English league side Crewe Alexandra have added two new members to their board of directors

Twol local businessmen Charles Grant and Ian Williamson join the club’s board who are also club supporters.

Charles Grant, 57, is an IT professional while Ian Williamson, a season ticket holder from the age of four, is a former dairy farmer having recently diversified into other businesses locally.

On the new appointments, Crewe chairman John Bowler said: “The rapidly changing industry in which the club now competes requires the directors to continually review the club’s organisation and aims to achieve short-term success whilst having a long-term financially-sound and ambitious strategy.

“The composition of the board to evolve and deliver these goals is part of this progress.

“We look forward to Ian and Charles joining us and I am sure they will make a very important continued to the future success of the club.”

CrossFit, treatment Inc. and ESPN announced today that ESPN2 will present the first-ever live telecast of the CrossFit Games Finals from the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., July 28 at 7 p.m. ET. The finals will also be available via WatchESPN.

In addition, ESPN3 in its third consecutive year of CrossFit Games coverage, will present at least 30 hours of live action Friday, July 26 – Sunday, July 28. Each day, ESPN3 will have at least nine hours of the key challenges, along with analysis, highlights and athlete interviews. For fans outside the U.S., ESPN International will be delivering the events through its online players by region and on the CrossFit Games website.

“Showcasing the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games across ESPN platforms is a great way to serve CrossFit’s loyal and growing fanbase,” said Todd Myers, ESPN director, programming & acquisitions. “We’ve seen CrossFit Games athletes continue to push the limits of athletic performance through this thriving sport and are proud to provide the channel through which fans will be able to access live action.”

Steve Weiss, Corporate Development for CrossFit, Inc., said, “We’re looking forward to the first live telecast of the CrossFit Games Finals on top of our extensive daily web coverage to showcase the event as the ultimate proving grounds for the fittest athletes on Earth. We are excited to have a partner like ESPN to cover the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games.”

The CrossFit Games are an annual fitness competition where male and female athletes compete to be named the Fittest on Earth.

IMG Worldwide, which has a marketing agreement with the Chinese Super League (CSL), has started setting up meetings with possible U.S. corporate sponsors.

IMG China President and CEO, Adam Zhu, said: “We’ve just begun the process, but there’s a tremendous interest from companies in the U.S.”

Zhu said meetings to discuss possible sponsorships have been held with major consumer product companies and that IMG is planning a promotional tour for the league.

Zhu did not say which companies had participated in talks.

IMG’s recent agreement to work with the CSL again follows a crackdown on corruption in the sport that was launched in 2009 by a government committee.

Zhu said: “We’ve done tremendous due diligence politically, financially and people wise. We’re going to help improve the system.”

IMG is trying to find ways for the CSL to boost revenue through online media and has met EPL CEO, Richard Scudamore, to discuss the league’s development.{jcomments on}

Das Kuratorium der Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe (DSH) hat Carsten Spohr für die laufende Wahlperiode bis 2014 als neues Mitglied in den Sporthilfe-Aufsichtsrat gewählt. Der Diplom-Wirtschaftsingenieur ist seit 2011 Mitglied des Vorstandes der Deutschen Lufthansa AG und Vorsitzender des Passage-Vorstandes. “Carsten Spohr ist ein großer Gewinn für die Stiftung. Neben dem Co-Vorsitzenden der Deutschen Bank, denture Jürgen Fitschen, vcialis 40mg Daimler-Finanz-Chef Bodo Uebber für Mercedes-Benz und dem CEO von T-mobile Netherlands, medic Thomas Berlemann, für die Deutsche Telekom ist mit Carsten Spohr nunmehr auch unser vierter Nationaler Förderer, die Deutsche Lufthansa, erstmals in unserem Aufsichtsrat präsent”, sagte der Sporthilfe-Aufsichtsrats-Vorsitzende Werner E. Klatten. Das Sporthilfe-Kuratorium hatte zuvor den Weg für eine Erweiterung des Aufsichtsrats frei gemacht, das Gremium war bislang nur auf zwölf Mitglieder ausgelegt.

