Japan’s top soccer league- the J.League- has signed a partnership agreement with Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF).

VPF runs the V-League- the top professional football league in Vietnam. The Japan Football Association’s also have an agreement with the Thai Premier League.

The J.League and VPF will work together toward the development of the sport in both countries, in terms of communication, marketing, managing events, academy and transferring players between the two leagues.

Sports marketing agency LeadOff Sports Marketing General Manager, Takehiko Nakamura said: “This ‘Asia Strategy’ that J.League is rolling out is to enhance its presence and to develop new businesses both in Japan and in other Asian areas. This movement and strategy is going to position J.League closer towards the European powerhouses in the near future.”{jcomments on}

The St. Louis Rams have hired Les Snead as their new general manager, bringing in another front-office veteran as they try to ellevate the status of the falling franchise.

Snead spent the past 13 years with the Atlanta Falcons, the last three as director of player personnel. The Rams announced his hiring on Tuesday and planned an afternoon news conference.

The Rams are in the midst of an overhaul after winning just 15 games the past five seasons. They have the second overall pick in April’s draft after going 2-14 last season.

The Rams have already hired a new coach in Jeff Fisher. He replaces Steve Spagnuolo, who was fired along with general manager Billy Devaney after going 10-38 in three seasons.

Snead oversaw college and pro scouting efforts for the Falcons, and the team said he played a key role in evaluating not just talent but the salary value of all player acquisitions. Before he arrived in Atlanta, he worked in pro scouting for the Jaguars from 1995-97.

Snead is a former tight end for Auburn, and he later was an assistant for the Tigers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education.

Hanging over the Rams are questions about the franchise’s future in St. Louis.

The St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission unveiled a plan Feb. 1 that calls for $124 million in improvements to Edward Jones Dome in hopes of making sure the city doesn’t lose another NFL team.

The Rams’ lease with the commission requires the dome to be “first tier,” or among the top 25 percent of all NFL stadiums in several categories. If it falls short, Kroenke can move the franchise after the 2014 season.

The Rams have until March 1 to accept or reject the commission offer. They can also make a counter proposal. Arbitration would begin June 15 if no agreement is reached, and the arbitration process could last through the end of the year.

Rams also signed a three-year deal to allow one home game per year to be hosted in London.

by Ismail Uddin

Legends Football League have announced a number of broadcasters as part of the global momentum building around the sport. 

The most recent round of international television partners include sports-centric broadcasters TV2 in Denmark, Sport TV in Portugal and Ma Chaine Sport which covers France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Israel and Sub-Suharian Africa. 

“LFL’s progress as a global sports franchise in merely four years is truly unprecedented. We initially set out to become the most recognized women’s sports franchise in the US. Over the next five years we will become one of the most recognized global brands in all of sport. We will surpass the NFL as the leader in American football internationally by 2015”, said, Mitchell S. Mortaza, Founder & Chairman, Legends Football League, LLC. 

This round of international television partnerships were brokered by Total Sports Asia, LFL Global’s media rights distributor, each of these broadcasters will air LFL Global league play, to include LFL USA, LFL Canada and LFL Australia. 

LFL Global’s distribution is fast expanding as the league is now covered on television across all continents and over 120 territories including major markets such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, India, France, Denmark, Thailand  Indonesia, Brazil etc.

Werder Bremen has invited fans opposed to its new shirt sponsor for talks in a bid to resolve a row that has resulted in numerous supporters terminating their membership of the Bundesliga club.

Bremen officially presented poultry meat producer Wiesenhof as its new sponsor on Monday, viagra two days after animal activists and fans protested against the deal worth a reported €10 million ($15.7m) over two seasons.

More than 21, cure 000 Werder fans have joined an online petition against Wiesenhof, hospital which has been accused by animal rights group PETA and others of animal cruelty, poor hygiene and bad practice.

Werder marketing manager Klaus Filbry says ‘there have been (membership) resignations. We will hold dialogues with everyone to present our motives. Everyone is free then to stick with their decisions.’

Mark Lamping, the President and CEO of MetLife Stadium and home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, was named today as President of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League, with his tenure beginning Monday, Feb. 27.

The appointment of Lamping was announced Monday morning by new Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. Lamping will be responsible for all non-football facets of the operation, reporting to Khan. Jaguars general manager Gene Smith will continue to report directly to Khan.

