The official airline partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, British Airways, has signed a partnership agreement with both UK Athletics (UKA) and British Swimming in the build-up to next year’s Games.

The agreement means that the airline will offer discounted and complimentary flights and support to UKA athletes, coaches and staff in the run up to the Games. This support extends to the GBR, Swimming, Disability Swimming, Diving, Synchro and Water Polo teams.

British Airways has also signed up a host of British athletes to become ambassadors for the brand, including World Champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis, Olympic medallist Ben Ainslie, gymnast Olympic medallist Louis Smith and Paralympic medallist Shelly Woods.

Those ambassadors, along with other UKA and British Swimming athletes, will feature in a new print advertising campaign. The athletes and governing bodies will also work with the airline on British Airways’ employee engagement programme.

Luisa Fernandez, British Airways global sponsorship manager, said: “We are delighted to work with such talented athletes who are set to soar to new heights at the London 2012 Games. They are a true inspiration to current and future generations of British talent, and we are proud to support them on their journey.”

English rugby union team Bath Rugby has announced that wealth management company Novia Financial will become the Premiership club’s main sponsor in a new two-year deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, Novia Financial’s logo will feature on the front of Bath Rugby’s playing shirts. The Bath-based company has also purchased the naming rights to the east stand of the club’s home stadium, The Recreation Ground. The east stand will now be officially known as The Novia Stand.

Financial details were not released, but the new agreement is estimated to be worth roughly US$800,000 to US$900,000 annually.

Bath Rugby chief executive, Nick Blofeld, said: “The club is very excited about this new partnership with Novia, and look forward to developing a strong and successful working relationship with them. It is vitally important to us as a club to develop links with local businesses, as well as the wider community, so we are delighted to welcome Novia Financial on board.”

Bill Vasilieff, Novia Financial chief executive, added, “We are thrilled to be developing this relationship with Bath Rugby at such a pivotal time in the club’s history. The tremendous developments both on and off the pitch at the club point to a really exciting future, and we cannot wait to be part of that.”

The new agreement sees Novia Financial replacing IPL as the main sponsor of Bath Rugby. IPL recently signed on as the team’s official business partner for the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership season in a deal believed to be worth US$250,000.

The head of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) marketing commission, Gerard Heiberg, says that General Electric’s (GE) extension of its partnership through 2020 is “very good news” for the Olympic Movement. He reveals that talks are underway to conclude similar deals with Acer and McDonald’s.

The extended agreement was signed in Moscow, giving GE sponsorship rights for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Rio 2016 Summer Games and the Olympics in 2018 and 2020, the hosts of which are yet to be decided.

Heiberg said: “We are very happy. We have a good relationship with GE. This is very good news for us.”

Heiberg also revealed that sponsorship renewals are in the pipeline with Acer and McDonald’s, saying: “They are interested, so we are talking. We want to extend to Sochi 2014 and 2016, maybe 2018 and 2020. We hope to find a solution with them before too long but we are not in a hurry.”

Heiberg also revealed that he hopes to strike agreements with new sponsors “within a couple of months”, and an additional partner for London 2012.

The 11 global sponsors for London 2012 are: Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos Origin, Dow, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung and Visa.

He has previously talked about his ambition to bring a further sponsor on board to pass the US$1bn mark in 2012 sponsorship revenues, with the figure is currently around US$960 million.

“We are still talking to companies and in a couple of months time I hope to reach a deal with one more company,” he said.

Top South African soccer club Kaizer Chiefs have agreed a four-year sponsorship deal with insurance company Hollard.

The Hollard logo will be displayed on the sleeve of the Chiefs’ shirts and will also feature in their stadium and on their website. The insurance company will also receive advertising slots during televised games as part of the deal.

Hollard have been long-term partners of South Africa’s largest soccer club but this deal sees an increase in support, generic making the company one of the team’s main sponsors.

The club’s executive chairman, Kaizer Motaung, said: “We are delighted to strengthen our partnership with Hollard. The company has demonstrated its commitment to Kaizer Chiefs soccer as a partner for the past ten years. During our conversations about enhancing our partnership, Hollard demonstrated the greatest ability to not just be a sponsor but to become a key marketing partner.”

Hollard chief executive Nick Kohler added: “We are delighted about extending our partnership with Kaizer Chiefs. The extension reinforces the association between our respective brands and businesses. There is no better, more passionate soccer fan base in the country than Kaizer Chiefs. We look forward to developing exciting financial services solutions and marketing that will both extend access to valuable insurance benefits for the supporter base, as well as enhance the fan experience at Kaizer Chiefs games.”

Drinks company macb has withdrawn its support as the official water sponsor of Edinburgh-based Scotland Premier League soccer club Hearts after the club’s refusal to sack player Craig Thomson, who has been convicted of grooming two young girls on the internet.

