English Premier League soccer club Everton have secured a new three-year sponsorship deal with Maximuscle, the sports nutrition brand, to become the team’s official sports nutrition partner.

Maximuscle will provide nutritional support to help optimise the players’ performance and meet the unique physical demands of the world’s most popular domestic soccer league.

The company will work together with Everton’s backroom staff to supply the team with nutritional programmes, as well as providing access to Maximuscle’s comprehensive range of products.

Mark Morgan, sponsorship manager at Maxinutrition, stated: “We are looking forward to helping Everton Football Club achieve their Premier League ambitions. We believe that our significant experience in delivering world class sports nutrition backed by a wealth of science and research will contribute towards helping the team maximise their potential.”

Dave Billows, head of sports science at Everton Football Club, added: “Maximuscle’s reputation for providing athletes with top quality, certified sports nutrition is unrivalled. Premier League footballers train very hard and require a high intake of protein to help their bodies recover quickly from the intensive sessions they are subjected to. Maximuscle supplements provide high quality nutrients at the correct levels to both energise the players and aid their recovery in an efficient and effective way.”

Powerade has become the official sports drink and sideline beverage of the Major League Lacrosse (MLL).

The company will receive significant branding throughout the league season and also becomes the exclusive sports drink and sideline beverage of the MLL teams, sale the MLL All-Star game and championship weekend.

The new partnership will commence with the 2011 MLL season which runs from May to August.

MLL commissioner David Gross said of the deal: “We are thrilled to be aligned with such a quality brand. Powerade is the rising brand in the sports drink category. We believe in the science of their product for MLL athletes and all lacrosse players. Major League Lacrosse is excited about collaborating with Powerade.”

CCNA vice president marketing assets, asthma integrated marketing, Sharon J. Byers added: “Lacrosse is one of the country’s fastest growing sports and MLL is the beacon of inspiration for many of the young participants. Powerade is thrilled to join forces with MLL and help hydrate its great athletes. Our team can’t wait to dig in and build around this partnership.”

Citrus grower Florida’s Natural Brand have agreed a one-year extension of their partnership with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

The terms of the deal will see the Florida’s Natural Brand remain title-sponsors of the 2011 LPGA Futures Tour season opener, the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic.

Additionally, as the association’s official orange juice, Florida’s Natural Brand will present free sampling for fans of the LPGA and LPGA Futures Tour at 12 events throughout the coming year.

LPGA Tour commissioner Mike Whan said of the deal: “The Florida’s Natural Brand team is a great business partner with the LPGA, so it’s easy to work hard for them because they respect and value the relationship, and truly commit to making it work for both sides. It’s a great product association for us, and we’re committed to helping them grow in the U.S. and other markets that they plan to tap.”

Vice-president of sales and marketing at Florida’s Natural Brand, Walt Lincer added: “Working with the LPGA is a great fit for the Florida’s Natural Brand. With the LPGA Futures Tour, we are able to fund raise for our Florida’s Natural Growers Foundation. In the past two years, the Foundation has awarded over US$150,000 to local charities. Our partnership with the LPGA has been a positive one, and a way to directly communicate our Never Imported message to a great audience. We see it as a win-win to work with such a great organisation.”

The Singapore Grand Prix will continue to be sponsored by Singtel with the company having renewed their as title sponsor for two-years.

Singtel has held the position since the race’s inception in 2008 and the decision comes ahead of the worldwide launch of ticket sales for the 2011 race on Thursday.

The deal is thought to be worth around US$4 million a year, mind though the agreement has been struck with Allsport Management, which handles Formula One’s major commercial rights from Switzerland, rather than with local race organisers.

Chief Executive of the Formula One Group, Bernie Ecclestone said: “We are delighted that Singtel will be continuing as the title sponsor of the Formula One Singtel Singapore Grand Prix. As a Singapore company which has grown to become a key player in the world of telecommunications and multimedia, Singtel is the ideal naming rights sponsor for this innovative and prestigious round of the FIA Formula One world championship.”

Singtel chief executive Chua Sock Koong announced several innovations for this year’s race, most notably including the ability to watch the race on a variety of platforms connected to Singtel, stating: “Now into our fourth year of this partnership, we will continue to achieve amazing things at record speed to bring the best to our customers in Singapore and around the world.

“This year will also be the year that we will be creating several ‘firsts’ to bring alive the Grand Prix experience, which we hope will dazzle both Singaporeans and visitors – whether they are big fans of the sport or not.”

A new four-year extension has been agreed between Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, clinic Inc (BDA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) for the company to continue as the preferred premium supplier to the league.

The merchandise agency signed the renewal with MLB Properties to continue in this role, which sees it serve MLB in various areas, including helping to supply and activate sponsorship deals.

