French Open to Stay at Roland Garros After Relocation Rejected

Major international tennis tournament, the French Open will not be relocated from its long-standing stay at Roland Garros after the nation’s tennis federation ruled against plans to move the competition to the Paris suburbs from 2016, which would have ended a home at the venue lasting over 80 years.
A statement from the French Tennis Federation (FFT) confirmed that delegates chose the “enlargement and modernisation” of the current site over the other bids from Versailles, Gonesse and a site in Marne-la-Vallee close to Disneyland Paris.

Sunday (February 13) saw a federation ballot in which Gonesse was eliminated in the first round, Versailles in the second and Paris taking 70 per cent of the final-round votes.

“Members of the French Tennis Federation, who have met this weekend for a general assembly, have chosen the project of the city of Paris, which envisages the enlargement and modernisation of the historic site at Porte d’Auteuil for the new Roland Garros,” a statement said.

“It chose an ambitious, prestigious project resolutely looking to the future.”

FFT president Jean Gachassin added: “Our ambition was to offer a project with a real future and of a very high quality – to improve the reception and the comfort of the players and spectators.”

That project will see 35 outside courts built, as well as a new media centre and a centre court with a retractable roof, which will mean matches can be played in inclement weather as well as at night – although it is still expected to be the smallest of the four Grand Slam venues.

FIH Congress brings in statute change

The The International Hockey Federation (FIH) Congress, story which took place on 13 November in the Swiss city of Montreux, has proposed to change the FIH Statutes, which was one of the five priorities from the FIH Strategic Plan for 2010-2016.

The proposals were designed to make the FIH a more efficient, streamlined organization that would be able to make clear and effective decisions to aid hockey’s development.

The Congress was attended by delegates representing member National Associations.

The 65 delegates present at the Forum voted unanimously in favour of changing the FIH Statutes.

The decision means that the Executive Board has been restructured to a workable number, enhancing its efficiency. The re-structured Executive Board will continue to have representatives from each of the Continental Federations, which recognizes the hugely important contributions that they make to hockey in their own regions.

The restructuring of the FIH Executive Board required the election of three new members. These are:

Pamela Stuper (USA)

Qasim Zia (PAK)

Marc Coudron (BEL)

They will be joined on the new Executive Board by Michael Green (GER), who has been named as the Chair of the Athletes Committee.

FIH Chief Executive Officer Kelly Fairweather described the decisions as hugely significant for the sport. “I firmly believe that hockey is entering a new era”, said Fairweather. “These decisions show that our sport is taking a bold new direction which will help us achieve the targets that we have set for ourselves in our Strategic Plan 2010-2016.”

The Congress also witnessed a number of Awards being given, below in the order in which they were presented.

The Rene Frank Fair Play Trophy: Belgium Hockey Association

The Etienne Glichitch Medal: Antonio Antonov (Bulgaria) for the promotion of growth in the Balkan Zone

The Pablo Negre Trophy: Argentinean Hockey Confederation

The Theo Ykema Award: Myanmar Hockey Association

The Guust Lathouwers Memorial Trophy: Masako Kamisuki (Japan)

Besides, Venezuela’s Tony von Ondarza (VEN), a Vice President of the FIH, was made a Member of Honour. FIH President Leandro Negre presented the award in recognition of his outstanding services to hockey at National, Continental and FIH level over many years.

Liverpool Chairman seeks profit in sports after sale

(Source: Bloomberg) Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton will team up with his son to invest in sports after leaving his post upon the sale of the 18-time English champion.

Broughton oversaw the 300 million-pound ($487.6 million) sale of Liverpool to the owners of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox. The 63-year-old, cough who is also chairman of British Airways Plc, prostate will work two days a week with his son Michael and Nic Couchman, clinic a lawyer with 20 years experience in the industry, to find profits in sports.

Their Sports Investment Partners, which was delayed for six months because of Broughton’s role in Liverpool’s sale, will start meeting potential backers this month. Spending in the sector in Europe, Africa and the Middle East will increase to $46.3 billion in 2013 from $39.4 billion in 2009, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP report.

“It was certainly put back by Martin’s six-month adventure,” Michael Broughton, 32, said in an interview. “He’s our chairman so we weren’t going to go to market and look to raise funds from direct investors unless he could commit the time to it he should.”

Red Sox owners John W. Henry and Tom Werner completed the purchase of Liverpool on Oct. 15, and Martin Broughton will stay on as chairman temporarily to help the transition.

Broughton, a former chairman of British American Tobacco Plc, headed the company’s Formula One team and was also chairman of the British Horse Racing Authority. His involvement in Sports Investment Partners is the first time the father and son have worked together.

The new company has gotten pledges of about 200 million pounds from private equity and is planning to raise more after a series of investor presentations.

Broughton may need all his powers of persuasion to convince investors to part with money as the global economy remains sluggish following the 2008 financial crisis, according to Chris Lee, head of Barclays’ sports business group.

“I don’t think the market for sport is fantastic at the current time,” Lee said. “It’s a challenging area.”

