Southern Methodist University (SMU) have announced a seven-year athletic multimedia rights agreement with Plano-based Learfield Sports.

The exclusive partnership is effective immediately and will officially commence with the start of football and the 2013-14 athletic season.

Learfield Sports, impotent a prominent leader in the collegiate multimedia rights space with a 40-year history and over 50 individual institutional and conference relationships, impotent will establish “Mustang Sports Properties” as the local entity to work directly with Hart and SMU athletics administration. In addition, the SMU in-house staff, which has been handling the university’s athletic rights, will be transitioning to the Learfield team and Mustang Sports Properties.

Learfield Sports’ Mustang Sports Properties will manage every aspect of the comprehensive rights relationship that includes signage, sponsorships, corporate hospitality, event marketing, play-by-play radio, television and radio coaches’ shows, and official athletic website advertising.

“When we made the decision to outsource our rights, our goal was to select a leader in collegiate multimedia rights as our partner,” said SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart. “I trust and respect Learfield and could not be more pleased they agreed to run alongside us. Learfield is the right choice for SMU moving forward, especially with their corporate offices nearby in Plano, and we anticipate a successful, fruitful relationship over the next seven years. This is exciting news for Mustang Athletics.”

“There’s no question we’ve developed a unique relationship with Rick over the years, and we couldn’t be more excited to again have the opportunity to work closely with him and to represent the Mustang brand on a local, regional and national level,” said Learfield Communications President and CEO Greg Brown. “SMU has a rich athletic tradition and is based in a very important market. Those attributes are fundamental to a successful sponsorship program and provide sponsors with great benefits.”

Learfield Sports now represents three American Athletic Conference schools – SMU, Memphis and Tulsa – and three universities in the state of Texas, with the Mustangs joining Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

West Ham United co-owner David Gold has suggested he would be open to selling part of his stake in the English Premier League club but only to a wealthy investor.

In order for the Hammers to compete with the Premier League elite, and push for a top-four finish, they must first find a fresh injection of cash, while also pressing ahead with their plans to move into the Olympic Stadium.

Gold concedes that he and fellow co-owner David Sullivan, who took charge of the club in January 2010, do not possess the funds required to challenge the ever-increasing number of billionaires who are pumping their fortunes into football.

They are, however, willing to bring someone in alongside them to help manage the financial burden at West Ham.

Gold said in the Daily Mirror: “You have to be a billionaire to make a major difference and there aren’t many of them about.

“Of course, I’d welcome a Father Christmas. But then you look and discover that it might not be the real Father Christmas. And you know why? Because there isn’t a real Father Christmas. He doesn’t exist.

“In an ideal world, though, if you ask what I’d like to see happen, I would like a very wealthy person to come and join us.

“David and myself are wealthy by normal standards, but not by football standards.

“We would be reluctant to sell the whole football club because we feel part of it. It’s taken us a lifetime to earn enough money to return to our roots and we won’t give that up lightly. We’re doing our best but it would be that much easier if there were three of us.”

Gold added: “We’re not going to be a top-four club straightaway. But one day it’s possible, if there is a super-wealthy West Ham fan who wants to come and join the club, that could change things for us.

“Now we have to do the best we can within the areas of our ability.

“To grow the club, fingers crossed to get to the Olympic Stadium would change our whole image, would help us attract better players.

“But it all boils down to income and we have to generate more income.”

Qatar Foundation’s Director of Strategy and Business Planning, therapy Khaled Helaly is the latest expert to join the A-list speaker line-up of international speakers at Sportech 2012, Doha. 

> View the speaker line up at Sportech 2012

> View Website

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 Khaled has a wealth of experience which includes his work on the volunteer programmes at the Asian Games, prior to his current role at Qatar Foundation.  Khaled will share his expertise in a panel discussion addressing the challenges that organising committees face when staffing some of the biggest, most complex sports events in the world.  This session will cover HR operations and skillset drivers for CTO’s and CIO’s as well as exploring new, innovative technology for staffing and volunteer systems.

Khaled will join over 100 senior level CTO’s and CIO’s in the sports events sector at the Sportech Conference in the Renaissance Hotel City Centre, Doha on 7-9 May.

With only 2 weeks to go, make sure you don’t miss out and reserve your place!

> Register today

Supported by the Qatar Olympic Committee, Sportech 2012 is the only conference internationally to focus on the delivery and management of technologies for major sports events. 

Experts will be attending from Qatar Olympic Committee, Qatar Foundation, Supply Chain Navigators, BT Global Services, Network Qatar, Qatar Football Association, Qatar Tennis Federation , Sochi 2014, Aspire Logistics, Bahrain Olympic Committee, German Football Association, Manchester City FC, The European Tour, Sport360, LOCOG,  Commericalbank Qatar, Qatar Golf Association, England Rugby 2015, Innsbruck 2012, Qatar Sailing & Rowing Federation, Doha Stadium Plus, Al Jazeera Sport, The Look Company, Creative Technology, Al Fereej Group, TMS – Transport Management Services, International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), Qatar Badminton Association, Qatar Sports Investments, Maldives Olympic Committee, Doha Golf Club, Production resource Group and more…

> View attending companies 

Would you like to boost your company’s profile among an influential and decision making audience?

 

Partners include BT Global Services, Supply Chain Navigators, Creative Technology, Network Advertising & Events and The Look Company. If you would like to join Sportech, meet senior level sports professionals in the region and showcase your technology, please contact Richard Arrowsmith on +971 4 407 2602 or at sponsorship@informasportsgroup.com

Sally Nastys

Divisional Director

Sportech Conference 2012

The winner of the series between the Opals and Tall Ferns will quality for the 2014 FIBA Women’s World Championship in Turkey while the Boomers-Tall Blacks winner will take a higher seeding to next year’s worlds in Spain.

