London Olympics and Paralympics ticket sales smashed forecasts by raising £659m, a record for the events – despite 300,000 tickets remaining unsold.

London Organising Committee for Olympic Games (LOCOG) confirmed that almost 11 million tickets were sold, but revealed that 300,000 tickets remained unsold, more than two-thirds of them for the early rounds of the football tournament.

Many events were hit by poor attendances in the early days of the Olympics with embarrassing gaps appearing in areas reserved for the media, athletes and officials.

They were later filled when thousands of free tickets were made available to students, soldiers and volunteers.

Sponsorship deals and record revenues from ticket sales helped London organisers to hit their target of raising £2.4b to stage the Olympics and Paralympics.

The income covered the core costs of putting on the world’s largest sporting event, said Paul Deighton, the chief executive of the London Organising Committee (LOCOG) for the Games in July and August.

“Throughout this period we have made clear our aim for LOCOG to break even, and we remain confident that our revenues will meet our costs,” Deighton said in a written submission to the London Assembly.

London organisers raised almost £750m through domestic sponsorship deals with more than 40 businesses.

That was almost on a par with the sum reported by Beijing after it hosted the Games in 2008 and almost four times what Athens generated in 2004, the last time the summer Games were in Europe.

Omnisport, the multi-platform sports news service, powered by sports media group PERFORM, has today announced the launch of an innovative new service that will see relevant localised video news produced for eight international markets.

The launch marks the first time a sports news service has created a tailored product for both regional and country specific markets.

Omnisport Regional Feeds will launch with a localised sports news feed for the UK, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Australian, Brazilian and Spanish speaking Latin American markets. The editorial agenda will focus on combining both internationally relevant and local breaking sports news as well as viral content tailored to local audiences, delivering an average of 25 video stories per day in each language, with all content formatted and cleared for multi-platform distribution.

Simon Denyer, PERFORM’s joint-CEO commented: “This marks an exciting evolution of the Omnisport service. We have listened to our partners and enhanced our offering to not only localise the content, but also provide a more socially engaging editorial focus. Increasingly multi-platform broadcasters need content that can go straight into their bulletins and on to their digital services. Whilst the core international Omnisport service will remain the same, the introduction of Omnisport Regional Feeds is, we believe, the first time a global sports news provider has created locally tailored video stories that are 100% relevant to the local market, voiced in the local language and ready to go straight onto clients’ services.”

The introduction of the Omnisport Regional Feeds service adds to Omnisport’s current global news coverage, meaning the service will now distribute 10,000 news videos every year in 15 different language variants including English, Australian English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, South American Spanish, German, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese and Korean.

Omnisport, which launched in 2010, was the first sports news service to provide content specifically cleared and formatted for multi-platform distribution and currently distributes raw video footage, page-ready content and fully produced programming to over 150 partners around the world.

IMG Worldwide Inc (IMG) and Washington Speakers Bureau (WSB) have announced a joint exclusive representation partnership in speaking engagements of St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa, viagra order who led the team to victory in the recently completed World Series.

LaRussa, considered one of the greatest managers in Major League Baseball history, ranks second overall in all-time with 70 post season wins and third in all-time regular season wins at 2,278, over the course of a 32-year career.

This is the first joint collaboration between IMG and WSB. Sandy Montag, IMG Senior Corporate Vice President and Managing Director of IMG Clients, said: “We are delighted to work closely with WSB as this will enable Tony to enjoy the strengths of both our fine organizations.”

WSB Co-CEO, Harry Rhoads, Jr. echoed similar sentiments and also added, “We are very pleased to work with our great friends at IMG with whom we have enjoyed a long and prosperous relationship.”

Real Madrid president Florentino Perex was delighted by the Club’s plans for redevelopment of the Bernabeu stadium after it was approved on Sunday but warned against hostile takeover’s that may damage the club.

The La Liga giant’s general assembly gave the go-ahead for the plan, which will transform the 80,000 plus stadium. The redevelopment will see the Bernabeu receive a new facelift, along with parking facilities and green areas. Images on the club’s official website showed the stadium completely wrapped in a neon blue cover, with only the pitch remaining uncovered.

Perez told club members that the redevelopment “will represent a radical change to the stadium’s look and will mean that all the stands will now be covered.” He added: “We will provide our stadium with an enveloping skin that will be a landmark architectural achievement worldwide. The Bernabeu must become a unique stadium, the best in the world, and the crowning achievement of the 21st century. It will be our legacy to future generations of Madridistas.”

The Bernabeu has undergone a number of renovations since it opened in 1947. Perez oversaw a significant redevelopment of the stadium during his first spell in power between 2001 and 2006.

While this is good news for the immediate future of the club Perez has spotted a threat for the distant future as he wants to guard from hostile takeovers.

Perez has plans to change the member-owned team’s statutes to prevent a hostile takeover after buyouts in the English Premier League and other championships.

Perez told the club’s annual general meeting yesterday he was concerned a wealthy investor could try and ally with some members to buy the nine-time European champions.

