DoMark International Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, MuscleFoot Inc., has announced that it has added fighters Evan Dunham and Igor Pokrajac of the UFC to its sponsorship initiative.

MuscleFoot markets the revolutionary Barefoot Science insoles that improve athletic performance and provide elite athletes with a winning edge. To act as exclusive agent for future UFC and MMA related projects and sponsorships, DoMark has retained FY Productions until March 31, 2013.

UFC 152 will be held on Saturday, September 22nd at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario with a light heavyweight main event between Jon Jones and Vitor Belfort. The night’s four-fight main card airs on Pay-Per-View in the US and Canada, with the preliminary card bouts airing live on FX TV in the US and SPORTSNET in Canada at 8PM Eastern. The official weigh in will be broadcast live on FUEL TV in the US and SPORTSNET in Canada at 4:00 PM EST on Friday, September 21.

MuscleFoot showcased its revolutionary Barefoot Science technology by signing Nick Symmonds and Will Claye of the 2012 US Olympic track and field team to endorsement contracts earlier this summer. Later in August, MuscleFoot supported Damarques Johnson at UFC on Fox. And now MuscleFoot is back supporting two more UFC fighters. MuscleFoot brings hardcore performance enhancement technology through Barefoot Science and the UFC is the perfect arena in which to see it.

Evan Dunham was originally scheduled to fight T.J. Grant on the main card at UFC 151 until the UFC made the decision to cancel its first event in history under the Zuffa, LLC brand. As a result, Dunham has been bumped down to the preliminary card in UFC 152. 

TicketCity, asthma a ticket industry pacesetter for over 22 years, malady has confirmed the company will not continue as the title sponsor of the bowl game played at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, find known previously as the TicketCity Bowl.

“We would have loved to continue as the title sponsor, but the new ownership group is going in a different direction without a corporate sponsor,” said Randy Cohen, CEO of TicketCity. “We’re going to try to stay involved in a different capacity, while continuing to look for a new home for the TicketCity Bowl.”

The ticket service, based in Austin, TX, is actively evaluating new bowl sponsorship opportunities, including alternate sponsorships with the same Dallas bowl game, as well as the possibility of a title sponsorship for a new bowl game. “We’re already in talks with a couple of bowl associations and hope to have a new deal in place before the start of next season,” added Cohen.

TicketCity currently has sponsorships with ten other college bowl games, including; the Advocare 100 Independence Bowl, Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, BBVA Compass Bowl, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, Gildan New Mexico Bowl, Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, MAACO Las Vegas Bowl, Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, and the Valero Alamo Bowl. TicketCity also partners with a dozen NCAA Division I schools including Arizona State Athletics, Baylor University Athletics, University of Colorado Athletics, Georgia Tech Athletics, University of Minnesota Athletics, Mississippi State Athletics, Oklahoma State University Athletics, SMU Athletics, Southern Miss Athletics, Vanderbilt Athletics, Wake Forest Athletics, and Washington State University Athletics.

In addition to the ownership change, the TicketCity Bowl’s participating conferences changed due to conference realignment. The 2013 game was originally scheduled to match-up Big Ten versus Big 12, but will instead feature Big Ten versus Conference USA. The Big 12 had to end their participation when they dropped down to just ten conference members.

“We have enjoyed being part of the game in Dallas and honored to have helped bring a New Year’s Day game back to the historic Cotton Bowl,” added TicketCity COO Zach Anderson. “The bowl game has helped to increase awareness of TicketCity, and the great service we offer our clients.”

The Spanish Football League (LFP) has announced a sponsorship deal with Finnish gaming company Paf.

Paf, erectile who already have a camp in Madrid, purchase will launch a string of promotions throughout the duration of the 2012-13 season.

Anders Ingves, CEO of Paf, said:

“We are very happy to be able to align ourselves with the world’s premier football league.

“In cooperation with La Liga we have the opportunity to provide our customers with unique experiences and products. As relative newcomers to the market, this partnership also gives us greater exposure and credibility with the Spanish people. Paf is an event-oriented company and I am impressed by LFP’s activities with their sponsors.

“I firmly believe that this partnership will strengthen the growth of Paf, which already has gained momentum in Spain.”

Francisco Roca, LFP General Manager, added: “We are very pleased that Paf has decided to sign this agreement with the LFP because we share essential values, and Paf also understands that through this association they can offer their customers in Spain added value and unique experiences.”

Record English soccer champions Manchester United has announced a three-year global partnership with Yanmar, ampoule Japan’s leading engineering company, which contributes to the ground, ocean, and urban environment with its state-of-the-art engine technologies.

Yanmar is one of the world’s leading engine manufacturing companies: it has a greater than 60% share in the world’s sail-boat engine market and produces more than half of all small-size diesel engines for construction machinery.

Through innovation and support, Yanmar remains committed to nurturing talented individuals across many sectors, ranging from engineers to athletes.