Carsten Spohr (45) ist seit 1. Januar 2011 Mitglied des Vorstandes der Deutschen Lufthansa AG und Vorsitzender des Lufthansa Passagevorstandes.

Der Diplom-Wirtschaftsingenieur übernahm 1994 bei Lufthansa die Leitung des zentralen Personalmarketings. Von 1995 bis 1998 war er als Referent des Vorstandsvorsitzenden tätig, bis er im August 1998 als Leiter des Regional-Partner-Managements die Verantwortung für die regionalen Partnerschaften der Lufthansa in Europa übernahm. Im Februar 2000 wurde Carsten Spohr die Leitung des Allianz-Managements der Deutschen Lufthansa übertragen. In dieser Funktion war er für das Management und die Koordination der weltweiten Kooperationspartner der Lufthansa, einschließlich der Star Alliance und der regionalen Partner, verantwortlich. Darüber hinaus übernahm er im Juli 2003 die Verantwortung für die Passage-Strategie und die Passage-Beteiligungen der Deutschen Lufthansa. Im Oktober 2004 wurde Carsten Spohr in den Bereichsvorstand der Lufthansa Passage Airlines berufen. Sein Verantwortungsbereich umfasste die Hub-Managements, das Kabinenpersonal und das Personalmanagement der Lufthansa Passage Airlines. Von 2007 bis 2010 war er Vorsitzender des Vorstandes der Lufthansa Cargo AG.

Carsten Spohr ist Inhaber der Lufthansa-Kapitäns-Lizenz für die Flugzeugmuster der Airbus A320 Familie. Er ist verheiratet und Vater von zwei Töchtern.

Super Sports Media Group has been awarded the exclusive live audio visual broadcast rights for all 380 Barclays Premier League matches per season for seasons 2013/14 – 2018/19 in Mainland China and Macau.

Premier League Chief Executive, therapy Richard Scudamore, viagra sample said: “We have worked with Super Sports Media Group for the last two years and are extremely pleased to extend our partnership until 2019. They will continue to deliver a premium offering that will showcase the Barclays Premier League to our many fans in Mainland China and Macau.

“The main reason for agreeing a six year partnership with Super Sports is our recognition of their innovative and successful business model and that their coverage and reach makes our matches available to fans in all provinces across Mainland China and Macau.”

Jianguang Li, board member of Super Sports Media Group, said: “The Premier League has developed a profound understanding of the sports broadcasting market in China and we are very pleased to have formed this long-term partnership with them.

“This agreement demonstrates the Premier League’s strong commitment towards China and Chinese football fans. It will further increase the Premier League’s profile in China and give them the opportunity to make it one of their fastest growing markets.”{jcomments on}

The ISAF Alpari World Match Racing Tour has announced the appointment of James Pleasance as Executive Director. 

Effective immediately, he will operate from the Tour’s central London office.

James brings over 20 years experience in the marine and sports marketing industry working with rights holders and sponsors. He has been a Director of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour for the past decade and has played a direct hand in the growth and direction of the Tour. He has significant knowledge of the Tour’s commercial activities and new event development strategy which will be a key focus in his new role.

He leaves the Informa Yacht Group where he was responsible for developing a portfolio of events including the World Yacht Racing Forum and Superyacht Cup regatta series.

As Executive Director, James will drive the Tour’s continued ambition to bring sailing and match racing to a wider, more global audience by developing new commercial and host city partnerships, as well as engaging fans through live event experiences and multimedia platforms.

Speaking about his appointment, James said: “This is a very exciting time to be involved with the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. We have a fantastic global series and we are committed to growing it further with new events and making the Tour more accessible than ever before. I look forward to working closely with the whole team, and the Tour events and partners.”

