The LPGA today announced that Sparkling ICE, drugs producers of naturally flavored sparkling mountain spring water that is part of the TalkingRain family of beverages, will become the Official Sparkling Flavored Water of the LPGA.

As the newest partner in the LPGA’s growing portfolio, Sparkling ICE will receive a fully integrated marketing program across all LPGA platforms including Sparkling ICE “Bold Round of the Day” tournament highlights on the Golf Channel, a presence on LPGA.com, and activation at tournaments via signage and sampling.

“We are excited to partner with Sparkling ICE and to provide them with a platform to grow their brand throughout multiple facets of the LPGA’s business,” said LPGA Chief Marketing Officer Jon Podany. “Sparking ICE is a brand on the rise with great momentum, much like the LPGA.”

This is the first foray into golf sponsorship for Sparkling ICE, which has existing relationships with the Orange Bowl, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and more.  Through the LPGA sponsorship, Sparkling ICE expects to reach over 700,000 fans via event sampling, consumer-engaging tournament activations, and retailer partner promotions, with additional initiatives including ticket giveaways, social media tie-ins and more at key tour stops such as The Jamie Farr Toledo Classic in Ohio, The Solheim Cup in Denver, Safeway Classic in Portland, OR and the Canadian’s Women’s Open.

“We are thrilled to join forces with the LPGA to bring our boldly-flavored, zero-calorie Sparkling ICE to the tournament’s fans and athletes,” said Kevin Klock, President of TalkingRain Beverage Co., the makers of Sparkling ICE.

This week’s CME Group Titleholders is the final event on the 2012 LPGA Tour schedule. To date this season, the LPGA has added five new Official Marketing Partners, including Tiffany & Co., International Hotel Group, National Rental Car, Sunology and Sparkling ICE.

Also Symetra, the Bellevue, Wash.-based life insurance company and sponsor of the Symetra Tour — Road to the LPGA, has signed a multi-year agreement securing the naming rights for the Tour’s season-ending event, the Symetra Tour Championship 

In addition to increasing its tournament support in 2013, Symetra will offer two players who earn their LPGA Tour cards — the Symetra Tour Player of the Year and another player of Symetra’s choosing — with $25,000 endorsements.

“We had such a successful first year with Symetra as our Tour’s umbrella partner, and we are excited to deepen our relationship,” said Nichols. “It’s wonderful to have a partner that is so fully invested in both the Tour and the players who will be making their way onto the biggest stage in women’s golf.” 

Symetra Tour Player of the Year Esther Choe also participated in today’s announcement at the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Titleholders at TwinEagles Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

“We’re pleased to broaden our Symetra Tour support with the addition of another title tournament, and we’re delighted to be affiliated with two rising golf stars,” said Jim Pirak, Symetra senior vice president of Marketing. “Our inaugural year as sponsor of the Symetra Tour has been an exciting one. We’ve watched our brand take flight along with the careers of many talented young golfers — and the response from our employees and business partners alike has been extraordinarily positive.”

The Symetra Tour Championship will be the 2013 Tour’s season-ending event. Scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 29 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., it will be the Tour’s only four-day tournament and will continue to serve as the site for the LPGA Tour Card Ceremony. For the first time in Symetra Tour history, the top 10 players on the 2012 season-ending money list were awarded equal, exempt LPGA Tour status for the 2013 season.

Symetra began its partnership with the Tour in 2011 when it was the title sponsor of the Symetra Classic in San Antonio, Texas. The event moved to Charlotte, N.C. in 2012 and will be held at Raintree Country Club again next season.

BMW have replaced fellow German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz as the main sponsor of the Hong Kong Derby.

The Jockey Club’s seven-year romance with Mercedes-Benz has ended, with the announcement yesterday that BMW will put its name on the Derby for the next five years.

There will be no increase to the HK$16 million in stake money the Derby has carried since 2007, which leaves it sitting just ahead of the Epsom Derby, just behind the Kentucky Derby, but a long way behind almost HK$28 million in prize money for the Japanese Derby.

While Mercedes-Benz also sponsored the Group One four-year-old lead-up races, the Classic Mile and Classic Cup, there was nothing in yesterday’s announcement to indicate that BMW would be following suit.

This year’s winner of the annual event was Douglas Whyte on Fay Fay.

Burhill Golf Club and the Aviva Premiership Rugby side, London Irish have teamed up to offer members the best in elite golf and rugby.

As London Irish’s preferred golf club, Burhill – part of BGL Golf, leading UK golf course owner and operator, will be able to offer its members a wide range of benefits, including behind the scenes player access, reduced match day tickets and the use of hospitality suites at the Madejski Stadium, home of London Irish. 

In return Irish has the opportunity to utilise all the facilities on offer at Burhill Golf Club, including two Championship golf courses – The Old Course, a heathland course with some of the trickiest greens in Surrey, and New Course, four-time host of the Europro Tour – private meeting rooms and function suites within the 18th century Georgian mansion that forms Burhill’s clubhouse.

Richard Marsh, London Irish Commercial Director, said: “Club directors, senior management, coaches and players have all expressed a keen interest and will all be taking the opportunity to play both courses – in fact many of the players have already taken advantage of the partnership for a few games.”

David Cook, Burhill Golf Club General Manager, added: “Both Burhill Golf Club and London Irish are premier clubs and by working together we can bring more benefits to both our members and fans of London Irish.

