Mazda MX-5 Cup has announced BFGoodrich Tires as their new presenting sponsor for the 2014 season.

For 2014, canada ed the series will be known as the Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires.

“The relationship between BFGoodrich Tires and Mazda now covers four decades and included a successful trip to Le Mans in 1984. We are proud of both our brands’ heritage in motorsport, drugs which continues in 2014 with the Mazda MX-5 Cup utilizing the BFGoodrich g-Force R1-S as the spec tire and BFGoodrich becoming the series presenting sponsor, generic ” noted Peter Calhoun, Motorsport Marketing Manager for BFGoodrich Tires, Inc. 

“The MX-5 Cup is known within the paddock as ‘must see’ racing with many races determined on the last lap,” said John Doonan, director of Mazda Motorsports. “Key to the success is great partners, and we have enjoyed fantastic support from both the marketing and technical sides of BFGoodrich Tires. We’re thrilled to have them step up as the presenting sponsor for 2014. We also wish to thank our friends at Playboy for six great years. Hopefully our paths will cross again.”

For the 2013 season, the total series payout was in excess of $500,000. The top prize of the MX-5 Cup remains a Mazda supported ride in a series above.

Nissan has agreed to be the official partner of Muscle Milk Pickett Racing it has been revealed.

The partnership will see the two-time Championship winning team not only be powered by Nissan throughout the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season, but also take part in the Japanese manufacturer’s Nismo Global Driver Exchange.

As part of the program, which was launched last year to provide drivers in the Nissan ‘family’ to contest major events across the globe, racers from Nissan’s squad of international talent will compete alongside Muscle Milk’s Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf at Daytona, Sebring and Road Atlanta.

Greg Pickett, Team Owner, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, said: “We’re extremely pleased to become Nissan’s official partner team and to have them as part of the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing family.”

Darren Cox, Nissan Global Motorsport Director, added: “We’re glad to welcome Muscle Milk Pickett Racing to the Nissan family and look forward to having our official drivers learn from such a successful team.

“We are also very proud to have brought Nissan back to the forefront of US sportscar racing. Our company has an incredible pedigree dating back to the old IMSA championship and I’m certain Nissan and Nismo will add to that history in the coming years.”

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing will be on track January 3 – 5 at Daytona International Raceway with its Nissan-powered ORECA 03 for the annual Roar before the 24 test.

The season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona takes place January 25-26, 2014.

Pirelli has been announced as the official motorcycle tyre sponsor of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, for 2014-2016 and the sole tyre supplier for Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX and BTO Sports-KTM teams. 

The Italian tyre company has signed a multi-year agreement with Feld Motor Sports, a division of Feld Entertainment and promoter of the Championship, to be an Official Sponsor and will support the riders Josh Grant, Justin Brayton, Andrew Short and Matt Goerke.

The deal is for the period 2014-2016 which includes the sponsorship by the Italian tyre company of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship.

For the 2014 season, which includes 17 events and starts on January 4 at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium in California and ends on May 3 in Las Vegas, Pirelli is also the official tyre supplier of the Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX team and its riders Josh Grant and Justin Brayton plus BTO KTM-Sports team riders Andrew Short and Matt Goerke.

Uberto Thun-Hohenstein, Senior Vice-President of Pirelli Moto and Head of the Business Unit Moto, said: “I am very pleased with this agreement which involves us in Monster Energy Supercross for the next three years. Pirelli is undoubtedly an Italian company that has always had a strong large-scale effort and interest around the world. The American market, as well as the Asian one, is a very important region in which we want and must grow because we are strongly aware of the excellent quality of our products and we want to prove it. In the Motocross World Championship our expertise has led us to win 60 world titles.

“This agreement, as was the case on an international scale with Formula 1 and the FIM Superbike World Championship for which we are sole tyre supplier, will allow us to strengthen our brand awareness in the U.S. by making Pirelli known and appreciated by the American public in what, for them, is the most popular motorcycle sport.” 

UCI Pro team Garmin-Sharp have announced the The World Wildlife Fund as a new partner for 2014 season.

