Ticket sales for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand are booming according to Martin Snedden, the man responsible for the events successful delivery with almost two-thirds of the target being reached at this early stage.

In total, 864,000 tickets have been sold since the programme was released earlier in the year which has brought in revenues of NZ$166m (US$122.7m). A target of 1.45 million sales had been set across the 48 matches played in the tournament with around 662,000 having been snapped up already.

RNZ 2011 Ltd chief executive Martin Snedden claimed that key match ticket sales and revenue targets had been met this year with organisers preparing for the arrival of 85,000 international visitors next year.

Snedden stated: “This is a very good position to be in with 267 days to go until kick-off. We still have a lot left to do, but event preparations, coupled with ticket sales to date and strong international visitor projections mean we are getting ourselves in good shape to host the tournament.”

Snedden added: “We are on track to achieve the forecast total ticket sales revenue of $NZ268 million. (That target) was always going to be a big leap into the unknown given that the biggest grossing event previously in New Zealand’s history was the 2005 Lions tour during which the New Zealand Rugby Union grossed NZ$24 million from ticket sales. We’ve now achieved seven times that figure. In the end, we’ll need to do 11 times that amount to hit budget.”

A financial advisory partnership has been agreed by HSBC Personal Bank to support IMG’s stellar sports division, which includes the likes of Tiger Woods and Colin Montgomerie.

The bank will now have the opportunity to offer its clients the opportunity to play alongside some of the world’s top golf professionals in pro-am tournaments whilst they also have a commitment to provide advisory services to the players.

The bank is believed to be funding a rise in the prize money for the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship to US$2.7m, up from $500,000.

HSBC has strong ties in golf having agreed a deal earlier in the year with The Open Championship to become the tournaments official banking partner. The bank also sponsors IMG’s World Golf Championships in Shanghai as well as several golf days in Malaysia and Singapore.

Some of Britain’s elite athletes have written to prime minister David Cameron to arrange an urgent meeting to keep the annual £162m (US$250m) grant for school sports in the UK.

A decision was made by Education Secretary Michael Gove to cut the fund from March 2011 which helps 450 school sports partnerships across England. 75 high profile athletes including Denise Lewis, Gail Emms and Tessa Sanderson have signed a written letter to attempt to arrange an urgent meeting to change the decision made by Mr Gove.

Badminton star Emms was behind the letter which speaks strongly in its disapproval of the cut on funding to school sports. The money is currently used to run PE classes where no trained staff are involved and also organise and run clubs, competitions and events. The cut is set to be replaced with a new school Olympics scheme costing £10m ($15.5m).

The passionate letter to the PM reads, ‘With one ill-conceived cut you are on the brink of destroying everything schools, clubs and the national governing bodies of sport are doing to ensure this and future generations embrace sport and physical activity, not shun it.’

The letter adds: ‘The future health of all our children is at risk if you axe this funding. We urge you to act now, please, prime minister, and look again at the permanent withdrawal of funding for school sport partnerships before you condemn millions of children to a lack of sporting opportunities and therefore a bleak future of lethargy, obesity and unhappiness.’

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner will be on the Hall of Fame veterans committee ballot next month for the first time.

Steinbrenner was the owner of the Yankees from 1973 until his death in July.  During his ownership, the team won 16 AL East titles, 11 AL pennants and seven World Series championships.  

Also on the ballot with Steinbrenner will be former New York manager Billy Martin.  Martin had five different stints as Yankees manager under Steinbrenner, who fired him four times.

Also on the ballot will be former union head Marvin Miller, former Toronto, Baltimore and Philadelphia GM Pat Gillick and players Vida Blue, Dave Concepcion, Steve Garvey, Ron Guidry, Al Oliver, Ted Simmons, Rusty Staub and Tommy John.  Some may be surprised to know that Tommy John was not the doctor who invented the popular ligament replacement surgery, but a pitcher who was the first player to undergo the procedure.

To be elected, a candidate must appear on at least 75 percent of the ballots.  Results will be announced Dec. 6 at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

This year’s veterans committee ballot covers baseball’s expansion era.  Players, managers, executives and umpires whose significant impact was from 1973 on were considered in the first of a three-year cycle.  Under changes announced last summer, the golden era (1947-1972) will be voted on in 2011 and the pre-integration era (1881-1946) will be voted on in 2012.

