Sports agency MP & Silva has opened new offices in London and Munich, it has been announced.

The new offices form part of the agency’s expansion plans in Western and central Europe. The London office will become the centre of European operations, and group chief executive Andrea Radrizzani will lead operations while Miriam Sherlock will handle commercial activities around the UK.

In the Munich office, Peter Leible will be chief representative for Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and will be responsible for commercial activities across the three areas.

Radrizzani said: “We have been waiting for the right time to strengthen our footprint in Europe. We are cautiously positive about the future for European television, with digital TV building up strong momentum over the last three quarters.

“We believe our new operations will enable us to capitalise on the upturn in all of the key European television markets, led by the UK in the lead in to the London 2012 Olympics.”

MP & Silva now has a total of 12 offices around the world.

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) has begun the bidding process for the World Triathlon Championships 2015 to all National Federations and cities interested in hosting the final race of the 2015 World Triathlon Series. 

“ITU is committed to hosting top level events in iconic cities, capsule ” ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado said. “As our sport continues to rise in popularity, nurse we believe hosting the ITU World Triathlon Championships offers cities the possibility to showcase their city to a global audience.” 

In 2009, the championships were revamped, expanding the former single-day World Championship race into an exciting multi-city global series, during which athletes vie for prize money totaling more than $2 million USD. The series culminates with the ITU World Triathlon Championships, which will continue to be called the World Triathlon Grand Final through 2013. 

In addition to crowning the elite ITU World Champions, the World Championships include the junior and Under23 divisions, as well as Paratriathlon, Aquathlon and age group races. The week of action also includes the annual ITU Congress, which has representation from more than 140 countries. 

Hosting the World Triathlon Championships 2015 offers cities the opportunity to showcase themselves to millions of worldwide television audiences while attracting thousands of international guests and race participants. 

With record high participants in 2012, the Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Triathlon Grand Final generated a 307% return on national investment, while television exposure for the overall series increased by 18%. 

The 2013 World Triathlon Series will conclude at the iconic Olympic venue in Hyde Park from 11-15 September 2013, giving all athletes the opportunity to compete on the same stage as the 2012 Olympians. The 2014 World Triathlon Championships were recently awarded to Edmonton, which previously hosted the event in 2001.

Sportswear manufacturers in China that are loaded with unsold stock from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and now battling weak domestic demand are using the London Games to market their products.

Athletes from 10 teams, as well as members of several Olympic committees, are wearing Chinese companies’ sponsored clothing.

Peak Sport Products is the sponsor of uniforms and shoes for the Opening and Closing Ceremony for the Olympics squads of New Zealand, Iraq, Slovenia, Algeria, Jordon, Lebanon and Cyprus.

Peak Sports Products founder and Chairman, Xu Jingnan said: “The domestic market is full of uncertainties this year, but the overseas market offers better opportunities.”

361 Degrees agreed deals with several Olympic committees, including Belarus’s and Croatia’s.

The Erke Group is the sponsor for the Olympic national delegates of South Africa, Iran and Uzbekistan.

361 Degrees VP Zhu Chenye said that no clothing manufacturer “would consider missing the exposure offered by the Olympics – no matter how high the sponsorship cost. The teams and athletes you sponsor this year will be very likely to decide what partners you are going to work with at the next Olympic Games.”{jcomments on}

Wie das Magazin „Sponsors“ berichtet, cialis startet der FC Bayern München in rund einer Woche sein eigenes soziales Netzwerk. Über die Plattform „myfcb.de“ können sich die Fans des deutschen Rekordmeisters ab dem 28. März austauschen. Hinter dem Projekt stehen auch monetäre Absichten.

Das Netzwerk verfügt über Features, die auch Facebook bietet. So können die Mitglieder Freunde einladen, Freundeslisten zusammenstellen, chatten sowie Bilder und Videos hochladen. Ergänzt wird das Angebot durch Online-Games und die Möglichkeit für Fan-Clubs, ihre eigenen Webseiten auf der Plattform zu erstellen. Der Fan-Shop des FC Bayern ist ebenso wie das Bezahlangebot FCB-TV an die neue Plattform angebunden.

In Anlehnung an den „Like-Button“ von Facebook, heißt diese Funktion bei myfcb „Guad“. Anders als bei Facebook wird es auch den Button „Net Guad“ geben, um Kritik beziehungsweise Ablehnung zuzulassen. Für den technischen Betrieb und die Entwicklung des Designs wurde die Agentur Apareo beauftragt.

