Sun Life Financial, capsule a financial services company, has announced a sponsorship agreement with the Canadian Football League (CFL) to sponsor the impending Grey Cup game.

Under the terms of the deal, Sun Life’s logo will appear on all player jerseys from the beginning of the CFL playoffs on Nov. 13 through the Grey Cup game, which takes place Nov. 27 in Vancouver. The logo will also be featured on in-stadium sideline signage during that time.

Mary De Paoli, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer for Sun Life Financial, said the sponsorship allows her company to reach out to a broad audience.

“The Grey Cup is one of the most-watched programs in Canada every year and we saw it as important to incorporate our brand right into the programming for both the playoffs and the Grey Cup itself,” said De Paoli. “We see this as a way to connect our brand and our advisors and our customers to communities across Canada.”

De Paoli said the sponsorship deal also includes hosting rights at the playoff and Grey Cup games, as well as appearances by the Grey Cup trophy at Sun Life offices and charitable events.

“The other reason [the sponsorship] was important to us is that it allows us to involve our employees and our advisors in some of the activities,” said De Paoli. “We’re using this as a way to engage our employees and bring some spirit to those offices.”

Leading men’s grooming brand the Bluebeards Revenge has announced a major one-year contract to become British Ice Hockey team, MK Lightning’s new helmet sponsor and ‘official partner’.

The name and logo of the iconic Bluebeards Revenge brand will now appear on the MK Lightning’s helmets throughout the 2011/12 season.

The deal will also see The Bluebeards Revenge produce one of their infamous ‘Train Hard, Shave Easy’ TV commercials featuring the MK Lightning players as well as creating marketing collateral around the club for use in magazines, newspapers and online media.

Nick Gibbens, PR and Marketing Manager for The Bluebeards Revenge, siad: “The Bluebeards Revenge is absolutely delighted with the helmet sponsorship deal and we are very proud to become ‘official partners’ to the MK Lightning.”

“The Lightning have a great tradition of playing some of the most open and attacking ice hockey in the UK. We are very much looking forward to working with the club on a number of exciting projects.”

Nick added: “We’ve invested a lot of time and effort looking for and researching the right sponsorship opportunity and we know that ice hockey, one of the fastest-growing participation sports in England, fits absolutely with the Bluebeards Revenge brand.

“It appeals to many of our customers, partners and retailers we work with, so this sponsorship will give us exciting opportunities to connect with them and deliver significant business benefit.” 

Nick Poole, MK Lightning player-coach, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Bluebeards Revenge as an official partner to the MK Lightning. Ice hockey and the Lightning have a lot in common with Bluebeards Revenge and their customers – its an action-packed, fast-paced sport and we’re a young, ambitious team that works hard but plays hard too – we hope that will really appeal to people that buy Bluebeards Revenge products.

“We had a lot of fun filming the ‘Train Hard, Shave Easy’ promo film, and we’re looking forward to sharing that with our supporters!  We’ve had some great match results already this season and we’re pushing to win trophies with the Bluebeards Revenge logo on our helmets.

“Hopefully by the end of the season we’ll have won silverware as well as being the best-groomed ice hockey team in the UK!”

Leading men’s grooming brand the Bluebeards Revenge has announced a major one-year contract to become British Ice Hockey team, MK Lightning’s new helmet sponsor and ‘official partner’.

The name and logo of the iconic Bluebeards Revenge brand will now appear on the MK Lightning’s helmets throughout the 2011/12 season.

The deal will also see The Bluebeards Revenge produce one of their infamous ‘Train Hard, Shave Easy’ TV commercials featuring the MK Lightning players as well as creating marketing collateral around the club for use in magazines, newspapers and online media.

Nick Gibbens, PR and Marketing Manager for The Bluebeards Revenge, siad: “The Bluebeards Revenge is absolutely delighted with the helmet sponsorship deal and we are very proud to become ‘official partners’ to the MK Lightning.”

“The Lightning have a great tradition of playing some of the most open and attacking ice hockey in the UK. We are very much looking forward to working with the club on a number of exciting projects.”

Nick added: “We’ve invested a lot of time and effort looking for and researching the right sponsorship opportunity and we know that ice hockey, one of the fastest-growing participation sports in England, fits absolutely with the Bluebeards Revenge brand.

“It appeals to many of our customers, partners and retailers we work with, so this sponsorship will give us exciting opportunities to connect with them and deliver significant business benefit.” 

Nick Poole, MK Lightning player-coach, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Bluebeards Revenge as an official partner to the MK Lightning. Ice hockey and the Lightning have a lot in common with Bluebeards Revenge and their customers – its an action-packed, fast-paced sport and we’re a young, ambitious team that works hard but plays hard too – we hope that will really appeal to people that buy Bluebeards Revenge products.

“We had a lot of fun filming the ‘Train Hard, Shave Easy’ promo film, and we’re looking forward to sharing that with our supporters!  We’ve had some great match results already this season and we’re pushing to win trophies with the Bluebeards Revenge logo on our helmets.