“This is a very important and exciting development in the Rebirth of the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Khan said. “Mark will bring to the Jaguars and to the Jacksonville community a mix of sports and brand marketing, stadium management expertise and team front office leadership that is very difficult to find in one person.  Mark’s resume speaks for itself and I am very grateful to the Giants and Jets for making it possible for the Jaguars to present Mark with a new challenge and the prospect of success here in Jacksonville.”

“The Jacksonville Jaguars have vast potential, and I’m honored that Shad Khan is asking me to play a leadership role in reaching that potential,” Lamping said.  “We have the opportunity to revitalize the franchise and build something special, memorable and hopefully historic for the league, our partners and especially Jaguars fans, who will be central to our mission.  My wife Cheryl and I are ready to get started and excited to make Jacksonville our home.”

A native of St. Louis, Lamping served Anheuser-Busch in a variety of capacities from 1981 to 1993, including brand management and eventually as the global company’s group director of sports marketing.  While at Anheuser-Busch, Lamping managed the company’s television and radio sports production division and all domestic and international sports marketing activities for Anheuser-Busch’s beer brands, including sponsorship agreements for the Olympics, FIFA World Cup and all North American major professional sports.

In 1994, Lamping was named president of his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.  Lamping was responsible for business and facility operations among many other duties on behalf of the baseball club, and played a significant role in the renovation of the old Busch Stadium and subsequent revitalization of the Cardinals franchise in the mid 1990s.  Lamping later led the development and funding of the new Busch Stadium, which opened in April 2006.  The Cardinals won five division titles, two National League pennants and the World Series championship in 2006 while Lamping was president, drawing more than 3 million fans for nine consecutive seasons.

In 2008, Lamping accepted the position of President and CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium, which is now MetLife Stadium, the 50-50 venture between the Giants and Jets.  Lamping reported to a board of directors that included the owners of the Giants and Jets and was responsible for overseeing all facets of the stadium development, construction and operation, including business operations, sponsorship sales, marketing, event business, new media and more.  Lamping was a major force in helping to bring Super Bowl XLVIII to MetLife Stadium in 2014.

Lamping holds a bachelor’s of science degree in accounting from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., and master’s degree in business administration from Saint Louis University.  He and his wife have three children.

by Ismail Uddin

Leaders in Football has sold out as Arsenal, viagra 100mg AS Roma, ed the UK Government, a former World Cup referee, and a former World Cup Winning Captain all sign up for Leaders in Football 2011.

As the final speakers are confirmed for the Leaders in Football conference being held over 5^th and 6^thOctober 2011 at Chelsea FC, the organisers have announced a complete sell out with a growing list of delegates now joining an ever increasing waiting list.

The speaker line up continues to impress with Ivan Gazidis, Chief Executive Officer, Arsenal FC joining the Financial Fair Play panel whilst Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport, UK Government will be delivering a keynote address on governance.  They will be joined by Tom Di Benedetto, the new President & Chairman, AS Roma will discuss ownership whilst Frank De Bleeckere, Champions League and FIFA World Cup Referee will talk about the pressures of refereeing in the modern game.  The final speakers are finalised with a World Cup winner as Fabio Cannavaro, Former Captain of Italy will be debating the issues that matter on the popular players panel.

The latest speakers will be joined by FIFA Executive Committee members, HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, Dr Michel D’Hooghe and Jim Boyce; UEFA General Secretary, Gianni Infantino; Chairman of Chelsea FC, Bruce Buck; the independent Chairman of The Football Association, David Bernstein; former Prime Minister of Belgium and now Chairman of the UEFA Financial Fair Play Panel, Jean-Luc Dehaene; former World Cup referee, David Ellery; Hassan Al-Thawadi, General Secretary of the Supreme Council overseeing the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022; Owner of Stoke City FC and Bet 365, Peter Coates; Chairman of Sunderland AFC, Niall Quinn; Jamie Carragher, Vice-Captain for Liverpool FC; Pierluigi Collina, former World Cup Referee and Member of the UEFA Referees Committee; and Chairman of the Football League Greg Clarke.

