Manchester United have announced plans to sell shares in the US on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The Premier League giants filed registration papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday.

If the proposed restructuring goes through, bronchi the club would become a subsidiary of a new holding company called Manchester United Ltd., symptoms which would be based in the Cayman Islands.

The number of available shares and the price per share were not listed on the filing. Investors will be able to purchase Class A shares, but the Glazer family will maintain control of the club through its ownership of Class B shares. Those have 10 times the voting power as the shares United hopes to sell on the NYSE.

United said it hoped to raise up to $100 million (£64 million) in the initial public offering (IPO). It intends to use the money to help pay down some of its considerable debt. The Glazer family purchased the club in 2005 for $1.47 billion (£936 million), but the leveraged takeover saddled the club with debt.

As of March 31, United has $663 million (£423 million) in outstanding obligations. Forbes Magazine values United at $2.24 billion (£1.43 billion). It has been ranked as the most valuable soccer club in the world for the last eight years. If the IPO is approved, United will become the first sports team to sell stock on the NYSE since the Cleveland Indians de-listed in 1998.

Wrexham AFC appointed Dave Roberts as their new CEO yesterday evening, December 13th.

Roberts has extensive business experience across the private sector (including the position of finance director at a multi-million pound private equity-backed group in the North West of England) and originally trained as a chartered accountant. The 46 year-old is also a lifelong fan of Wrexham AFC and has contributed to the running of the club on a voluntary basis for some time.

The club’s main board director Mark Williams has explained his reasons for the appointment.

“David has been involved with the club for over 30 years and will be a familiar face to many fans. He has a real passion for the club and his business skills will play an important part in driving the club through a challenging time”.

Today, Roberts outlined his vision for Wrexham AFC, saying he is determined to make the Blue Square Premier League side both “successful and sustainable”.

He explained the motivation behind his decision to take up the post and sought to reassure fans of his understanding of the club.

“Having been involved in a large, multi-million pound business I have been fortunate enough to step back from that [financial challenge] for the past couple of years, but now I feel the time is right to take up a new challenge”.

“I am under no illusions about the size of the task ahead, but with the support of the Trust, the Wrexham AFC board, the fans and Glyndwr University, our landlords at the Racecourse, I am sure we can establish a successful and sustainable football club of which the town of Wrexham and North Wales can be proud”.

Gespannt fiebern zig-tausende Fans den bet-at-home OPEN vom 14.-22. Juli in Hamburg sowie dem bet-at-home CUP vom 22.-28.Juli in Kitzbühel entgegen: Doch auch abseits des Spielfeldes geht es heiß her, denn der Hauptsponsor und Online-Sportwetten Spezialist bet-at-home.com präsentiert dem Publikum bei beiden Veranstaltungen den $ 100.000 SHOT und das an sämtlichen Spieltagen. Mit dem ‘Spiel deines Lebens’ lässt der Online-Wettspezialist in Kitzbühel zusätzlich ein Fan-Herz gewaltig höher schlagen.

“Sportsponsoring ist neben der klassischen Werbung im TV, Web und Print der zentrale Baustein unserer Marketingstrategie. So fließt auch jährlich der Großteil unseres Erlöses in die wohl wichtigste Nebensache der Welt: den Sport. Der Schwerpunkt bei unseren Kooperationen liegt dabei auf Fußball, Tennis, Handball und Wintersport. Wir sind stolz darauf, seit 2011 Hauptsponsor mit Namensrecht der prestigeträchtigen Tennisturniere in Hamburg und Kitzbühel zu sein. Unterstützt durch verschiedene Aktivierungskampagnen können wir gezielt die zahlreichen Freunde des Tennissports ansprechen, der in unserem Wettangebot einen sehr bedeutenden Stellenwert einnimmt”, freut sich Sponsoring Manager Claus Retschitzegger über die Früchte tragende Zusammenarbeit.

