UFC Inks Content Rights Deal with Bent Pixels

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) have agreed a partnership with Bent Pixels, one of the biggest content creators on YouTube, to assist with content rights management.

Bent Pixels will effectively monitor the high volume of new UFC video content being uploaded to YouTube on a daily basis to help address copyright infringement issues. 

“According to our Statfire forecast, the UFC is approaching its 500 million video view milestone on YouTube. Our goal is to provide strategic insight to help the UFC identify what video content fans like and want more of on YouTube while also monitoring what branded content is being altered,” said Marty Cordova, Bent Pixels COO. “We will also assist the UFC with identifying unauthorized video uses on YouTube.”

Specifically, Bent Pixels helps brands with rights management, data and monetization tools including: Day to day management of YouTube’s Content ID solution

Cordova explains, “Content owners are struggling to understand where their content is being copied and just how much revenue and control is being lost in the dynamic online video arena. We help them stay ahead of the game.”

Exclusive: Dr h.c. Klaus Schormann to Build on UIPM President Re-Election

By Ismail Uddin

Following Dr h.c. Klaus Schormann re-election as president of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM), the german is planning to provide more technical knowledge and support to the federations, especially to developing countries.

Speaking to iSportconnect, Schormann revealed his idea’s for the progression of the organisation and the priorities.

“My idea is to give more technical knowledge and support to the federations, especially to developing countries.”

“I will now continue my vision for the union together with the EB members to continue the modernisation and stabilisation of our sport in the Olympic Movement.”

“Priority is development of: Marketing, TV, creating new federation’s, education & youth.”

UIPM President Dr h.c. Klaus Schormann (GER), who was elected unopposed for a 6th consecutive term, also was touched at his re-election. “I am very touched and very proud that I could achieve re-election in such a unanimous way after 19 years in front of the most amount of nations present at a UIPM congress.”

At the 64th UIPM Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, half of the UIPM Executive Board have been elected for the next 4 years.

Joël Bouzou (FRA) was elected as Vice President after stepping down as the UIPM Secretary General, a position that he has held for the past 15 years. The Peace & Sport and World Olympians Association President said after his election: “Taking into consideration my other positions in Peace & Sport and the World Olympians Association which requires a lot of energy, I had the wish to step down, in order not to be caught by administrative duties at UIPM, but still had the desire to remain involved on the political side as I have Modern Pentathlon in the blood.

“Since a long time, I have I had discussions on the matter with the President, as well as with the Executive Board and I look forward to staying involved with UIPM for considerable future.”

The other 4 Vice President’s elected were: IOC Executive Board Member Juan Antonio Samaranch (ESP), Asian Modern Pentathlon Confederation Secretary General Kuisung Choi (KOR), President of ACODEPA Ivar Sisniega (MEX) and Russian Modern Pentathlon President Viacheslav Aminov (RUS).

Sisniega, who has been Vice President since 1996 stated: “I am happy and excited to be serving another term. I look forward to working for the growth of our sport globally and to continue with the modernisation of our sport.”

1976 Olympic Champion Janusz Peciak (POL) secured the majority vote to become the UIPM Sports director. Peciak stated: “I am very happy, especially as I secured a lot of votes. My main goal of my term is to make the rules simpler, and listen to the athletes, as they know best. I would like to thank the previous Sports Director José Santos, who did a fantastic job in tough circumstances.”

The Technical Committee that Peciak will be chairing is: Marcelo Goncalez (BRA), Walid Sayed (EGY), Endre Kovats (ESP), Corine Bouzou (FRA), Bernhard Petrushinski (GER), Carlo Passiatore (ITA), Dongkook Chung (KOR), José Santos (POR), Dmitry Menshikov (RUS) and Vladimir Miller (SVK).

Alexander Peirits (AUT) and Helio Mereilles (BRA) retained their positions of Honorary Auditors, which they have had for the past 4 years and the Medical Committee will be consist of: Natalia Ofitserova (BLR) and Marco Michelucci (BRA), Atanas Andreev (BUL) and Fabio Pigozzi (ITA).

