21st Century Fox have completed the acquisition of a majority stake in the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES Network) following an agreement announced on January 24, check 2014.

The transaction raises 21st Century Fox’s ownership position in the regional sports network to 80 percent from the 49 percent it acquired in 2012. The remaining 20 percent continues to be held by Yankee Global Enterprises.

The YES Network delivers exclusive live local television coverage of New York Yankees baseball and Brooklyn Nets basketball, as well as other leading local and national sports-related programming.

As a result of the acquisition, the YES Network is now a consolidated entity of 21st Century Fox. President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Dolgin remains in his role leading the network.

The network currently showcases live Yankees and Nets games to approximately 9 million households in the teams’ television territory in the New York area. Outside of the New York area, the YES Network also distributes a variety of national programming to millions of homes across the country.

Fox Sports Media Group is the nation’s leader in local regional sports programming, operating a leading array of 22 owned-and-operated U.S. regional sports networks, which collectively produce over 5,000 live local events each year and serve as the local TV homes to more than half of all MLB, NHL, and NBA teams.

Nigel Evans, adiposity current Board Chairman of England Golf, medstore has accepted the nomination to become President of the England Golf for 2014 with a view to becoming President in 2015.

The 67 year old, who has been involved in amateur golf administration since 1980, says he is delighted and surprised to be considered and is looking forward to the next two years.

“I feel highly honoured and delighted to have been chosen,” he says. “My life has been in golf and golf administration for over 30 years and I feel this is also an honour for my club, Sandiway, and my home county of Cheshire.”

Nigel was on the Executive Committee and Finance Committee from 2002 – 05, serving as Chairman of the latter in 2004 – 05 and was a member of the Management Committee in 2005. During the period to 2005, he also served on the Presidents Advisory, Championship, National Coaching, Budget and Remuneration Committees.

He was an EGU Board member from 2005 – 2011 and its Chairman from 2009 and still holds that position with England Golf following the merger with the English Women’s Golf Association and is due to retire next year. Nigel played a major role in the merger, being Chairman of the EGU steering group from 2009 – 2011.

Prior to the merger, he was the Board member responsible for National Coaching and Elite Performance from 2005 – 2011, while he has been the tournament referee for the Daily Telegraph Junior Championship since 2002. He is also a past captain of the Hittite Golfing Society and a member of the Senior Golfers Society.

Nigel is married to Judith, a keen golfer at Runcorn Golf Club, and they have a son Robert, a pilot with easyJet, and a daughter Elizabeth, a specialist physiotherapist.

“I am looking forward hugely to 2015, which is a Walker Cup year, and travelling with Judith to all our major championships throughout the Country” Nigel adds. “Being President is a huge job but I know what is ahead.”

Shergul Arshad, symptoms Digital Business Director at AS Roma will join Giuliano Giorgetti, Head of Web and New Media at AC Milan, on the ‘Monetising Social Media’ panel at this year’s Soccerex European Forum on 10-11 April, Manchester.

Through the launch of innovative accounts on Facebook and Twitter, Roma has quickly become one of the most original and progressive clubs using social media and, in a recent report, digital-football.com saw them as becoming the fastest growing club on twitter. They have also experienced rapid growth on a number of other accounts including YouTube, Pinterest, the AS Roma Dream League and online AS Roma Membership, the AS Roma Fantasy Manager on iTunes /Facebook and a new eCommerce site.

Shergul Arshad commented:

“As well as creating engaging content and improving our fan interaction, we’re also aware of the need to monetise our social media channels. As Europe’s leading football conference, the Forum is the perfect platform to discuss this process and share ideas with counterparts across the continent.”

The Soccerex European Forum is a two-day event which attracts over 1,500 delegates from the elite of Europe’s football industry to come together to debate, network and do business. This year’s agenda setting conference programme will tackle the key issues shaping European football, including fan engagement, media rights, match fixing, discrimination and addiction, life after football, social media and a selection of special 1-2-1 sessions with the game’s biggest names.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208 987 5522 or visit www.soccerex.com/europe.

