The London 2011 riots were distressing  for the people of Britain and painted the city in a bad light but London 2012 officials are about to change this when they pump in £3millon ($4.7mn) into tourism for the capital.

The new scheme launched bt Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt will put £6mn ($9.5mn) into tourism with £3mn ($4.7mn) specifically going to London. Hunt claims this will pave way for 12,000 new jobs and lead to an extra £500m being spent in the economy over the next three years.

Hunt believes the publicity aims to “set the record straight” and show the world that the riots do not “stand for what the U.K. is all about.”

Hunt added: “We think this is a real opportunity. Because the whole country is paying for the Olympics we want the whole country to benefit. Given the urgency of the economic situation we face we don’t want to leave any stone unturned. We want to use next year as the moment we turned round the domestic [tourism] market.”

The scheme is the first of several initiatives Hunt plans to unveil in the build-up to London 2012.

Hunt continued: “We want to harness that [free public relations] for the UK and turn it into holidays booked. We want to grasp the opportunity. The global spotlight will be on the city and the country.”

A dispute between the media and England’s Premier League and Football League ended just in time for the beginning of the new Premier League season.

British media groups and international news agencies including The Associated Press reached an agreement with English soccer leagues on Saturday over game coverage, meaning that the opening weekend of top-tier matches would receive newspaper coverage.

The leagues had been in negotiations with newspapers and news agencies for several months.

The coalition said the leagues were seeking to impose restrictions on editorial freedom, which the news organisations had rejected at the start of discussions, before they grant journalists access to matches. There has been speculation that journalists’ usage of Twitter during matches was a sticking point in the dispute.

The Premier League and the Football League had said it was trying to maintain an “appropriate level of protection for their intellectual property.”

However, a statement issued by the News Media Coalition read: “We are delighted to have reached agreement with the leagues and look forward to providing fans with the best possible journalistic coverage of the game.”

The deal changes terms of coverage and accreditation that had existed since 2004 between the news organisations including The Associated Press and the Premier League and Football League.

The News Media Coalition statement said the previous agreement placed “unreasonably restrictive constraints on how news organisations could use and distribute their copyright football content.”

It said the new deal should “make a significant improvement” to coverage of the sport.

Havas Sports & Entertainment has unveiled a new dedicated sports PR division in partnership with Cake. Dan Connolly, the former head of PR for the England 2018 World Cup Bid, is to lead the new offering in the role of UK sports PR director.

Cake’s services include consumer PR, experiential marketing and social media. Jim Dowling, Cake managing partner, will drive the department’s creative output.

Havas Sports & Entertainment’s current sports PR client portfolio includes Annecy 2018, the French bid for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Friends Life T20 Cricket.

The Havas Sports & Entertainment team will be leading Annecy 2018’s PR effort in Durban ahead of the International Olympic Committee’s final decision on the hosts of the 2018 Winter Olympics on July 6.

They will be looking to emulate the success of the French bid for the 2018 Ryder Cup, another Havas Sports & Entertainment client.

Connolly, who has prior agency experience with clients such as Nike, the RFU and Barclays sponsorship of the Premier League, has overseen the international media relations and strategy for Annecy 2018, since joining in January 2011.

Havas Sports & Entertainment, global president and CEO, Lucien Boyer said: “Our UK Sports PR offer combines Havas’ expertise in sport with Cake’s cutting-edge creativity to develop campaigns that engage and excite audiences. It’s important for us to have someone with Dan’s background in place who can work across Havas Sports & Entertainment and Cake to draw upon our network’s best talent.

“In 25 offices around the world we have expertise that connects brands, sporting bodies and consumers through sport. We believe we can bring global perspectives to the market at a very interesting time for sports business in the UK.”

Havas Sports & Entertainment, UK CEO, Keith Impey, added: “Havas Sports & Entertainment is an eclectic mix of characters and backgrounds from the sports and entertainment world.  Havas Sports credentials combined with the creative spirit of Cake is a unique blend.”

“We have talent adept at operating in boardrooms, bootrooms, newsrooms, playing fields, stadia, street corners and the pub.  We’re buzzing with ideas and look forward to working with our clients to tell stories people want to share.”

A new consortium, sick TotalSports Services, check has been created by merging leading professional services companies JMW Solicitors LLP, sale Lockton Sport, GVA Robson Sports and BDO LLP, to provide sports clubs with tailored services to help deal with the growing range of professional and financial issues that they face.

Terry Robinson, Director of TotalSports Services commented: “Sport is big business. But clubs and sports people are facing challenging economic times, in addition to tighter tax laws and tougher employer, immigration and health & safety regulations. TotalSports Services is designed specifically to provide the people and companies working in, or associated with, the sports industry with access with top flight professional advice.”

Services provided by TotalSports Services partner companies include: Specialist legal advice provided by JMW, sports insurance and risk management advice via Lockton Sport, property consulting provided by GVA Robson Sports and financial and tax advice supplied by BDO LLP.

Commenting on Total Sports Services, Bryan Robson, Former Manchester Utd and England Captain and Director of GVA Robson Sports said: “I am extremely pleased that GVA Robson Sports has joined forces with other like minded professional firms to form Total Sports Services. Total Sports Services provides a single source of commercial advice for all professional sports clubs from football through to rugby and cricket.

“All the firms involved in the consortium are leading providers to the sports industry and are specialists in their fields of expertise. We are delighted to be working alongside JMW, BDO and Lockton to provide what I think is a unique and invaluable service for any club.”

