Australian Rugby League has secured a new international television deal that will guarantee access to key markets including the UK, mind USA, therapy Asia and the Pacific.

The five-year agreement with IMG Media will ensure fans overseas have world-wide access to all Telstra Premiership matches as well as State of Origin, erectile Test matches played in Australia, AAMI City-Country and the Harvey Norman All Stars.

The partnership covers free-to-air television, subscription television, IPTV, mobile, in-ship, in-flight and gaming rights, as well as access to the NRL Films archive.

“What’s exciting for Rugby League fans around the world is that we now have in place a range of different options for them to watch matches across television and digital mediums,” NRL Interim Chief Executive, Mr Shane Mattiske, said.

“To have guaranteed television exposure in key markets such as the UK, USA and Pacific is really significant for growing the game’s international exposure.

“As IMG Media finalises deals in markets around the world we will be able to confirm the processes in which fans will be able to tune in to watch all the excitement of the Telstra Premiership and the best representative contests in sport, including State of Origin.”

Mr Chris Guinness, Senior Vice-President, Head of Asia Pacific, IMG Media, said IMG Media was committed to increasing Rugby League coverage across international markets.

“We are very excited about extending our relationship with the NRL over the next five years,” he said.

“The relationship has evolved from traditional international TV distribution to a complete 360 degree involvement covering all aspects of the NRL’s international media assets and we look forward to working closely with the NRL in this new exciting era.”

The international rights do not include NRL properties in Australia and New Zealand, nor do they include World Cup matches or Tests overseas.

HRH Princess Haya, president of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), announced yesterday, April 5, the resignation of Secretary General and CEO Alex McLin, praising him for bringing new professionalism to the organisation.

The press release from the FEI also confirmed that Belgian Ingmar De Vos had been appointed as McLin’s replacement.

HRH Princess Haya stated: “I am truly indebted to Alex for his hard work and dedication over the last three years. He brought the FEI into the modern era and made it much more professional. I will miss his sound counsel, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.”

In a resignation letter delivered to Princess Haya last Friday, McLin said he was thankful to have served in her first term as President, writing: “I have enjoyed being an agent of change within an organisation that we together sought to modernise and take to a new level. I have also enjoyed tackling the complex issues facing the FEI and attempting to find ways to improve its approach, its service to the sport and its stakeholders.”

De Vos, who currently serves as Secretary General of the Belgian Equestrian Federation and the European Equestrian Federation, brings a wealth of experience to his new role.

In addition to his duties with the two Federations, De Vos has a lot of experience in organising international jumping competitions and has served as Chef de Mission for the Belgian Equestrian Team at all recent World Championships and Olympic Games.

Princess Haya added: “We are very fortunate to have someone of Ingmar’s calibre join the FEI team. I look forward to working with him as we continue to unify, strengthen and modernise our Federation. He understands the needs of National Federations better than anyone. I know he will push all of us, including me, to do a better job of meeting those needs.”  

De Vos said he welcomed the opportunity to work with Princess Haya as she begins a second and final term as FEI President after her re-election in November, saying: “The FEI has been through a period of profound change. It is a much better organisation than it was four years ago. As Princess Haya said during her re-election campaign, we now have an opportunity to use this period of calm to build on our progress in a more deliberate manner. I am honoured to have a chance to be part of that process.”

ESPN and the NFL Players Association today announced a multiyear agreement for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, drugs a college all-star game featuring top draft-eligible seniors.

The 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl will be televised live on ESPN2 and be available via WatchESPN on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 6 p.m. ET from The Home Depot Center on the campus of California State University Dominguez Hills in Carson, Calif.

The agreement also includes four hours of live coverage of the Collegiate Bowl practices on ESPNU on Thursday, Jan. 17. ESPN commentators will be announced after the New Year.

The 2013 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl will be the second edition of the all-star series. This is the first time the event will air on an ESPN network.

The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl promises to be a great event featuring many draft eligible college players,” said Leah LaPlaca, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. “We look forward to televising the game and practices as part of ESPN’s offseason football programming lineup leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft.”

“Our partnership with ESPN for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl provides our future members with a special opportunity to showcase their talents,” said George Atallah, NFLPA Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs. “The week of the game offers players with invaluable preparation for their professional careers in the NFL, and we’re proud to have ESPN be a part of that.”

An agreed partnership has been reached between Soccerex and GlobalSportsJobs that will see the creation of an online jobs board dedicated to the soccer industry.