As one of the club’s official global partners, Yanmar hopes to extend its long-standing association with Japanese football to the UK and other global markets.

As part of the company’s corporate social responsibility policy, it has long-established links with the world’s most popular sport, even going as far as establishing its own club in Japan, and has been active supporting talented young footballers in Asia.

Takehito Yamaoka, chairman and president of Yanmar, said: “Since establishing its own team in Japan back in 1957, Yanmar has been championing the sporting ethos football creates, such as hard work, determination and excitement. Many of these traits are still the core values of Yanmar today.

“With Manchester United’s popularity and presence in Asia and the world, Yanmar is confident that this partnership will promote the company’s global presence and activities.

“Yanmar would like to extend its gratitude to Manchester United for the opportunity to be one of its official global partners and to align ourselves with the biggest club in the world.”

United’s commercial director Richard Arnold added: “Like Manchester United, Yanmar is steeped in history, this year celebrating a centenary of creating ground-breaking state-of-the-art technology in its field.

“With 659 million followers, United has a huge global audience and through our alliance we hope to introduce Yanmar and its expertise to some of our key markets. In return, Yanmar will help us in our desire to engage with our nearly four million Japanese followers.”

Betfred has extended its title sponsorship of the Gold Cup for a further three years, order running through to 2015.

Following its purchase of state-owned bookmaker The Tote, in June 2011, the betting company took over the sponsorship of the Cheltenham’s most renowned race in 2012.

John Haddock, Managing Director of Betfred, said: “After the tremendous success of the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup last year, we wanted to secure a further long-term deal.

“We are delighted to be associated for three more years with the greatest steeplechase in the world and look forward to working with Cheltenham to making the race even bigger and better.”

Paul Fisher, Group Managing Director of Jockey Club Racecourses, said: “This is an important deal for Cheltenham, Jockey Club Racecourses and British racing. People from all walks of life get excited by the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup and we look forward to continuing to grow its unique appeal in partnership with Betfred.”

The 2013 Cheltenham Gold Cup will be held on Friday, March 15.

Adidas has experienced greater financial returns from its sponsorship of Euro 2012 than the London Olympics.

Adidas was the sole sportswear partner of the London Olympic Games in a deal worth US$162.2m.

The deal saw Adidas’s UK Olympic merchandise sales more than triple compared with the 2008 Games in Beijing, helping to boost first-half sales in the UK by 24 percent.

But the German company admits the financial returns from its commercial association with the Olympics aren’t nearly as high as from soccer. It plows money into the sport’s two biggest international tournaments, the FIFA  World Cup and UEFA European Championship.

Adidas paid a large sum for sponsorship of this summer’s European Championship, which broadcast its logo to billions of viewers across around the world.

“A soccer event has clearly a positive effect on sales because you can sell millions of the match ball. Fans also buy the jersey of the team,” Jan Runau, Adidas’s chief corporate communication officer, said.

Adidas sold seven million ‘Tango 12’ balls and one million Germany replica shirts before and during Euro 2012. Adidas forecasts record global sales of more than US$2.1 billion from soccer in 2012, 23 percent higher than in 2008, when the last European Championship was held.

The immediate sales impact for Olympic sponsorship is believed to be lower as most of the sports included in the Games are not as commercially driven as soccer.{jcomments on}

 

The airline industry’s global sports sponsorship expenditure has hit $515 million per year.

Two carriers, medicine Emirates and Etihad, hospital dominate the sponsorship market, accounting for nearly half the overall amount spend on worldwide sponsorship, with the former splashing out an estimated $182m annually solely on right fees.

The combined spending of US carriers has reached the $100 million mark per year, although their investment is noticeably targeted domestically. Delta and United are in the front of the queue, while JetBlue, who considers sponsorship to be its main marketing tool, has overtaken its biggest rival Southwest in the spending charts.

In the meantime, Europe’s ‘legacy’ carriers have taken a step back from sponsorship spend in a fierce and increasingly competitive arena. Aeroflot leads from the front as Europe’s biggest spender, acquiring rights to both Sochi 2014 and CSKA Moscow. British Airways and Turkish Airlines are the only other two carriers that have managed to sneak into the top 20 sports investment.

In Asia, AirAsia and Korean Air are the heavy hitters, yet sponsorship spend remains relatively low, despite Qantas and Virgin Australia having also invested more than usual.

It is predicted that airline sponsorship will continue increase steadily due to new competition, particularly Chinese and Indian airlines.

Plans to remove Olympic worldwide partner Atos as a sponsor of Glasgow 2014 have been put in place, due to the French IT firm’s involvement in cutting the benefits bill.

During the Paralympic Games, hundreds of disabled protestors gathered outside Atos’ UK headquarters in central London.

