The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) have agreed a six-year agreement for Mello Yello to replace Full Throttle as its title sponsor, starting in 2013.

The deal through 2018 will extend Coca-Cola’s title-sponsor partnership with the NHRA Drag Racing Series to 17 years. The series carried Coke-owned Powerade in its name from 2002 to ’08 before Full Throttle’s four-year stint.

Mello Yello gives the NHRA cachet as a more identifiable brand than Full Throttle (which will remain the NHRA’s official energy drink) and has motor sports roots spanning two decades. Mello Yello was famously featured on Cole Trickle’s car hood in the 1990 movie Days of Thunder and sponsored Kyle Petty in NASCAR from 1991 to ’94.

“It’s going to be a shot in the arm for this sport in general,” NHRA President Tom Compton said. “Mello Yello, candidly, is a larger brand and will have more resources to activate” such as point-of-sale promotions at major retailers.

Sharon Byers, Coca-Cola’s senior vice president for sports and entertainment, said the move to reintroduce Mello Yello to motor sports wasn’t motivated by rival Diet Mountain Dew’s sponsorship of popular NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

“(Mello Yello) is about good times and carefree living but also about high energy and excitement,” Byers said. “It just made sense.

“It’s not that we’re competing with anybody.”

Harlequins Rugby Football Club, the current Premiership champions, announced today that LV= is to continue as an official sponsor for another four years.

Insurance, retirement and investment group LV= has been a loyal partner of Harlequins since 2008. Under the terms of the new sponsorship agreement the LV= logo will remain on the playing shorts and collar of the club’s playing shirt.

The company will also retain the naming rights to the west stand at the Twickenham Stoop, which will now have a designated ‘LV= Family Area’. The LV= Love Girls, a favourite of home and visiting supporters alike, will also continue to be part of the club’s match day experience.

Commenting on the renewal of the relationship with the famous west London club, Claire Jeromson, Head of Sponsorship at LV=, said: “We are very happy to be part of the Harlequins success story and to be able to extend our support of the club for the next four years. Harlequins has worked hard to achieve its current position, and we look forward to working with the club to build on this in the coming years.”

David Ellis, Chief Executive of Harlequins added: “We are pleased that LV= is continuing its valued relationship with the club. The group has been a loyal and supportive partner for four years and has been part of our recent success. LV= shares our commitment to improving relations with our supporters, our match day experience in particular where their support for the new family area is much appreciated.”

The renewal of the sponsorship was brokered by brandmeetsbrand and brandRapport.

Sports drink Energade have agreed a new three-year sponsorship deal with the he South African Football Association (SAFA).

The sponsorship will see Energade become the official sports drink of all national teams under SAFA.

Energade is a leader in the science of rehydration and has a proven record in helping sportsmen and women to achieve their goals.

Energade was launched in 1993 as the first sports drink in South Africa, just a year after Bafana Bafana played their first match after readmission into international football.

Through the sponsorships of SA Rugby, the Comrades Marathon, Absa Cape Epic, and other key sporting properties, Energade quickly became a household name associated with high performing sportsmen and women.

Peter Matlare, CEO of Tiger Brands, said: “Tiger Brands understands an important connector between food, beverages and well-being as being physical activity and in this context – sport. We also appreciate the role of sport in this and as a contributor to nation building. We have thus been heavily involved in South African sport for a number of years now with Comrades Marathon and Springbok Rugby, but believe that we have a lot to offer football as well. We take enormous pleasure in helping our national teams to perform to the best of their abilities and give them the fuel they need to be the best in the world.

“We know that this is a crucial time coming up for Bafana Bafana, especially with the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on the horizon. We want to be a part of the national team’s success and are thrilled to have reached this partnership with SAFA for the next three years.”

SAFA President Kirsten Nematandani, added: “We are delighted to have Energade on board as one of our partners and know that this fantastic product will help our athletes maintain peak performance. In professional sport you need to endeavour and gain every advantage possible and we know that this sponsorship by Energade will give our teams that extra boost they need,” Nematandani says.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Energade for the professional manner in which they entered into negotiations with us and believe that this is just the beginning of a long association between our respective winning brands.”

Kevin Pietersen recent controversies haven’t deterred sponsors after Citizen Watches agreed a sponsorship deal with the English cricketer. 

Citizen Watches India MD Katsusuke Tokura said: “We are delighted to have Kevin Pietersen as Citizen’s brand ambassador. Kevin Pietersen is one of the finest batsmen, his sophistication and style superbly personifies our brand.”

Pietersen will feature in brand’s communication of the New Super Titanium watch collection.