Welcher Tennisfan träumt nicht davon, einmal im Hauptbewerb eines ATP-Events zu stehen und gegen die besten der Welt anzutreten? Gemeinsam mit Philip Kohlschreiber wird der Auserwählte im Kampf um Preisgeld und wertvolle Weltranglistenpunkte am Centercourt in Kitzbühel gehörig mitmischen. So funktioniert der Rollentausch: Bis 14. Juli kann sich jeder Interessierte unter http://www.bet-at-home-cup.com/de/spiel-deines-lebens.html anmelden. Anschließend wählen die Medienpartner des Tiroler Sandplatz-Klassikers acht Finalisten aus, die am 21. Juli in einem Tiebreak-Shootout ihre Schlagfertigkeit unter Beweis stellen. Der Sieger steht an der Seite von Philipp Kohlschreiber im Doppel-Hauptbewerb.

Nach dem Vorjahreserfolg bietet bet-at-home.com den Tennisfans wiederum die Möglichkeit $ 100.000 zu erspielen: Beim bet-at-home.com Promotionstand warten jeweils an sämtlichen Turniertagen charmante Hostessen auf begeisterte Zuschauer, die beim $ 100.000 SHOT ihr Glück versuchen möchten. Alle Personen über 18 Jahre haben dort die Möglichkeit, mit Tennisball und Tennisschläger ausgestattet, an einer Wand mit unterschiedlich großen Löchern möglichst viele Punkte zu sammeln. Kurz vor dem letzten Einzel des Tages haben die beiden mit der höchsten täglichen Punkteanzahl die Chance, am Center Court sage und schreibe $ 100.000 zu gewinnen. Dabei wird eine Schusswand mit nur einem einzigen Loch auf der T-Linie aufgestellt. Die zwei Auserwählten haben nun von der Grundlinie jeweils einen Versuch, um in das Loch zu treffen. Für denjenigen, der in das Loch der Wand trifft, regnet es $ 100.000. Als Trostpreis winkt ein 50 Euro Wettgutschein.

Mittwoch, der 25. Juli steht in Kitzbühel ganz im Zeichen von bet-at-home.com: Am so genannten “bet-at-home Tag” haben vier Auserwählte die Chance, sich den Geldregen abzuholen. Zwei davon stammen allerdings aus dem Web. Einfach auf www.bet-at-home.com dem Twitter- und Google+ Button folgen, Anmeldeformular ausfüllen und den automatischen Tweet/Post absetzen. Aus allen Einsendungen werden zwei Glückspilze gezogen.

Major League Soccer (MLS) team Colorado Rapids have announced that Tim Hinchey has been named the new President of the franchise.

Hinchey, who has served as the Rapids’ Chief Marketing Officer since November 20, 2010, has more than 20 years of experience in professional sports, including several senior-level management positions in the English Premier League, English Football League Championship and the National Basketball Association.

“It’s truly an honor to take this role with the Rapids,” said Hinchey. “I want to thank Stan Kroenke, Josh Kroenke and Jim Martin for this opportunity and for their confidence. The Rapids have a great foundation, and I’m looking forward to helping the team build on its recent successes on and off the field. We are only a year removed from an MLS Cup and everyone in the organization is committed to bringing another championship to Colorado.”

Jim Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, said: “Tim is well deserving of this promotion, and we’re excited for him to step into the role. He brings invaluable experience to the position, as well as a tremendous passion for the sport of soccer. We are confident that he’ll help the Rapids continue to succeed on and off the field.”

Prior to joining the Rapids, Hinchey served for three years as Vice President, Commercial for Derby County FC, which played in the English Premier League and English Football League Championship during his time with the team. As a club Director and member of the board, Hinchey attended all the team’s matches and oversaw strategy for all commercial activities for the club, including sponsorship, ticket sales, marketing, public relations, and broadcasting.

Hinchey also brings extensive experience from the NBA, having served as the Executive Vice President of Business Operations for the Charlotte Bobcats, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, and Director of Strategic Alliances for Maloof Sports & Entertainment, whose properties included Arco Arena, Sacramento Kings (NBA), Sacramento Monarchs (WNBA) and Sacramento Knights, among others.

Bundesliga clubs Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg will play summer friendlies in Guangzhou, China.

The German teams will play in the 2012 Audi Football Summit at Guangzhou Olympic Sports Center on July 26 and three other games with Chinese Super League clubs (CSL) throughout the country.

Bayern will play CSL club Beijing Guo’an on July 24. Wolfsburg will take on Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Shenhuain three days following the Audi Football Summit .

