership with the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers,” said Ben Davis, CEO of Phizzle. “We think the ongoing relationship with both teams is an impressive testament to the growth — not just of our customers — but the market in itself that realizes just how powerful fan engagement through digital marketing can be. With Phizzle’s technology and solutions, we’ve been able to provide sports teams in various major sports leagues the opportunity to measure the behaviors, habits and interests of fans, which in turn enables them to target the appropriate audience with applicable offers and messages.”

MP & Silva, asthma a leading international sports media rights company, remedy with 14 offices worldwide, capsule | has been appointed as the Confederation’s exclusive media and marketing agency to distribute Oceania’s football content worldwide through a vast network of broadcasters.

The rights package comprises all OFC competitions, including the OFC FIFA World Cup Qualifiers 2014, 2018, 2022, all OFC home-matches (national and club teams), the OFC Nations Cup (whose winner qualifies for the FIFA Confederation Cup) and OFC Olympic matches (Men and Women).

MP & Silva has the expertise and network to help drive OFC’s broadcasting strategy forward and distribute OFC content to a global audience.  The partnership was made official during a signing ceremony in Auckland this week, with OFC President David Chung and Senior Vice President Martin Alufurai putting pen to paper with MP & Silva representative Ahmed Schaefer, VP Acquisitions and Strategic Partnerships. 

General Secretary Tai Nicholas said that the partnership will help to open up new markets for OFC. “We face a number of challenges in the Pacific, especially when covering events across vast distances and in countries where infrastructure can sometimes be limited. But this new partnership gives us access to a whole range of resources while delivering OFC’s unique football content to the rest of the world”, added Nicholas.

Established in 2004, MP & Silva has a strong presence in Asia, with 5 offices distributing acquired rights for a raft of football leagues including Italian Serie A,  French Ligue 1, English Premier League and Brazilian League Serie A. In Oceania, MP & Silva has already developed relationships with Sky NZ, Network 10, Setanta and SBS but is looking forward to extending their reach into the region. 

The agency will act in an advisory role to further develop OFC’s marketing and television strategy, while working on behalf of the Confederation to sell OFC properties both regionally and internationally. “Our objective is to contribute to the success of all Oceania Football Competitions and improve its reach to other regions of the world. I am thrilled to start this journey with this highly innovative and dynamic FIFA Confederation and we are determined to develop a long and lasting relationship”, said Andrea Radrizzani, Group CEO of MP & Silva.

by Ismail Uddin

Lord Sebastian Coe is disputing the claims that the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games will struggle to fill the stadium as doubts emerge over the sport’s ability to attract big crowds and the stadium ending up becoming a ‘white elephant.’

The stadium is expected to be converted from an 80,000-seater during the Games to a 60,000 capacity after the Olympics but critics have said athletics is not a strong enough sport to fill it.

Olympic organising committee chief Coe told the London Assembly the sceptics were wrong.

“There is no lack of demand for top class track and field in this country,” he said.

Crystal Palace often holds the biggest athletics events in Britain. The capacity there is about 16,000 but Coe said organisers could probably sell five times that number of tickets.

He added that between 50,000 and 70,000 fans typically attended international athletics events in European cities like Paris and Brussels.

“If we have a larger venue we would fill that venue, there is no question about that,” said Coe.

“Let’s not run away with the idea that track and field is a sport that is not supported—it is a very popular sport.”

Maintaining a track would not only fulfil a pledge made during London’s successful bid to host the Games, it should also strengthen the city’s attempt to stage the 2017 world athletics championships.

It has however restricted the search for a ‘legacy tenant’ and raised fears the stadium could lie empty for much of the time hence the notion of a’ white elephant.’ Running costs are estimated to be about five million pounds ($7.8 million) a year.

Last week a deal to allow second-tier soccer club West Ham United to move in to the venue collapsed over a legal wrangle with Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur and third-tier team Leyton Orient.

“I think it was the right decision to cut through the potential for ongoing legal challenge and, worse than that, ongoing legal challenge that was taxpayer-fuelled,” Coe said.

He added that athletics would be at the heart of the stadium’s legacy but it would not be “uniquely track and field”.

“I do think it is very important we maintain that commitment to an Olympic legacy and to a mix of tenancies in there,” he said.

West Ham could still end up renting the facility under a new plan to keep the stadium in public ownership.