A Manchester City led consortium has purchased Australian A-League club, discount Melbourne Heart FC.

The consortium also includes the ownership group of the Melbourne Storm as minority shareholders with a 20 percent stake.

Ferran Soriano, ambulance CEO of Manchester City, said: “We are excited about the opportunity to make Melbourne Heart one of the most successful football clubs in Australia and throughout the region.  We believe the strong sports culture of Melbourne combined with the football and commercial expertise within our consortium will make for a powerful combination both on and off the pitch.” 

Bart Campbell, Chairman of the holding company Heart Consortium Group and Chairman of the Melbourne Storm NRL side, said: “Partnering with City to co-invest in Melbourne Heart will further strengthen the sporting landscape in one of the world’s greatest cities and bring a range of new capabilities to AAMI Park.  We are excited to be a part of this unique project. It is our shared ambition to replicate the model that City created with the New York Yankees around New York City FC and for both organisations to benefit as a result.” 

He added: “We are grateful to Peter Sidwell and his Board for creating a Club with such obvious strengths and potential.” 

Speaking on behalf of the exiting Board of Melbourne Heart FC, Chairman Peter Sidwell said, “The Board feels that with the successful establishment and evolution of the Club over the last four years, Melbourne Heart now stands on sound commercial and financial foundations.  The Board feels that the next phase of the club’s development can be most fully realised with this new investment and the associated benefits that the enthusiasm of the consortium will bring.” 

FFA CEO David Gallop said the acquisition of the Melbourne Heart licence was a huge vote of confidence in the future of the Hyundai A-League. 

“Football has moved into the mainstream of Australian sport and is ideally placed to benefit from the boom in football across Asia,” said Gallop. 

“Manchester City and their Australian partners have made a strategic investment and I welcome them to our growing competition. It’s another sign that the world is taking notice of Australian football. 

“Manchester City and their partners will bring a high level of expertise in football and sports business matters and that can only strengthen the Melbourne Heart and the Hyundai A-League as a whole.” 

Regarding its plans for the Club, Ferran Soriano stated: “The first thing we must do is take the time to listen and learn and then to develop our strategy for strengthening the Club over time.”  

Manchester City’s investment in Melbourne Heart FC follows its establishment of New York City Football Club in May 2013, which will enter Major League Soccer in the United States in the 2015 season, and its establishment of Manchester City Women’s Football Club, that will play in 2014. 

Soccerex, herbal the global leaders for the business of football, for sale will be rebranding ahead of their new event cycle in 2014, abortion which includes the Soccerex Global Convention moving to Manchester on 6-10 September.

Earlier this year a brief was given to official Soccerex design partners, Designwerk, to refresh all elements of the brand and create a cleaner, more flexible hierarchy for the new event portfolio that could adapt to the dynamic nature of their business.  Historically, new event brands have been created for each new Soccerex event cycle but on this occasion, for the first time in eight years, the core Soccerex logo was evaluated.

A sample of the resulting work, which has already secured two prestigious design industry awards, can be seen here and will be rolled out over Soccerex materials through December.

Commenting on the rebrand, Soccerex Marketing Director David Wright said:

“I am delighted with the work Designwerk have done.  The rebrand has given us a cleaner, better balanced, more modern core mark that is easier use. The new modular event brand system places Soccerex at the forefront, giving us better ownership of our events and provides a system that is better suited to the dynamic nature of our business and the need to add new events to our portfolio as we expand.”

Designwerk Partner and Founder Cristian Cook added: 

“Soccerex is the pinnacle of B2B global football marketing, so when they commissioned us to create their new brand identity, it was a real privilege. Our strategic and creative teams developed a unique identity which is flexible and versatile across all media, and will form the basis of their marketing collateral well into the future.”

The Soccerex Global Convention 2014 will bring the world of football to Manchester for five days of learning, business and networking. The event will provide a platform for the finance, commercial, performance and stadia departments from football clubs around the world and will offer Confederations and Local Organising Committees the opportunity to address the key stages of major tournament delivery.

The 2014 edition has received the support of FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, who recently commented:

“I am really looking forward to the World Cup in Brazil and I am also looking forward to reprising its success at Soccerex in Manchester for the Global Convention in September. I wish you all a great 2014 football experience!”