“I know our members will be extremely enthusiastic to take up London Irish on many of their offers, including the use of hospitality boxes twice a season, as well as seeing many of the country’s top rugby players enjoying the facilities at Burhill Golf Club.”

Conceptum Sport Logistics, generic the German project logistics specialist, buy cialis has been named the official partner of the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) for logistics services during the 2012 tour.

Japan’s rugby team has a heavy schedule ahead of it: they will be squaring off against Romania in Bucharest on 10 November, Georgia in Tiflis on 17 November, and the Basque team on 21 November in San Sebastian. The final match will be against the French Barbarians in Le Havre. The German logistics provider Conceptum will be in charge of all team and equipment transport logistics for these matches.

“We’re excited about this partnership, which nicely rounds out our portfolio of services for customers from the world of sports, as well as for numerous Olympics Committees. What’s more, the tight scheduling of the European tour is a logistical challenge,” said Conceptum Sport Logistics CEO Sebastian Stahl. 

“Our transport logistics mileage during the first six months of this year equated to 1,425 trips around the world. For us, transport means assuming responsibility from dispatch to destination, as athletes themselves would do,” Mr. Stahl adds.

More Japanese brands have reportedly been asked not to sponsors marathons in China as the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands continues to impact major sporting events in the region.

Japanese watch company, prostate Seiko, has been reportedly been spurned by the Beijing Marathon, which it had sponsored in the past and Canon, also a major sponsor, has been asked not to sponsor the event.

Uniqlo and Japan Airlines, also sponsors of the Shanghai Marathon, were among the other companies believed to have been asked not to support the event.{jcomments on}

UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos inked a deal with Nike.

The 28-year-old Dos Santos is now the new face of Nike’s Brazilian team.

“I want to share my happiness with you guys because now I’m part of team #NIKE biggest sports brand in the world. It’s an honor to me Thank God,” dos Santos tweeted.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“Junior Cigano is a top athlete, and to have him on the Nike team is an honor,” said Luís Alexandre, director of sports marketing for Nike Brazil. “The information we receive from athletes is the vector of innovation at Nike. A top athlete is never satisfied. He always wants more: more wins, more titles, better products. This is the energy that moves the brand.”

The only other UFC athletes currently sponsored by Nike are UFC middleweight champ Anderson “Spider” Silva and UFC light heavyweight champ Jon “Bones” Jones. Silva and Jones both inked Nike deals in 2012.

Dos Santos, who has lost just once in his six-year pro career, fights Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.

Rapid Solicitors has continued its valued support of Wakefield Trinity Wildcats by extending its stadium naming rights sponsorship for 2013. 

It will see the Hull-based personal injury compensation experts take the naming rights for the Wildcats home ground for a third successive season as part of a portfolio of sports sponsorships which includes the Elite Ice Hockey League, medicine MotoGP and British Superbikes. 

The owners of Rapid believe strongly in giving back to the community and as well as supporting sport at a national professional level, Rapid also has relationships with many grass roots sporting clubs. 

The firm specialises in fighting for compensation for victims of accident injury and medical negligence, successfully helping thousands of injured people claim millions of pounds to help compensate for injuries. 

Wildcats Commercial Manager, Martin Hopkins, said: “The continued support of a national brand such as Rapid Solicitors is excellent for the club and we’re delighted to once again be playing at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium in 2013. 

“We’re proud to be sponsored by a company that excels in the service it provides. Rapid Solicitors has provided significant investment to the club over the last few years.” 

Commercial Manager at Rapid, Martin Ward, added: “I wanted to be involved with the Wildcats because Wakefield is where I grew up and I love it.

“I hope the supporters of the Wildcats appreciate our support of the team and will choose Rapid should they ever need the services of a Personal Injury Law Firm.”

Breitling has agreed a marketing partnership with David Beckham for the soccer superstar to be the face of the watch manufacturer’s Transocean Chronograph Unitime worldtimer watch.

One of the world’s most successful sportsmen and style icons, David Beckham stars in the Breitling advertisement featuring a highly evocative visual shot by renowned American photographer Anthony Mandler. On the runway of the Mojave Air & Space Port in California, this striking image shows Beckham standing in front of a private jet wearing his Transocean Chronograph Unitime.

“I’ve always been a long-time admirer of Breitling,” said David Beckham. “As a company they create not only the highest-performance watches but also timeless designs that have inspired generations. It was a natural choice for me to partner with this fantastic brand.”

 

Konica Minolta will support the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in the role of Official Data Partner in a four-year deal. 

By partnering with FIS as one of the biggest international sports federations, medicine Konica Minolta will be present at 31 Ski Jumping World Cup events in nine countries in Europe and Asia; including Norway, order Finland, drugs Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan. 

The aprtnership will help Konica Minolta to receive a strong media presence in a number of European countries from the autumn until the spring. With this engagement Konica Minolta is not only strengthening its brand presence overall, but is also setting up the image of Konica Minolta in European local organisations as a transnational company. 

“We are happy to be part of a sport that enjoys a high level of technical sophistication. This engagement reflects Konica Minolta’s approach of delivering highly technical solutions. With the strong presence in Europe that comes with our sponsorship, we will not only build a bridge between sophisticated technical solutions and sports, but we will also strengthen the Konica Minolta brand coverage across Europe,” comments Olaf Lorenz, Head of International Marketing at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe.

“Konica Minolta is the first company to benefit from an attractive, newly designed sponsorship package for Ski Jumping as our Official Data Partner. As an internationally renowned brand, we greatly value their engagement”, says FIS President Gian Franco Kasper.