Dass auch monetäre Absichten hinter dem Projekt stehen, ist kaum von der Hand zu weisen. Ähnlich wie Facebook wird auch der FC Bayern Nutzerdaten sammeln und versuchen, seine Fans zu dechiffrieren. Im Stadion sind die Anhänger in der anonymen Masse kaum zu identifizieren.

Auf der Website gibt er dagegen selbst Daten preis: Zwar muss nicht der echte Name angegeben werden, doch tun dies trotzdem viele Fans. Daneben geben sie die E-Mail-Adresse, vielleicht auch Geschlecht sowie Beruf an, und ob sie lieber auf der Gegengeraden sitzt oder auf der Südtribüne steht. Diese Informationen wird der Verein nutzen, um zielgerichtet zu werben.

UEFA president Michel Platini has admitted concern that representatives of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will walk out of the FIFA Congress tomorrow, June 1, as a show of disapproval over the temporary suspension of AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam.

The Qatari was barred from all soccer activity by the FIFA ethics committee on Sunday, May 29, over allegations of colluding at bribery in the presidential election race to challenge incumbent president Sepp Blatter. China’s Zhang Jilong has taken over as acting leader of the AFC.

Frenchman Platini,who is also a vice-president of FIFA, had warned his own members at a private UEFA meeting on Monday, May 30, of the chance of an Asian walkout after a similar demonstration of discontent by the Asians took place at the 1999 Congress in a row over the number of places allocated to the AFC at the World Cup finals.

Platini said: “In 1999 Asia left, I don’t know if they will do that again. I think the election will go ahead but I don’t know.”

The AFC had been due to hold its own private meeting today, May 31, which was cancelled on the grounds that the only agenda item had been address by Bin Hammam.

The AFC issued a short statement late Monday, confirming Zhang Jilong’s interim role and saying: “We, the members of the AFC executive committee, express our deepest concern at the latest developments within FIFA and that involves the AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam.

“We will be following the investigation as it takes its course. We hope the outcome of the investigation will be in the best interests of football in Asia and beyond . . . The AFC will continue its work in promoting and further developing Asian football in the spirit of Asian unity and solidarity.”

National Football League (NFL) commissioner Roger Goodell has stated that the league is prepared to make a financial contribution towards a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings after a section of the roof collapsed under heavy snow at its Metrodome arena in December.

Speaking after a meeting on Tuesday, May 17, with Governor Mark Dayton and supporters of the proposed new Vikings stadium, Goodell confirmed that efforts to build the facility are securing the team’s future in the state.

Goodell told the Associated Press: “I think the commitment here is to get something done and I think that will ensure the success of the Vikings.”

The NFL commissioner met with Dayton, legislators sponsoring the stadium bill and state Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel to talk about the team’s partnership with Ramsey County to build a US$1.1bn stadium in suburban Arden Hills. As part of its deal with Ramsey County, the Vikings pledged to pay $407m towards stadium construction, about 39 per cent of the total project cost.

Related road improvement projects surrounding the stadium are yet to be clarified, although Sen. Julie Rosen and Rep. Morrie Lanning, the chief legislative sponsors, have insisted public funding will not exceed the designated $300m for the entire development.

Lanning added: “We still have work to do in terms of pinning down what are the transportation needs over and above what’s already planned. That is the most important issue.”

Peter Wraith, the ex-Sportsbrand Media Group chief executive has joined forces with the organisation’s former marketing director Matt Whytcross to start a new company called Inverleigh Media Holdings.

Inverleigh is a market company that will be involved in the development, production and international distribution of programming for a range of media platforms. Wraith and Whytcross will act as partners in the new venture.

Wraith said: “This is in many ways a natural extension of the effective management partnership that has existed between Matt and I for over 11 years. We are aware of the likely comparisons to our former company, but I think it will be clear in a short time frame that Inverleigh is a very different animal in terms of its ambition, product offering and operational direction.”

Inverleigh will initially have offices in London and Melbourne, with each of the partners working in one of the locations.

Wraith added: “We’ve successfully worked together this way for a number of years and as our business is essentially international, there are definite advantages in us operating from different locations, particularly in terms of servicing an international client base.”