Jeremy Cohen, vice president of corporate sales and marketing for MLB, stated: “BDA has been a tremendous partner, working closely with our team to help sponsors activate local and national sponsorships. They have a deep understanding of what national sponsors are trying to accomplish and how merchandise can be used to drive brand affinity and help maximise the return on their sponsorship investment.”

Howard Smith, senior vice president of licensing for MLB, said: “Any agency partner should multiply both your efforts and progress towards key initiatives. BDA has done both for Major League Baseball. They have seamlessly and effectively integrated into our licensing group and have helped drive brand affinity for our business partners.”

Jay Deutsch, chief executive and co-founder of BDA, added: “For the partnership between the league and BDA to be an example of that commitment is an absolute privilege. We look forward to the next four years of creating fantastic work and driving unparalleled support of the league, its teams and its sponsors.”

Delta Air Lines have revealed that they have agreed a one-year sponsorship of Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise the St. Louis Cardinals.

The deal, announced yesterday, February 28, means that Delta have become the team’s official airline and exclusive charter airline.

Under the terms of the agreement Delta will be featured on signs and scoreboards at the sides Busch Stadium throughout the 2011 season and will highlight its partnership with the team during Delta Day, a promotion coinciding with a June 23 game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Additionally, Delta employees at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will wear Cardinals caps and logos

Reports suggest that English Premier League soccer club Aston Villa are set to see their record shirt sponsorship deal with Russian-owned currency traders FxPro, price withdrawn after just one season.

Sources from the Daily Mail claimed that the company had an option to do this upon signing three-year deals with both Villa and Barclays Premier League rivals Fulham.

The newspaper stated that FxPro have continued their affiliation with Fulham and sources have touted that the London club agreed to a decrease in their £3.5m (US$5.7m) annual sponsorship in order to ensure this.

Sources close to the Midlands club revealed that the company attempted to do the same with Villa after the club had disappointed this season, unhealthy but the club refused to do so.

Aston Villa chief General Charles Krulak, right hand man to owner Randy Lerner confirmed the decision, stating: This sponsorship issue (the end of contract with FX Pro) took place awhile back. Not sure why the papers just picked up on it. It is probably not a good idea to go into what has transpired other than to say that we will be paid throughout this season and that we already have sponsorships on the table.”

In other news, the clubs accounts were released this weekend from holding company Reform Acquisitions Ltd. revealing a £37m ($60m) loss from last year.

Despite hefty losses, this figure is down from the year previous when the club made an annual loss of £46.2m ($75m).

Key figures from the report included a turnover increase from £84m ($136.4m) to £90m ($146m) due to match receipts being £2m ($3.25m) higher, media – £2.5m ($4.06m) higher and ommercial £2.4m ($3.9m) higher

Operating expenses increased from £105m ($170.5m) to £111m ($180.2m) and a loss of £30m ($48.7m) was made due to player transactions, but perhaps most worryingly for the club bank loans increased from £9m ($14.6m) to £20m ($32.5m).

The Sauber Formula One team are believed to have added to their growing roster of international sponsors by securing a deal with Japanese firm NEC for the 2011 season, although no official announcement has been made.

The company’s logos appeared on the team’s car during a demonstration run in the Mexican city of Guadalajara at the weekend, connected to the team’s new Mexican driver Sergio Perez.

Despite the team not yet confirming any details, NEC’s positioning on its official website and on the car, where it featured on the cockpit sides, suggest it will become a premium partner.

The apparent deal continues an excellent winter of sponsorship acquisition for the Swiss team after deals with Mexican firms including Telmex and Interproteccion were ensured by Perez’s appearance in the roster.

The new Formula One season begins in little under a month, with the Australian Grand Prix on 27th March replacing the postponed season-opener in Bahrain.

 

A statement from Codere read: “Authorised gambling operators in Spain are not permitted to advertise or may only do so subject to stringent restrictions and after obtaining authorisation from the authority.

“Neither are authorised operators able to operate games through the internet, although they have the necessary technology and expertise to do so, since these games are prohibited in Spain and in some cases may be activities liable for prosecution in the context of criminal law.”

Spain’s La Liga soccer club Athletic Bilbao, have announced the renewal of major sponsorship deals with oil company Petronor and BBK for a further three-years, until 2014.

Petronor became the first official kit sponsor in the Spanish sides history in 2008 and their company logo will maintain pride of place on Bilbao’s first team shirt in a deal valued by Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo at US$2.89m per year plus incentives – a five per cent increase on the original agreement. Therefore, the overall value of the deal for the duration of the contract is thought to be around $8.67m.

The source also speculates that the club’s other principal sponsor BBK, a Bilbao-based savings bank, will pay around $2.76m a year to extend its sponsorship. BBK, who have branding on the outside of the club’s stadium, first became a partner of the club in 1992 and returned in 2006 after a one-year hiatus.