Fenway Sports Management (FSM) today announced that Joe Hockenjos has joined the organization as Senior Vice President, bronchi Sales.

FSM is the global sponsorship sales arm of Fenway Sports Group.

A 25-year veteran of sponsorship sales, pills Hockenjos will be responsible for selling integrated sponsorship and marketing partnerships across FSM/Fenway Sports Group’s portfolio of properties with a focus on the Boston Red Sox, Liverpool Football Club, New England Sports Network (NESN), Roush Fenway Racing and LeBron James/LRMR Marketing & Branding. Hockenjos will report to FSM Executive Vice President, Sales Frank Huckabone.

“Joe brings a wealth of sales experience, a proven track record of delivering value for some of the most respected brands in professional and college sports, and a keen understanding of broadcast and new media sponsorships,” said FSM President Sam Kennedy. “I had the opportunity to work with him when he was with Yankee Global Enterprises and have always been impressed by his approach to and passion for the business. We look forward to having Joe join the FSM family and helping us drive revenue for our blue chip properties and clients.”

Prior to joining FSM, Hockenjos led the Business Development and Sports Sales divisions for NCC Media, a company jointly owned by Comcast, Time Warner and Cox Communications that represents the cable ad sales industry. He was responsible for generating new revenue through property acquisition and incremental sales. While there, he helped secure national representation for several regional sports networks including SportsNet NY and Sportstime Ohio, as well as agreements with DirecTV and the Dish Network.

“It’s truly a privilege to join one of the world’s preeminent sports sponsorship sales organizations,” said Hockenjos. “I look forward to working alongside Frank and the rest of the team to help generate sales for FSM’s impressive client roster of elite international brands.”

Hockenjos’ previous experience included several roles with Yankee Global Enterprises (formerly YankeeNets) where he implemented sponsorship sales at Yankee Stadium, consulted on the launch of the YES Network and sold integrated marketing programs for the New Jersey Nets and Devils. Responsibilities at the end of his tenure were focused on developing an integrated sponsorship plan for the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

In the late 90s, Hockenjos joined Total Sports Inc. where he built an advertising sales team for the company’s various on-line assets including golf.com, all NCAA athletic championship web sites and a network of college and university sites dedicated to scholastic athletics. His responsibilities included implementing joint sales efforts with NBC Sports for Ryder Cup digital elements and staffing eight offices in the Eastern half of the U.S. and Toronto.

Prior to that, Hockenjos gained sales experience through positions with FOX Television (FTS) and TeleRep Inc. At FTS, he jumpstarted efforts against “un-wired network” sales for the group’s sports and entertainment properties including the NFL, NHL on FOX and Major League Baseball. At TeleRep, Joe cut his teeth in television advertising sales representing the Tribune stations in New York, later promoted to Sales Manager for the firms’ Philadelphia office where he managed a group of eight sales and support staffers generating over $75 million in annual billings.

Hockenjos developed additional team and property sales experience at Madison Square Garden in the mid-90s where he sold integrated packages for the New York Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, college basketball, MSG Network and Productions. Hockenjos also has agency experience having been a media planner/ buyer for Foote, Cone & Belding in the mid-80’s. He began his career in college at the successful brokerage firm Salomon Brothers, before switching fields after graduation.

Hockenjos graduated from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing and continued on with post-grad studies in International Marketing. A resident of New Jersey for more than 20 years, Hockenjos currently lives in Freehold with his wife Kathleen, and their two children, Matthew and Jaclyn.

Just a few months after the end of Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand, drugs it’s already time to think about 2015 and next competition!

Paul Vaughan, cheap CEO of England Rugby 2015 Ltd., will be speaking during the 4^th edition of the Global Sports Forum Barcelona. He will take part to a panel dedicated to “Event bidding: what it takes to win, what it means to lose”. This debate will be the opportunity to focus on the cost and benefit of bidding for sports premier events such as the Rugby World Cup.

Career

Appointed in January 2011, Paul Vaughan became the CEO of England Rugby 2015 Ltd., the delivery body for the Rugby World Cup in England in 2015.

Paul joined the Rugby Football Union in 2001 to become its first Commercial Director where his responsibilities encompassed both the generation of revenue for the game in England and for the marketing of the sport and it was in 2009 that he was part of the team that successfully bid to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Formerly a senior Vice President at Octagon Marketing, Paul was involved in a wide range of sports and clients, including a number of rugby campaigns.  These included the Lloyds TSB Six Nations, the Zurich Premiership and Scottish Providents Sponsorship of the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 1997.  He also played a key part in the successful commercial programme for the 2001 Lions tour to Australia.
Paul has also had client experience through a long career at Whitbread Plc, latterly as Marketing Operations Director, working on a range of projects such as The Whitbread Round the World Race, The Stella Artois Grass Court Championships, The Rugby World Cup 1995 (Heineken) and The Heineken European Cup.

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) have announced a new, three-year contract with ITV which will see them broadcast the PartyPoker.net European Championship and Cash Converters Players Championship finals as well as the UK Open and a new event, The Masters. 

The deal, covering tournaments in 2013, 2014 and 2015, will see the four major PDC tournaments broadcast live on ITV4 as part of the channel’s portfolio of sporting events.

The first event to be broadcast under the new deal will be next month’s PartyPoker.net European Championship, which will be held from July 4-7 in Muelheim, Germany.

ITV will then broadcast a brand new tournament, The Masters, from November 1-3, as the top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit do battle at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh in a three-day event.

