Longines and show jumping competition, Global Champions Tour have joined forces in a new long-term title partnership agreement, it is announced.

The Swiss watchmaker will be title partner and Official Timekeeper of the Longines Global Champions Tour, opening an exciting new chapter in equestrian sport. 

The Longines Global Champions Tour announcement comes at the start of the biggest season so far for the premier show jumping series. Longines Global Champions Tour 2013 will include dynamic debut events in Madrid, London and Shanghai. For the first time the Championship Final will take place at the magnificent Al Shaqab equestrian facility in Doha, Qatar. 

Jan Tops, President and Founder of Global Champions Tour, said: “This partnership is a significant milestone in our history and I look forward to a successful collaboration that will bring many benefits for the future of our sport. Longines has a truly impressive heritage in equestrian sport and I am delighted by the decision to strengthen our relationship with a long-term commitment.” 

Longines’ President Walter von Känel said: “The Longines Global Champions Tour and our brand share common values such as precision, tradition and especially a passion for equestrian sports. We are proud to support this extraordinary series of events in show jumping with our timekeeping expertise. True to Longines’ slogan – Elegance is an attitude – we are delighted to witness the world’s best riders and horses competing in exciting contests.”

Apparel brand, Loudmouth Golf has announced that Ladies European Tour (LET) player, Charlie Douglass, has been selected as the newest addition to the Loudmouth Golf team.

After a highly successful amateur career, Charlie fulfilled her dream of becoming a tour professional by earning full playing rights for the Ladies European Tour at Qualifying School in 2010. She recently had a career best finish of T5 at the 2013 LETAS Dinard Ladies Open. Douglass will be wearing Loudmouth’s signature golf pants, shirts and accessories while competing.

“We are thrilled to welcome Charlie to the Loudmouth team,” says Loudmouth Executive Vice President, Alan Wallace. “Charlie’s exceptional talent, enthusiasm for the sport, and personality makes her the perfect fit for our brand. We look forward to watching her win,” adds Wallace.

“I am excited to wear Loudmouth Golf apparel on tour,” says professional golfer, Charlie Douglass. “Their clothes are lightweight, comfortable and as we all know, very stylish. I can’t wait to represent their line this year.”

Douglass began playing golf at the age of 13 and is coached by Keith Wood. As an amateur, she represented England International Girls between 2004-2007, and England International Ladies between 2009-2010. Her amateur highlights include, winning the English Amateur Championship and National Order of Merit in 2009, being the number one ranked player in England 2009 with a European ranking of 8th, and being a silver medalist at the European Team Championships.

Playoff chasing English League One side, link Tranmere Rovers have announced that Home Bargains will be its new Shirt Sponsor from 2013-14. 

The Liverpool-based firm, there has signed a three year deal which is worth a substantial six-figure sum to the Club. 

The Home Bargains logo will be worn on all team home and away kit, help training kit and replica kit.

Chairman Peter Johnson said: “This is a fantastic deal for the Club and we are thrilled to join forces with such a well-run, successful family company. 

“It is a real coup for the Club to have a national company as well-known as Home Bargains as its new shirt sponsor, particularly in these difficult economic times. 

“Football and retail work well together and there are many similarities between Home Bargains and Tranmere Rovers. 

“We are both companies who take great pride in supporting our local community and who believe in providing value for money for our customers. This deal gives us the opportunity to work together on community projects in Wirral and beyond. 

“We will be proud to wear the Home Bargains logo on our shirts and look forward to a long successful relationship together.” 

Home Bargains replaces Wirral Council who are the longest shirt sponsor in English football and have supported the Club since 1989-90. 

Home Bargains has over 300 stores across the UK and twenty stores in the local area, including Prenton, Birkenhead, New Brighton and Liscard. The company also has an e-commerce website, www.homebargains.co.uk, enabling customers to buy items online. 

Joe Morris, Operations Director of Home Bargains, added: “We’re delighted to be in a position to be able to get behind Tranmere Rovers and its supporters. Home Bargains has over twenty stores located close to the club, so we know a lot of our customers are avid fans.” 

