Joe Desena, physician co-founder of Spartan Race, ailment | today announced the appointment of Lee Goss as president of the company, which is recognized as the world’s leading obstacle race and Outside Magazine’s Best Obstacle Race in 2012.

“Our extraordinary growth demands the proven visionary leadership and exceptional management skills Lee brings to the table. He will provide the pragmatic, strategic direction needed to take Spartan Race to the next level as we broaden and deepen our impact in the U.S. and expand globally,” Desena said, adding that Goss has been on the ground floor of numerous successful start-up ventures, partnered with some of the country’s most celebrated entrepreneurs and led several effective corporate turn-around efforts.

“Lee exemplifies the Spartan character. He is thoughtful, extraordinarily driven, creative, passionate, inspirational and a strong leader,” Desena continued. “As an innovative, entrepreneurial executive with a 20+-year track record of managing and growing companies, Lee unquestionably is the right person to lead Spartan at this critical juncture.”

“At this point in my career, my focus is on establishing meaningful relationships in my work and doing meaningful work,” Goss commented. “These priorities align perfectly with Spartan’s mission to change lives by ripping people off their couches and getting them active and fit. What I love about this company are all of the inspiring human interest stories – everyday folks overcoming adversity and challenges to triumph. In this way, obstacle racing, and in particular Spartan Race, is very much a metaphor for life,” he noted.

“My role with Spartan Race is to prepare the company for broader impact and drive fiscal growth. I am committed to providing our team with the guidance and resources to attain these goals,” Goss concluded.

Goss is married with three children. The Memphis, Tenn. native earned an MBA from Duke University and graduated cum laude with a BA degree in computer science from the University of Richmond where he was an NCAA Division I scholarship varsity basketball player.

With only one day to go until Euro 2012 kicks off with joint hosts Poland taking on Greece in Warsaw on Friday night, generic the football industry is competing to beat their peers with their football knowledge. Over 650 teams have already been entered in the Soccerex Euro 2012 Fantasy League game with the chance to win £10,000 worth of prizes.

The top prize is a VIP trip for two to Rio de Janeiro for the Soccerex Global Convention this November; others include a selection of signed shirts such as an England shirt signed by Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Bryan Robson, John Barnes, Phil Thompson, Terry Venables and Stuart Pearce, a Manchester United shirt signed by Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Dimitar Berbatov, Bryan Robson and Denis Law, a Brazil shirt signed by Carlos Alberto Torres and an iPad 2.

The game, powered by Fantasy League Ltd, is free to play and allows people from across the industry to test their skills against friends and colleagues during the tournament (8th June – 1st July).

The game is live now at http://soccerex.fantasyleague.com and you have until 17.00 BST on 8th June to score points from the first game, with unlimited team changes available until this time. For full details of the game regulations and prizes please go to http://soccerex.fantasyleague.com.

Richard King, Commercial Director of Fantasy League Ltd commented that “We are delighted to partner with Soccerex and run a Fantasy League for their audience during Euro 2012. We wish all the entrants the very best of luck in winning a fantastic trip to Rio for the Soccerex Global Convention 2012!”

The Soccerex Global Convention is the world’s largest football business event, seeing the global leaders in the business of football come together to debate, network and do business. Lasting 5 days, including a two day Football Festival on Copacabana Beach, it is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 24-28 November 2012. The event is held in conjunction with the Government of Rio de Janeiro.

RTÉ Sport has secured the Irish broadcast rights to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on television, medicine radio, online and mobile.

The deal includes broadcast rights for both live broadcasts and highlights. also as part of the agreement, RTÉ has also made a commitment to broadcast coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics on RTÉ News Now, which will feature live coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a daily highlights programme.

RTÉ head of Sport Ryle Nugent said: “Building on from the success of RTÉ’s comprehensive coverage of the London 2012 games, we are looking forward to being able to bring the Irish public a wide-ranging level of Olympic coverage across all our platforms once again.

“The London 2012 Olympics really captured the Irish public’s hearts and minds, with hugely successful performances by a number of our athletes.

“We hope that these achievements will continue to grow as we look forward to Rio 2016.

“Whilst in line with our commitment to reduce our sports rights budget, this deal represents a significant investment by RTÉ, particularly in the current economic climate.

“As the national public service broadcaster, we are proud to provide free-to-air coverage of such a major international event, featuring Irish competitors alongside some of the best athletes in the world, and we feel that it is a key part of our public service remit.”

 

Bernie Ecclestone has reiterated his warning to European F1 venues  to shape up or risk losing their grands prix as they do not have a “God-given” right to stage a race.

New locations have been added to the calendar in the last few years, with F1 moving away from its traditional heartland in Europe to venues such as Abu Dhabi, Singapore and India.

Ecclestone expects the trend to continue and has told the European venues to improve or risk disappearing from the calendar.

With Sochi scheduled to stage its first grand prix in 2014 after hosting the Winter Olympics, Ecclestone told the official F1 website: “I suppose the next big thing will be Russia.

“Then we have to get this New York thing picking up again,” the 82-year-old added in reference to the postponed New Jersey Grand Prix. “There’s lots of unfinished business – no time to waste one thought on retirement!

“Look at the Austin race: it was phenomenal. Everybody agreed that it is great that Formula One is back in the States.

“Maybe we’ll get the Europeans to wake up instead of thinking that it (a race) is a God-given thing. When Europeans perform and do their job we are happy to stay.”

Ecclestone also said he would change “nothing” about F1 and likened it to “show business”.

“We have to understand that we are in the entertainment business and this year we have entertained,” he added.