To read Klaus Schormann’s ‘featured profile’ interview, click here

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Countdown to London 2012: 15 Olympic Stories of the Week 20/07/12

1

Seb Coe Warns British Athletes from Using Twitter During Olympics

Friday, 20 July 2012

2

Giant Olympic Rings Unveiled in Surrey

Thursday, 19 July 2012

3

Yahoo! Reveals Expansive London 2012 Olympic Coverage

Thursday, 19 July 2012

4

Tokyo 2020 Officials to Learn from London 2012 Olympics

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

5

Havas S&E Research Reveals Stronger Brand Image for Olympic Sponsors

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

6

DOSB-Präsident Dr. Thomas Bach begrüßt Live-Streaming der ARD: “Olympia jederzeit und überall”

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

7

iCITY Given Preferred Bidder Status for London 2012 Media Centre

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

8

Ukraine to be Top Emerging Market at London 2012 says Goldman Sachs

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

9

LOCOG Withdraws Half a Million Olympic Football Tickets

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

10

 Kuwait to Compete Under National Flag after IOC Agreement

Monday, 16 July 2012

11 

G4S Shares Drop after Olympics Security Mishap

Monday, 16 July 2012

12

G4S Failures ‘completely normal’ says British Culture Secretary

Sunday, 15 July 2012

13

G4S Could Lose £50m Due to Olympic Games Security Blunder

Saturday, 14 July 2012

14

Ralph Lauren to Make U.S. Olympic Team’s Outfits in US for 2014

Saturday, 14 July 2012

15

London 2012 Media Center to Potentially Rival ‘Silicon Valley’ after Olympics

Friday, 13 July 2012

British Eurosport Acquire Broadcasting Rights to British Basketball League

The British Basketball League (BBL) have announced they have secured a broadcast deal with British Eurosport for the 2013/14 Season. 

The broadcaster takes over as the UK rights-holder of the League with action from across the BBL available exclusively on British Eurosport in full HD. 

British Eurosport will broadcast 26 weekly shows during the season across multiple platforms. 

Commenting on the new partnership the BBL’s Commercial Director David Leyden Dunbar said: “Our move to British Eurosport is about creating an appointment to view for the British Basketball audience. Moving to more regular scheduling throughout the season I’ve no doubt that we’ll be able to translate a surge of interest in the sport, reflected in our participation numbers, into a passionate following for the new weekly show. Accessibility also played a major role in the decision making process and with British Eurosport available on both Sky, Virgin and BT’s new platform we’re confident that we can build our audience through the season.” 

David Kerr, Managing Director of British Eurosport added: “We are very pleased to have secured the rights to the British Basketball League, which adds to our recent announcement of NFL Monday Night Football and the UEFA Youth League rights amongst others. We look forward to bringing the very best domestic basketball action to fans in the UK.” 

Cycling Australia Chief Quits after Doping Revelation

Cycling Australia Vice President Stephen Hodge has resigned with immediate effect after admitting doping during his racing career.

The news comes at the end of a week in which the governing body sacked men’s elite road coordinator Matt White after he confessed to doping while riding at US Postal.

A hardworking domestique, Hodge rode and finished the Tour de France six times during a career spanning a decade or so from the mid-1980s, riding for teams including KAS-Mavic, ONCE and Festina alongside the likes of Sean Kelly, Laurent Jalabert and Richard Virenque.

He joined the board of Cycling Australia in 1999, and a detailed ‘Where Are They Now?’ feature on the website Cycling Tips last year described him as “probably the best cycling advocate Australia has.”

In a statement Cycling Australia President Klaus Mueller said: “In light of the current circumstances Stephen has made it clear he doesn’t want a mistake he made two decades ago to affect the work of Cycling Australia to take the sport forward.

“I would like to personally thank Stephen for his immense contribution to the sport in a volunteer capacity,” he continued.

“When his professional cycling career ended he became a tireless worker for the sport and for almost 15 years has freely given up his time as an advocate for the rights of athletes and to promote and develop the sport in Australia.”

“At all times while Stephen was on the Board with me he acted with high principle and great integrity and has been a staunch opponent of doping.

“I commend him for his decision to speak out,” Mueller concluded.

This follows the recent revelations of doping from Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

