With the World Cup in Brazil just over the horizon, Brazilian legend Pele has become a global brand ambassador for Golazo, Inc.

Pele and the Golazo team will begin working together immediatelyon Golazo’s award-winning Natural Sports Fuel drinks – Golazo Energy and Golazo Hydration.

“I know the importance of making healthy choices to provide your body with the fuel to be the best you can be, both on and off the field,” said Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the icon most commonly known as Pele. “I am excited to partner with Golazo, a company that matches my conviction for natural and healthier products with my passion for the beautiful game.”

“We are meeting the needs of today’s athletes in a new way,” stated Richard Tait, Golazo Co-Founder and CEO. “Golazo products are changing the rules in the traditional energy and sports hydration space, where incumbents are under increased scrutiny for artificial ingredients and sugar or sodium-laden formulas. The super goal is combining industry-leading functionality with phenomenal flavor, all from healthier Non-GMO ingredients; that’s the Golazo!”

“Our multi-year and cross-category partnership with the legendary Pele – who has scored more goals than any other professional player in history – celebrates peak performance and being the best you can be in a natural way,” continues Tait.

Pele headlines an expanding roster of notable soccer players on the Golazo Brand Ambassador Team. The company recently added All-Star midfielder and Portland Captain Will Johnson, and Seattle’s All-Star and National Team Defender DeAndre Yedlin.

Four-time major champion Ernie Els has become a brand ambassador for specialty sock company, Stable 26.

Known as “The Big Easy” for his stance and smooth swing, South African professional golfer Ernie Els is no stranger to success. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 and the South African Golf Hall of Fame in 2009, Els knows the value of comfort and stability on the green.

Ernie Els commented: “As a professional golfer I would say I take over a million steps a year in competitive play, so it’s impossible to over-estimate the importance of your feet being comfortable and well supported,” commented Ernie. “That’s why I choose Stable 26 socks. The in-built silicone pads provide extra padding where you need it most. Together with my ECCO golf shoes they help give my swing a secure foundation and ensure maximum comfort and support, literally every step of the way.”

The LPGA Championship, LPGA Tour’s flagship event, has been rebranded the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the LPGA Tour, KPMG and the PGA of America will announce Thursday.

The revamped tournament brings not only new money to the table for the tour — the purse, which is $2.25 million for the Wegmans LPGA Championship this year, will climb to $3.5 million in 2015 — but also greater coverage for women’s golf. In addition to Golf Channel televising Thursday and Friday play, weekend rounds will be aired on NBC.

The five-year deal includes next year’s event to be played at Westchester Country Club 35 minutes north of New York City. The tournament will travel, with no permanent home, but the preference for KPMG is to play it in the New York area as often as possible.

On the years when the men’s tour has majors in that area, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta are cities KPMG, the tax and auditing giant that has endorsement deals with Phil Mickelson and Stacy Lewis, would consider.

The move deepens the relationship between the LPGA and the PGA of America, whose 27,000 teaching members have formed an alliance with the LPGA Teaching and Club Pro Division, bringing medical benefits and legal protection to the women teaching pros.

“KPMG is proud to take on this groundbreaking sponsorship and to work with the LPGA, the PGA of America and NBC to inspire today’s and tomorrow’s women leaders,” said John Veihmeyer, Global Chairman of KPMG. “This collaboration will not only bring women’s golf to new audiences – it also creates opportunities to expand women’s leadership on and off the course, empowering today’s women leaders and cultivating the next-generation of female leaders.” 

“This is a landmark moment for the PGA of America as we partner with KPMG and the LPGA to embrace an historic Championship and focus on the advancement of women,” said PGA of America President Ted Bishop. “We look forward to teaming with the LPGA to make the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship the can’t-miss week for female leaders. Together, we believe this Championship – broadcast to millions around the world – will energize new audiences in our collective effort to grow the game.”