Super Titanium incorporates Citizen’s committed pursuit of materials and advanced technologies which resulted in twin integration of lightness and toughness, the company said.

Zara Phillips MBE, eventing team Olympic silver medallist in London 2012 and former European and World Champion, has been announced as the first Magic Millions Racing Women (MMRW) Ambassador, an appointment that will see her visit Australia in early January 2013 for the week-long Magic Millions Carnival.

Daughter of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, Ms Phillips holds a number of elite sporting accolades, including earlier this month when she won a silver medal in team eventing at the London Olympic Games. She is a former European individual and team Gold medallist as well as individual World Champion in 2006. She was named the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year and was conferred a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to equestrianism in 2007.

Magic Million’s Racing Women initiative was created to educate and encourage Australian women to become more active in all aspects of the thoroughbred racing industry. Ms Phillips will be the perfect spokesperson to create awareness for this important initiative in Australia and internationally.

Speaking from her UK stables post-Olympics, Ms Phillips said how pleased she is to be associated with Australia’s premier thoroughbred sales company, Magic Millions, and to be representing its Racing Women initiative.

“My passion for horses and all aspects of equestrian competition stems from my family’s influence. My mother rode for the British team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and my father won Gold at the Munich Olympics in 1972 as well as a team Silver in the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He has just retired from being coach for the US eventing team after 20 years.

“My grandmother’s passion for racing is certainly no secret. She has a good number of horses in training each season, so I have developed an appreciation for the racing side and a strong understanding about the intricacies of breeding and training required. The rewards speak for themselves – it is certainly exhilarating to see a horse you have a vested interested in cross the line first as I know firsthand having trained a few horses over fences myself.

“Beyond ownership women continue to play an important role in horse racing and bloodstock in a number of areas. Australia is a serious contender internationally and is renowned for the quality of its thoroughbreds, racing carnivals and professionalism. It will be terrific to experience the Carnival first-hand and inspire ladies to get more involved,” Ms Phillips said.

MMRW was launched in 2011 by Magic Millions co-owner and thoroughbred horse racing industry advocate, Katie Page-Harvey. Her vision is to continue to increase the profile of women in the sector with which she has been involved for over 30 years. Ms Page-Harvey is delighted to have such an internationally accomplished equestrienne to help educate women about the MMRW initiative.

“We are delighted that Zara has agreed to be the inaugural ambassador for the Magic Millions Racing Women initiative. She was an exemplary ambassador for her sport and her country at the recent Olympic Games in London and we look forward to welcoming her to Australia in January.

“The aim of the Racing Women initiative is to increase the profile of women within our industry and involve more women in ownership. Thoroughbred racing contributes AUD$5 billion to gross domestic product each year* and we know women work to create a lot of this output.

“We want to shine a light on women’s vital contribution and make it easy for women to participate through horse ownership. Statistics indicate that less than 25% of Australia’s racehorses are owned by women either as individuals or in all-female partnerships**. I’d like to see more. Through ownership you become involved in all facets of the business – training, tactics and the thrill of a win is like nothing else”, Ms Page-Harvey said.

Queensland Minister for Tourism and Major Events, Jann Stuckey, said: “We are very excited to welcome Ms Phillips to Queensland for this iconic race day and I would like to congratulate her on securing the role as ambassador for the Magic Millions Racing Women initiative.

“To attract an internationally recognised equestrienne of Ms Phillips’ standard to the Magic Millions Raceday and Carnival is a fantastic example of Queensland’s growing status as a premier event and holiday destination.

“The Newman Government recognises the importance of events like Magic Millions in supporting Queensland’s tourism industry – contributing to our 2020 target of doubling overnight visitor expenditure to AUD$30 billion,” said Ms Stuckey.

Ms Phillips will visit Australia and attend the Magic Millions Carnival and Raceday on Saturday 12 January 2013 on the Gold Coast, Queensland, where the world’s first women’s-only incentive – Magic Millions Racing Women (MMRW) 2YO Classic – will be run. The race offers a prize money incentive of AUD$500,000, which will be distributed between the top four ‘all female owned or leased’ horses in finishing order.

India’s largest realty firm DLF has decided to end its five-year long association with Indian Premier League (IPL) as the title sponsor by opting out of renewing it’s contract.

The company, however, said it will promote other sports and is currently exploring various such platforms for association. It had last week gifted luxury sports utility vehicle ‘Audi Q5’ to four Olympic medal winners from Haryana.

“We have just stepped off the IPL. Sponsoring IPL over the last five years was a strategic decision wherein we wanted to establish our brand presence across India as the leading real estate player,” DLF Group Executive Director Rajeev Talwar told PTI.

