WWE announced the appointment of Gerrit Meier as Executive Vice President (EVP) of International.

Meier will report directly to WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

As the head of the International division, ailment Meier will be a key member of WWE’s senior management team. He will be responsible for growing WWE’s brand and business outside of the U.S. with the primary focus on expanding the company’s international television distribution agreements. Meier will also manage the continued advancement of WWE’s international licensing, stuff live events, sale cheap digital and publishing operations.

Meier brings nearly 20 years of experience helping content and distribution companies grow on a global basis within the context of rapidly changing consumer behavior and a quickly evolving technical/digital paradigm. As a seasoned media executive, he has held senior leadership positions and expanded the international footprint of several well-known companies, including Spotify, Clear Channel and Bertelsmann.

Prior to joining WWE, Meier was Spotify’s Global General Manager for Distribution and Partnerships where he successfully forged new partnerships with blue chip brands like Coca-Cola, Yahoo, Deutsche Telekom and Target. He also helped lead industry change for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment through the creation of the iHeartRadio brand, products and digital ad-network.

Meier began his career within Accenture/Andersen Consulting’s Strategic Services Practice, and subsequent to that, worked several years for EMI and BMG. He earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, and his undergraduate degree in International Business Administration from the European Business School London, U.K.

Soccerex has announced that Giuliano Giorgetti, Head of Web and New Media at AC Milan and Lewis Wiltshire, Head of Sport at Twitter UK, will be speaking on the hot topic of social media in football, at the Soccerex European Forum, 10-11 April, Manchester.

Social media, and in particular Twitter, have never been more popular in sport than they are today. The 2012 European Championships and 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games meant that seven out of the UK’s ten most tweeted about moments in 2012 were sports related. Football has also seen a huge surge in the number of clubs and players using the medium to engage with their fans and sometimes creating controversial situations when expressing their personal views on the game. Highlighting the importance of the medium, Lewis Wiltshire will give a presentation on the best practice of Twitter in the football industry.

The use of social media as platforms to engage with fans and increase a club’s global reach is an important part of a club’s communication strategy. The next steps for clubs in 2013 are monetising these platforms and creating new revenue streams through the millions of fans that use them. Through a series of presentations and discussions, Giuliano, along with other club representatives, will discuss the various approaches they are taking to achieve this monetisation.

As Head of Web and New Media at AC Milan, Giuliano is responsible for AC Milan’s social media strategy, creating engaging content for the club’s fans, which include almost 900,000 international followers on Twitter and over 14 million fans on Facebook, as well organising special projects and events dedicated to the social media environment.

Speaking on his participation, Giuliano Giorgetti said:

“The topic of social media and especially twitter is extremely relevant in European football at the moment and will shape the future of how clubs, fans and sponsors engage with one another. I look forward to speaking on these issues at the Forum, which is undoubtedly the most influential football business event in Europe.”

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

The bid of French city Annecy to host the 2018 Winter Olympics has received a public sector funding boost from the Caisse des Depots after the financial institution, buy order which acts on behalf of central and local governments in France, medical pledged US$2.09m in support, viagra and also the French National Olympic and Sport Committee.

The Caisse des Depots will support Annecy 2018 financially and operationally through the final phase of the bid’s campaign, with the International Olympic Committee scheduled to decide on July 6 whether Annecy, PyeongChang in South Korea or Munich in Germany should stage the Games.

The deal represents a further funding boost for the bids CEO Charles Beigbeder, who was installed in January as a replacement to Edgar Grospiron who resigned following a dispute over a perceived lack of financial support for the event.

The financial institution’s CEO, Augustin de Romanet stated: “This partnership is an illustration of the Caisse des Depots’ drive to provide effective and sustainable support for ambitious projects. In addition to providing funding and additional staff, our support takes the shape of engineering know-how, especially in the area of protecting the local environment and its heritage through sustainable development, one of our group’s core strategies.”

French Sports Minister Chantal Jouanno added: “Annecy 2018 is a project for the future. The Caisse des Depots, tasked with serving the public interest and supporting sustainable development in our regions, is a natural partner for this bid. Its commitment has made a major contribution to the new dynamic driving the bid since January. Each time a major group joins forces with us, we send a strong signal to the International Olympic Committee.”

ESPN will expand its TV and digital coverage of the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on March 20-22 by televising all six sessions and carrying every match on ESPN3, denture both for the first time.