Morris continues: “The team’s had a really good season and we look forward to supporting them as they continue to go from strength to strength and push to finish as high in League 1 as possible.”

The Washington and Tama County Pork Producers announced that the two county organizations will jointly sponsor the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East versus West challenge race at Iowa Speedway on Friday, bronchi August 2.

Titled ‘Pork Be Inspired 150’, the 150-lap stock car race on Iowa Speedway’s 7/8-mile tri-oval is slated to start at 8:00 pm, following opening ceremonies and driver introductions. 

“We feel that Iowa Speedway is the ideal place to promote Pork to our consumers, and we’re very excited to be able to sponsor the NASCAR K&N Pro Series ‘Pork Be Inspired 150’ again this year,” said Heather Hora, Promotion Director for the Washington County Pork Producers. “We are very thankful for the support of Tyson Fresh Meats, The Iowa Pork Producers Association, Cargill, and Cookies Sauces and Seasonings as well. Without them, this event would not be possible.” 

The ‘Pork Be Inspired 150’ will be the tenth running of the popular K&N Pro Series at the Newton track, a touring series run in separate East and West coast divisions, and where such current NASCAR superstars as Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano have entertained Iowa race fans. Iowa Speedway’s two K&N Pro Series races are the only joint East-West events on NASCAR’s 2013 schedule. 

“The Pork Producer partners in Washington and Tama counties have been great supporters of Iowa Speedway for many years, and we are thrilled that they have chosen to remain a very important event sponsor this year,” said track President, Stan Clement. “And we are particularly pleased that the Pork Producers are renewing their support of our August NASCAR K&N Pro Series event. The ‘Pork Be Inspired 150’ is where you’ll see tomorrow’s stars today!” 

The 2013 Washington and Tama County Pork Producers’ campaign with Iowa Speedway will actually begin with the annual Cookout at the Capitol on Tuesday, April 23, where Pork sandwiches, Cookie’s BBQ Sauce and Coca-Cola products will be available for legislators and their staff members. 

“We came up with the idea for a ‘Cookout at the Capitol’ back in 2006, and the Pork Producers immediately stepped up and wanted to be a part of it,” said Iowa Speedway Sales Manager, Karen Baldon. “Whenever we have asked them to get involved with our promotions, they have been there for us, and I can’t say enough about their commitment to Iowa Speedway and to Iowans everywhere.” 

Hora was equally enthusiastic in her assessment of the joint promotional partnership with Iowa Speedway. 

“We will continue the ‘Pork Patrol’ that we started last year at the track, and we’ll be using the Twitter name @porkpitstop to communicate with tailgaters, playing a bit of trivia, and looking for the best pork entree of the race weekends,” Hora said. “There is no better place than Iowa Speedway to spend your summer weekends, and there is nothing better than a ‘Speedway Chop’ to eat while enjoying the races!”

Eni has become the title sponsor and official supplier of Eni FIM Superbike World Championship for the two-year period 2013-2014.

The announcement regarding the renewal was made today by both companies during the first European round of the season, adiposity that is taking place at MotorLand Aragon.

Eni is providing nine of the thirteen teams taking part in the series with the latest and most advanced fuel. 

Atos, price an international IT services company, unhealthy has renewed its deal as the Worldwide Paralympic IT Partner of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) until the end of 2016.

Atos began its active involvement with the Paralympic Movement in 2002 and has been the IT Partner of the 2002, discount 2004, 2006 and 2008 Paralympic Games, before becoming the official Worldwide Paralympic IT Partner of the IPC in 2008. 

The contract extension will cover the forthcoming Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympic Games and the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Atos business technologists will also provide the same high level technology expertise and support for over 20 other major para-sport events including July’s IPC Athletics World Championships, August’s IPC Swimming World Championships and October’s IPC European Shooting Championships. 

