Sports Revolution the largest media rights owner in UK football stadia advertising sign Partnership agreement with WSDE Sport Tourism Expo 2011, ampoule “We are delighted to announce this partnership and it further emphasises the importance and relevance of the convergence of Sports and Tourism” said WSDE Director Tony Prince.

Kye Punter (Head of Trading Sports Revolution) states, “We see this partnership as a great opportunity to increase our growing portfolio for companies associated with, or in the travel industry wanting to build their brands through the power of sport”.

Sports Revolution is the largest media rights owner in UK football stadia advertising. For advertisers wanting to build their brands through the power of sport, Sports Revolution offers integrated media solutions spanning sponsorship; digital perimetre board advertising; high-definition concourse TV; jumbo screens; posters; field marketing; podcast and online. Aggregating these rights across 72 clubs in the English and Scottish leagues – including 19 in the Premier League – Sports Revolution can connect advertisers with a committed audience of three million football fans per month.

With the English Premier League being the world’s most-viewed football league – able to reach over 600 million people per week in 211 territories – international advertisers are increasingly using it to reach global television audiences. This includes travel and tourism brands. Cyprus Tourist Organisation and Thai Airways are two examples, using Sports Revolution’s rights and expertise in English Premier League to boost their international profile.

Television-facing digital perimeter advertising (LED) has become a powerful advertising medium in football, with Sports Revolution becoming one of the chief players in this fast-developing media space. Managed by a team of highly experienced media industry professionals, Sports Revolution offers top-level media intelligence. Its international audience measurement tool, DigiTar, can be used to scientifically measure and value the TV audience for a game in any given territory.

Sports Revolution’s subsidiary, Stadia Solutions, creates further opportunities for advertisers and rights holders through in-stadia communications and broadcast applications, such as HD Concourse TV and jumbo screens, coupled with bespoke content. Stadia Solutions now has the UK’s biggest HD concourse TV network, installed in 17 Premier League and Championship clubs, including Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

Much of the advertising money flowing into the Premier League and La Liga is coming from Asia, with the region accounting for 40 per cent of the Premier League’s global TV audience.

To better serve this growing market, Sports Revolution recently opened an office in Bangkok. The eight-strong team signals our commitment to advertisers in the region.

Major League Baseball (MLB) team Minnesota Twins have replaced General Manager Bill Smith with Terry Ryan on an temporary basis.

Smith, who took over for Ryan in 2007, was released after a season where Minnesota was last in the American League Central, 32 games back of the division-leading Detroit Tigers.

Twins owner Jim Pohlad said in a statement: “No one in the Twins’ organization wants to win any more than Bill,” 

“He is unquestionably loyal, committed and talented. The Twins goal is to get better in 2012 and beyond. Bill was equally motivated to achieve that goal but we differed in the scope and approach that was required.”

Pohlad also said the team intends to have additional talks with Smith, who has been with the club since 1986, about an ongoing role with the Twins.

Ryan, 58, has spent over 28 years with the Twins, including a stint as general manager from 1994-2007. His interim role is effective immediately.

Under Ryan, who has been the team’s senior advisor to the general manager since stepping down from the general manager position four years ago, the Twins won four American League Central Division titles (2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006).

For the third time in succession, Inmarsat has been selected to provide essential voice and data connectivity for the Volvo Ocean Race.  Inmarsat FleetBroadband will be used to deliver broadcast quality high-definition television (HDTV) and rich multimedia content from the competing boats to the world’s media. Inmarsat has increased its involvement in the next edition of the race and is now a Race Partner, which will allow the communications company to further heighten its participation.

Inmarsat is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, and the company has played an integral role in the lives of seafarers for over 30 years. When it comes to delivering reliable maritime communications and safety services, no other network can match the combination of global reach, breadth of services and reliability that Inmarsat offers.

Knut Frostad, CEO Volvo Ocean Race said:  “I am very pleased to announce this continued and enhanced partnership with Inmarsat. FleetBroadband has proved it can deliver a flawless performance in tough conditions and that is absolutely essential for us. We need to be able to get reliable and high quality material off the boats and deliver it to the world with immediacy. You could say that the DNA of the Volvo Ocean Race is really based around moving images. And to be able to transmit these images from the boats is core to our communication and story building around the race. In many ways you could say that the Inmarsat’s FleetBroadBand has revolutionised the sport of offshore sailing.

