Top sponsors AON, unhealthy BT Group, Ramsey, Coca Cola, Turkish Airlines, Lloyds TSB, Cadburys, Sky Deutschland, Efes Pilsner, BEKO, EON and BMW are due to attend the “sponsors only” closed door breakfast briefing session at Future Sponsorship Istanbul next week.

This unique session will allow sponsors across sports, music and entertainment to gather and discuss their unique challenges faced.  The session will look at how brands can get the most value from the property, how partnerships can go beyond monetary returns, how to ensure your brand is protected, risk management and more.  

This exclusive invite only briefing for sponsors will take place on the morning of day two of the Future Sponsorship conference and workshops at Ulker Arena, Istanbul on 27-29 November.  Over 200 sponsors, rights holders and agencies will gather to discuss the biggest challenges in the sponsorship industry with a look to the future and how to capitalise on new revenue opportunities through creative partnerships.

Supported by Turkish Airlines and Euroleague Basketball, the A-list speaker line-up includes Temel Kotil, CEO, Turkish Airlines, Jordi Bertomeu, CEO, Euroleague Basketball, Stewart Kellett, Recreation and Partnerships Director – British Cycling, Tricia Thompson – Sky’s Director of Cycling, Laurent Colette, CMO, FC Barcelona, Mark Armstrong, Head of Sponsorship, NBA, Ragip Balciogu, MD, BEKO UK, Sally Hancock, Director of Olympic Marketing and Sponsorship, Lloyds TSB , Suzi Williams, Marketing and Brand Director, BT Group, Norman Brodie, General Manager, Cadbury London 2012, Ed Debois, Global Head of Ad Solutions, Yahoo!, Iain Edmondson, Head of Major Events, London & Partners and many more.

For further information on Future Sponsorship 2012, please visit www.future-sponsorship.com

Crown Prince Felipe de Borbón, look has accepted the honorary presidency of Madrid’s bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The news comes after Prince Felipe’s audience last Thursday at the Palacio de la Zarzuela with the Madrid 2020 Foundation Trust, headed by the Mayor of Madrid Ana Botella and Madrid 2020 Bid President Alejandro Blanco, who presented him with the Candidature File.

Reacting to Prince Felipe’s acceptance, Blanco, who is also the president of the Spanish Olympic Committee, said: “This is wonderful news for the Madrid 2020 Bid and is a further indication of the royal family’s total commitment to Spanish sport.

“HRH Prince Felipe was Spain’s flag bearer at Barcelona in 1992 and he will carry the flag again for the Madrid 2020 Bid, which is not just for the city of Madrid but for the whole of Spain.”

The Prince of Asturias’ decision to accept the honorary presidency is a sign of his support for Madrid’s Olympic project, support that he expressed to the members of the Trust in his audience with them last week and which he has given in the hope that the Bid wins the right to host the 2020 Games.

The Madrid 2020 Foundation Trust comprises representatives from Spain’s national, autonomous and local governments, the country’s trade unions, the national employers’ association, the Spanish Olympic Committee and former members of the International Olympic Committee, among them Her Royal Highness Infanta Doña Pilar.

Prince Felipe’s acceptance of the honorary presidency continues the Spanish royal family’s longstanding involvement in the Olympic movement, with various members of the royal family having attended and also competed in recent Games.

Since Madrid embarked on its bid to host the Summer Games, the Spanish Olympic movement has received the wholehearted support of His Majesty King Juan Carlos and his family.

Speaking in 2004, at the presentation of the 2012 Bid, the King said: “In keeping with the great excitement that the 2012 Olympic Games has aroused in the people of Spain, the Spanish Crown would like to wish the Madrid project every success and is certain that it will represent Spain and its people in the best possible manner.”

King Juan Carlos also spoke of how “privileged” the royal family felt in joining the Olympic family on so many occasions.

In 1995, His Majesty accepted the honorary presidency of Barcelona’s 1992 successful bid to host that year’s Olympics, where Prince Felipe was the Spanish team’s flag bearer.

The royal family’s support also extends to the Paralympic Games. Her Royal Highness Infanta Elena is the honorary president of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, and as well as playing an active role in the movement, she also heads Spain’s Paralympic Games delegation.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club has triumphed at The Football Business Awards by winning the award for best marketing campaign.

