The Colorado Rapids, 2010 Major League Soccer (MLS) champions, have announced that Westerra Credit Union will serve as the team’s presenting sponsor for the duration of the upcoming 2011 season.

A three-year deal has been agreed and is the first of its kind in the franchise’s history. Under the terms of the deal, the team has launched a new composite club crest that incorporates both the Rapids and Westerra brands.

The new emblem will appear in all of the Rapids’ marketing and promotional activities during the 2011 season. Westerra Credit Union’s sponsorship of the soccer team will run until the end of the 2013 campaign.

Jeff Plush, managing director of the Rapids, said: “Bringing on a season presenting sponsor is a special relationship that needs the right partner. Westerra Credit Union embodies everything the Rapids stand for as a championship organisation making this a natural fit for both sides.”

The Denver-based presenting sponsor’s partnership with the club will also include in-stadium recognition as well as branding on all of the team’s television and print advertisements.

In return, Westerra will help to fund increased community involvement from the team, including a focus on the Rapids youth academy and youth soccer initiatives in Colorado.

In addition, the credit union will present the Rapids and Commerce City’s Fourth Fest celebration held at the team’s home stadium Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Westerra members will also be given opportunities to win match tickets and receive special offers from the club.

Alan Peppers, president and chief executive of the Westerra Credit Union, added: “Westerra is proud to be the season sponsor for the Colorado Rapids because we share a commitment to our local community and the kind of teamwork it takes to produce excellence.

“Like the Rapids, our goal is to continue to build on our strong record. We believe more can be accomplished by working together and this partnership provides many opportunities for us to make a difference through community and educational initiatives.”

Barry Hearn, allergist chairman of World Snooker, erectile has expressed his delight on announcing Partycasino.com as the title sponsor of the inaugural Players Tour Championship Grand Finals.

The latest deal inked by the Partygaming-owned online casino website is an indication of an increased association with the sport, cure having sponsored the Matchroom Sport-run Premier League Snooker since 2008.

The event is the culmination of 12 short tournaments staged around Europe earlier in the season and will be held at The Helix in Dublin between Wednesday 16th and Sunday 20th March, classed as a minor ranking series.

Barry Hearn stated: “It’s a great pleasure to bring Partycasino.com on board for this exciting new event. Partycasino.com also sponsor Premier League Snooker so they have a close association with the sport and they are clearly delighted with the exposure they receive through snooker.

“It’s fantastic to be going to Ireland for a world ranking event for the first time in six years. The fans have been starved of top draw snooker for too long and I hope they will be out in force to see the stars in action.”

Over 200 players, including professionals and amateurs from around the world, competed in this year’s series, with the grand finalists including Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Stephen Maguire and Marco Fu.

“I know all of the players competing can’t wait to get over there, show what they can do and experience the atmosphere. The PTC series has given them the chance to play in events every week so they are all match sharp. Alongside Partycasino.com we’re looking forward to an outstanding five days of snooker,” added Hearn.

An announcement made in London today, capsule March 14, view saw CNBC confirmed as the new ‘official business media partner’ of the Virgin Racing team.

The agreement will see the broadcaster’s logos feature on the team’s cars and driver race suits, medic as well as in its hospitality areas at each Grand Prix this season.

Existing partners of the team will also benefit from business-to-business opportunities from the platform of CNBC’s global television channel and its website, while the broadcaster also announced plans to devote programming to the team and Formula One throughout the season.

Andy Webb, the newly appointed chief executive of the team, stated: “This is a very exciting partnership which underlines the strategic, targeted and intricate nature of our offering and its appeal to our rapidly expanding portfolio of commercial partners.”

President and chief executive of CNBC for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Mick Buckley added: “CNBC is extremely excited to be joining forces with Marussia Virgin Racing at this significant stage in the team’s development. Our audiences are complementary and this is an exceptional way to put CNBC in front of a massive global audience.

“We see many exciting marketing and commercial opportunities emanating from our association with the Marussia Virgin Racing Team and we look forward to a successful first season.”