The Cash Converters Players Championship Finals, to be held from November 29-December 1, will again be broadcast live from the Butlins Minehead Resort in Somerset.

Finally, the UK Open – which was won by Phil Taylor last weekend in Bolton – will also be broadcast live on ITV in 2014 and 2015, with dates and full information to be confirmed later this year.

“We’re delighted that ITV have made such a significant commitment to the PDC, and to the sport of darts, with this three-year, four-event deal,” said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

“They have a great enthusiasm for top-level sport, and in these four tournaments they see the best players in darts competing in major championships.

“As part of that, we are extremely excited about the introduction of The Masters, an event which will see the leading 16 players in world darts doing battle to see who really is the best of the best!”

ITV Director of Sport Niall Sloane said: “We are always delighted to work with the PDC, and the new darts tournaments are testimony to their ability to produce first class sporting events.”

Jimmy Joyce will no longer be the Cricket Ireland president following his decision to step down from the role due to family reasons.

He is to be replaced for the rest of the year by Arthur Vincent, price who was president in 2009, unhealthy with Robin Walsh taking up the role in 2013. 

Announcing the change this morning, Cricket Ireland chairman Ross McCollum said: “I am aware of the great difficulty that Jimmy Joyce had in making this decision and he can be assured that he has the utmost respect and support of everyone involved with Cricket Ireland.

“Arthur Vincent has agreed to fill the vacancy for the remainder of Jimmy’s term and our sincere thanks and gratitude must go to him for taking on what has become a very time-consuming role at such short notice.”

Soccerex have announced that Chris Eaton, discount FIFA Head of Security and Theo Van Seggelen, treatment Head of FIFpro (International Federation of Professional Footballers) are confirmed to speak on ‘Betting in Football’ at the Soccerex European Forum, 28-29 March 2012, Manchester.

With billions of pounds exchanged each year, betting in football is big business. This session will consider the growing commercial and social relationship between the betting industry and football, looking at how betting is monitored and regulated and the affect these regulations have on the relationship, especially in territories where gambling is illegal. It will also consider the responsibility the betting industry has towards ensuring the integrity of the game including what is being done to tackle issues surrounding match-fixing.

Both Chris Eaton and Theo Van Seggelen are perfectly positioned to address these topics.  Chris has been a key driving force in FIFA’s efforts to combat match-fixing in since his appointment as Head of Security for FIFA at the beginning of 2011. As General Secretary of FIFpro and a regular player representative on FIFA committees, Theo will provide a unique insight into betting from the players’ perspective.

Duncan Revie, Soccerex CEO commented: ‘As someone who enjoys a little flutter, I appreciate the natural pairing between betting and football. Almost every club in the Premier League now has some form of betting sponsorship, with seven of the twenty clubs having betting brands on their shirts. As the football world expands, betting is becoming ever more prominent and we are delighted to have two specialists like Chris and Theo address such a topical issue; their insight will be of great interest.’

In addition to betting, the European Forum conference programme will address the latest developments relating to UEFA, Financial Fair Play, Emerging Markets, Clubs, Stadia Safety and the Future of League Structures.

The Soccerex European Forum is a two-day event which sees the elite of Europe’s football industry come together to debate, network and do business.

For further information about this event please call +44 (0)208742 7100 or visitwww.soccerex.com/europe.

According to reports a group of UK-based investors has submitted a formal bid for Portsmouth Football Club, drugs aided by Avalon director Harry Kerr.

First reported by the BBC, look the group, store called Portco Ltd, is claiming to have shown Portsmouth’s administrators PKF bank statements totalling £6.47m as proof of funds.

The BBC reports however that ex-owner Balram Chainrai’s firm Portpin and the Pompey Supporters’ Trust remain front-runners for the club.

Kerr says: “We have been involved with this Portsmouth deal for around four months now. I am helping Portco to raise the funding required for the purchase.”

PKF partner and joint administrator of Portsmouth Trevor Birch said on Friday that Portpin and the PST should be allowed more time to conclude a sale.

He said: “Significant progress has been made over the past two weeks, and both Portpin and the Pompey Supporters’ Trust are continuing to work with the Football League, which must agree that they can take ownership of Portsmouth Football Club, and the Professional Footballers’ Association, which represents the players owed money by the club. However, neither party is in a position to complete an acquisition of the club at the moment.

“Once the bidders reach agreement with the League, and the remaining contractual aspects of the transaction have been agreed, we will be in a position to finalise a sale. Our discussions with both Portpin and the PST suggest that both parties are capable of concluding a deal.”

Both parties resubmitted their bids on Friday. The BBC says there are two other bids under consideration, from former club owner Sulaiman Al Fahim and ex-Watford owner Laurence Bassini.

Watford’s Graham Taylor has stepped down as non-executive chairman of the Championship club but will remain a life president.

The former England manager was appointed to the role in January 2010 after a brief spell as interim chairman.

But, with the Championship club now in a stable position both on and off the pitch, Taylor has opted to stand aside as he also struggles to devote the time required for the position.

He told the club’s official website: “Having accepted the position of non-executive chairman after being interim chairman, I have always made it clear I never felt this to be something for the long term.

“I’m about to head off to the Euros and then away on private holidays. This not only highlights the lack of time I now have to devote to the Watford chairmanship but also provides a natural break for the club to plan ahead.”

Taylor will also relieve his duties as non-executive director at Vicarage Road, which he has held since January 2009.

Owner Laurence Bassini will act as interim chairman until Watford’s board arrange a permanent long-term replacement.