The Soccerex Global Convention is hosted in conjunction with Marketing Manchester. For more information on the event please go to http://www.soccerex.com/events/global.

Fenway Sports Management (FSM) today announced that Frank Huckabone has been promoted to Executive Vice President/Chief Revenue Officer.

FSM is the sports marketing agency of Fenway Sports Group, click whose properties include the Boston Red Sox, viagra Liverpool Football Club (LFC), anabolics New England Sports Network (NESN) and Roush Fenway Racing (RFR). Huckabone previously served as FSM’s Executive Vice President, Sales.

Huckabone will be responsible for developing and executing an integrated global strategy for Fenway Sports Group’s properties and that of its partners. He will continue to report to FSM’s President Sam Kennedy and Managing Directors Billy Hogan and Mark Lev.

“People who meet Huck want to do business with him,” said FSM President Sam Kennedy. “His ability to close deals is a direct result of his energy and enthusiasm, and the close relationships he develops with his clients. This new position was a logical expansion of his role, and one that will play a critical part in FSM’s continued growth and expansion both nationally and internationally.”

Huckabone will continue to lead FSM’s sales team in securing global partners for the Boston Red Sox, LFC and LeBron James/LRMR Marketing & Branding and securing sponsorships for non-baseball related events at Fenway Park that are operated by FSM, such as Citi Frozen Fenway.

“It’s an honor for me to work with such a talented team of individuals while representing some of the most prominent sports and entertainment brands in the world,” said Huckabone. “I look forward to taking on a greater role in managing our business strategies and continuing to work with my colleagues to develop mutually beneficial partnerships that help Fenway Sports Group’s properties compete at the highest level while helping support the business goals for the top-tier brands that I am so fortunate to be a part of.”

In his previous role at FSM, Huckabone successfully led efforts to integrate sponsorship sales across the company’s sports and entertainment portfolio. During his tenure, Huckabone and his staff helped secure sponsorships for the Boston Red Sox, LFC, NESN, RFR, LeBron James/LRMR Marketing & Branding, Boston College Athletics, Major League Baseball Advanced Media and PGA Tour Playoff event the Deutsche Bank Championship (DBC). He also oversaw sponsorships for signature FSM events including Football at Fenway, a soccer friendly match between LFC and AS Roma, and Frozen Fenway, a 16-day ice hockey event featuring Division I colleges and numerous high school and community hockey games.

This announcement comes on the heels of two executive level appointments including John Clark, Senior Vice President, Sales, who came to FSM from MSG Sports, and Jennifer Flynn, who was promoted to General Counsel.

Huckabone’s more than 15-year career in professional sports began at Madison Square Garden (MSG) where he marketed sponsorships for all MSG-owned and -operated properties (New York Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, Yankees, Mets and Radio City Music Hall). He spent more than eight years developing integrated brand marketing, advertising sponsorships, and programs that included TV, radio, signage, print and promotional elements, as well as arena- and team-controlled assets.

Germany’s top soccer league, the Bundesliga has revealed today their ninth straight turnover record during the 2012-13 season. 

Continuing its lasting growth with 2.17 billion euros ($2.97bn) and topping its previous year’s amount by 4.4 per cent. The Bundesliga recorded 383.5 million euros ($524m) in operative profits, the highest of all time. Seventeen of 18 clubs were in the black with turnover before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).

On the expenditures side, salaries for players and coaches remained stable at 39 per cent. The Bundesliga 2 recorded the highest turnover in its history with 419.4 million euros ($573m) (a 9.1 per cent increase on last season), and fifteen of the 18 second division clubs recorded positive EBITDA numbers. The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga made the announcement at today’s presentation of the Bundesliga Report 2014 in Frankfurt.

“The Bundesliga is succeeding in the split between top level sports performance and economic rationality, especially compared to others in Europe. Thanks also to the further increases with the media contracts that take effect this season, the league is on the road to extending its position as the second-strongest earning football league in Europe,” said Christian Seifert (pictured), CEO of the DFL.