Sports Investment Partners is planning to take significant minority or majority stakes in small to medium-sized businesses worth as much 100 million pounds. Couchman and Broughton refused to name targets, saying they are looking at sports technology suppliers, betting and gaming companies, support service businesses and sports brands.

Status GP Founder Mark Gallagher on Caterham GP2 Team Purchase

By Ismail Uddin

Status Grand Prix has recently completed the purchase of the Caterham Racing team securing their entry in the GP2 Series from 2015.

ISportconnect speaks to founder Mark Gallagher about the move into GP2.

How did the deal come about it? 

We have been considering GP2 for some time. In fact it started in 2009 when we won the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and, after that series then stopped, GP2 would have been the logical move.  

No GP2 franchise was available so instead we tendered for one of the franchise for the new GP3 series; we were successful in securing that and have focused on it since.  We have now reached the point where our GP2 ambitions are not only able to be fulfilled, but a great franchise became available once we started talking to Tony Fernandes’ team at Caterham Racing.  It’s been a few months in the making, but we are delighted. 

What does this mean for the progression of Status GP? 

It means that we now have a one-stop opportunity for drivers aiming to prove themselves for Formula One, or fine tune their skills on Grand Prix circuit.  It also gives us an impressive opportunity to offer commercial partners the chance to be involved in the launching-point for future World Champions, yet with many of the benefits of sponsorship normally associated with Formula One.  

We race at the same tracks, in front of the same media and spectators, and in a ‘less is more’ economy I feel certain that are many companies that can benefit from this programme. 

StatusGPHave you been talking to brands to sponsor the new GP2 outfit? 

We only completed the acquisition of Caterham Racing last week, and we have not yet had the opportunity to develop our commercial offering.  It will be different. We are not interested in a ‘me too’ programme in GP2 where we rely on driver funding only for our revenue.  

We can win major races at Grand Prix events, with many of the same benefits for sponsors as those offered by Formula One teams.  One major advantage for us is that our drivers are typically in their late teens and bang in the middle of that all-important demographic;  these are the social media users, on-line gamers, GoPro generation – and future F1 stars. 

Will you consider in the future fielding a F1 Car considering your success in GP3 series and now entry in GP2? 

Formula One is a category for car manufacturers and sports investors with funding commitments not dissimilar to Premier League football.  Our main shareholder is Teddy Yip Jr, the son of a former-Formula One team owner – Teddy Yip of Theodore Racing fame in the 1980s – while my other partner is David Kennedy, who drove in Formula One and has a long heritage in the sport.

Given my own background at Jordan, Red Bull Racing and Cosworth it would be wrong of me to say that Formula One holds no interest for us; it most certainly does. Not as a team but more as a destination for the drivers who race for us in GP3 & GP2, and some of the commercial partners we aim to introduce to the sport by winning the launch-pad formula we are competing in.

What is the ultimate goal of Status GP? 

To operate a successful business.  That means winning races and Championship titles, and delivering great programmes for commercial partners.  But it also means being profitable.  The two go hand in glove;  to thrive in top level motor sport requires a business to be run like one, and that means being very focussed on what our customers want, the revenue streams we can develop, and the growth we can sustain.

Fortunately winning is a reasonable good measure of a racing business, so winning races and winning for customers tends to go hand in hand.

Mark Gallagher is Managing Director of the CMS Motor Sport consultancy, co-owner of the Status Grand Prix motor racing team which competes in both Le Mans sports car racing and the GP3 feeder-series to Formula One, and an F1 commentator on ESPN Star Sports in Asia.

He is also a professional conference speaker on the business lessons to be learned from Formula One, drawing on his experiences in senior management positions in the sport.

Mark Gallagher’s isportconnect-profile-widget

 

Venetian Macau Open Appoint Fast Track for PR

International sports and entertainment marketing agency, tadalafil Fast Track, prostate has been appointed as the lead PR and media relations agency for this year’s Venetian Macau Open.

The Asian Tour golf event had recently announced that the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel would take on the title sponsorship role of the event.

Now, Fast Track, who are headquartered in London, will be responsible for expanding the media reach of the tournament across the region through integrated communications and media engagement programmes.

Grant Slack, Senior Vice President, IMG Golf Asia Pacific, the promoters of the tournament, said: “We have ambitious plans for the Venetian Macau Open and Fast Track will be a key partner in building the event profile and helping the tournament reach its potential.

“Their golf experience and international reach made Fast Track the ideal candidate for this role and we look forward to working with them over the forthcoming months.”

Fast Track has secured a number of similar deals in recent times, including the food redistribution charity Second Harvest and the Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, Asia’s most prestigious amateur golf event.

Eric Chiu, Fast Track Asia’s Communications Director, was pleased with the deal: “In today’s highly competitive agency environment it is testament to our high-quality service offering that we’re continuing to bring new clients on board.

“We have a simple approach: we take the time to understand our clients’ challenges and offer programmes that address those challenges.

“We’re very much looking forward to working with IMG and the other event stakeholders on this year’s Venetian Macau Open.

“It’s a tournament with huge potential and I believe our deep golf experience and international network can help make the event a standout tournament on the Asian Tour.”