“And by enabling us to be so connected to the boats, we can monitor them 24 hours a day from our Control Room in Alicante. This is crucial for our safety procedures and the onboard safety equipment is a vital tool for the crew in emergency situations.”

Each Volvo Open 70 will be equipped with a SAILOR FleetBroadband 500, providing voice and high-speed data communications.  Also onboard is a compact SAILOR FleetBroadband 150 for crew voice calling and IP data, plus two SAILOR Mini-C systems for constant positioning data and global safety communications. For the first time and after extensive evaluation, Inmarsat’s new global satellite phone, the ISATPHONE Pro, will be included in the safety kit of all the race yachts.

Andrew Sukawaty, Chairman and CEO, Inmarsat said: “FleetBroadband gave a flawless performance during the last Volvo Ocean Race in 2008 – 09 and will continue to take media coverage of the race into a whole new era. Faster transmission speeds deliver better quality broadcasts bringing all the action onboard into people’s homes around the world. It is undeniably the world’s premier global race and one of the most demanding team sporting events in the world and we are delighted with the global endorsement of ISATPHONE Pro, with its inclusion in the yachts’ safety equipment.”

The hard-fought overall Media Crew Member (MCM) Award, introduced for the last edition will once again be presented by Inmarsat. In addition, on each leg, an MCM will win a €1000 cash prize for outstanding excellence in communicating across all media from their boat, as judged by a specialist panel.

When the race concludes in Galway, Ireland, in July 2012, a €10,000 prize will be awarded to the MCM judged to have made the best overall contribution to race coverage.   

Knut Frostad firmly believes the MCM is as much a key player as the helmsman, tactician and the crew.  “No story, no sponsorship, no race. It’s as simple as that,” he says. “We wish them all great success.”

Andrew Sukawaty added: “Inmarsat is pleased to recognise the unique contribution the MCMs make to the race bringing the excitement of the race to the masses and delivering millions of dollars in valuable media coverage for race sponsors from the harshest of maritime conditions.”

Die DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga und der Deutsche Fußball-Bund bekennen sich weiterzu Prävention sowie Bekämpfung von Spielmanipulationen im Fußball und haben diebestehende Zusammenarbeit mit dem Dienstleister Sportradar um drei Jahre bis 2015verlängert. Sportradar unterstützt DFL und DFB bereits seit 2005 bei der Analyse undAufdeckung von möglichen sportwettenbezogenen Manipulationen. Seit Sommer 2009erfolgt dabei der Einsatz des so genannten “Fraud Detection Systems”, mit dessen Hilfeauffällige Abweichungen von Wettquotenmustern in Echtzeit überprüft werden können.

“Die Verhinderung von Spielmanipulationen gehört zu den elementaren Voraussetzungenzum Schutz eines sportlich fairen und damit glaubwürdigen Wettbewerbs. Deshalb istes umso wichtiger, präventiv aktiv zu sein und jedweden Verdachtsmoment frühzeitigzu erkennen”, sagt Holger Hieronymus, stellvertretender Vorsitzender der DFL-Geschäftsführung.

“Die Zusammenarbeit mit Sportradar hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren bewährt. Sie ist einwichtiges Kontrollinstrument in unserem breit angelegten Präventionskonzept”, erklärt DFB-Generalsekretär Helmut Sandrock.

Major League Baseball (MLB) team Baltimore Orioles have hired Dan Duquette as general manager after a ten-year hiatus from the sport.

Dan Duquette will fill a familiar position he filled with the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox before leaving Major League Baseball in 2002.

Duquette will be introduced as GM and executive vice president of baseball operations at a press conference later today. The 53-year-old Duquette will replace Andy MacPhail, view who stepped down last month.

The Orioles haven’t had a winning record in 14 years. They started 6-1 last season and finished 69-93, malady last in the American League East division.

Duquette served as GM of the Red Sox from 1994 to 2002, with Boston reaching the playoffs three times and advancing past the opening round in 1999. The team had a winning record in all but two years under Duquette and snapped an 86-year World Series Championship drought in 2004, with a team largely comprised of his signings.

Duquette served as director of baseball operations for the Israeli Baseball League after being fired by the Red Sox in 2002. His cousin, Jim Duquette, was general manager of the New York Mets in 2004 and vice president of baseball operations with the Orioles in 2005 and 2006.