“We are honored to partner with WWF and help its critical mission of creating a future where people live in harmony with nature, drugs ” said Garmin CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “We’re thrilled to contribute to WWF’s efforts to ensure that cyclists, cycling fans, and everyone else have a healthy, thriving planet to enjoy for generations to come.”

The panda logo is located on the back of the team’s jersey, which is made by Castelli.

The WWF works to conserve nature and its biological diversity. With more than five million supporters, it is active in 100-plus countries.

The Indiana Members Credit Union of Indianapolis has become an official partner of the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars and its 18 NCAA Division I sports programs.

The new partnership  agreement will allow IMCU to install its signage in the IUPUI gymnasium, ed broadcast public address announcements at home athletic events and on radio, pharmacy Web and television commercials during all 2013-2014 men’s and women’s basketball broadcasts.

“Indiana Members Credit Union is proud to be an official sponsor of IUPUI Athletics,” said Ron Collier, president/ CEO of IMCU.  “IMCU was founded on the campus of IUPUI over 57 years ago and our ties to the campus remain strong. Supporting local organizations like IUPUI is important and we look forward to cheering on the Jaguars throughout the year.”

More than 250 Jaguars’ student-athletes represent IUPUI annually in more than 300 athletic competitions throughout the state, region and country, according to IMCU.

The partnership will also give IMCU advertisement opportunities in IUPUI’s basketball game program, as well as exclusive game-day sponsorship of three select men’s basketball games which includes front cover logo placement on game-day program, hosting the halftime entertainment, and official sponsorship of the game on the radio, Internet and halftime interview during the broadcast.

IMCU said it now serves more than 111,000 members and operates 25 branches throughout central Indiana.

Under Armour Inc., a Baltimore-based sports apparel supplier, has agreed a deal to outfit the University of Maryland Terrapins for at least another decade as the university’s Athletics Department extended its contract with the company, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

The original contract between Under Armour and the university from 2008 — a $17.5 million, five-year deal — was previously renewed in 2009 and expires Dec. 31, the Journal says.

Under the existing contract, Under Armour is the exclusive outfitter of the University of Maryland’s sports teams, coaches and their staff. Under Armour provides the athletics department with at least $1.9 million worth of products yearly, in addition to an annual $1.48 million rights payment to the university, the news site reports.

Nick Symmonds, capsule the five-time USATF 800-meter champion and 2013 world championships silver medalist, has signed an endorsement deal with Brooks after leaving Nike.

The switch comes after the most successful season of Symmonds’ career, the most successful one an American male 800-meter runner had in decades. And it means “I will need to sell my house in Eugene,” says Symmonds, who says his agent, Chris Layne, was told that “I’m not welcome to use the University of Oregon facilities.” Symmonds had been a member of the Nike-sponsored Oregon Track Club since becoming a professional runner in 2006.

“For the goals that I’ve set for myself on and off the track, I think that Brooks is going to be a better fit,” says Symmonds, who flew to Seattle on New Year’s Day to sign his deal at Brooks’ corporate headquarters. Although he emphasized that he “truly appreciated” what Nike had done for him for seven years, he stated, “just for the immediate goals and the long-term goals, Nike and I were no longer a good fit together.”

Symmonds’ track goals include a possible world indoor championship in the 800 this winter in Poland and appearances in the 800 and 1500 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. But matters less specifically athletic in nature seemed to influence his move to Brooks.

Moreover, he says, “Brooks will allow me to continue to court other sponsors.” Symmonds already has relationships with the Idaho-based wellness company Melaleuca and with Hansons Dodge Creative, a marketing firm that won an auction to rent temporary tattoo space on his shoulder. The arrangement with Brooks “opens up an opportunity to go after Garmin or Oakley or something like that.”

“I would have come off as a little bit hypocritical if I said that we need to fight for the athlete’s rights to be able to market themselves and operate as independent contractors and then I would go sign a Nike contract that basically completely crippled my ability to do that,” says Symmonds. “That’s why I’m putting my money where my mouth is and I’m signing with Brooks. I truly believe that they are the company to go with if an athlete wants to be supported and to have a family around.”