Ukraine Feeling the Tourism Boom During Euro 2012

The number of tourist in Ukraine has increased significantly during Euro 2012 match days with approximately 300,000 people across the Ukranian border, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Infrastructure.

 

According to the Master Card’s Global Destination Cities Index, Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, the venue of Euro 2012 final, ranked higher than Polish Warsaw, co-host of the football championship.


This June the daily number of people arriving in Ukraine grew by 90,000 compared to the same period of 2011, said Ukraine’sMinister of Infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov. On June 11, the match day between Ukraine and Sweden, over 100,000 fans visitedKyiv’s fan-zone on Maydan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Sq.). It is expected that during the tournament’s second round of the group stage the number of tourists will exceed even the current rate.

 

“After the first round of the championship Ukrainian airports started to receive more applications for accepting charter flights,” commented the minister.  He believes this was caused by the foreign fans who have already visited Ukraine and shared their experiences with friends and family back home.

 

There are four Ukrainian cities that host the European football championship: Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Lviv. These are the cities that attract the most foreign tourists in June 2012. According to Master Card’s Global Destination Cities Index, the number of people visiting Kyiv would grow by 18.5 percent, reported Liga Net.

 

In the Master Card’s rating Kyiv occupied higher position than the Polish capital Warsaw, another EURO 2012 co-host. Kyiv also ranked higher than Montreal, Boston, Rio-de-Janeiro, etc. Most of the guests visiting Kyiv in 2012 will come from Moscow,London, Frankfurt, Tel-Aviv, and Munich, reports the index.

Moreover, the tourists tend to spend more money on their visits to Kyiv: in 2012 the expenditures index is expected to grow by 29.8 percent. Previously, Erste Bank research unit issued a report indicating that each of the expected 500,000 visitors toUkraine will spend the average of EUR 800 over their three to four day stay in the country.

 

The Index of Global Destination Cities, created by MasterCard Worldwide, is an annual research program that describes and analyzes the global network of 132 destination cities and how they are connected through cross-border air travel and associated expenditures.

Malaysian Open Secures Sponsor of Nation’s Carlsberg Division

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.”

NBA and MLB Reach Broadcast Agreement with Apple TV

Apple, drugs the major consumer electronics brand, ambulance has signed online broadcast deals with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), enabling the company to stream live sports through its Apple TV service.

Agreed terms have been reached to carry both MLB.TV and NBA League Pass, online sports subscription channels, on its new digital media receiver, revamped in September 2010 as a US$99 set-top box.

Both sports services are backed by their respective leagues and offer broadcasts of live games and match highlights.

An extra cost will be incurred by any consumers who wish to carry the MLB.TV and, or NBA League Pass on top of an Apple TV subscription. NBA League Pass costs US$65 for the rest of the season, while MLB.TV’s basic package is priced at US$20 per month or US$99 per year.

BOA Take LOCOG Money Dispute to Court of Arbitration for Sport

The money dispute between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is to be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by the former.

The BOA is currently arguing with LOCOG over whether net costs involved in the staging of the Paralympic Games should be separated from any operating profit generated by the Olympics as they face a US$16m funding gap ahead of 2012. It had been agreed on Wednesday, ambulance March 9, that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would mediate between the two parties.

However, the BOA stated: “The International Olympic Committee has been extremely helpful to the BOA and the London 2012 Organising Committee in attempting to reach consensus on this very important matter and we thank them for their efforts.”

The statement added: “We are committed to reaching a resolution that is fair, equitable and ultimately contributes to the post-Games legacy from what we know will be the highly successful London 2012 Olympics.”

IOC Called to Mediate BOA and London ’12 Money Row

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been asked to mediate ongoing disagreements over money between the British Olympic Association (BOA) and organisers of the London 2012 Games (LOCOG).

The BOA has claimed it did not get a fair deal when an agreement over sponsorship income was struck with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) in 2005, hospital and is subsequently facing a US$16m funding gap ahead of the Olympics, .

The two parties have been unable to agree on whether net costs involved in the staging of the Paralympic Games should be separated from any operating profit generated by the Olympics.

The BOA is due to receive 20 per cent of any surplus, but its belief that the costs should be separate is not supported by LOCOG.

The BOA has been criticised by some who say that they have embarked on an unnecessary spending spree, with accounts showing that the body’s overall salary bill has more than doubled from $3.2m to $8m million in the last six years.

A statement from the BOA read: “As the National Olympic Committee, our principal responsibility is to safeguard future opportunities for Olympic athletes and sport throughout the United Kingdom.

“We are engaged in a formal process to ensure that any surplus resulting from the London 2012 Olympic Games is used for precisely those purposes. Quite simply, our objective is this: to guarantee that the London 2012 Olympic Games deliver a meaningful post-Games legacy that is beneficial to Olympic sport and athletes, present and future, throughout the UK.”

LOCOG responded with a statement that read: “The vision for London 2012, created by the BOA, Government and the Mayor of London and set out in the bid book is for one festival of sport, with an integrated Olympic and Paralympic Games, underpinned by a single budget. It is sad that this vision is now disputed by the new leadership of the BOA. We are grateful that the IOC is helping to resolve the issue.”