UK Sport, arthritis the nation’s high performance sports agency, has today released details of their most exciting calendar of international sporting events to date for this crucial year of final preparations for British sports and athletes ahead of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme, which is currently backed by £3.5 million per year of National Lottery funding, expanded in 2007 following London’s successful bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with a doubling of investment to help ensure the UK’s sports and athletes would be best prepared come 2012.

Over 100 major international events will have been brought to the UK as part of this 2007-2012 programme to help British athletes prepare for competing at a home Games, and build expertise so that the UK can continue to host the biggest events in world sport long after the London Games is over.

The 2011 calendar, which is expected to include up to 27 events in at least 22 different sports, staged in various towns and cities across the UK, is the penultimate year of a six year strategic programme which will have seen 85% of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic sports host a major international event on home soil by the time the Games begin.

UK Sport has worked in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to ensure that a number of the major international events on this programme will be staged in Olympic venues, providing LOCOG with the opportunity to test certain aspects of those events ahead of London 2012.

In 2011, UK Sport will be supporting five major international events in Olympic and Paralympic host venues. These will be the World Badminton Championships (Wembley), World Junior Rowing Championships (Eton Dorney), World Triathlon Championships Series (Hyde Park), BMX Supercross World Cup (Olympic Park) and the Modern Pentathlon World Cup Final (Greenwich Park).

UK Sport is hoping to confirm its support for a further two major events taking place in Olympic venues in 2012: the Track Cycling World Cup (Olympic Park) and the Diving World Cup (Olympic Park).

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “We are delivering the most comprehensive programme of major sporting events ever staged by an Olympic and Paralympic host nation, and setting a new international benchmark for future hosts.

“The fantastic calendar of events to be staged here in the UK in 2011 offers the British public a great opportunity to help give our athletes, volunteers and officials the best possible final preparation for their home Games in 2012.”

Aside from the performance benefits for British athletes and the boost to the UK’s capacity to stage major sporting events, it is estimated that for every £1 of National Lottery funding invested into these events, an average of £4.90 of additional direct economic impact is generated for the host city and region. The full events programme from 2007-2012 is therefore estimated to have generated in the region of £105 million of direct economic benefit to host cities and regions across the UK.

Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport, added:  “One of the Government’s key policy objectives has been to capture a series of key international sports events in both the run up to London 2012 and thereafter. This full and exciting programme will allow people across Britain to see the stars of London 2012 for themselves and will inspire many others to take up sport.”

Sir Craig Reedie, IOC Executive Board Member, said: “UK Sport’s World Class Events Programme has provided outstanding event hosting experience for Britain’s national governing bodies in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and will help in attracting, in legacy, more world class events to the country for years to come.
“I look forward to seeing the post-2012 programme take shape in the coming months and years.”

Sarah Springman, President of British Triathlon and Vice President of the ITU, said: “Working with UK Sport, Upsolut Sports UK and other domestic partners has been integral to the establishment of the London Hyde Park event in the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series.  We look forward to returning to Hyde Park for the third consecutive year on 6/7 August 2011.

“British Triathlon has benefited from the opportunity to build a network of home grown volunteers and national technical officials to work alongside international officials as we prepare to make the Triathlon the most memorable event in London next year. Delivery of this event has also greatly improved our capacity to stage world class events in future.”

Seb Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), said: “UK Sport will be bringing some thrilling sporting action here in the run-up to 2012. Spectators will be able to experience some of our Olympic venues in an exciting atmosphere prior to the Games and we look forward to working with UK Sport on this programme.  Some of these events will also give us an opportunity to test our operational plans for 2012.  Olympic tickets go on sale in March and we urge people to sign up and register their interest on www.tickets.london2012.com.”

UK Sport has completed detailed planning for the UK’s programme of major international sporting events from 2013-2018. This programme will receive a budget of £5 million per year and will seek to use the catalysts of London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 to establish the UK as the world’s leading host of major international sporting events. A programme of strategic hosting targets is being finalized with national governing bodies and further details will be released later this year.

Die Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe weist darauf hin, dass die gestern veröffentlichtenZahlen der Forbes-Sportler-Geldrangliste nicht der breiten Realität von deutschenSpitzensportlern entspricht.