In total, the turnover of the 36 clubs and capital companies of the DFL also increased for the ninth time in a row. All told, the clubs collected 2.59 billion euros ($3.53bn) in the past season. Just like in past seasons, professional football saw increases in all central income categories (advertising, media and player revenues).

The clubs and capital companies paid 850 million euros ($1.16mn) (last year 800 million euros ($1.09m)) in taxes and dues last season, more than ever before.

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The World Archery Fedration has re-elected Professor Dr U?ur Erdener as their President at the 50th World Archery Congress

Prof Dr U?ur ERDENER, for sale who was the only candidate, medstore was re-elected with 93 votes in favour and 2 votes against, therapy reflecting the overwhelming support for his management.

Erdener has been President since 2005 when the organisation was the International Archery Federation (FITA). Erdener changed the name of the organisation to World Archery Federation (WA) in 2009.

World Archery also apointed María Emma GAVIRIA (COL), Sanguan KOSAVINTA (THA) and Philippe BOUCLET (FRA) as Vice Presidents. Greg EASTON (USA), Vladimir ESHEEV (RUS) and Aladin GABR (EGY) were also added to the executive board.

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OC Sport has revealed that the media coverage of the Extreme Sailing Series has increased five-fold from 2009.

The amazing rise highlights the growing interest in ESS, as their brand of exciting stadium sailing continues to change the general niche perception the sport has.

Havas Sponsorship Insight Surveys also recorded a significant increase of 37% in value of media coverage of the first 4 Acts in 2012 compared with the first 4 Acts in 2011.

Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of organisers OC Sport said: “We are always totally transparent on the methodology used by Havas Sponsorship Insights to evaluate our property.

“Ultimately there are a few different ways to do the maths, so the relative year on year performance remains the most important measure for us. We have today more than 5 times the coverage that we had in 2009, and have progressed every single year, using the same measurement methodology – that progression is the key result for us.

“Extreme Sailing Series offers many great opportunities for businesses and host venues in B2B, consumer and internal spaces, and the media valuation aspect is only one measure of the value of the event, but it remains an important one for our different stakeholders.”

The media valuation certainly indicates great exposure for the events, which can only be good news. However, cost of tracking media coverage globally determines that print and TV coverage was monitored over a specific period of time. Print media is monitored for a month over the course of the event, whilst TV coverage is monitored during the week of the event) and in the countries the events are held.

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Turner added: “We monitor thousands of online media around the globe throughout the year and we rely on each of the Host Venues and their agencies, participating teams and our own personal contact with media and journalists to get hold of print and TV coverage outside of the event periods as media monitoring around the world and across all platforms is very costly.

“We are transparent and conservative with the methodology applied to the media valuation using Havas market place advertising rates, which are considerably less, as opposed to standard rates. This is why Havas Sponsorship Insights applies a conservative 10% of unmonitored coverage which is inevitably missed outside of the events periods we monitor.”

In terms of attracting more media coverage outside of the monitored time period, it has proven not to be so much of a problem due to number of races the ESS holds.

“The circuits is hosted in 7 iconic cities over 10 months which doesn’t allow much down time in between each of these Acts. Other news in between events, such as team or venue announcements, new developments in the Series or plans for the following season and media evaluation reports also get reported so there is no real problem on that front, and it’s not a bad thing to have some breathing space in between each event like most sports do. We have very active content platforms such as the official event website and social networks, that fuel the media and fan base,” concluded Turner.

Alastair Macdonald, Director at Havas Sponsorship Insights commented: “The volume of media coverage that the Extreme Sailing Series has gained after four events in 2012 has increased for the third year in succession, as detailed in the mid-season media evaluation report.

“The Extreme Sailing Series remains popular in Europe and Asia, and has made an immediate impact in Portugal – a new addition to the 2012 calendar – where there has been significant media coverage of the event.”

“Projections for exposure for the full seven-event series, and the value that this media coverage may deliver, have been made. Total media value for the 2012 series is forecast to be in the region €30m. This projection is based on the amount of coverage gained so far this year, and the actual cost of advertising in the territories in which this exposure appears.”

“Actual marketplace advertising buying rates as opposed to standard rate card have been used in all calculations to ensure the media values published comply with OC Sport’s policy of remaining conservative on media values.”