Foreign investors such as the U.S.’s Glazer family, who bought Manchester United for $1.2 billion in 2005, have acquired clubs in the English Premier League over the last decade. The Qatar Investment Authority agreed to take control of Paris Saint-Germain in May.

“A rich man could come along like in England or France and with the support of some members take over the club,” Perez said. “That’s a concern, of course, and we intend to change the statutes to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Real remains the biggest team by sales in any sport after revenue climbed 8.6 percent to $646 million in the year to June 30, according to Perez. Real has led Deloitte LLP’s list of biggest soccer teams by sales since overtaking Manchester United in 2005.

The club’s revenue has increased an average 14 percent every year since 2000, Perez said. Like archrival Barcelona, Real Madrid is owned by its members who vote in its president and board of directors every four years. Real has about 90,000 members.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has pledged financial and logistical support to sport in Cambodia over the next few years.

The OCA will launch two new initiatives and extend its ongoing support for the creation of a state-of-the-art Sports Science and Medicine Centre in Phnom Penh, drug which is expected to be operational by April next year. The OCA funded the construction of an Aquatics Centre in Kampot two years ago.

OCA President, health Shiekh Mohammed Al Fahad pledged the organisation’s support  during a recently meeting with National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) President, mind Thong Khon, and Secretary-General, Vath Chamroeun.

Chamroeun said: “The OCA President, who is also the Chairman of the International Olympic Solidarity Commission and President of the Association of National Olympic Committees, was very appreciative of our developmental efforts and he assured us of all possible help.

“It went very well for us and I am happy that the Asian Olympic family is standing by us. This has certainly inspired us to do more for sports development and prepare us better in achieving our goal of hosting a mega event like the SEA Games.”

OCA funding will also be made available for Cambodia to set up a centre in Siem Reap for women’s sports.{jcomments on}

Shazam, vialis 40mg the world’s leading media engagement company, today announces that it has partnered with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), the interactive media and Internet company of Major League Baseball, in its first-ever partnership with a professional sports league to provide an interactive mobile experience to fans watching the MLB Postseason, from the new Wild Card games through the 108 World Series.

Today, 80 million people in the US with Shazam on their mobile devices can use the app anytime during MLB Postseason games to quickly access up-to-the-moment game statistics, social sharing capabilities and the latest MLB news and expert analysis.

“Shazam’s partnership with MLBAM is an exciting first for us as we enhance the Shazam for TV experience for baseball fans across the country in the lead-up to the World Series,” said Doug Garland, Chief Revenue Officer for Shazam. “We have collaborated with MLBAM to create a rich and rewarding mobile experience that will give viewers great statistics and make it easy for them to get in the discussion with their friends.”

“Our partnership with Shazam provides fans with a new platform to access live baseball content on their mobile phones and tablets,” said Kenny Gersh, SVP, Business Development, MLBAM. “Users will be able to find detailed content through its integration with our best-in-class At Bat app.”

Recently, Shazam announced that it has expanded its Shazam for TV second-screen service in the U.S. to support TV programming on any channel, anytime of day, making Shazam a “TV companion app.” The core service gives viewers in the U.S. access to cast details and photos, music in the show, celebrity gossip, trivia, celebrity tweets, and links to additional information, plus the ability to instantly share and comment on the show or episode on Facebook and Twitter. Shazam will continue to work in partnership with show creators and broadcasters to create custom second-screen interactive experiences.

The sports industry should share common information and knowledge management goals in relation to major sports events, order according to former International Olympic Committee (IOC) Director Phillipe Blanchard.

Blanchard, who was appointed to the IOC in 2003 to establish new information and knowledge management practices, believes international federations and sports property owners ought to work towards common goals to meet the objectives set by a rapidly-changing sports industry.

In his exclusive iSportconnect column, he said: “Better information and knowledge management practices answer strong demands in professionalization. Improved communication and better governance protects the historical legacy and nurtures the knowledge capital, and provides a sustainable development model.”

Blanchard also believes access to the legacy is a key element for financial development.

“Access to the legacy also increases sponsors and RHB value for money, Thus, the proper establishment of information and knowledge practices can increase financial and intangible values including legitimacy, brand value, corporate and social responsibility.”

If you want to read more go to his column click here.

Liverpool FC have been allowed another extension by Liverpool City Council as they continue to think over undecided stadium plans.

A deadline was set in July for Liverpool to announce by the end of this month whether they intend to take up the 999-year lease that would allow them to build a new ground on nearby Stanley Park, for which they have already been granted planning permission.

But Liverpool have struggled to make a decision, as revamping and expanding Anfield is also under consideration.

Council leader Joe Anderson had warned in July that the club’s delaying of an announcement was ‘very frustrating’. However talks have been on-going between the two parties and the council have been reassured that progress is being made.

Renovating Anfield was the original preferred choice of Liverpool’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group, but the cost of doing that is exorbitant.

A new build on Stanley Park would require Liverpool to find a partner to facilitate a lucrative naming rights deal.