The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) have chosen International Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz and USA Hockey executive Dave Ogrean to join a five-person panel to decide whether it should bid for a future Olympics.

The group is expected to report to the full USOC board at its quarterly meeting in December. It will consider bidding for the Summer Olympics in 2024 or the Winter Games in 2026.

Angela Ruggiero, Mike Plant and Susanne Lyons are the other board members on the exploratory panel.

The United States hasn’t hosted an Olympics since the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games. The last U.S. Summer Olympics were in 1996 in Atlanta. The last two candidates, New York for 2012 and Chicago for 2016, both finished fourth in the voting.

The London Olympics are on track to become the most expensive Games in Olympic history since 1996’s summer Olympics in Atlanta, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

According to a new study by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, the budget for London’s upcoming Olympics has ballooned to $13 billion from its’ originally proposed target of $6.5 billion, putting it 107 percent over-budget, Business Insider reported.

The increased cost is significantly more than the average spill-over for Games during the past 10 years, the study found.

The record for budget-blowing goes to Atlanta, which overran its costs by 147 percent when it hosted the athletic competiton.

“The Olympics overrun with a 100 percent consistency,” Bent Flyvbjerg, who co-authored the research, said in an interview with Bloomberg. “You reach a point of no return seven years before the games where you commit to delivering and writing this blank check. You can’t trade off time with money in the Olympics.”

The researchers looked at data from both summer and winter Olympic games over the past 50 years, and calculated the costs of security, transportation, technology, ceremonies, and construction costs for sports venues, athlete’s villages, press and media centers, Forbes reported.

The Olympics’ actual budgets have been an average of 179 percent greater than the original bid budgets, according to Forbes.

“Any country that bids for the games probably goes into it, though they wouldn’t admit it, knowing that there’s very little likelihood of it ultimately proving to be cost effective or value for money,” Alan Seymour, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Northampton, told Bloomberg.

However, some expect London’s budget to soar even higher than these figures. According to the Daily Mail, a new report has estimated that the 2012 Summer Games will end up costing as much as $37 million.

The two parties have been unable to agree on whether net costs involved in the staging of the Paralympic Games should be separated from any operating profit generated by the Olympics.

The BOA is due to receive 20 per cent of any surplus, but its belief that the costs should be separate is not supported by LOCOG.

The BOA has been criticised by some who say that they have embarked on an unnecessary spending spree, with accounts showing that the body’s overall salary bill has more than doubled from $3.2m to $8m million in the last six years.

A statement from the BOA read: “As the National Olympic Committee, our principal responsibility is to safeguard future opportunities for Olympic athletes and sport throughout the United Kingdom.

“We are engaged in a formal process to ensure that any surplus resulting from the London 2012 Olympic Games is used for precisely those purposes. Quite simply, our objective is this: to guarantee that the London 2012 Olympic Games deliver a meaningful post-Games legacy that is beneficial to Olympic sport and athletes, present and future, throughout the UK.”

LOCOG responded with a statement that read: “The vision for London 2012, created by the BOA, Government and the Mayor of London and set out in the bid book is for one festival of sport, with an integrated Olympic and Paralympic Games, underpinned by a single budget. It is sad that this vision is now disputed by the new leadership of the BOA. We are grateful that the IOC is helping to resolve the issue.”

Major League Soccer (MLS) side DC United are trying to be convinced by the local Development Corp. in the city of Baltimore, viagra sale Maryland, cialis to relocate by highlighting the economic benefits gained from a new Westport based, soccer-specific stadium.

The possibility of a move has been in talks by representatives of the club and the city respectively but formal discussions are on hold until a commitment is made with regards to a facility. The possibilities of both a 25,000-seater stadium in Westport or the far smaller option of a 10,000,seat venue.

According to a feasibility study produced on the proposals, 940 new jobs could be generated through a new soccer-specific stadium with US$2.8m in city tax revenue. It was also stated that the stadium could host 49 to 54 events every year, including 17 DC United games. Spectator spending has been estimated at between $65.7 and $78 million each year.

Sportswear manufacturer Nike has launched an application called Nike+ GPS to rival the launch of the Adidas Mi-Coach app, which was released last month.

Nike’s new product is labelled as the first “Runners App” and is engineered to operate between GPS and an accelerometoer for an accurate, motivating and entertaining runner’s tool.

The new app allow runners to visually map every run while tracking pace, distance, time and calories burned. It also includes instant feedback during and after each run, from athletes including Paula Radcliffe and Lance Armstrong

Nike+ GPS is available now in the Aple iTunes App store for US$2 and requires an iPhone or iPod touch.

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has announced they have filled their Chief Executive position with the appointment of Michael Downey, clinic the former chief of Tennis Canada. 

Michael has been President and CEO of Tennis Canada for the past 9 years, abortion during which time the sport has enjoyed significant growth, healing both at grassroots and at the elite level.

He will replace Roger Draper who announced in March he would step down from his role later this month. During the interim period, the LTA’s Chief Operating Officer, Nick Humby, will lead the Executive.

Michael (pictured, right) said of his appointment: “This is a huge privilege for me, at a fantastic time for British tennis. We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us, and it is an honour to be able to lead the work of the LTA in getting more people playing tennis.” Michael will start on January 6th 2014 and will relocate to the UK with his fiancée, Jinder.

LTA Chairman, David Gregson, welcomed the appointment: “We set out to recruit a CEO with true success in business, with exceptional leadership credentials and ideally with significant knowledge of tennis. Michael demonstrably fits the bill perfectly and was the unanimous choice of our recruitment panel.”

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At the 2012 FISA Ordinary Congress held in Plovdiv, medstore Bulgaria, health Rotterdam, order  Netherlands were appointed the 2016 World Rowing Senior & Junior Championships.

The provisional dates for the events are 24 to 28 August. The championships will be held at the Willem-Alexander Baan.

• It was also revealed at the congress that the 2015 World Rowing Masters Regatta was awarded to Hazewinkel, Belgium. The provisional dates are 10 to 13 September.

• Also at the congress second stage of the 2013 Samsung World Rowing Cup regatta series was attributed to Eton Dorney, Great Britain at the Eton Dorney International Regatta Course. 
• The dates for the 2013 series are now set:
• 22 – 24 March, 2013 – Sydney, Australia
• 21 – 23 June, 2013 – Eton Dorney, Great Britain
• 12 – 14 July, 2013 – Lucerne, Switzerland

Shazam, and the world’s leading media discovery company, medicine will provide NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, a social TV interactive experience to viewers of the 2012 London Olympics.

While watching the Olympics across NBCUniversal properties — NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, Bravo and CNBC — U.S. viewers can use the Shazam App on their mobile device to unlock extras such as, unique content on athletes, up-to-the-minute information on results, and the medal count. Additionally, they can participate in viewer polls and share on social media via Twitter and Facebook.

“Our collaboration with NBC around the London Games marks an exciting milestone for Shazam for TV,” said Shazam CEO, Andrew Fisher. “As the leader in second-screen interactive television, we’re proud to work with NBC to make their coverage of the London 2012 Summer Olympics an even more engaging and interactive social experience.

“We are pleased to be working once again with Shazam,” said, Rick Cordella, SVP & General Manager, Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. “We are confident their Shazam for TV service will help us ignite even more excitement among viewers watching the Games on the networks of NBCUniversal.”