ESPN will televise the semifinals and championship finals whileESPNU willair the preliminary sessionsand medal round.The entire tournament will be available on WatchESPN.

The tournament from Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., will begin Thursday, March 20, with the first and second sessions– never before televised – on ESPNU. ESPN3’s individual mat feeds will allow fans to watch every match, including the wrestle-back bracket, accompanied by live commentary throughout the tournament. Additionally, for computer users, ESPN3 will once again offer multi-mat simultaneous viewing which allows fans to watch up to four different mats at one time.

“We’ve seen significant audience growth in our NCAA Wrestling Championships coverage over the last few years which reflects the insatiable appetite wrestling fans have for live competition,” said Brent Colborne, ESPN director of programming and acquisitions. “The addition of the first two sessions on television, combined with our ‘every mat, every match’ digital strategy will provide the ultimate viewing experience for them.”

The 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships finals were the most-viewed since 2004, the first year ESPN televised the finals live. Overall, ESPN and ESPNU’s 2013 Wrestling Championships coverage reached 5.4 million viewers in the course of two days. Digitally, ESPN3 and WatchESPN combined to generate 12.68 million live minutes viewed throughout three days of coverage, up 13% from 2012.

UK Athletics (UKA) has announced their intention to bring the 2017 World Athletics Championships (WAC) to the Olympic Stadium in London, viagra with the support of the UK Government.

The English capital became the first candidate to formalise their proposal to enter the running to host the prestigious event in a letter to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

A formal bid is required to be submitted to the IAAF on 1st September, try which will be followed by an evaluation visit in October with a bid presentation and decision in November. 

In a recent poll initiated by YouGov and commissioned by Visit London, ambulance the World Athletics Championships was voted the most popular sports event for people to attend in London outside of the Olympic Games, bringing a potential economic boost to the city of £100m (US$161.2m).

UKA chairman Ed Warner said: “The World Athletics Championships is the greatest sporting event never staged in the UK and we’re committed to changing that”.

Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson added: “I want this country to host a series of World Class events as a key legacy from London 2012. For those in track and field they don’t come more prestigious than the World Athletics Championships”.

The United Kingdom National Grid has extended its deal as the premier partner of Special Olympics Great Britain for a further three years, it has been announced.

Special Olympics Great Britain is the country’s largest sports organisation for athletes with learning disabilities.

The partnership began back in 2007 as part of National Grid’s community and employee programme.

As part of the extended agreement, National Grid will provide significant funding for Special Olympics Great Britain, as well as continuing to expand its employee volunteer programme.

The Special Olympics Great Britain team are due to take part in the Special Olympics Summer European Games in Warsaw, Poland, from 18 to 23 September.

Salford City Reds owner Marwan Koukash is looking to buy League One football club Oldham Athletic according to reports.

The Manchester Evening News has reported the horse-racing magnate, who saved the Super League side from administration in February, is trying to take over the club before the start of the new season.

In an interview earlier with the BBC, Koukash said: “There is a club I’m looking at which hopefully we will be able to secure within the next month or two.”

He decided against revealing the identity of the club thought to be the Latics.

But a MEN source close to the 54-year-old suggested the club is Oldham and any potential deal would not affect the ownership of the Reds.

Oldham Chairman Simon Corney said: “We have had discussions with a number of people about buying the club and for one reason or another nothing has materialised.

“I know Marwan, I like him and I think he would be fantastic for a club like Oldham.

“He is a genuine sports fan as we have seen with his passion for horse racing and his passion for rugby league.

“He is a friend of the north west and when he does something he does it properly as we have seen with Salford.

“I would welcome his involvement. He is exactly the type of person I would like to be interested in the club.”

The former Sussex and England wicketkeeper-batsman Jim Parks was elected President of Sussex County Cricket Club AGM last night.

Having been put forward for the position last month, pills Parks takes over from Bryan Besdon, viagra sale who was elected as a vice-president together with John Pengelly and former players Mushtag Ahmed, order Alan Oakham and Ian Thomson.

Addressing the AGM, Sussex chairman Jim May said: “We approach the new season with confidence under our new captain Ed Joyce. The team has retained the Emirates Airline t20 trophy during the pre-season tour of the UAE and we are well placed to compete for success in all three formats.”

“The County is looking forward to a full programme in 2013 including the prestigious visit of the Australians to The BrightonandHoveJobs.com County Ground in July.”