The LPGA Championship began in 1955, five years after the birth of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Past champions include legendary players Mickey Wright, Betsy Rawls, Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez, Juli Inkster, Annika Sorenstam and Se Ri Pak.

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship field of 156 will include the top eight finishers from the previous year’s LPGA Teaching & Club Professional National Championship, including PGA of America women members if they rank among the eight positions.

“The LPGA Championship has a very proud 60-year tradition and I couldn’t be more excited to carry this forward in an even bigger way with the partnership of KPMG, the PGA of America and NBC. The Championship will now reach even greater levels of global exposure, player opportunities, and community impact,” said LPGA Commissioner Michael Whan. “This event will change lives – both for the female professionals that will compete in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and for the women it will impact in both the women’s leadership summit and community initiative.”

Professional services firm EY has been revealed as the Official Professional Services Supplier to England Rugby, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) have announced.

EY was successfully appointed as the RFU’s official tax advisor over 18 months ago following a competitive tender process and this new agreement will see the firm offer general tax advice and planning, as well as helping to deliver a number of business consultancy projects.

Through the deal, EY has been appointed to work closely with departments across the organisation beyond the corporate functions, adding value and knowledge from the grassroots end of the game up to the elite level.

Sophie Goldschmidt, RFU Chief Commercial Officer, said: “This announcement comes at an important time for the RFU as we build towards next year’s World Cup. EY’s high level of objective advice will be crucial in helping us to deliver against our strategic plan. This is another globally recognised brand to add to our partnership portfolio and we both share long-term ambitions for the partnership.”

Jeremy Hallett, Partner and Head of Business Development in the UK & Ireland, said: “Teams get results when the top talent works together. This is as true in business as it is in sport and probably none more so than in rugby. It’s why I’m delighted that we’ve been able to confirm our burgeoning relationship with the RFU with this announcement.”

Having worked closely with EY for a few years, Steve Brown, RFU Chief Financial Officer, commented: “We have been impressed with EY’s partnership approach, investing significant time and energy into learning about our business. It is fantastic to see how passionate their team is about what we do. We look forward to benefitting from their advice over the coming years.”

Sharon Stotts, EY Director, added: “We’ve been privileged to be able to work with Steve and his team over the past 18 months on a number of interesting and exciting projects and look forward to working together on many more.”

Scottish rugby has secured a major long-term multi-million pound deal with global communications and broadcasting giant BT.

The four-year partnership, order ed | unveiled at the home of Scottish Rugby this afternoon, sees BT gain naming rights to Murrayfield Stadium, which will be known as the BT Murrayfield Stadium.

The deal will also include the British company becoming a sponsor of the Scotland 7s side from the outset of the 2014-15 HSBC Sevens World Series while also backing Scotland’s domestic league and cup competitions from next season.

“This is a momentous day for Scottish Rugby,” declared the union’s chief executive Mark Dodson. “We are very proud to bring BT back into our family of sponsors on a size and scale that is unprecedented both for Scottish Rugby and, we believe, Scottish sport.

“While the headlines may be dominated by the naming rights of the stadium, today’s announcement underlines BT’s alignment to our own values and goals, particularly that rugby clubs are the heart and soul of their communities that offer a welcome to all, young and old, boys and girls, men and women.

“This new funding underlines our desire to deliver more opportunities for young people to take up our game and broaden the reach of rugby across Scotland.”

Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: “BT is at the heart of Scotland providing communications for the nation and rolling out fibre broadband and we are delighted to be further extending our partnership with Scottish Rugby which sits at the heart of communities across Scotland.  The growth and scale of this partnership demonstrates our commitment to Scottish Rugby.

“BT will build on this partnership to expand its support for communities across Scotland, with the roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband making a real difference – particularly in rural areas; we’ll see sport and technology working hand-in-hand.”

BT joins Scottish Rugby’s official partners RBS; Macron, Caledonia Best, Ginger Grouse, Guinness, Dove Men +Care, Spire healthcare, Sportscotland, Cashback for Communities,  Peter Vardy and viagogo.

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