The World Bowls Tour and English Indoor Bowling Association have announced a new ground-breaking partnership with Premier Sports which will provide bowls fans with the most comprehensive television coverage in the sport’s history.

Over 260 hours of indoor bowls will be broadcast on Premier Sports in 2013, viagra 100mg giving the sport complete all-year-round exposure on one network for the first time.

Premier Sports’ coverage will begin in February and includes a wide range of tournaments and events on the World Bowls circuit.

There will be extensive coverage of the World Bowls Tour International Open, PBA Masters, National Under-25s, EIBA Singles Finals, England Internationals, World Pairs and the brand new Premier Threes events.

Horizon Solutions, who have a strong track record in producing Bowls events on television, will handle the year-round coverage for Premier Sports.

The subscription sports channel is available on Sky channel 428, making it accessible to over 10 million homes in the UK.

Since inception in 2010 the broadcaster has focused on identifying sports that are not covered in-depth on mainstream UK television but have a loyal and passionate following.

Bowls will now sit alongside the channel’s existing coverage of Blue Square Bet Premier football, RFL Championship rugby league, French Top 14 rugby union, NASCAR racing, boxing, handball and ice hockey, with subscribers able to enjoy top quality live action every week of the year.

Richard Sweeney, CEO of Premier Sports, said: “We look forward to delivering the best Indoor Bowls from around the UK all year long.

“We have been very impressed with the loyal following Bowls has in the UK and the commitment and passion of its players and administrators.

“Now they have the opportunity to really get behind the weekly TV coverage that will become even more extensive if the support is there.”

Peter Thompson, Chief Executive, EIBA Ltd said: “We are delighted to be part of this major initiative for the sport of Indoor Bowls.

“It provides weekly exposure for our top competitive bowlers and showcases the sport, including the new shorter and faster format of Premier Threes, to a far wider audience than ever before.

“This will introduce the sport to new audiences and encourage them to become part of the sport.

“The promotion of the sport is a key strategy for the EIBA on behalf of its Clubs and with the same vision being shared by Premier Sports, Horizon and the World Bowls Tour this partnership will only strengthen this objective.

“I would ask that members and clubs take up the offers available to subscribe so that we can continue to grow and develop bowls on television.”

Bowls has a tradition of attracting strong TV audiences and Richard Maddison, CEO of World Bowls Tour Ltd, speaking from the recent Scottish Open event in Perth added: “World Bowls Tour are really pleased to be a part of this exciting and bold initiative that gives the sport of bowls a weekly, all year round presence on television for the first time in history.

“With Premier Sports, Horizon and the EIBA this partnership in events, TV hours and regular programmes will truly develop and strengthen all aspects of the sport.

“As WBT add to the professional circuit over the ensuing months we believe that the sport of Bowls has never been better placed to face the future.”

In addition to the new Premier Sports deal, bowls will continue to receive exposure on terrestrial television as the BBC will again broadcast live coverage of the World Indoor Championships on BBC Two and Red Button, with the 2013 tournament starting on January 21.

Leading digital media company Perform Group have, buy as expected, order floated a 25 per cent stake in the agency through an IPO on the London Stock Exchange with the hope of raising around US$113m.

A notice on the sports specialist agency’s site claimed the proceeds will be used to fund organic growth and further acquisitions.

Perform said it wants to exploit opportunities posed by new digital platforms such as tablet devices, discount as well as expand into high-growth markets like Russia and China.

The statement read: “Underlying social and technology drivers point to further growth in the rapidly developing global market for commercialising digital sports content. The directors believe the opportunities for Perform to monetise sports content rights are significant.”

The announcement also disclosed a new management structure that will see former CEO Paul Walker become non-executive chairman, replaced by Oliver Slipper and Simon Denyer as joint-CEOs.

ESPN STAR Sports (ESS) and ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) announced today an expanded partnership that marks the start of “ABL Friday Basketball” on ESS networks.

This new partnership is in line with plans to bolster ABL coverage in the upcoming 2013 season that tips off in January, as well as a new commercial agreement.

In addition to the LIVE broadcast on television (ESPN & STAR Sports), the matches will be available across multiple platforms including online (ESPN Player) and mobile (Mobile ESPN). ESPN STAR Sports will also work with the ABL on its broadcast coverage with enhanced on-air graphics for a superior fan experience.

Said Peter Hutton, ESPN STAR Sports’ Managing Director: “We see prime time Friday night basketball as a powerful tool to further popularize the ABL. We’re very impressed with the league’s willingness to help us jointly grow the sport”.

Said Anthony L. Macri, ABL CEO: “It is encouraging to have a dedicated and renowned partner in ESPN STAR Sports who shares our ambition to elevate regional basketball across South-East Asia. Fans who have followed the evolution of the sport on ESPN STAR Sports will have many more great moments to catch in the coming seasons with their top-class coverage and commitment to take the sport to greater heights.

“The ABL has grown from strength to strength since its first year to become a highly-anticipated entertainment event in the sports calendar today. With stadium attendances rising substantially across the region and increasing buzz on our social media platforms, this is a perfect partnership with ESPN STAR Sports to increasing the ABL’s profile in the region and making the games more accessible for fans.”