Sportfive have brokered a sponsorship deal for apparel brand Jako AG to become official supplier and partner of Bundesliga soccer club Hannover 96, effectively ending the club’s agreement with Under Armour as of next season.

Jako will now provide the Hannover first team, as well as youth ranks, with playing and training kits for the 2011/12 season.

In addition, JAKO will gain stadium advertising inside the club’s AWD Arena for hospitality areas for the sides home games.

Rudi Sprügel, CEO and founder of JAKO AG, stated: “We are very pleased to be able to equip Hannover 96 in such a distinguished national league. The successful performances from this friendly team have shown great potential in this traditional club. Hanover is an absolute brand in German football. A brand that fits clearly with our corporate philosophy. Ambitious, ambitious and with real sporting spirit exactly do with this motto, we work with the club, the fans and the players and follow the path to a successful future.”

Martin Child, President and CEO of Hannover 96, added: “With JAKO we could win another strong partner, a long-term commitment from us -. We are very happy I’m sure our players will be very happy with the known quality of JAKO products.”

Ron Wiegand, SPORTFIVE team leader in Hanover also commented: “We are very pleased that JAKO will be making its products at Hannover 96. No doubt this is a very important co-operation for the club, which shows that a very interesting communication platform has emerged.”

The Malaysian division of Carlsberg has agreed a deal, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, to become an official sponsor of golf’s 2011 Malaysian Open in April.

The deal will last for the duration of the next five years, marking an uplift in the company’s recent backing of Malaysian golf at all levels. The beer company were previously title sponsor of the same tournament, between 2001 and 2005.

Carlsberg will also assist local organisers GlobalOne and the Malaysian Golf Federation in developing young Malaysian golfing talent, awarding some US$16,000 to five Malaysian players should they finish in the top 25 in the event, taking place in Kuala Lumpur from 14th to 17th April.

Carlsberg Malaysia’s managing director Soren Ravn stated: “With this partnership, our hope’s that our Malaysians will be trailblazers at the tournament and inspire a whole new generation of golf stars.”

John Eu, chief executive of GlobalOne, added: “To have Carlsberg on board with us for the next five years as an official sponsor, signifies their dedication towards the country’s premier golf tournament. Their commitment to this tournament is also a testament of their support in showcasing and supporting our local professionals golfers as well as the golf industry in Malaysia. We are extremely pleased to have them as a partner.”

Dutch soccer club and Eredivisie league leaders PSV Eindhoven have announced a five-year extension of their sponsorship agreement with electrical giants Philips, extending their relationship beyond 100 years in the process.

The new deal, which comes into fruition in July, will take the partnership between the two organisations through to the end of the 2015/16 season and surpasses a 100 year partnership with the company having launched the club as a workers team in 1913.

The shirt sponsorship deal has been in place since the inception of the concept in 1982 and PSV are the only club in the Netherlands who are able to boast the same shirt sponsor every season without exception throughout the near 30-year period.

In addition to the kit sponsorship agreement, Philips are also the title sponsors of PSV’s home ground the Philips Stadion and have held this distinction since it opened upon the club’s founding almost a century ago.

PSV general manager Justin Sanders spoke of the deal: “With the 100-year anniversary of PSV in 2013 rapidly approaching, we are very proud of our unique, historic relationship with Philips. Philips and PSV are strong brands and we expect to sign more partners in order to fulfil the club’s sportive ambitions.”

Terms of the new deal were not disclosed, though a statement on the club’s official website PSV revealed that the sponsorship agreement will be continuing under the current conditions of the existing five-year deal that was signed in August 2006.

In addition to these terms, PSV and Philips are planning to explore opportunities for the club to increase their sponsorship revenues by recruiting further partners who fit the profile of promoting healthy living through sport.

Harry Hendriks, chief executive of Philips Electronics Benelux, added: “PSV and Philips have the longest running sponsor relationship in the world, which is extended with another five years. In addition, we share the ambition to make health and well-being central themes of our co-operation by launching innovations and its applications in Holland and across the borders.”

cialis helvetica, remedy sans-serif;”>Hispania F1 Racing have announced that Panda Security will protect the Spanish team’s office and mobile computers with its cloud-based solution Panda Cloud Protection and its Panda GateDefender Integra appliances.