Atos have received a £100million contract from the government to carry out the controversial tests that deem whether claimants of incapability benefits are ‘fit to work’.

The company are set to provide Glasgow 2014 with software to accredit as many as 50,000 athletes, officials, media representatives and volunteers, as well as supply results systems, medal tables and the Games website.

Sean Clerkin of Citizens United has condemned the sponsorship.

“Atos are not a fit and proper organisation to be part of the Commonwealth Games, so there will be protests,” he said.

“Atos should be dropped completely as a sponsor.

“They’re just profiteering on the misery of disabled people.”

It is unlikely that the campaign will succeed, as Glasgow look likely to stand firm amidst a wave of protests.

A Glasgow 2014 spokesman said: “As a worldwide IT partner for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Atos has demonstrated unwavering commitment to driving forward the Paralympic Movement by providing dedicated practical support to athletes for the last 10 years.

“We’re very proud to have global IT experts Atos as part of our family.”

Having been propped up by the support of International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven, as well as LOCOG  Chairman Lord Sebastien Coe, Atos seem unfazed by the commotion.

A spokesman for the IT firm said: “While we fully respect people’s right to peaceful protest and understand this is a highly emotive issue, Atos is proud to be an official supporter of the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee.”

 

The British Paralympic Association (BPA) today announced that they have signed Sainsbury’s as a commercial partner through to the end of 2016.

The announcement comes just five days after the closing of the London 2012 Paralympic Games where the ParalympicsGB team’s performance captivated the nation. 

The new deal, hospital which means Sainsbury’s joins BT as an official partner of the BPA, cialis starts in January 2013, once the current relationship through the Joint Marketing Programme with LOCOG ends. It includes rights to the BPA and ParalympicsGB, the team that will compete at the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics and the Rio 2016 Games. These will be leveraged initially through an activation programme ‘Sainsbury’s Active Kids For All’ that promotes inclusive PE and sport in schools and communities.

Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of the BPA said: “I am delighted that Sainsbury’s will be continuing its partnership with the BPA on the road to Rio.  It demonstrates how successful our relationship has been through to London 2012 and sends a clear signal that the Paralympic movement in this country is a very attractive proposition for major companies. Our 2012-2017 Strategic Plan outlines our intention to build on the momentum  coming out of the London 2012 Games for the benefit of the Paralympic movement in the UK and so to have this relationship in place so soon is fantastic.”

Sainsbury’s were the first Paralympic-only sponsor to sign up for London 2012. As part of this deal, they got rights of association with the ParalympicsGB team and have driven colleague engagement through a number of initiatives, such as the local Paralympian scheme which introduced stores to their local athletes. The team has also featured heavily in all their ‘above the line’ activation which has included sponsoring short form films on Channel 4, the host broadcaster of  the 2012 Paralympic Games and in their advertising, which also featured their ambassador David Beckham.

Jat Sahota, Head of Sponsorship, Sainsbury’s commented: “The impact on our business of our London 2012 Paralympic sponsorship has been profound – from colleague engagement through to customers at the till point. This has been driven by the inspiration of the ParalympicsGB team. Now we want to build on that through to Rio, starting with the Sainsbury’s Active Kids For All programme as well as our Sainsbury’s School Games both of which will drive inclusion at grass roots level.”

Jane Jones, Director of Marketing and Communications commented: “To have a partner with the reach and customer base of Sainsbury’s is an incredible opportunity for the BPA. To have them on board now, joining BT who signed in 2010 is a great start to the Rio cycle. Our ambition is to have a family of partners who share our values and want to help us drive the Paralympic movement here in the UK.”

Ulster Rugby’s flying start to the season has been given a turbo charged boost with the signing of a major new sponsorship deal with Aer Lingus.

Details of the two-year support package were unveiled at a signing ceremony held at Ravenhill. 

As part of the new relationship, Aer Lingus will provide Ulster Rugby with air travel as well as supporting the development of travel and accommodation packages for Ulster supporters to away matches.

Declan Kearney, Aer Lingus Director of Communications said: “As the official airline of Ulster Rugby we are absolutely delighted to have the responsibility of providing transport from George Best Belfast City Airport and Dublin Airport for the playing squad, the support team and fans, throughout our extensive UK and European network.

“The broadening of our sponsorship horizons through this exciting new Ulster Rugby deal reflects a continued commitment by Aer Lingus to the local community and complements our other community support such as sponsorship of the Dublin GAA team and of the Galway Hurlers supporters club.

“We look forward to welcoming Ulster’s players, support team and fans on board our flights over the coming season and future years.”

Phillip Polack, Ulster Rugby Business Development Director said: “The reputation of Aer Lingus as a proactive organisation fits superbly with our ambitions at Ulster Rugby and we look forward to cementing a long-lasting partnership.”

Aer Lingus will start flying from George Best Belfast City Airport on Sunday 28th October 2012.