50 Sponsorship Deals of the Week: 20/07/12

1

Motherwell FC Renews Shirt Sponsorship with Cash Converters

Friday, 20 July 2012

2

Korean Air Agrees New Sponsorship Deal with AIBA for London 2012

Friday, 20 July 2012

3

Chicago Bears Partner with Yokohama Tire

Friday, 20 July 2012

4

Legendary Golfer Tony Jacklin Promotes Whisky Glenmorangie at British Open

Friday, 20 July 2012

5

Krombacher wird Hauptsponsor von Eintracht Frankfurt

Friday, 20 July 2012

6

Panasonic Becomes Major Sponsor of Japanese Solar Car Team

Friday, 20 July 2012

7

Notts County Gets New Shirt Sponsor

Thursday, 19 July 2012

8

Athlete Nick Symmonds Inks New Sponsor Ahead of London 2012

Thursday, 19 July 2012

9

Gilbert to Provide Sports Equipment for International Netball

Thursday, 19 July 2012

10 

Welsh Cycling Reveals Sponsorship Strategy

Thursday, 19 July 2012

11

Sochi 2014 Partners with Sportlotto Company

Thursday, 19 July 2012

12

Infront Named Marketing Partner for SV Sandhausen

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

13

Starwood Hotels Remains Official Sponsor of US Open

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

14

Toyota to Title Sponsor 2012 SWAC Football Championship

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

15

JJB Sports Named Official Retail Partner Irish Football Association

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

16

Hankook wird offizieller Partner der UEFA Europa League

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

17

ZOLL Named Official Automated External Defibrillator of USA Water Polo

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

18

Green Bay Packers Extends Sponsorship with MillerCoors

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

19

Gazprom Becomes Official Global Energy Partner to Chelsea FC

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

20

Top NBA Draft Pick Anthony Davis Signs with Nike

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

21

Former New York Giants Linebacker Carl Banks Gets New Sponsor

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

22

Sinclair International Sponsor NRA National High-Power Rifle Championships

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

23

Selco Builders Becomes London Broncos Official Sponsor

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

24

Mercedes-Benz Renews Sponsorship of MENA Golf Tour

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

25

Baltimore Grand Prix Gains Trio of Sponsors

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

26

Coca-Cola to Sponsor Kenya Athletes at London 2012 Olympics

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

27

Hankook Speeds into New Partnership with Europa League

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

28

Buffalo Bills Extend Partnership with Buffalo RV

Monday, 16 July 2012

29

Former Olympian Samantha Clayton Partners with Herbalife

Monday, 16 July 2012

30

Vanderbilt Stadium Set to Get New Synthetic Turf Supplied by Shaw Sports

Monday, 16 July 2012

31

Combat Factory Becomes Official Equipment Supplier to World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts

Monday, 16 July 2012

32

Westime Named Official Timekeeper of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club

Monday, 16 July 2012

33

Huddersfield Town Partners with Local Web Design Firm

Monday, 16 July 2012

34

Kappa Named New Kit Supplier to Adelaide United

Monday, 16 July 2012

35

Greece Beach Volleyball Team Gets New Sponsor for London 2012

Monday, 16 July 2012

36

MotoGP’s Yamaha Racing Gets New Sponsor

Monday, 16 July 2012

37

Hannover 96 gründet eigenes Sicherheits- und Service-Unternehmen primetec

Monday, 16 July 2012

38

JTB to Title Sponsor Maui Marathon

Sunday, 15 July 2012

39

Nascar Driver Brian Vickers Gets New Primary Sponsor

Saturday, 14 July 2012

40

eBay Motors Sponsors Best Buy Racing Rallycross Team

Saturday, 14 July 2012

41

Southern Orthopaedic Specialists Extends Sponsorship of BB&T Atlanta Open

Saturday, 14 July 2012

42

FRS Become Official Sponsor of 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games

Saturday, 14 July 2012

43

GB Taekwondo Gets New Tyre Partner

Friday, 13 July 2012

44

TMone Secures New Partnership with Nascar’s Tommy Baldwin Racing

Friday, 13 July 2012

45

Sunderland Agree Major Ticket Partnership with US Firm StubHub

Friday, 13 July 2012

46

Moet & Chandon Named Official Champagne of The PGA of America

Friday, 13 July 2012

47

Volvo Named Official Car Supplier for Cardiff Leg of Extreme Sailing Series

Friday, 13 July 2012

48

Appliances Direct to Sponsor Huddersfield Town Website

Friday, 13 July 2012

49

Jaycar Renews Sponsorship of NRL Club

Friday, 13 July 2012

50

Garuda Indonesia Named Official Airline of Liverpool

Thursday, 12 July 2012

SuperSport to Broadcast Ghana Premier League

South African broadcaster SuperSport have announced they have secured the rights to broadcast the Ghana Premier League and the MTN FA Cup for the next three years.

The three-year deal which was confirmed by the Ghana FA and begins immediately. It is the first time an international broadcaster has bought the rights of the Ghana League.

“Today, clinic the new broadcast arrangements will give the GFA an unprecedented opportunity to implement its strategic plans for Ghanaian football.

“The deal gives the Ghana football the opportunity to market itself on a bigger platform to attract more fans as well as corporate bodies, buy Ghana FA vice president, Fred Crentsil told the official website of his outfit.