Leaders in Football takes place within the Leaders Sports Summit, a coming together of 5 leading conferences including Sponsorship, Digital Sport, Performance and the business of Horse Racing, over 5th and 6th October at Chelsea FC. To apply for the waiting list to attend, or for more information, visit www.leadersinevents.com, contact enquiry@leadersinevents.com or call +44 (0) 207 042 8666.

Spanish sports rights agency Mediapro have revealed it has received five bids for the packages of free-to-air TV rights to La Liga, troche La Segunda, allergy the Copa del Rey and highlight shows since it put the packages up for bidding two weeks ago, drugs according to Eduardo Fernandez of EL MUNDO.

The bids came from La Sexta, Antena 3, FORTA, TV3 and Veo.

At this point, Mediapro is “studying” the offers to decide which is the best option. In Barcelona, Sole & Piedrabuena reported that as things currently stand, La Sexta “is in the best position” to win the rights, which are being offered for the next two seasons. The multimedia communications group is expected to make a decision on the five bids “in the upcoming days”.

Following ESPN President John Skipper’s recent structural announcement, seek the company today announced plans to further strengthen its Production and Programming areas by promoting Jamie Horowitz to Vice President, anabolics Original Programming and Production, ed responsible for all original programming at ESPN.

In this new role, Horowitz will focus on identifying new programming needs and then coordinating the production effort to strategically meet those needs. The scope will include creating new shows, producing segments to enhance existing shows and oversight of potential new projects.

“For the past five years, Jamie’s invaluable experience and passion for television has made him vital to the evolving programming landscape at ESPN,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive vice president, programming and acquisitions. “We are fortunate to have him as a key member of our team as we continue to further the creative interaction and cooperation between Production and Programming that will raise the network’s programming to new heights in the coming year.”

Horowitz said, “My goal is to further ESPN’s commitment to the highest quality sports programming and to work with the talent teams we have in place to enhance our content. The sports business is an ever-shifting landscape and I am excited to have the opportunity to help strengthen this dynamic area of our business.”

Horowitz will continue to have production oversight of an existing portfolio of programming in which he has been creatively involved including ESPN2’s First Take, SportsNation and Numbers Never Lie as well as ESPN Sports Saturday on ABC. He will also continue to supervise ESPN’s Sports Emmy-nominated World Series of Poker programming. Horowitz is based in Bristol and will report directly to Williamson on all original programming while continuing to report to Marcia Keegan, VP Production, on all existing projects.

Horowitz joined ESPN in 2006 as a senior producer on ESPN Original Entertainment. He was promoted to coordinating producer in the studio and event production department in 2009. He was a co-creator of SportsNation, Numbers Never* Lie and Winner’s Bracket (now ESPN Sports Saturday on ABC).

Before joining ESPN, Horowitz worked at NBC Sports, where he created, developed and produced The National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

A Boston native, Horowitz graduated magna cum laude in 1998 from Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. He is a four-time Sports Emmy winner for his work on NBC’s coverage of the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics, as well as his work on the NBA on NBC.

by Ismail Uddin

Minister for Community Development, cure Youth and Sports, cough will join APSC along with Coca Cola, malady Chelsea FC, ESPN, Arena Group, AFC, World Sport Group in Singapore.

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports will open the inaugural Asia-Pacific Sports Conference and will join over 150 high profile sports industry professionals from 20 different countries to meet, network and discuss the major, critical challenges and opportunities in the sports events industry.

The wide ranging programme of the Asia-Pacific Sports Conference, taking place at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore from 27-28 September, is complemented by a day of pre-conference workshops on 26th September.  The programme draws on expert presentations, panel discussions and case studies to highlight key trends in world sport, identify opportunities for Asia- Pacific nations and regions and suggest strategies which will enable the region to make the most of the economic and social opportunities presented by sport.

Sports events are playing an increasingly important role in the region, commercially and socially. The conference provides a timely focus by providing attendees practical advice on how to harness these changes and overcome the challenges event organisers face.

The event, which is supported by the Singapore Sports Council, is organised by Informa Sports Group, the specialist division of one of the world’s leading conference companies.

For information on how to register, please visit www.asia-pacificsports.com. If you would like to partner with the conference, please email Richard Arrowsmith, Sales Manager, Informa Sports Group   richard.arrowsmith@informasportsgroup.com.