In addition, Atos will continue its engagement in future joint fundraising activities and its commitment to the Agitos Foundation will remain in place as part of its contribution to progress and enhance society through social innovation – which includes youth empowerment and inclusion. Atos sponsorship of the European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit, via the Agitos Foundation, is a great example of our commitment to power progress of society at large. 

Patrick Adiba, CEO Iberia, Major Events and Olympic and Paralympic Games at Atos, said: “At Atos, we strongly believe in and support the Paralympic Movement and are delighted to be able to extend our long term relationship through to 2016.

“Our business technologists will continue to write history for the Paralympic Movement. This helps the IPC to stage world class events and bring the sporting excellence of Paralympians to an international audience.” 

Xavier Gonzalez, IPC Chief Executive Officer, added: “There is no doubt that the expertise and experience of Atos Business technologists has had a positive impact on the development of the Paralympic Movement. Atos has helped the IPC to grow and offer better services to our members, National Paralympic Committees, athletes and competition organizers. We are delighted to extend our partnership with Atos and look forward to working together to further strengthen the organisation.”

Following a deal with global sports media compan, medic IMG Worldwide, discount Jingdong (JD.com), China’s leading direct B2C e-commerce company has become the exclusive online retail partner of the Chinese Super League (CSL) for five years.

Mr. Yu Hongchen, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and Chairman of the CSL Co., said: “We are delighted to be working with Jingdong again. Jingdong was an official partner of the CSL back in 2010. Now it’s coming back and signed a major five-year deal with us. This shows that it has faith in the CSL and its future development. We will carry out more marketing initiatives with Jingdong, such as marketing CSL merchandise products on JD.com in the future.”

Richard Liu, founder and CEO of Jingdong, said: “CSL is one of the most popular sports leagues in China and we are very excited to be working with the CSL again. This new platform CSL provides will help us connect with our consumers and football fans. We look forward to having more innovative marketing campaigns through this partnership across the country.”

IMG was named late last year as the exclusive marketing partner of the CSL for 10 years. “This is a terrific partnership for the CSL,” said Adam Zhu, Vice Chairman of IMG Asia Pacific and Chairman and President of IMG Greater China. “Jingdong has an outstanding reputation that will be very helpful in continuing to build the popularity of football in China,” Zhu said.

Jingdong had close to 100 million registered users in December 2012. It currently offers more than 7 million SKUs through its B2C direct sales and online marketplace platform.

Rhino Rugby America has been appointed an Official Sponsor and Official Supplier of Scrummaging Equipment to USA Rugby in a three-year deal.

This exciting partnership will afford the USA Eagles the ability to use premier Rhino scrummaging and rucking equipment at select training sites throughout country. 

Rhino Rugby is also offering USA Rugby members and teams a 10% discount through May 2013 on all Rhino Scrum Sleds. 

Based in Petersburg, drugs Illinois, abortion Rhino Rugby America supplies a full range of scrummaging machines and contact equipment wholly manufactured in the USA for clubs, schools and university sides throughout the North American market. 

The world famous Rhino scrummaging equipment is supplied by the parent company to the British & Irish Lions, England and Wales and many professional sides throughout Europe and the rest of the world.  Rhino Rugby America is the group’s first manufacturing operation outside of the UK. 

Reg Clark, Rhino Group CEO added: “I have been incredibly impressed by how quickly Norm Jones and Jim Carlberg of Rhino Rugby America have been able to replicate the high quality manufacturing standards we demand in respect of our globally acclaimed product range.  Rugby clubs all over the United States now have easy access to that product range, and on a ‘Made in USA’ basis. This Official Sponsor and Supplier deal with USA Rugby is a great accolade and we look forward to working with the union in one of the most exciting growth markets in world rugby.” 

Nigel Melville CEO of USA Rugby commented: “We are thrilled to leverage such a quality, American-made product range and partner in Rhino Rugby. Rhino has some of the best equipment in the world and is a welcome resource to our USA Rugby National teams and membership base alike. Rhino Rugby scrummaging equipment will be placed in key USA Rugby National Team training locations throughout the country, and will be put to great use by a variety of teams upon availability.”