Basketball fans can also look forward to additional programming on ESPN STAR Sports in the upcoming season that includes the weekly show ‘ABL Crossover’, a magazine style program which includes entertaining off-court segments with a lifestyle spin as well as game highlights, news and interviews with ABL personalities across the region. The ABL will also enjoy additional news coverage on SportsCenter, Score Tonight and on the 24-hour sports news channel, ESPNEWS thus keeping basketball fans updated on the latest news, views and results.

ESPN STAR Sports will also work with the ABL to further build upon its promotional efforts through ESS’ on-air networks, digital media assets including regional ESPNSTAR.COM and dedicated sites ESPNSTAR.MY and ESPNSTAR.ID in Malaysia and Indonesia respectively. The partnership also includes social media campaigns that raise engagement levels with basketball fans across Asia.

The ABL tips off its fourth season on 11 January 2013.

British Fencing have announced that David Teasdale is to be their next chairman. Teasdale had been acting as a consultant for the sport and is currently chair of both Business in Sport & Leisure (BISL) and the Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG).

He replaces acting chair, David King, who led the panel that conducted a lengthy and rigorous recruitment process. That group included Liz Nicholl, chief executive officer of UK Sport.

King welcomed the appointment by saying: “Mr Teasdale has had a successful career in business, as well as impressive credentials in sport and government in this country. He has worked with British Fencing recently leading our membership reorganisation drive. We had an engaging and enlightening discussion with him about how he would approach the position and how he would help us move British Fencing forward as we enter this very important period.  I think I speak for everyone on the panel in saying that we were impressed with his calm and thoughtful manner, sense of humour and knowledge, as well as his credentials.”

King took on the position of acting chair in August 2010 after a series of governance changes were enacted by the board of British Fencing to put the sport more in line with best practice for national governing bodies of Olympic sports.  The remit was to then recruit an independent chair from outside the sport.

Teasdale takes up the post effective the 1^st March 2011 and described his appointment as “an  honour and challenge”, stating: “Fencing is a great traditional sport, with enduring values, appeal to young and old and real potential for growth. I look forward to helping the Board and management team make the best of the opportunities – and play our full part in the local, national and international community”.

Ecuavisa, the leading TV network in Ecuador, has acquired the exclusive, long term U.S. broadcast rights for the top ‘Primera A’ division in Ecuador, whose matches will be aired live in the U.S. through its Ecuavisa International feed.

The teams included in the exclusive agreement include Barcelona (currently ranked #1 in Ecuador), Emelec (#2), Deportivo Quito (#8), Deportivo Cuenca (#10) and Universidad Católica (who re-entered Division A in 2008). The announcement was made today by Ecuavisa CEO Xavier Alvarado.

“Securing the exclusive U.S. broadcast rights for these leading teams secures Ecuavisa’s dominance as the network of choice for Ecuadorians living in the U.S. and football fans regardless of their ethnicity,” said Alvarado. “Passionate about our hometown teams, Ecuadorians living in the U.S. will now be able to turn to Ecuavisa for all of their Primera A football coverage.”

“We can now ensure our viewers that Ecuavisa will be broadcasting the matches of the top performing football teams in Ecuador’s Primera A division,” added Ecuavisa General Manager Guillermo Hidalgo. “Fans will be able to watch their team’s matches live, cheer for their favorite players and have plenty of opportunity to analyze and debate every play. That is, afterall, what is most important to sports fans, second only to winning!”

Ecuadorian football clubs have fought hard for international success. The first club to reach the finals of an international tournament was Barcelona, who reached the finals of the 1990 and 1998 Copa Libertadores, but lost both. In 2001, Emelec became the second club to reach the finals of an international tournament at the 2001 Copa Merconorte, but they too lost. In 2008, LDU Quito became the first club to win an international title by becoming the 2008 Copa Libertadores champion and went on to win the Recopa Sudamericana and the Copa Sudamericana, both in 2009. Perhaps 2013 will be the year Ecuadorian teams earn the opportunity to compete on the world field.

Mike Davis has been chosen as executive director of the U.S. Golf Association, viagra 100mg succeeding David Fay, therapy who retired in December.

Davis becomes the seventh executive director in the organization’s 116-year history, cough | having served as the USGA’s director of rules and competition since 2005.

Fay, 60, held the position for 21 years before ending his 32-year tenure with the Far Hills, New Jersey-based USGA, which oversees the rules of golf in the U.S. and Mexico and stages 17 annual national championships, including the U.S. Open.

Davis, 46, joined the USGA in April 1990 and has held roles including championship director of the U.S. Open from 1997 through 2004.

Die DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga wird voraussichtlich im 1. Quartal 2013 erstmals die Audio-Verwertungsrechte an den Spielen der Bundesliga und 2. Bundesliga für die Spielzeiten 2013/2014, denture 2014/2015, doctor 2015/2016 und 2016/2017 für das Gebiet der Bundesrepublik Deutschland ausschreiben.