After announcing annual sales exceeding US$1bn last year, Under Armour have signed an official apparel sponsorship with English Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur, the U.S. sportswear maker’s first foray with a team in soccer’s richest league.

The Baltimore-based company have announced that it will take over from the team’s current supplier, Puma AG, at the start of the 2012-13 season after Europe’s second-largest sporting-goods maker, signed a contract extension last year.

Terms of the five-year deal weren’t disclosed but Puma’s initial five-year contract was believed to be worth US$8m per season, so a figure in excess of that amount is highly likely due to the London club’s recent successes.

Tottenham qualified for the Champions League for the first time after finishing fourth in England’s top division last season and will play Italian Serie A leaders AC Milan in the second match of their round-of-16 encounter tomorrow after a 1-0 win in Italy last month.

Under Armour has been increasing its agreements with sports teams and athletes in recent years as it seeks to expand outside the U.S.

As well as having deals with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and skier Lindsey Vonn to market its cotton performance T-shirts, it provides apparel for the Wales rugby union team.

Under Armour already hold kit sponsorship deals with numerous soccer clubs including German Bundesliga side Hannover 96, Greek Superleague team Aris Thessaloniki, Japanese J-League outfit Omiya Ardija plus Deportivo Toluca and Estudiantes Tecos from Mexico’s Primera Division.

UK broadcaster ITV reported a near trebling in annual profits yesterday, March 2, hailing a successful World Cup as well as a strong line-up of programmes, particularly in the final quarter as the secret to their success.

 

However, ITV1’s share of viewing dropped in 2010 despite the autumn boost and the company gave a cautious outlook for the year ahead as it fears the impact of tough comparatives and an uncertain wider economy.

The group confirmed an ITV1 network programme budget of around US$1.3bn in 2011, which is down on the $1.33bn in 2010 due to the expense of the World Cup coverage.

 

ITV posted underlying pre-tax profits of $522m for 2010, up from $175.7m in 2009, and said it outperformed a resurgent television advertising market.

 

Total revenues rose 10 per cent to $3,357.5m, from $3,056.5m over the same period last year, while net debt was cut to $305.9m, from $995.8m.

 

The German Football League (DFL) have revealed that the nation’s elite league, the Bundesliga, has been rewarded for its clubs’ performances in Europe by snatching a UEFA Champions League place off Italy’s Serie A in 2012-13.

If the reports are true than the Bundesliga will have three automatic spots in the flagship event for European club soccer as well as one play-off spot, while Serie A will only have a maximum of three Champions League places, including one play-off spot.

The revelation comes despite Italian giants Inter Milan winning last season’s Champions League, beating German side Bayern Munich in the final, with German teams now moving ahead in the UEFA rankings.

German clubs have increased their total points tally in UEFA’s five-year coefficients to 68,103, opening up an 8,122-point lead over Italy’s Serie A (59,981).

The DFL released a statement, saying: “Italy is no longer able to take over third spot this season. The new ranking gives Bundesliga teams three starting spots in the group stage and a fourth in the play-off games of the competition.”

Top-ranking England and second-placed Spain are the other two countries that will be afforded a maximum of four Champions League places in 2012-13. Italy has joined France and Portugal with a maximum of three Champions League spots.

Despite claiming that the National Football League (NFL) and the players’ union (NFLPA) have made “some progress” over seven consecutive days of talks, denture George Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, claims “very strong differences remain” between the two parties.

Cohen released a statement on Thursday, February 24, his first public comments since he began working with the League and Players’ Association last week. The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) will expire on March 3, with the threat of a lockout looming large ahead of next season.

Cohen confirmed that the seventh consecutive day of talks would be the last for now, stating: “During the intervening weekend, the parties have been asked by us to assess their current positions. At bottom, some progress was made, but very strong differences remain on the all-important core issues that separate the parties.”

He added: “Our time together has been devoted to establishing an atmosphere conducive to meaningful negotiations and, of course, matters of process and substance. I can report that throughout this extensive period the parties engaged in highly focused, constructive dialogue concerning a host of issues covering both economics and player-related conditions.”

It is thought that the biggest dispute concerns the division of the NFL’s US$9bn in annual turnover, although a rookie wage scale and a proposed increase of the regular season to 18 games have also been issues.

Colin Moynihan, purchase chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) at a ceremony in Doha yesterday, February 23, attended by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Prince Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

The agreement was signed by Moynihan with Hamad Al-Thani at the Amiri Diwan – the Royal Court – which includes a wide range of mutually beneficial areas of agreement, including co-operation in the development of high performance sport and the promotion of the Olympic Movement.

Under the terms, which will last until at least the end of 2012 with the option of an additional three years, co-operation with their National Sports Federations was confirmed, and the BOA and QOC also agreed to share information relating to best practice in sports administration and discuss opportunities for relevant exchanges schemes and to work out to stamp out drug abuse.

Moynihan stated: “We welcome this opportunity for joint collaboration with the Qatar Olympic Committee.

“Following our meetings today, details of specific areas of cooperation will be discussed between both National Olympic Committees over the coming months.

“Given his strong interest in sport, we appreciate the backing given to this initiative by the Prime Minister, David Cameron MP who attended the signing ceremony here today.

“With the London 2012 Olympic Games fast approaching we are entering the most exciting period in our history as a National Olympic Committee. 

“I welcomed the opportunity to share some of our experiences with our colleagues in Qatar, who have themselves embarked upon their own journey to prepare to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022.”