GlobalSportsJobs aims to harness the power of digital technology to provide an online destination offering access to jobs, apoplectic information, seek careers advice and a large social network. Organisations such as IMG, viagra 60mg Fast Track and Eurosport are among those which have already signed up to the service and Soccerex has now followed suit.

Under the terms of the deal, GlobalSportsJobs will create and power an online jobs board for the leading global soccer convention and information business, which will be offered to its extended network.

Will Lloyd, CEO of GlobalSportsJobs, said: “We are delighted to partner with Soccerex which has developed one of the biggest and most influential networks in sports worldwide. Together we will unlock tremendous new opportunities for people seeking jobs in football worldwide or develop their careers in the sector.

“Soccerex is a world renowned football brand and, together with GlobalSportsJobs’ innovation and technology, creates a powerful combination,” he added.

Georgia Tech Athletics have announced it has reached an agreement with IMG College, the nation’s leading collegiate marketing firm, to extend its current 14-year multimedia rights partnership through June, 2021.

The agreement includes IMG College’s exclusive representation and management of game broadcasts and coaches’ shows for radio and television, publications, digital assets, corporate partnerships, stadium and venue signage, game promotions, and game day hospitality.

“We are thrilled to not only continue, but extend our multimedia partnership with IMG College,” Georgia Tech acting athletic director Paul Griffin said. “Our relationship with IMG has benefitted Georgia Tech athletics across all our multimedia platforms on a local, regional and national level for many years.

“We are happy to join a long list of elite programs in college athletics in solidifying our long-term commitment to our partnership with IMG College.”

Through IMG College’s representation, Georgia Tech has benefitted from the support of large national brands as well as new and enhanced relationships with many local and regional companies. By consolidating schools’ media rights coast to coast, IMG formed the first national collegiate marketing platform giving companies easy access to the largest, wealthiest and best-educated fan base in sports. With GT’s involvement in this groundbreaking platform, major sponsors including UPS and Lowe’s are now providing support to GT Athletics. Additionally, IMG College has forged school sponsorships with brands such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Georgia Power, Aaron’s and many others.

“IMG College is thrilled to continue to serve Georgia Tech, an historic institution with an athletics program on the rise,” said Ben Sutton, President of IMG College. “This partnership with Tech and our continuing presence in Atlanta – a top 10 media market and headquarters for many leading U.S. companies – is important to our groundbreaking national program that the Institute will continue to benefit from.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) has appointed Briton Terence O’Rorke as its new senior manager of media relations and communications, it was announced yesterday, March 30.

O’Rorke replaces Frederic Donze who has moved to Lausanne to become the director of WADA’s European regional office and international federations.

O’Rorke has been chief sub-editor in Eurosport’s London office for the past four years but now joins the Montreal-based WADA.

The University of East Anglia graduate, who started his journalistic career at the Chatham and Rochester Gazette, has previously managed media relations for three international sports federations – Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the Asian Tour and the Ladies European Tour – and worked as a sports journalist for some of the world’s leading news organizations, including Reuters.

O’Rorke’s previous experience also include working for the sports marketing agency the World Sport Group (WSG), where he was media manager for eight years, six of them based in their Hong Kong office.

Sky TV Germany GmbH & Co. KG and the German Volleyball Federation (DVV) have joined forces and agreed an extensive partnership. 

The marketing subsidiary of Sky TV Germany GmbH & Co. KG, allergist Sky Media Network will market from 2013 the German Cup Beach Tour and the official German beach volleyball championships of DVV. The contract runs for an initial five years.

Sky has secured all platform-neutral audiovisual rights from these tournaments. Sky also has gained the exclusive right for the international marketing.

Sky from 2013, denture will air the finals of the four Super Cups of German Beach Cup tour and the semifinals and finals of the German beach volleyball championships (both women and men) broadcast live in HD and on the 24-hour sports news channel Sky Sport News HD.

Carsten Schmidt, cheap Sky Chief Officer Sports, Advertising Sales & Internet: “The exclusive arrangement with the DVV in Beach Volleyball offers for our marketing company Sky Media Network host of new opportunities “

Thomas Krohne, president of the DVV: “This agreement is a milestone for beach volleyball in Germany which will provide the live broadcasts of the sport a high priority on television and at the same time will increase the value of our German Beach Cup tour and its related sponsorships. I am very happy that we were able to call Sky a partner.”

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) has announced its second appointment in as many days after confirming that Will Chignell will become its new head of media, drug following the recent announcements of a new chief operating officer and two other significant rugby leadership roles. 