Bayern Munich Deputy Exec Board member Andreas Jung said: “We think China is a very important country because the Bundesliga is also shown here on TV, and we know we have a lot of fans in China. Therefore, we must give them the chance to see the players live.” {jcomments on}

Bernard Lapasset was re-elected on Monday as chairman of the International Rugby Board (IRB) for a after narrowly defeating former England captain Bill Beaumont in a vote, troche the IRB announced.

The Frenchman secured a second consecutive term in office after the 26 IRB Council members voted 14-12 in support of him at a reconvened interim meeting in Los Angeles.

“I am honoured to accept the mandate of the Council to serve as Chairman of the International Rugby Board for another term, shop ” Lapasset said in a statement.

“I am committed to building on the good progress to date. We have fantastic opportunities to grow the game, medicine to reach new markets and welcome new members to the rugby family.”

Beaumont also suffered a double whammy when he lost his current position as Vice-Chairman to South African Oregan Hoskins.

The pair received 13 votes each but Hoskins got the nod when Lapasset, who oversaw the successful campaign to get rugby sevens included in the Olympics during his first term in office, used his casting vote to support the South African.

Beaumont was elected along with Lapasset and Hoskins on a seven member executive board which included, for the first time, a representative from both United States and Japan.

All of the appointments will begin on January 1 and will last for four years.

The MotoGP community has moved to do all it can to support those in Japan following the recent earthquake and its aftereffects, and the 17 riders in MotoGP have put their signatures on a specially printed shirt with the message “We are for Japan”.

The t-shirt will be available at a range of circuits on the World Championship calendar, as well as being available from the MotoGP official website at http://weforjapan.motogp.com. It can be purshased for €20.

The funds collected through this initiative will be presented to a humanitarian organisation during the Japan Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on October 2nd.

Jorge Lorenzo: “We must give our maximum support to Japan at a moment such as this. Japan is already a strong country that has always demonstrated its ability to overcome adversity. A strong embrace to all Japanese people and fans of motorcycling who live there.”

Casey Stoner: “We considered the floods in Australia at the beginning of the year a huge disaster, but after the events we’ve seen in Japan – it’s beyond what we can comprehend. Having heard some of the stories from colleagues in Honda and seeing the coverage on the news, it’s devastating to hear what they are going through and our hearts and thoughts are with everyone in Japan. I hope they can find the courage to keep fighting and get through this period to help rebuild their lives”.

Valentino Rossi: “This is a very tough moment for everybody but we support Japan and we are with our Japanese friends. We encourage them not to give up, and I wish good luck to everybody from me, and from all my team.”

Unite with the MotoGP community and buy this t-shirt to help the people of Japan. Please forward this information to friends, relatives and colleagues across the globe using every outlet of social media to bring the MotoGP paddock and fans together with the message “We are for Japan”.

International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Director of Finance and Administration, Thierry Sprunger, is stepping down to pursue “new challenges”, after a 17-year tenure serving the organisation.

Commenting on his decision, Sprunger said: “Working at the IOC has been a privilege and an honour. I had the pleasure of working under President Juan Antonio Samaranch for seven years, with a further 10 years under President Rogge.

“I am particularly fortunate that my years in the Olympic Movement coincided with a period of sustained growth – a remarkable achievement, especially given recent global economic events. My role as a Director has changed a great deal during my tenure, and is now very disconnected from the operational role I most enjoy. This is why, after much consideration,

“I have decided to leave the organisation in order to focus directly on the projects closest to my heart in the area of sports development and supporting future host cities of multi-sports events in their efforts to reduce their costs.”

IOC President Jacques Rogge added: “Thierry has been an integral and key member of the leadership team here at the IOC and we wish him every success in his future. Over nearly two decades of service, he has made a huge contribution both to the IOC and to the Olympic Movement in general – his skills and talent have helped us to modernise and transform the administration.”

Sprunger’s almost two-decade term spanned 10 Olympic Games (five Summer and five Winter), and, during this time, he was responsible for guiding Organising Committees for the Olympic Games through the financing of the Games. Sprunger also oversaw the annual general meetings of the IOC (the IOC Sessions) in Prague, Singapore, Guatemala City, Copenhagen and Durban, at which Olympic hosts Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014, Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 were elected.