Amid wide reports that Africa will look to secure its first hosting of an Olympic Games in 2020, Kenya have joined the list of countries who claim that they are interested in bidding.

Prime Minister of Kenya Raila Odinga raised the possibility when he was visited by members of Brazilian football club Palmeiras.

Odinga stated: “No country in Africa has won more Olympic medals than Kenya so we have all the rights to host the Games and we are asking Brazil to support us.”

An expected bid from South Africa is already in the final stages of deciding whether to put forward a city for 2020 following the success of last year’s FIFA World Cup, with cities such as Durban and Johannesburg among the hopefuls.

Earlier this month Morocco’s Sports Minister Moncef Belkhayat revealed that there were plans for Casablanca to bid for the Games in the near future.

Since making their debut in the Games at Melbourne in 1956, Kenya has won a total of 75 medals, a remarkable 68 have been won in athletics with seven coming from boxing.

An Olympic bid from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, must still be considered a long shot with the city having made noises about trying to host the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games but a bid has never materialised.

Lord Sebastian Coe, store chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games, has said he is “thrilled” that over 100,000 people have already applied to become volunteers for the Games.

At the halfway point in the six-week application window, thousands have already signed up to become Games Makers, as the roles are being called.

Research into the applications has revealed that 52 per cent of Londoners have said they were inspred by the 2012 Games to volunteer.

Coe said: “We are thrilled with the response so far from people and would like to thank everyone who has already filled in their application form and pledged to lend their time to the greatest show on earth.

“The London 2012 Games simply could not happen without volunteers.

“Whenever I have spoken to previous volunteers, they’ve all said what a fantastic experience it was.

“So don’t miss out on this opportunity of a lifetime. You’ve got three weeks left to fill-in your application form – don’t miss the deadline of October 27.”

Games organisers are looking for up to 70,000 dedicated volunteers to help at the 2012 event.

Major League Soccer (MLS) side FC Dallas has renewed its television deals with both Time Warner Cable Sports and TXA21 for the 2014 season.

Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will air 24 FC Dallas regular-season games.

Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will also re-air FC Dallas games and televise other FC Dallas and Major League Soccer programming throughout the season. Check local listings or visit www.twcsportschannel.com for more channel information. Meanwhile, TXA21 will air six regular-season matches. The remaining four games will be nationally televised on either UniMas, ESPN2, or NBC Sports Network.

“We have two television partners in Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and TXA21 who believe in soccer and share our passion for the game,” said FC Dallas President Dan Hunt. “We believe we have also found a winning broadcast team and we’re excited to see what 2014 will bring to this organization as we take our game day production to the next level.”

Troon Golf has announced two important new appointments ahead of the opening later this year of the highly-anticipated Azerbaijan Golf Club, drugs Quba near the capital city, allergy Baku.

Philip Henderson has accepted the sought after role of General Manager, clinic following a successful tenure covering the opening of the ground breaking floodlit nine hole course, The Track at Meydan in Dubai and earlier spells at Troon properties in the UK and Egypt and Simon Douglas has assumed the position of Course Superintendent. Both bring a wealth of Troon experience to their respective roles and work closely alongside the ownership group and The Azerbaijan Golf Federation in preparing for the opening of the country’s first 18-hole championship golf course, designed by John Hunt.

“I have no doubt that both Phil and Simon have all the attributes to bring a lot to the table in their new roles,” commented Bruce Glasco, Vice-President and Managing Director, Troon International Operations. “Azerbaijan is an ambitious destination, with developers committed to delivering a truly world-class product. We have worked closely on the plans for The Azerbaijan Golf Club since its inception and Phil and Simon will ensure our industry-leading standards of pristine course conditioning, first-class service, hospitality and best business practices resonate throughout what will be an exceptional golf resort.”