The last date for renewal of the contract was July 28 but the company ventured in the opposite direction.. The firm has the first right of refusal for title sponsorship of the Twenty20 league, Talwar said.

“Our IPO came in 2007, a year before the IPL started. We were very aggressive pan-India then. We had good presence in all big cities,” he said.

DLF is now concentrating on those cities, where the company’s core strength lies, he added.

“Currently we enjoy significant reach, brand recall and presence across the country. We believe that we have been able to achieve the desired objectives to a great extent,” Talwar said, adding that the company would continue to nurture talent through various CSR initiatives undertaken by DLF Foundation.

Talwar said, however, DLF will continue to be very active in promoting sports and encouraging healthy living.

“We are looking out for what is the big platform in the country. We want to promote different sports for a good, clean and healthy living, which we do in our all the townships also,” he added.

When asked if the company has identified any other sports to nurture, he said the firm is assessing what kind of game is emerging in areas where the company has business operations.

“We are not for any franchise and we will not own any team,” Talwar said, adding DLF was also exploring options on joining hands with any federation, academy or government.

Talking about spending on other sports, he said: “There is no limit and we have not earmarked anything, but it will be less than Rs. 50 crore ($898,084) a year that we spent in IPL.”

Am 29. August starten mit der Übertragung der Eröffnungsfeier die Sommer-Paralympics in London. Täglich zeigen ARD und ZDF die Spiele für Menschen mit Behinderung live in mehreren Sendestrecken. Zum 16ten mal finden diese speziellen Sommerspiele statt, buy bei denen Athleten, order die mit Schicksalsschlägen oder Unfällen, Geburtshandicap oder Erkrankung umgehen müssen, mit bewundernswertem Engagement um olympische Ehren kämpfen.

Die Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung (DGUV) übernimmt das Programmsponsoring dieses besonderen Sportevents. Der Hauptgeschäftsführer der DGUV, Dr. Joachim Breuer, erklärt das Presenting-Engagement bei den Paralympics wie folgt: “Für eine gute Rehabilitation nach einem Unfall sind Sport und Bewegung einfach unverzichtbar. Nicht nur körperlich. Für die Menschen, die durch einen schweren Unfall schwere Verletzungs-folgen erlitten haben, ist der Erfolg, den sie durch wieder gewonnene Bewegungsfähigkeit erleben, unglaublich viel wert. Und das motiviert sie, weiter zu machen. Daher sind die Paralympics-Sportler mit ihrer Energie und ihrem Durchhaltevermögen große Vorbilder. Wir hoffen, dass es gelingt mit beeindruckenden Bildern aus London, die wir mit unserem Presenting unterstützen, viele Menschen zum Sport zu bringen. “Drei paralympische Leistungsträger, der Alpin-Skiläufer Gerd Schönfelder, der Monoskifahrer Martin Braxenthaler und die blinde Biathletin Verena Bentele, mit insgesamt 38 Goldmedaillen bei den vergangenen Paralympics, sind die Protagonisten in den Presenting-Spots der DGUV.

Vom 29. August bis zum 9. September werden rund 4200 Teilnehmer aus 165 Nationen in 20 Sportarten um 503 Goldmedaillen kämpfen. Die Paralympics sind seit der ersten Live-Übertragung 2000 ein eigenständiges Großereignis, das großes Publikumsinteresse sowohl in den Stadien, als auch vor den Fernsehern generiert. 

Der Geschäftsbereich Digital Products & Services Central Europe der Toshiba Europe GmbH präsentiert sich pünktlich zum 50. Jubiläum der Bundesliga erstmalig als Sponsor eines deutschen Erstligisten: Borussia Mönchengladbach setzt ab sofort auf die innovativen Notebooks und TVs seines “neuen offiziellen Technikpartners”. Damit treffen sich zwei traditionsreiche Unternehmen, pills die zusammen seit fast 250 Jahren Wert auf Innovation, sale Qualität und Kreativität legen.

Die “Fohlenelf”, drugs wie Borussia Mönchengladbach seit den goldenen 70er Jahren genannt wird, konnte die vorige Bundesligasaison auf einem hervorragenden vierten Platz abschließen. Die Rheinländer genießen hohe Sympathiewerte, nicht zuletzt aufgrund ihrer Förderung im Jugendbereich. “Wir freuen uns sehr, mit Toshiba ein sympathisches Unternehmen und eine ausgezeichnete Marke als Partner gewonnen zu haben. Toshiba steht für Professionalität, Leidenschaft und Begeisterung und passt somit hervorragend zur Borussia,” stellt Guido Uhle, Prokurist bei Borussia Mönchengladbach, heraus.