“Hopefully by the end of the season we’ll have won silverware as well as being the best-groomed ice hockey team in the UK!”

Global Brewery Anheuser-Busch InBev have renewed their sponsorship deal with FIFA as they will be the Official Beer for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

This agreement, capsule which builds further on the existing 25-year-old partnership between the two organisations, will ensure that Budweiser will serve as the Official Beer of the FIFA World Cup for the ninth and tenth time, in 2018 and 2022 respectively.

The sponsorship agreement means that Anheuser-Busch InBev has global sponsorship rights for all editions of the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup up to and including the 2022 edition of the tournament. 

FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke, said: “We are delighted to be strengthening our relationship with Anheuser-Busch InBev even further. Ever since joining the FIFA sponsorship family for the 1986 FIFA World Cup Budweiser has played a vital role in helping to develop our flagship event, effectively supporting us in bringing the event closer to fans all over the world.” 

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Burggraeve, added: “We’re very pleased to extend our long-standing partnership with the FIFA World Cup. Football and sports in general are a key global consumption and celebration moment and the FIFA World Cup offers a strong and relevant global platform from which we can connect with passionate football fans around the world. We’re looking forward to the opportunities presented as the FIFA World Cup tournament brings the excitement of the beautiful game to new and different places around the world, and to connecting Budweiser with even more consumers globally”. 

For both the 2018 and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup Budweiser will serve as the “Official Beer” of the FIFA World Cup, whilst Anheuser-Busch InBev will also have the opportunity to leverage its portfolio of beers by extending local sponsorship rights to its leading brands in selected football markets, including, but not limited to Brahma (Brazil), Hasseröder (Germany), Jupiler (Belgium and the Netherlands), Quilmes (Argentina) and Harbin (China), as it did during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

Budweiser is the first of the group of FIFA World Cup Sponsors to announce its sponsorship for the 2018 and 2022 events, following on from two of FIFA’s Partners.

Valcke said: “The commitment from our group of Commercial Affiliates to the FIFA World Cup highlights the huge global appeal of the event. We look forward to working together with Anheuser-Busch InBev and our other sponsors in the years leading up to 2022 and hopefully even beyond.”

Ticket City, sale buy secondary ticket provider has added to its expanding portfolio by becoming the official secondary ticket provider for CBSSports.com, the Army Black Knights, Colorado buffaloes and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The exclusive partnership with CBSSports.com includes integration on the CBSSports website, with access to purchase tickets on the league, team, and schedule levels. TicketCity will also provide CBSSports with special promotions and offers created specifically for the visitors of the site.

TicketCity has seen continued growth since 2008, when they signed an exclusive deals with NBCSports.com and Baylor University. The company now boasts a partnership roster of 13 different colleges and universities, two collegiate conferences and over 12 collegiate event sponsorships.

Indeed, TicketCity partnership growth has been expanding rapidly since 2008, when TicketCity secured an exclusive contract with NBCSports.com and entered its first collegiate partnership with Baylor University. Today the partnership roster includes 4 major sports media properties, 13 colleges and universities, two collegiate conferences, and more than 12 collegiate event sponsorships. Event sponsorships include title sponsorships such as the TicketCity Legends Classic basketball event and the TicketCity Bowl, which was first played January 1, 2011 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX.

BC Sports have announced an exclusive public autograph signing agreement with superstar goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers Ilya Bryzgalov for the 2011-12 season.

Pat Waters, sale President of BC Sports, try said: “BC Sports continues to bring together top athletes and their fans. This public signing exclusive with Ilya Bryzgalov for the 2011-2012 season is the latest in our ongoing efforts to bring our customers unparalleled athlete experiences.” Bryzgalov will appear at BC Sports in the Deptford Mall on November 20, 2011 from two to four pm.

BC Sports is also hosting a slew of upcoming signings including two on Halloween weekend. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will be appearing at the newly reopened King of Prussia Mall BC Sports store. The signing will take place on October 29, 2011 from 1 to 3 pm. Also being held on October 29, 2011 is a special Halloween autograph event with Philadelphia hockey favorite Bernie Parent. In addition to a standard autograph ticket, BC Sports is offering a special Halloween event ticket which includes a Parent mask, autograph and photo opportunity. BC Sports will host former New York Yankee Reggie Jackson for an autograph signing event on November 6, 2011 from 11:30 am to 1 pm.

In addition to the already mentioned autograph signing events, BC Sports has sponsored this year’s Otho Davis Scholarship Foundation Dinner. Tickets for the dinner are available on the BC Sports website. All proceeds go to the Otho Davis Scholarship Foundation. BC Sports President Pat Waters states, “BC Sports is a proud sponsor of the Otho Davis Scholarship Foundation. The foundation continues the legacy of Otho Davis through awarding scholarships to future leaders in the sports industry.”