Henderson has eight years’ experience in the field with Troon. A fully qualified PGA Professional, Philip has worked all over the world with Troon at some of the world’s leading golf resorts, including WGC World Golf Championship host venue The Grove, London, Oceânico Golf, Portugal, The Els Club, Dubai, and The Allegria Golf Club, Egypt. With a broad knowledge of the golfing landscape, he will draw on his vast experience, implementing key strategies to establish The Azerbaijan Golf Club as one of the game’s most intriguing new destinations.

“I am extremely excited at the prospect of playing such a pivotal role in what will be a ground-breaking opening, not just for everyone involved with the Golf Club, but for the entire nation of Azerbaijan,” noted Henderson. “The project is progressing as planned and I look forward to bringing the owners’ vision to life. I am striving for excellence and believe that the quality experiences provided by Troon will ensure the satisfaction of our guests whilst also promoting the growth of the game in the country.”

Douglas brings with him 13 years’ experience in the golf industry and a passion for travel that has enabled him to gain invaluable experience working at high-profile golf courses all over the world. 

All three cities bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics travelled to Nouméa in New Caledonia to lobby for support from the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC), who were holding their general assembly.

Yang Ho Cho, the chairman and chief executive of Pyeongchang 2018, said: “It would be a great honour for Pyeongchang to host the Winter Games in 2018, and we believe we can revitalise winter sport into a powerful driving force for Olympism. We are committed to creating Asia’s first long-term and sustainable winter sport legacy that offers a world of ‘New Horizons’ for winter sports and the Olympic Movement.”

Munich sent a high-level delegation headed by Thomas Bach, the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation and vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, and Katarina Witt, the chair of Munich 2018 and a double Olympic ice skating champion.

Bach said: “It is a special pleasure for us to be here at ONOC because Germany has a very unique historic connection to this continental association. It was at the Baden-Baden Olympic Congress in Germany in 1981 that Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and New Guinea actually founded ONOC.”

Witt added: “It is great to have the opportunity to share Munich 2018’s vision with the Olympic family in Oceania this week and, as an athlete by heart, to reach out to athlete: on a different continent. Munich 2018 will offer opportunities to athletes, coaches and federations from every sport and every nation through various training activities within the ‘Olympic Winter Friendship Programme.’ What’s more, it will seek for the first time to bring together athletes from winter and summer sports in the framework of Germany’s long-time development programme.”

Annecy’s delegation was led by bid President Charles Beigbeder and Denis Masseglia, the President of the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF).

Masseglia said: “We want to use the tremendous power of the Olympic Games to forge a path towards the mountains of the 21st century. The Games will make Annecy a hub of sporting excellence for training and coaching athletes from all seven continents.”

Beigbeder thanked the ONOC for “giving Annecy the opportunity to spend time with its members in this wonderful part of the world” expressed his joy at being able to “meet them and learn from them.”

He added: “Annecy is full of surprises. And we aim to make the most of them in order to host memorable Games. Our city is known as the Venice of the Alps. We are blessed with a unique setting which has attracted millions of international visitors for more than a century. Annecy 2018 will use the region’s natural beauty and rich mountain legacy to organise exceptional Games.”

The bidders will continue their international tour next week by taking part in Sport Accord from April 3-8 in London, then in the IOC presentation summit in Lausanne in May.

Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium has appointed Nathalie Cook as its new vice-president of marketing and partnerships, it has been announced.

Cook was previously director of partnerships for the organisation, which delivered multi-platform coverage and consumer choice of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Adam Ashton, president of the consortium, said: “Nathalie’s experience and passion for the Olympic Games shines through in all that she does.

“She is both a team player and born leader, whose ideas and foresight push limits to achieve maximum results in the best interest of her clients and partners.”

Cook added: “Having worked in amateur sports for the majority of my career, I truly believe in the spirit and goodwill of the Olympic Games on a global level and am proud to contribute to its legacy.

“Vancouver 2010 was a watershed moment in the media industry and I look forward to working with much of the same team and continuing the momentum for London 2012.”