Das Thema Fußball ist Toshiba bereits vertraut: So war der japanische Hersteller IT-Sponsor der WM 2002 in Südkorea/Japan und 2006 in Deutschland. Zur diesjährigen Europameisterschaft war Fußball Bestandteil eines reichweitenstarken TV Spots. In der neuen Saison wird Toshiba im Borussia Park mit Werbeteppichen (Get ups) neben den Toren und vollformatigem Branding (Roll outs) an den TV-relevanten Marathontoren vertreten sein, die die Aufmerksamkeit der Fans auf die Marke lenken und Toshibas Bekanntheit steigern werden.

“Wir versprechen uns viel von dieser Zusammenarbeit mit Borussia Mönchengladbach: Für die Marke Toshiba und auch für unsere Partner. Durch eine gesteigerte Markenbekanntheit beim Kunden und eine erhöhte Nachfragegenerierung wird auch der Fachhandel von unserem Engagement profitieren. Außerdem freue ich mich aber auch ganz persönlich über die Verbindung zu diesem erstklassigen, sympathischen Verein, mit dem wir uns dank der räumlichen Nähe und der gemeinsamen Werte so gut identifizeren können”, so Gerd Holl, Regional General Manager, Toshiba Europe GmbH, Digital Products & Services Central Europe.

Die Toshiba Europe GmbH (TEG) ist ein Tochterunternehmen der Toshiba Corporation, Tokio, eines global agierenden Konzerns, der auf eine mehr als 130 Jahre währende Geschichte zurückblicken kann. Toshiba ist einer der größten IT- und Elektronik-Konzerne der Welt und ein führendes Unternehmen im Bereich der Hochtechnologie. Die TEG mit ihrer Zentrale in Neuss, Deutschland, umfasst die Geschäftsbereiche: Digital Products & Services, Speichermedien und Electronic Systems Operations. Zu den Produkten der unterschiedlichen Geschäftsbereiche zählen Highend-Notebooks und andere mobile Produkte und Lösungen, Festplatten, DVD-/Blu-ray-Player, LCD-/LED-Fernseher. Seit 2010 koordiniert die Toshiba Europe GmbH auch den Vertrieb von LED-Lampen und -Leuchten für Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz.

Die Toshiba Corporation wurde 1875 gegründet und umfasst heute ein globales Netzwerk aus mehr als 550 Unternehmen mit 202.000 Mitarbeitern und einem jährlichen Umsatz von über 74 Milliarden US-Dollar (31.03.2012).

Citizen is celebrating 20 years as official timekeeper and official watch of the US Open Tennis Championships, while Azarenka is celebrating her progression to the second round of the tournament.

Azarenka is said to be a perfect fit for Citizen’s Unstoppable campaign, owing to her determination, acumen and style as well as her on court accomplishments.

Azarenka said: “I am delighted to join the team of international Citizen Eco-Drive brand ambassadors. I admire Citizen’s commitment to the international sport of tennis as a sponsor of this hard court Grand Slam event for two decades. I also admire Citizen’s watches. Citizen’s wide range of watch designs means that I can always find something to fit the moment whether sporty or dressy; and their commitment to the environment with their Eco-Drive light powered technology makes me feel good when I wear them.”

The England and Wales Cricket Board announced today that Friends Life, the current title sponsor of domestic Twenty20 cricket, will not be renewing their contract with the ECB beyond the 2013 season.

The decision follows a change in Friends Life’s corporate objectives. The company has been title sponsor of the Friends Life t20 competition for the past three years, and previously sponsored the Friends Provident Trophy 50-over competition for three years.

In order to assist the ECB in identifying a suitable successor for this exciting and popular competition, Friends Life has given the ECB the earliest possible notification of their plans, meaning that the ECB can have discussions with interested parties. Both Friends Life and the ECB are open to the possibility of a new sponsor taking over the title sponsorship for the 2013 season.

ECB Commercial Director John Perera said: “The ECB thanks Friends Life for its support of domestic cricket in recent years. The brand has benefited from significant exposure as the t20 format has continued to grow in popularity with cricket fans.

“Our search for a new sponsor will begin immediately and we anticipate significant interest from potential partners who wish to be associated with one of sport’s most exciting and dynamic properties.”

Corporate Affairs & Brand Director Peter Foster added: “We have enjoyed a successful sponsorship of the domestic t20 competition and have been a partner of cricket for many years.

“We are however conducting a review of our sponsorship programme with our agency Generate Sponsorship and this work has identified that the competition audience does not fit with our future customer strategy, although other formats of the game may still provide a relevant association. We continue to enjoy a strong relationship with the ECB and wish them well in finding a new partner.”