“Das ist definitiv nicht der Alltag eines Spitzensportlers. Wirhaben vor zwei Jahren in einer repräsentativen wissenschaftlichen Umfrage der DeutschenSporthochschule Köln unter 4.000 von der Deutschen Sporthilfe geförderten Athleten einBrutto-Monatseinkommen von 1.919 Euro und einen Nettoverbleib von 626 Euro im Monatermittelt”, sagte Dr. Michael Ilgner, Vorsitzender des Vorstands der Stiftung DeutscheSporthilfe. “Unsere Athleten haben im Schnitt eine 60-Stunden-Woche und sind daraufangewiesen, neben dem Sport für ihr schulisches und berufliches Fortkommen selber zusorgen – und das bei einem durchschnittlichen Jahres-Brutto-Verdienst von gerade einmalknapp 24.000 Euro.” Daher denken 51,9 Prozent der Athleten während ihrer sportlichenKarriere gar ans Aufhören.

Um Athleten besser fördern zu können, ruft die Deutsche Sporthilfe in ihrerSpendenkampagne “Dein Name für Deutschland” die sportbegeisterte deutsche Bevölkerungdazu auf, deutsche Spitzensportler mit 3 Euro im Monat zu unterstützen. “Ohne Förderungkein Spitzensport und keine Erfolge in London, Sotschi oder Rio”, lautet die Kurz-Formelvon Dr. Michael Ilgner. Gleichzeitig sehen mehr als 90 Prozent deutsche Spitzensportler alsVorbilder für Leistung und zwei Drittel der Deutschen sind stolz auf die Erfolge deutscherSpitzensportler, wie eine weitere repräsentative wissenschaftliche Umfrage der DeutschenSporthochschule Köln aus dem Jahr 2011 ermittelte.

Die Forbes-Geldrangliste zeichnet ein etwas anderes Bild von der Sport-Welt. Sie sah wenigüberraschend als ersten Deutschen der Formel1-Piloten Michael Schumacher mit einemgeschätzten Jahres-Brutto-Einkommen von 23,6 Mio. Euro auf Platz 20. Vor ihm rangierenBoxer, Golf-, Tennis- und Basketball-Spieler, so auf Platz 1 der Box-Weltmeister FloydMayweather jr. mit einem geschätzten Jahreseinkommen von 67,2 Mio. Euro. Golf-StarTiger Woods mit 46,1 Mio. Euro liegt auf Platz 3, die beste Frau im Ranking ist die russischeTennisspielerin Maria Scharapowa an Position 26 mit 22,1 Mio. Euro. Best verdienenderFußballer ist David Beckham auf Platz 8 mit 36,4 Mio. Euro. Zahlen, die für das Gros derSpitzensportler auf immer unerreichbar bleiben.

Formula One’s Team Lotus have appointed Steve Nielsen as their Sporting Director with the former Renault employee joining later this year.

Nielsen, who was worked at Arrows, Benetton/Renault, Tyrrell and the old Team Lotus, will join the Hingham-based outfit on December 12 as replacement for Dieter Gass, who is returning to Germany.

Team principal Tony Fernandes said: “I first met Steve in Singapore 2010 and offered him a job then which he turned down, so I am delighted he has finally taken up the chance to join us.

“It is a good mark of our team that we can attract people of Steve’s calibre and I am thrilled that someone who is so well respected, and is coming from a team that is ahead of us in so many ways, shares our belief in our ability to grow and, in due course, challenge the midfield.”

Nielsen’s move to Team Lotus means he will renew his working relationship with technical chief Mike Gascoyne, with the pair having worked together at Tyrrell and Renault.

Gascoyne said: “It is excellent news for the team that Steve has accepted the offer to join us as Sporting Director. I have worked with him extensively in the past at both Tyrrell and Renault where we played our parts in helping to build championship winning teams, which is what we are aiming to do with Team Lotus.

“I am sure he will integrate very quickly into our operation and will be made very welcome by everyone in Hingham and Malaysia.”

Team Lotus has also renewed the contract of team manager Graham Watson, with the outfit promising more staff appointments over the next few weeks.

Fernandes added: “I am very pleased that we have been able to agree a new contract with Graham Watson as he has been one of the core pillars of our team, and has had a direct influence on our growth, both on and off track.

“There are more announcements to come over the next few weeks which will all help us achieve our long-term goals, and today’s news about Steve and Graham is another step forward for the whole team.”