Panda Security, The Cloud Security Company, and Hispania Racing have reached an agreement by which the Spanish multinational will become a technical sponsor of the racing team during the 2011 season.

Under the terms of the contract, Panda Security will provide security solutions and VIP support services to protect the Hispania Racing IT infrastructure (both for the team’s office and mobile computers).

Additionally, the F1 team will include the Spanish multinational logo on all its sponsorship materials and give it preferential access to various activities and services during the 2011 season.

Panda Cloud Protection will not only protect Hispania Racing’s servers, corporate email and Internet traffic on the company premises, but also on remote computers moving around the world during the 2011 F1 season.

According to Juan Santana, CEO of Panda Security: “Hispania Racing is a fantastic team, as well as the only Spanish team in the Formula 1 circus at present. We are extremely happy to announce this sponsorship agreement and we are sure their 2011 season will be a success. We are very proud to protect the Spanish team’s IT infrastructure with Panda’s cutting edge protection technologies, fully developed in Spain. Our solutions’ ease of use and deployment, together with their extraordinary cloud-based detection capabilities against new computer threats, and high speed and performance have been essential to reach this agreement”.

Jose Ramon Carabante, Hispania Racing President,  added: “For us it is very important to have the support of a leading security company like Panda Security in our second season in F1. We are working towards consolidating the project we started last year, and in that context it is fundamental for us to establish strong alliances with leading companies like Panda Security. This agreement will undoubtedly serve to meet one of our main objectives: to promote Spain all over the world through the powerful platform provided by Formula 1”.

US broadcaster NBC and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) have signed an official advertising and sponsorship deal with Citi for the London 2012 Games.

Under the terms of the deal which sources have valued at US$30m, the bank will become the official bank partner of the network and the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

The partnership has been agreed as Citi plans to promote its 200th anniversary next year and the rights include retail, corporate, commercial and investment banking.

The deal is the second of three that NBC and the USOC hope to announce in the banking category with the parties having recently signed TD Ameritrade as an official online brokerage and continuing to source a wealth management partner as well.

This is the first time NBC and the USOC have partnered to sell an integrated package that includes media and marketing rights, and USOC officials are encouraged by the results of the collaboration, with CMO Lisa Baird stating: “Partners are responding to the integrated marketing and media package. We’re proud of both of these coming on and doing so in quick time is evidence this is working.”

The USOC has been without an official bank since 2009 when the Bank of America declined to extend its 16-year support of the organization.

NBC Vice-President of Olympic Sales Paul Wilson led NBC’s sales team and 21 Marketing Founder Rob Prazmark, who helped put together NBC and USOC last autumn, represented the USOC in the negotiations.

The 38th domestic sponsor for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been confirmed as Rapiscan Systems Limited UK. The company will become the official security equipment and systems supplier for the event, prostate becoming a tier three sponsor.

Under the terms of the agreement, Rapiscan will supply 2,000 ‘vehicle screening, people screening and baggage and parcel inspection systems’ to the Olympic venues.

The deal was agreed between the company and the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), whose commercial director Chris Townsend stated: “Keeping athletes, spectators and everyone involved safe at the Games is a vital part of our role and to do that we need a significant amount of equipment and expertise, which Rapiscan Systems will provide.

“We are very happy to welcome them to the London 2012 family and look forward to working with them between now and Games-time to ensure our Games are the best – and safest – they can be.”

Ajay Mehra, president of Rapiscan Systems added: “The importance of this award goes far beyond its commercial value. The confidence that LOCOG has demonstrated in Rapiscan demonstrates our leadership in security screening solutions.”

Rapiscan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of OSI Systems, founded in 1993, though it is the UK division that has secured the contract with London 2012. Although financial details were not disclosed the value is likely to be worth a comprehensive seven-figure sum given the complexity of the scanning equipment that will be installed.