The two-match series tips off in Auckland on August 14 with highlights from both games to be shown on ABC1 from 11:30pm in the eastern states, 11pm in SA.

Basketball Australia chief executive officer Kristina Keneally said the FIBA qualifier would bring many 2012 Olympians back together alongside new faces from the recent World University Games and FIBA U19 World Championships.

“This is undoubtedly the biggest event on our high-performance calendar this year, so we’re pleased fans right across the country will be able to catch the elite action on free-to-air TV with our broadcast partner ABC,” Keneally said.

The coverage is a coup for BA, which will have many of its biggest international “name” players on show in the Oceania Series.

ABC-TV’s Head of Sport and Events, Justin Holdforth said: “The Opals and the Boomers are two of Australia’s most important national sporting teams, so it’s appropriate both will be seen on the national broadcaster.

“It’s a privilege to have superstars like Lauren Jackson and Patty Mills on ABC1, and we look forward to seeing both teams emphatically qualifying for next year’s World Cup.”

GFH Capital, health the Bahrain-based investment bank hoping to negotiate a deal for Leeds United have been granted an extension to the exclusivity period as they bid to complete the deal.

GFH Capital has been in talks with Leeds chairman Ken Bates for several weeks, viagra 60mg and the two parties now have additional time to finalise a deal.

David Haigh, denture deputy chief executive officer at GFH Capital, said in a statement: “The fact that we are in such advanced talks means this extended exclusivity window is merely to ensure we can get past the final post without distraction.

“We have come so far and are looking forward to what we hope will be a positive statement about change in ownership of Leeds United shortly.”

 

Mike Newton, a New York-based trader, has left his position as Oldham FC director for a second time, the club have announced.

Newton made the decision to leave the Latics’ board after holding talks with club chairman Simon Corney.

“Simon wants to restructure the board and I have agreed to stand down. Simon is a deep personal friend and hopefully things will work out for him. I have enjoyed my time at the club and wish them all the best,” he told the club’s official website.

Mr Newton, who put a substantial amount of money into the club, which he has written off as a donation, re-joined the board 12 months ago after initially standing down after the 2009/10 season.

Mr Corney added: “Mike has been instrumental in helping to shape various aspects of the club. Due to his day-to-day commitments and being based in New York, he is not able to get across so often.

“When he has been here, he has provided a useful insight.”

The Professional Footballers’ Association of England and Wales (PFA) has announced the appointment of Digital Sports Group, publisher of www.football.co.uk, as its new Official Digital Media Partner. DSG will work with the PFA to develop and maintain their social media presence and strategy, both for the PFA and also its members across social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

Initially the main focus of the partnership will see DSG design, publish and manage Official PFA Fans’ Player pages via the Facebook Network providing the Official PFA Players’ Profiles and giving information and news for every PFA member. DSG will also have responsibility for the management of the 2012 PFA Fans’ Player of the Month and Year Awards, facilitating the voting for the four divisional awards across both its own network of websites and an array of other media outlets.

Gordon Taylor OBE, Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association of England and Wales and Honorary President of FIFPro said

“With social media now being the accepted “norm” as a way in which the world communicates, the PFA are delighted to announce our official association with DSG (Digital Sports Group) who will be working collectively with the PFA to protect and positively reflect our members both in and to the online world across all social media platforms.

The newly launched Official PFA Fans’ Player pages will bring information on each of our members from all of the leagues with breaking news, profiles, statistics, imagery and of course the PFA Fans’ Player Awards. It is also our intention to highlight our members’ activities with charities and community work which is something that is sometimes all too sadly over-looked in traditional media.

The PFA firmly believes that it is the supporters, without whom we would not have a profession, as well as our players who are the lifeblood of the nation’s best-loved and most watched game and we are looking forward to working with DSG to bring exciting football content about our membership to the social media football fan audiences and followers.”

Simon Boynton, Managing Director of Digital Sports Group added; “DSG is enormously proud to be working alongside the PFA as its Official Digital Media Partner. The players are the heartbeat of our national game and to be central to the fans’ social interaction with them is a great privilege for our business. We believe that our football.co.uk brand is a perfect complement to the English game and will help keep fans across the globe up to date with all the news and information relating to their favourite players. These are very exciting times for our business as we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the PFA”.

Cable Thai Holding (CTH), unhealthy the newly established cable TV operator, anesthetist has won the broadcast rights for English Premier League (EPL) games for the next three seasons (2013-2016).

Wichai Thongtang, the major shareholder in CTH, said the company won the rights for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos but did not reveal how much the company paid.

CTH competed with four other bidders- TrueVisions, GMM Grammy, RS and Channel 7, which joined with Malaysian IT TV operator Cubic Associates Group on its bid.

Wichai said CTH is open to a partnership with other companies and confirmed there will not be a repeat of the “black screen” problem that happened during the Euro 2012.

CTH is a conglomeration of 320 small cable TV providers.

Its major shareholders are Wichai Thongtang, a former lawyer for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Rath newspaper, and a group of local cable TV operators.

The small cable TV providers under CTH have a combined customer base of 2.8 million households.{jcomments on}

National Football League (NFL) team, ambulance The Pittsburgh Steelers has terminated the contract of Special Teams Coordinator, ailment Al Everest.

Amos Jones, the Assistant Special Teams Coach Amos Jones will assume all of the special teams responsibility with immediate effect.

Mike Tomlin, Head Coach of the Steelers said: “We are continually evaluating our coaching staff and support staff, and we have decided to go in a different direction with respect to the coaching of our special teams.

“I want to thank Al for his contributions and efforts, and I wish him well in the future.”

Everest joined the team in 2010.