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.”

BBC have announced viewing figures for London 2012 are hitting record highs with Mo Farah’s triumphant win seeing the biggest figures.

The number of BBC viewers tuning in to watch London 2012 has surpassed those recorded for Beijing 2008 with Mo Farah’s 10,000 metre triumph drawing the largest audience of the Olympics so far.

The Briton’s race to glory pulled in a peak audience of 17.1 million at 9.45pm on Saturday night across BBC One and BBC Olympics broadcasts.

The second most watched event was the climax of the heptathlon won by the unofficial face of London 2012 Jessica Ennis, drawing in 16.3 million viewers three quarters of an hour earlier at 9pm.

Watched by 15.6 million viewers, Britain’s Greg Rutherford’s gold medal winning long jump was the third most highly watched achievement of the Games via the BBC One and BBC Olympics platforms.

Danny Boyle’s London 2012 Opening Ceremony also proved to be a winner, attracting an unprecedented average audience of 22.4 million with a five-minute peak of 26.9 million and 15 minute peak of 26.7 million.

Four years’ earlier, the Beijing 2008 Opening Ceremony attracted far fewer numbers when the BBC audience averaged just 5.1 million with a five-minute peak of 5.9 million and 15 minute peak of 5.4 million.

United Data Technologies (UDT) announced their completion of the installation of the enterprise data network for the new $515 million ballpark for Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins franchise.

The future home of the Marlins will be a first-class baseball stadium, constructed on approximately 17 acres of the historic Orange Bowl site. The ballpark has a retractable roof, a natural grass playing field and 37,000 seats.

“We were honored to be entrusted to oversee technology needs for the Miami Marlins’ new facility and team headquarters,” said Gerard Amaro, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We saw this as a platform to showcase our expertise and client-focused solution set. Client opportunities of this scale and magnitude are uncommon, so it was important we selected solutions befitting this world-class project.”

UDT was selected over numerous vendors and manufacturers competing to provide the 37,000-seat ballpark’s new core enterprise data network infrastructure and uninterrupted power supply solutions. The core infrastructure supports all aspects of the ballpark, from the elevator to point-of-sale to the scoreboards.

“We are proud to have partnered with United Data Technologies,” said Claude Delorme, Marlins EVP of Operations and Events. “Marlins Park is a state-of-the-art ballpark like no other and we recruit only the best. UDT will manage our technology needs and we are confident they will excel at the task.”

UDT delivered a highly available core enterprise network on time and on budget. “We made sure we were flexible in our implementation approach to ensure we met all timelines and deadlines,” said Jesus Peña, UDT’s Vice President of Sales for Florida and the Caribbean. “Our team understood the complexity and how critical it was to have the core network available on time.”

Commonwealth Games England (CGE) has placed adverts in the national press this weekend, seeking applicants for the posts of chief executive, sports director and commercial director.

CGE chairman Sir Andrew Foster stated: “We will be generating a step change on the back of these appointments. We are looking at a different sort of approach.”

Foster maintains that the changes are part of a general movement to make the CGE more attractive to sponsors.

He added: “We already have a wealth of expertise on our board with people such as our President, Dame Kelly Holmes, Lawrence Dallaglio, David Robinson, who is CEO of Speedo, and Arsenal’s marketing director  Angus Kinnear.

“It is all a case of making it look to sponsors like a very supportable proposition.”

The chairman also confirmed that tt is also part of the CGE plan to move their head office from Crystal Palace to a more central location, adding: “Crystal Palace is a bit out of the way and we want to be much more in view. We want to be alongside other major sporting organisations at the centre of things.”

The CGE has put in place a wide-ranging strategy document looking at key areas for change and improvement in the years of rich opportunity leading to the Glasgow 2014 Games.

After they were relegated from the English Premier League this weekend, London-based soccer club West Ham United have insisted that they still plan to move into the Olympic Stadium after London 2012, despite their recent disappointment.

A spokesman for West Ham said they were “totally committed” to making the US$836m venue their new home after the Games next year, though their demotion from the top flight of English football is bound to provide rivals Tottenham Hotspur with fresh ammunition in their fight to have the decision overturned.

Both Tottenham and League One side Leyton Orient have applied for separate judicial reviews into West Ham’s bid for different reasons but the Hammers claim their original bid made provisions for both Premier League and Championship soccer.

The spokesman added: “As far as our plans for the Olympic Stadium are concerned, we are continuing at a pace.”

It is thought that unless they are promoted straight away, West Ham’s move to the Olympic Stadium must be serious doubt, in terms both of likely attendances and global image.

TPG Capital, the private equity firm, has bought a 35 per cent stake in sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA Sports).

CAA Sports represents more than 650 of the world’s biggest athletes, coaches, broadcasters, teams, leagues, venues and marketers.

Major League Baseball (MLB) star Derek Jeter and Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo are among the company’s clients.

Under the terms of the deal, CAA and TPG have agreed to create a US$500 million pledge fund which will provide access to significant capital for future investments.

TPG founding partner David Bonderman said: “CAA is the clear leader within its industry and the talent agency most trusted by successful actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians and athletes.

“Over its history, the company has demonstrated a consistent ability to identify nascent opportunities and expand into new markets.

“CAA’s outstanding management team has built the gold-standard franchise in their industry based on a culture of exceptional client service, and we look forward to supporting CAA at this exciting inflection point in their evolution as they look to expand their operations and services around the globe.”