The new appointments are part of a new leadership team at the RFU, which will take the organisation through to the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in 2015 and beyond with Chignell set to join from July 4 from Sky Sports where he has spent 16 years as a rugby reporter and commentator. 

Chignell is a regular live commentator on Heineken Cup, Aviva Premiership, LV= Cup and international matches and he will now lead the RFU’s media operations across the board to ensure the organisation has a clear media strategy that is closely aligned with its business strategy.

This will include media responsibility for all parts of the RFU including the senior England team and age grade sides, but extending beyond that to cover all commercial activities and the grassroots game to further enhance the organisation’s media profile across all broadcast and print channels.

John Steele, CEO of the RFU, stated: “When you are looking at your media operations you need to know you have someone who deeply understands the way the media operates but also has the ability to connect that to the way our organisation works. 

“With over 15 years as a broadcaster Will more than fulfils that first criteria and through the selection process he clearly demonstrated to us that he had a deep understanding of the RFU and its challenges also.” 

Will Chignell added: “As rugby continues to grow, with the 2015 Rugby World Cup on the horizon, the media are crucial stakeholders in helping the sport develop further. I am looking forward to working with all parties to achieve this.”

Boxing Marketing Arm SA (BMA), erectile a subsidiary of Aiba, the International Boxing Association has appointed SatLink Communications Ltd., a teleport and HD playout centre in charge of global satellite delivery of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) 2012/2013 season.

A total of 74 events across the globe will be distributed to five continents via SatLink’s Satellite and Fibre Network in High Definition (HD) and MPEG4 on Eutelsat, AsiaSat, IntelSat and Amos satellites. In addition services such as digital archiving, recording, SNG and Fly-Away units in various territories around the globe will be provided alongside post production editing of the matches highlights.

SatLink will provide Aiba’s global satellite coverage in Ku-band and C-band on Eutelsat, AsiaSat, IntelSat and AMOS satellites and upscale the content to HD using the Snell Alchemist Ph. C to deliver the content in High Definition (HD) format to viewers around the globe. AIBA will also be utilizing SatLink’s content management capabilities including: recording, archiving, editing and conversion of news and highlights gathered from the satellite feed, as well as continuous customer service, including coordinating broadcasters and additional support before, during and after each event, and SNG services in various territories.

Kevin Na, BMA Media/TV director commented: “In previous years we have managed our broadcasting distribution in-house, but with the current customer demands across the globe, we realized that we needed a provider that could back up our global HD distribution needs and will have the ability to manage our content during live shots and distribute it on time and high quality. This is one of the many reasons we chose SatLink. Not only do they offer a customized package suited to our needs, but they also offered us unlimited support before, during and after each of our broadcasts. Each boxing event during the 2012/2013 season will be recorded, edited and archived for future use, with the distribution of highlights following each round and the editing of a full-length magazine produced every two rounds, helping us maximize our outreach to our customer-base across the globe.”

David Hochner, CEO of SatLink, added: “We are thrilled to be providing AIBA with the services they require for the broadcast of WSB 2012/2013 season, and it is another example of the benefits our Occasional Use capabilities can offer content distributors, channels, sports federations and rights holders. Using our global end-to-end distribution, transmission and content management services, broadcasters and networks are able to deliver high quality content to audiences around the world. This makes our central location, which borders onto three continents, and our global network, a reliable and effective solution for all of our customers’ broadcasting needs.”

Ben Calveley has been appointed by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) as its new head of International and Public Affairs as of June 13, clinic joining the union from UK Sport, ampoule working as head of Corporate and International Relations.

A comprehensive and intensive interview process took place to allocate the position and Calveley will now take responsibility for all the RFU’s relationships with governments in the UK and overseas and will also co-ordinate and manage the unions interactions with other key international stakeholders in rugby and other sporting organisations at home and abroad.

In reporting to Peter Thomas, drugs director of Communications, Calveley will play a key role in ensuring the RFU’s marketing and communications activities are aligned in the lead up to Rugby World Cup (RWC2015) and beyond.

John Steele, CEO of the RFU, stated: “Although we are the governing body of the game in England we are part of a global game so this is a growing area of importance for us, and indeed for all sports.

“Our reputation and relationships with governments and quasi-governmental organisations will be critical to our success and our collaboration and involvement with other domestic and international rugby stakeholders equally so. Ben is one of the leading people in this emerging area and we are delighted to have been able to attract him to the RFU.”