English Premier League champions Manchester United have secured a lucrative three-year partnership with Zong, one of Pakistan’s leading mobile telecoms companies.

The deal will give the club’s estimated 10million fans in Pakistan a chance to see all the goals scored, as well as exclusive interviews, news and behind-the-scenes access from Old Trafford, bringing them closer to United than ever before.

Reds commercial director Richard Arnold was delighted with deal, he said: “It is a relatively young company but has ambitions to be one of the major players in the country. Partnering with United will give them high visibility, as well as helping the club to communicate directly with millions of our supporters there.”

“Using our digital assets to engage our global fanbase is an increasingly-important part of our commercial strategy and we are very excited about the possibilities presented by this partnership.”

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he uses his mobile phone on a daily basis to keep up-to-date with football news and results and joined Arnold in welcoming Zong into the United family.

“The way the club uses modern technology to reach our millions of fans around the world is outstanding. Zong will be a key player in allowing us to bring the passion and excitement of Manchester United to our fans in Pakistan.”

Zong’s director of advertising and promotions, Rizwan Akhter, described the partnership as unique and anticipates a bright future for all concerned.

American multinational telecommunications company, AT&T have continued its corporate champion sponsorship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in a three-year agreement as the NCAA’s official wireless service provider.

Terms of the deal were not released but the deal includes CBS basketball broadcasts of the sponsored “At the Half” program.

Coca-Cola and Capital One are other corporate champions of the NCAA.

The deal extends Dallas-based AT&T as the NCAA’s longest-standing partner. The corporate sponsor program is sold through Turner Sportsand CBS Sports.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has entered into a two-year sponsorship agreement with Stonyfield with the world’s leading organic yogurt maker helping league players through online health and fitness content.

Stonyfield will be the Official Yogurt of USTA League, the country’s largest recreational tennis league with more than 335,000 players nationwide.

Kurt Kamperman, Chief Executive, Community Tennis, USTA., said: “We are excited to be able to have sponsor activation at this year’s USTA League National Championships. To collaborate with Stonyfield by promoting healthy and active lifestyles at the Championships allows us to bring another benefit to our players.”

As part of this year’s USTA partnership, Stonyfield will award a total of $7,500 in grants across the country to help active individuals fuel health and wellness in their communities. Tennis players can come to FueledByStonyfield.com to apply for the grants by answering one simple request: “Share how tennis fuels you and what you would do to fuel others.” The public will vote to determine 10 finalists. Judges at Stonyfield will then select three winners to receive a total of $7,500 in grants, as well as free yogurt. Winners will be selected in November.

Stonyfield President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg, added: “For the past two years we’ve enjoyed being a sponsor of the US Open, the highest-attended sporting event in the world. As an avid tennis player, I’m especially excited to have a broader reaching partnership with the USTA this year, and have the opportunity to engage more with the League’s members on important topics like health and eating to fuel your best game.”

Clemson Tigers entrust Team Fan Shop, allergist Inc have become the official online store of Clemson Athletics through a multi-year contract.

A subsidiary of Fanatics, doctor LLC, the world’s largest retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise, TeamFanShop is a leading provider of online store solutions for college and professional teams, media networks, conferences, retailers and more. The agreement is comprised of a fully refurbished e-commerce platform with services that include merchandise management, licensing and manufacturing, marketing, secure shopping, and industry leading policies.

TeamFanShop is dedicated to the complete customer experience and encompasses an entire team of customer service professionals who are empowered to make decisions on the spot. Patrons of the upgraded Clemson University Athletics store will now enjoy an expanded line of team merchandise, flat rate shipping, 365-day returns, and 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

Mike Money, Director of Marketing for Clemson Athletics, said: “Along with a new personalized store design, TeamFanShop created the ultimate online destination for all Tigers fans seeking top quality clothing and game day gear. The Clemson Athletics store covers every base with easy ordering, quick response time, efficient delivery with no hassles, and simple return process. We are enthusiastic to watch the online shop grow and look forward to building our relationship with the TeamFanShop family in the coming years.”

Shop the official online store of Clemson University Athletics at Shop.clemsontigers.com. The Clemson Tigers shop meets the needs of men, women and kids throughout the world with thousands of Tigers merchandise from the most trusted name brands. Enjoy apparel items like T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts and jerseys, as well as accessories for tailgating, golfing, home décor and more. The site also includes gift cards and certificates, perfect for holiday or birthday gifts. Clemson Tigers fans can take advantage of flat rate shipping and order as many items as they like for one low cost.

Brian Swallow, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for TeamFanShop, stated: “With Clemson athletics underway, it is a crucial time for Clemson University to meet fan merchandise demands in a timely and effective manner. TeamFanShop is excited to become the chosen e-commerce provider to help Clemson achieve this goal. We’re known for first year increases and strong YOY growth for partners and we are eager to offer Clemson this proven retail strategy.”