“There’s never been any doubt that the game has a bright future in this nation, but today the football family can take comfort from the huge vote of confidence from our broadcast partners.”

SuperSport’s head of Africa, Andre Venter said: “The game in Ghana is strong and vibrant and we look forward to showcasing it on our channels.”

Manchester United Becomes First Team to be Valued at 3 Billion Dollars

American business magazine, prostate | Forbes has revealed Premier League giants Manchester United have become the first sports club to break the $3 billion valuation barrier.

The shares of the club offered to the public last August at $14 did poorly in the beginning but the price has soared up in the last few days touching at $17.

Only in November of last year, sick the club’s gargantuan debts have fallen below £400 million ($628.5m) for the first time since the Glazers took over at the club in May 2005.

The Florida based owners, order borrowed £515 million ($809m) in completing the takeover of the club at £790 million ($1.2bn) seven years ago and have been re-financing the debts since through public offerings or IPO and bonds in New York. At the time of the IPO, serious concerns were raised around the prudence of financial investment into a debt-laden sports team and football journalists and fans, unhappy at Manchester United’s leveraged takeover and the damage it has done to United’s finances, predicted a poor outcome.

However, the worth of Manchester United as a global brand and a remarkable increase in sponsorships since the Glazer takeover were not to be under-estimated. At an initial value of $14 per share, Manchester United was one of the safest offinancial bets that you could make in 2012. The club was generating sufficient revenues to stay competitive on the pitch and keep paying down the loans. No other club in England could make it work.

Now, according to Forbes, Manchester United’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500, which is basically a stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 leading publicly traded companies in the U.S. stock market, as a result of which it has pushed up the club’s enterprise value to $3.3 billion (debts included), which is the highest value for any team in the world. NFL’s Dallas Cowboys are second most valuable team in the world, worth $2.1 billion.

Manchester United however, remained third in the Deloitte Money League table for 2012/13 behind La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

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Gerald Majola Fired as CEO Cricket South Africa

Gerald Majola, CEO Cricket South Africa (CSA) has been sacked following an internal disciplinary hearing.

“The disciplinary chairperson issued his findings on sanction which CSA will implement with immediate effect,” CSA said in a statement on Friday.

“The sanction handed down by Advocate Karel Tip SC was that Majola is dismissed from his service with CSA with immediate effect.”

Nicholas Preston, CSA’s lawyer, said on Thursday that Majola was found guilty on all charges, but primarily of the non-disclosure and receipt of bonuses from the 2009 Indian Premier League tournament and ICC Champions’ league, and the misuse of his travel allowance.

He was invited to attend both the findings and the sanction, but chose not to do so.

Majola withdrew from the hearing last week, questioning the legitimacy of the process and arguing that the CSA board had already cleared him of any wrongdoing in respect of the charges levelled against him.

Majola’s lawyer, Pumezo David, said he had set aside the disciplinary hearing and had formally opposed it through the Labour Court.

David confirmed that all the respondents in their Labour Court application, which included CSA and President Jacob Zuma, had been furnished with papers and had until October 29 to respond.

15 Sports Broadcasting Deals of the Week: 20/7/12

1

Setanta Acquires English Football League & Capital One Rights in Australia

Thursday, ailment 19 July 2012

2

ESPN Gains Champions League Rights in Oceania

Thursday, 19 July 2012

3

MP & Silva to Use Rightster to Distribute Sports Content on YouTube

Thursday, 19 July 2012

4

TVB & ATV Agree London 2012 Broadcast Rights Deal in Hong Kong

Thursday, 19 July 2012

5

BBC Retains Summer & Winter Olympic Games Rights Until 2020

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

6

UEFA Soccer Programmes to be Broadcasted by EBU

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

7

HBO Gets Klitschko-Charr Rights

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

8

XOS Digital to Stream Southeastern Conference Football Media Days

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

9

Foxtel Signs UFC Broadcast Deal in Australia

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

10

 Cleveland Browns Expand Broadcast Partnership with Skyview Networks

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

11

 BTV & BNT Get Champions League & Europa League Rights in Bulgaria

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

12

 Confédération Africaine de Rugby Signs Major Broadcast Deal with LC2 Medias

Saturday, 14 July 2012

13

 Digitalb Gets Champions League Rights in Albania

Friday, 13 July 2012

14

 Ironman Triathlon Series Sells Global Broadcast Rights to Various Partners

Friday, 13 July 2012

15

 NBC Agrees Video Content Partnership with Adobe for Olympics

Thursday, 12 July 2012