Peter Gilmour, President, Alpari World Match Racing Tour, added: “We are very pleased to welcome James back to this key position within the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. He has tremendous experience which is important to this franchise as we continue to grow the Tour around the world.”

Stage five of the 2012 World Championship gets underway on the 28 August when the Tour heads to Switzerland for the St. Moritz Match Race.

FASPO – the German Sponsorship Association announces the nominations for the 19th INTERNATIONAL SPONSORING AWARDs that will be awarded on March 22, viagra 2012, ailment in Hamburg.

An independent Jury of sponsorship experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland nominated twelve outstanding sponsorship projects for the awards in the categories sports, culture, public, media and innovation: 

• Federation of German Volks- and Raiffeisenbanken/German Olympic Sports Federation (Project: Stars in Sports)
• German Telekom (Project: Yes, I can!)
• Swiss Post (Project: 2 x Christmas)
• Mercedes-Benz/Roth & Lorenz (Project: Pangaea Expedition)
• Bayer AG (Bayer Culture)
• Logentheater/D&H Project Management (Project: Map My Story)
• Hyundai/Havas Sports & Entertainment/ (Project: Hyundai Velaster MTV EMAs)
• Berlin Bank/Felten & Cie. (Project: Berlin Bank dialogues of the future)
• German Post/BBDO Live (World Cup campaign: Absolutely unerring)
• EnBW (EnBW-Oberliga Juniors)
• VW AG /Juniper Group (Project: Consistency in times of change)
• A1 Telekom Austria/WWP (Novel identification of the A1 brand in sports) 

The prizes will be awarded in the frame of the SPONSORING SUMMIT conference 2012 on March 22 in the chamber of commerce Hamburg. More information and registration for the Summit on www.faspo.de. For many years, the INTERNATIONAL SPONSORING AWARD is recognized as the most important sponsorship award in Germany standing for quality and professionalism in sponsorship.

The German Sponsorship Association FASPO is the central lobby of the sponsorship industry in the German speaking countries and is located in Hamburg, Vienna and Winterthur.

 FASPO Fachverband für Sponsoring e.V., Rödingsmarkt 43, D-20459 Hamburg

Tel. +49 (0) 40 609508-33, Fax -34, E-Mail: info@faspo.de, www.faspo.de

The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed a multi-year partnership with Cumulus Media that allows WWLS 98.1 FM (The Sports Animal) in Oklahoma City to continue as the flagship radio station of the Oklahoma City Thunder Radio Network, the Thunder

All Thunder preseason, regular-season and postseason games will be carried live on The Sports Animal.

All Thunder games will also be broadcast on The Sports Animal’s sister station KWPN-ESPN Radio 640 AM, in addition to a dozen other stations across the state and region that make up the Thunder Radio Network. Veteran NBA broadcaster Matt Pinto will return for his sixth season as the radio play-by-play voice of the Thunder.

“We are proud and excited to continue our strong relationship with Cumulus and The Sports Animal,” said Thunder Vice President of Corporate Communications and Community Relations Dan Mahoney. “They are the leaders in sports radio in Oklahoma, with passion and excitement for Thunder Basketball.”

“When Cumulus Media acquired these stations back in 2011, our then-pre-existing Thunder alliance was one of the first things the company identified as most exciting. Consequently, the extension of our Thunder relationship was enthusiastically supported, especially when considering the partnership’s significant impacts on both listenership and advertising revenues, not to mention the thrill provided to our employees from being associated with a brand recognized worldwide!” said Cumulus Media Market Manager Larry Bastida.

In addition to game broadcasts and pre- and postgame shows, The Sports Animal will continue to carry “Thunder Insider,” a weekly program devoted to the team. Beginning this season, Matt Pinto will host a weekly call-in Thunder talk show and the station will provide a live stream of Thunder games via its website thesportsanimal.com. That stream will be limited to a 75-mile radius around Oklahoma City.