This celebrates the success of its ‘My Wolves’ initiative, a new seasonal membership scheme operated by a new rewards module, specifically developed for the club by IRIS Ticketing to integrate with its ticketing system, TALENT Sport. This means Wolverhampton Wanderers can automatically ‘reward’ benefits to fans signed up to ‘My Wolves’ when booking tickets or purchasing merchandise. The scheme has resulted in significant increases in ticket sales, season tickets upgrades and merchandise sales, overall adding an estimated £600,000 of additional revenue to the club since its inception.

‘My Wolves’, which offers a variety of creative and generous benefits to an identified group of fans who cannot commit to a season ticket but want to commit to the club, was the brainchild of six staff at Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. For £20, ‘My Wolves’ offers a range of  ‘virtual cash’ incentives and rewards, discounts, smartcards and a loyalty points scheme for priority tickets. All incentives and rewards keep the spend recycled within the club, thereby disbursing significant value to the supporter whilst simultaneously generating increased profit for the club.

“We are incredibly proud to win this award. The whole team is passionate about making sure our fans realise how much we appreciate their support and loyalty, as well as the important role they play in making sure our club is a success, which is how the idea came about in the first instance. Working with IRIS Ticketing means the reward scheme is easy for fans to use and benefit from, which has played a large role in the success of the scheme,” says Kerri Davies, Membership Manager at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

By using IRIS Ticketing’s reward module, the rewards scheme is completely automated for all fans signed up to the scheme. This means that every time they bought a ticket for a match, on average £40, they are given 10% back as a loyalty reward to spend the next time they purchased a ticket. In the same way, each time an item of merchandise is bought, the fan receives 10% back to spend on their next merchandise purchase. Each fan soon recoops the initial £20, gaining additional value such as having first access to priority tickets. Despite a very disappointing season for the team, the club was able to demonstrate that ‘My Wolves’ members increased their average match attendance by 42% versus an overall trend over the last year of supporters decreasing their match attendance by 15%.

Feedback from the Football Business Awards judges said: “Superb integrated campaign resulting in a fantastic ROI. A shining example of a marketing programme with pizazz and lasting effect.”

“Fans are the lifeblood of every football club and we work hard to deliver them a great experience and reward loyalty with exciting new schemes such as ‘My Wolves’. To see the industry recognising innovation from Wolverhampton Wanderers is exciting for all of us and a great endorsement of the work we do together,” commented Mark Dewell, Managing Director at IRIS Ticketing.

Bell Media have expanded their broadcast deal with the National Football League (NFL) which will  ee more NFL games on more Bell Media channels and platforms than ever before.

The agreement brings the 4pm et/1pm pt Sunday package to CTV and TSN for the first time, discount allowing for a full day of Sunday NFL programming on Bell Media channels. The new agreement is complementary to the existing agreement for primetime games on TSN.

Beginning Fall 2014, Bell Media becomes the rights holder to NFL football in Canada for: Sunday 1 pm et regular-season games, Sunday 4 pm et regular-season games,  Sunday Night regular-season games, Monday Night regular-season games, All Playoff Games and the Super Bowl.

Additionally, the new agreement grants Bell Media digital media rights for the first time, giving Canadian fans the ability to watch NFL games and content on Bell Media TV Everywhere platforms, including CTV GO and TSN GO.

“As NFL audiences continue to rise, Bell Media is proud to provide even wider access to Canadian NFL fans wherever they may be and on whatever platform,” said Phil King, President, CTV Programming and Sports. “The National Football League is a brand synonymous with excellence and leadership to both fans and advertisers alike. We look forward to elevating the NFL in Canada to even higher peaks.”

“Since partnering with Bell Media we have seen a strong lift in our viewership in Canada,” said Julie Moeller, Vice President of International Media Business Development, NFL. “Starting in 2014, Bell Media will offer live NFL football all day on Sundays across their networks and digital offerings, providing a dynamic viewing experience for the fans. We are pleased to extend our partnership.”

Euroleague Basketball have announced a partnership with Gazzetta dello Sport for the sport newspaper and website to be the official online destination for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague fans in Italy.

The new site, ed hosted in a special section of gazzetta.it (gazzetta.it/Basket/Eurolega/), will be the main reference for all Italian basketball fans with access to video highlights, news from top basketball journalists in Italy, extensive articles, various polls and contests, real-time live statistics, results, standings and a complete photo gallery

The deal will encompass all Italian teams participating in the top European competition Turkish Airlines Euroleague:  (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan and Montepaschi Siena) and Eurocup (Foxtown Cantu, Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari, Cimberio Varese, Virtus Rome).