Exklusiv vergeben werden drei Rechtepakete: die nationalen Audio-Liverechte für UKW (Paket “Audio Broadcast”), medic die nationalen Audio-Liverechte für IP und Mobile (Paket “Audio Netcast”) sowie ein Zusatzpaket mit erweiterten Stadion-Zutrittsrechten (“Audio Erweiterungspaket”). Nicht Gegenstand der Ausschreibung sind die nicht-exklusiven Rechte für eine kurze Audio-Berichterstattung über Spiele von Clubs aus regionalen Verbreitungsgebieten. Diese werden im Nachgang mit interessierten Marktteilnehmern verhandelt.

Darüber hinaus bleiben auch die Club-Rechte im bisherigen Umfang bestehen. Alle am Erwerb der Audio-Verwertungsrechte interessierten Unternehmen werden voraussichtlich im Januar eingeladen, sich für die Teilnahme am Ausschreibungsverfahren bei der DFL registrieren zu lassen. Die DFL wird allen registrierten Unternehmen anschließend den sogenannten “Procedure Letter” zusenden, der den Zeitplan sowie die Regelungen für die Durchführung des Ausschreibungsverfahrens enthält. Die DFL plant, die Entscheidung über die Rechtevergabe bis Ende März 2013 zu treffen.

Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Bud Selig announced over the weekend that Joe Torre had been appointed as the league’s new Executive Vice-President of Baseball Operations, completing a long transition for the department.

Torre will oversee all on-field matters, including umpiring, rules and discipline and act as a liaison to the 30 General Managers, and as a result, will become one of the major public faces for MLB.

The four-time World Series champion replaces John McHale, MLB Executive Vice-President of Administration, who had been running the department on an interim basis since last June after fellow league Executive Vice-President Jimmie Lee Solomon was reassigned to a baseball development role. McHale will now return to his prior role.

Selig made the announcement at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the new Spring Training complex for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondacks in Scottsdale, stating: “This is a very critical appointment. As I thought about this a lot over the past year, he’s really uniquely suited for this position.”

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) have renewed their broadcasting agreement for the Critérium du Dauphiné, viagra order the next edition of which will be held from 2 to 9 June 2013.

The agreement signed covers the three-year period 2013–2015, medic joining the Critérium du Dauphiné with the other cycling events organized by ASO – Tour de France; Paris-Roubaix; Liège-Bastogne-Liège: Flèche Wallonne; Paris-Tours; Paris-Nice; Critérium International and Tour de l’Avenir – for which the broadcasting agreement was renewed by the EBU last year.

France Télévisions will provide the international signal from the event that will be broadcast by a large number of major general-interest channels that are Members of the EBU, as well as by Eurosport.

EBU Director Sports & Business Stefan Kuerten said: “Cycling is an important element of our sports rights portfolio, and a sport that deserves maximum reach. It is deeply gratifying to have renewed this agreement, and to continue working with ASO, a key EBU partner.”

Yann Le Moenner, Director-General of Amaury Sport Organisation said: “Thanks to the EBU, the Critérium du Dauphiné, a veritable dress rehearsal for the Tour de France, will continue to enjoy widespread exposure throughout Europe, providing viewers with a foretaste of the major events in July.”

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body will pay to insure players on international duty, in a move expected to satisfy Europe’s top clubs, president Sepp Baltter announced on Thursday.

Blatter told UEFA’s annual congress that the “total insurance coverage” will take effect after FIFA’s national members approve it at their gathering in May.

“This is an insurance coverage for the players, for the clubs and the (national) associations” for all matches on FIFA’s international calendar,” Blatter told officials from Europe’s 53 soccer nations. “You have to take into account the best interests of the players.”

FIFA follows the lead of UEFA, which said in January it would pay for insurance at Euro 2012, after strong lobbying by the European Club Association.

The 200-member ECA campaigned after Bayern Munich lost Arjen Robben for six months when the Netherlands winger returned injured from the 2010 World Cup.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of Bayern and the ECA, lamented at the time that Robben “came back in worse condition and now we have to pay the bill.”

Rummenigge had urged FIFA then to use some of its billion-dollar reserves from World Cup revenues to fund an insurance program.

Clubs received a share of funds at the 2010 World Cup, with FIFA paying out a daily rate from a $40 million fund for as long as each player from the 32 teams was involved in the tournament.

Still, Rummenigge said Bayern received only $73,000 — less than one week of basic pay — for Robben’s time spent in South Africa.

Blatter said Thursday that FIFA’s new insurance policy should be in place when European qualifying matches for the 2014 World Cup begin in September.

Thursday shaped as a profitable day for clubs worldwide, particularly those in Europe.

UEFA was set to announce an increased sum it will set aside from Euro 2012 revenues for its clubs’ compensation scheme.

UEFA president Michel Platini and the ECA had previously agreed that $72 million would be distributed among worldwide clubs whose players were selected for the 16 squads for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Clubs could also receive a bonus next week from FIFA, which currently has budgeted to give $70 million in compensation to clubs for letting their players compete at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The subject is on the agenda when FIFA’s executive committee meets March 29-30 in Zurich.