“All sports today are show business and it gets dangerous for a sport if people start to forget that.”

British & Irish Lions sponsor Rhino, ask the world’s leading supplier of scrummaging machines, medic contact and training equipment for rugby, allergist has announced the appointment of Andrew Moss as Non-Executive Chairman, with immediate effect. 

Mr Moss, who also takes a stake in the business, will play a key role helping Rhino as it enters an exciting new phase of its growth.

Mr Moss joins a group of shareholders at Rhino that already includes Martin Johnson, the former England and British Lions captain and England Manager, who is a former Executive Director of the firm and remains a significant shareholder having led a management buy-in of the business with current CEO Reg Clark in 2006.

“Rugby has always been a great passion of mine,” said Mr Moss. “So I was delighted when Reg, a friend of mine since our university days, asked me to get involved with Rhino. Rhino is already a great brand with huge growth potential. I’m looking forward to working with Rhino particularly in a year in which it is an Official Supplier and Sponsor to the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia.” 

Mr Moss is the former chief executive and finance director at Aviva, the FTSE 100 insurance company that sponsors English Premiership rugby. Prior to leading Aviva, Mr Moss served as chief financial officer at Lloyds of London and HSBC’s investment banking and treasury division. He holds a degree in law from Oxford University, where alongside Clark he played rugby for the Blues XV.

Commenting on the appointment of Andrew Moss as Chairman, Rhino Rugby’s Chief executive, Reg Clark, said: “Andrew brings a wealth of experience to Rhino, we look forward to him giving us invaluable insight, which we believe will help the company kick on to the next level in 2013.”

Rhino, founded in the early 1980’s, has established itself as one of the foremost players in the rugby equipment market. The firm is currently Official Supplier of contact and training equipment to the British & Irish Lions, England Rugby, the Welsh Rugby Union, Bath, London Wasps, Cardiff Blues and St Helens Rugby League Club. 

In addition Rhino now supplies the match balls to the RaboDirect PRO12 in addition to being Official Ball Supplier to the British & Irish Lions in both South Africa in 2009 and for the coming tour to Australia. 

The company has in recent years further leveraged the brand into teamwear & training apparel, fashionwear & leisurewear and artificial turf, in addition to establishing licensed operations in Southern Illinois covering the USA and Canada and in Singapore covering Asia.

The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is to create a working party to try and progress the revamping of the Scottish league structure.

The Scottish professional game board met recently after the 12 Scottish Premier League clubs agreed to a change in structure that would see two top divisions that split into three groups of eight clubs part way through the season.

The SFA, speaking on behalf of that board which includes members of the SPL and Scottish Football League, have revealed that talks have led to the creation of a working party that will aim to ensure developments are introduced efficiently.

“The Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League have agreed to set up a working party of nominated club representatives to expand on the extremely productive meeting held today by the Scottish FA’s professional game board regarding league reconstruction,” the statement read on Thursday.

“The PGB are greatly encouraged by the willingness on both sides to engage on the many areas of common ground and also in their commitment to implementing change.

“After the working party have reached consensus on a final set of proposals, they will be presented to all clubs across SPL and SFL for consideration.”

It is estimated that the working party will meet within the next month to begin their discussions.

Lancashire County Cricket Club have revealed former Ricoh Arena CEO Daniel Gidney as their new chief executive following the departure of Jim Cumbes.

Gidney while at Ricoh Arena, the holding company that operates Coventry City’s ground, attracted a series of major events, including the Olympic Games.

Lancashire chairman Michael Cairns said: “We are delighted to appoint Daniel whose experience and track record in overseeing a highly-regarded sporting venue will serve our business well as we embark on a new and exciting era.

“With the next stage of our development due to be completed next year and the much-anticipated return of the Ashes next summer, Daniel is joining Lancashire at a key moment in our history. On behalf of the board, I would like to welcome Daniel to Old Trafford.”

Cairns added: “Jim was a key member of the team throughout what has been a monumental period for the club which saw us ultimately overcome a number of potentially devastating hurdles to be in the position where we are today: having a world-class stadium, club and business that we can all be proud of.

“Everybody connected with Lancashire owes a tremendous amount of gratitude to Jim for his unfaltering service to cricket and the business of cricket over the years and we all wish him well in his retirement.”

Come and join fellow iSportconnect staff and members in the Soccerex Euro 2012 Fantasy League Game.

Soccerex, the global leader for the business of football, has launched a Fantasy League game for the 2012 UEFA European Championships. The game, powered by Fantasy League Ltd, is free to play and will allow people from across the industry to test their skills against friends and colleagues during the tournament (8^th June – 1^st July).

There is added incentive to play the Soccerex Euro 2012 Fantasy League game with Soccerex offering a range of prizes including signed football shirts, an ipad2 and, for the winner, a VIP trip for two to Rio de Janeiro for the Soccerex Global Convention 2012.

The game is live now at http://soccerex.fantasyleague.com. You have until 17.00 BST on 8^th June to submit your team, with unlimited team changes available until this date. For full details of game regulations and prizes please go to http://soccerex.fantasyleague.com.

Join the iSportconnect league using the following pin:

101085

Simply pick your team at the following link http://soccerex.fantasyleague.com and click on ‘Private Leagues’ in the menu under your name.

As a partner of Soccerex, we have been offered an additional prize for the winner of our league. Potential prizes range from Soccerex delegate passes to exhibition stands and VIP passes – the more people that join the league the bigger the prize on offer!

Look forward to competing against you fellow iSportconnecters