A spokeswoman for macb said: “As a company with strong family values, we are left with no choice but to terminate our relationship with the Hearts football club.

“Along with countless others, fans and co-sponsors alike, we are extremely disappointed with the club’s handling of this situation and as a result can no longer continue our support.”

The sponsorship deal with macb was worth around than US$8,000.

A spokesman for Hearts said the club had no comment to make on the withdrawal of the sponsorship agreement.

Longines have become the second Swiss watchmaker this week to announce a new title sponsorship deal in sport. Longines, following IWC Schaffhausen’s sponsorship of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, announced yesterday, have become the new title sponsor of the Grosser Preis von Baden, Germany’s most prestigious horse-racing flat race.

Bluegrace Logistics, drugs a brand regularly involved with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) sport, no rx will sponsor two mixed martial artists at UFC 132 on July 2.

Bluegrace, erectile based in Tampa, has sponsored a number of fighters in previous events, including Ben Henderson at UFC 129, Junior Dos Santos and Vagner Rocha at UFC 131 and most recently John Howard during the UFC Live event at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

The new sponsorship deal sees the Bluegrace Logistics logo featuring on the shorts of welterweight Carlos Condit and most significantly Chris Leben during his high-profile fight against Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts star Wanderlei Silva.

Bluegrace president and chief executive, Bobby Harris, said: “Integrity, determination, dependability, and a healthy respect for competition, that is what these UFC fighters represent to Bluegrace.

“These fighters share many of the same values and strengths that our company was founded upon. We are honored and excited about these and future sponsorship opportunities to recognise and support these fighters.”

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has announced that Italian chemical company Mapei will be sponsoring the World Road Race Championships for the next three years.

The UCI announced the deal as “a partnership between the Mapei Sport Research Centre and the World Cycling Centre – the UCI’s training centre – the participation of Mapei in the UCI ‘reCycling’ programme and the Italian company’s scientific contribution to the ‘UCI Forum’, which will be organised for the first time in 2012.”

Mapei chief Giorgio Squirzi said: “This strengthens our long relationship with cycling, which comes from the sharing of the same values: hard work, will and passion, as well as the knowledge that every victory is the result of conscientious planning and constant teamwork.

“This passion, handed down from my father, is also related to our activity: our products and technologies have contributed to the construction of the most important sport facilities in the world.”

The agreement covers the next three years of the Championships. This year’s World Road Race Championships are due take place in Copenhagen between September 19 and 25, before moving onto Limburg in the Netherlands and Florence in the following years.

UCI President Pat McQuaid said: “I would like to thank Mapei. Its commitment to cycling over the last twenty years has contributed to the growth of our sport, of which it is one of the most faithful sponsors.

“Under its President and Director, Mr Giorgio Squinzi, who is a true cycling lover, Mapei has multiplied its initiatives for our sport, often demonstrating great inventiveness, not only in Italy but on an international scale.”

Luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has signed up with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) to become the first major sponsor of its Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12 team, unhealthy Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.

The landmark deal is the Swiss brand’s first entry into top-tier global team sport sponsorship, unhealthy and will run throughout the entire Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12 campaign, apoplectic which begins this October in Alicante, Spain.

Under the agreement, the partners will foster enhanced promotional and awareness initiatives around the team’s pursuit of top honours in this 39,000-nautical-mile round-the-world race, widely regarded as the ‘Everest of Sailing’.

The IWC Schaffhausen logo will also be featured on the team’s new Volvo Open 70 racing yacht, which launches next month.

Mubarak Al Muhairi, director general of ADTA and Team Principal for Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, said: “We share a pioneering spirit based on the fundamentals of tradition. This is a coming together of two organisations that have a great deal in common, including the pursuit of perfection, strong community responsibility, unwavering commitment to sustainable business practices and the environment, and a desire to excel beyond expectation. Together we will chart a course of mutual and steadfast success.”

The Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing deal is the second Volvo Ocean Race 2011/12-associated partnership for IWC Schaffhausen, after it signed on as the event’s Official Timekeeper in January.

Georges Kern, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, said:“For over 140 years, IWC has epitomised values such as engineering excellence, perfection, pioneering spirit, quality and passion. We are proud to put these attributes to the test as the Official Timekeeper for the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race and to share them with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team.”

English Premier League soccer team West Bromwich Albion (WBA) have signed the largest sponsorship deal in their history after reaching a sponsorship agreement with Bodog, one of the world’s largest online gaming brands.

The club, nicknamed the Baggies, will have the company’s name on their kit for the next two seasons.

WBA chief executive Mark Jenkins said: “Following our most successful Barclays Premier League campaign there was a great deal of interest in becoming our club sponsor.

“We had a number of options and in the end Bodog presented an all-round partnership that best suits both parties.”

He concluded: “We look forward to helping them promote their brand in the Premier League.”