Anyone elected will be inducted into the Hall of Fame during ceremonies in Cooperstown on July 24

The Breeders’ Cup, which began Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, has hit a new record for ticket sales and expects to set records for attendance as well, said Breeders’ Cup President & CEO Greg Avioli.

“We have just gone over $10 million in sales and the previous record was $6.9 million in 2006,” Avioli said.

Avioli cited the return to Kentucky after five years as well as interest in undefeated mare Zenyatta, who will go for her 20th win in as many tries in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the event’s finale at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, as reasons for the boost in sales. “It absolutely would be a positive thing for the sport of horse racing for Zenyatta to win this race and to move to 20 and 0,” Avioli said. “That type of publicity is exactly what the horse racing industry needs.”

Avioli said that the media attention the event has drawn is three to four times what it normally is because of the presence of Zenyatta, who has been featured on “60 Minutes” and in a “Sports Illustrated” story, among other media outlets. Avioli said he expects attendance at the two-day event to exceed 100,000. The previous record was 96,000 in 2009.

He predicted that wagering on the races in the two-day event would exceed $200M, up from $178M last year. One reason Avioli said he expects an increase is Churchill has a dirt main track whereas Santa Anita Park, the host of last year’s event, had a synthetic track. High roller horseplayers prefer to bet on dirt tracks, he said.

The ISAF World Match Racing Tour (WMRT), sailing’s premier global match racing tour, has opened the bidding process for cities, regions and countries from around the globe to enter the race for the right to host a stage of sailing’s leading world series.

Recognised by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with special event status, WMRT is a professionally managed tour currently consisting of nine events worldwide. The Tour culminates in the crowning of a World Champion.

The bidding process, which will be managed by venue acquisition consultancy Regatta International, will see six new venues selected to join the Tour from the 2012-2013 seasons. The new venues will win the right to hold a World Championship stage, each lasting for 5 days.

Commenting on the opening of the bidding process, WMRT CEO Jim O’Toole commented, “The World Match Racing Tour is a well proven marketing platform for destinations wishing to showcase their facilities, infrastructure and organisational capacities, increase their international tourism profile and attract inward investment.”

“We are currently undergoing an intense period of expansion and are looking forward to partnering with venues who share our ambition. We have already fielded strong levels of interest from potential venues and by opening up the bidding process we’ll be requiring bidding venues to meet certain criteria.”

Regatta International’s Director Terry Newby said, “The World Match Racing Tour is already one of sailing’s most respected brands with outstanding events around the world. The opportunity to work with interested parties to develop the series to 15 stages by 2013 is a hugely exciting prospect.

Nashville in the state of Tennessee will host the National Hockey League’s 2016 All-Star festivities, it was announed today. 

The NHL’s mid-season showcase, which includes an All-Star game between the league’s top players and a skills competition, will be held at the home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators from Jan. 30-31.

“Nashville knows how to showcase stars, put on great events and deliver first-rate entertainment and is a great place to visit. So where better to host our 2016 All-Star Celebration than in Nashville?” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

The last NHL All-Star Game was hosted by Ottawa in 2012 and pumped an estimated $35 million into the economies of the city and surrounding regions.

The 2013 All-Star Game was canceled due to the NHL’s lockout while last season’s edition was not held due to the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

This season’s All-Star festivities will be held from Jan. 24-25 in Columbus.

The United States Polo Association, asthma Inc. (USPA), viagra 40mg the governing body of the sport of polo in the United States since 1890, has announced today that the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York has granted its motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC) against the USPA and its licensee Arvind Ltd.

The lawsuit, which was filed by RLC in October 2013, is related to trademark litigation that has been underway since 1984 between the USPA and RLC – and the use of certain names, logos and trademarks in connection with the USPA’s production and marketing of merchandise.

In 2003, the USPA and RLC and its subsidiaries executed a settlement agreement which defined the terms under which the USPA has the right to market its products. In granting the USPA’s motion to dismiss RLC’s lawsuit, the SDNY upheld the terms of the settlement agreement – in which RLC conceded the legitimacy of the USPA’s Double Horseman trademarks and agreed that any disputes concerning the use of those trademarks should be resolved in arbitration.

W. David Cummings, President and Chief Executive Officer of USPA Properties, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of USPA and its licensing arm, said, “We are extremely pleased with the Court’s ruling on multiple levels. It is yet another judicial decision which validates the settlement agreement under which the parties have co-existed for more than 10 years, and which recognizes Ralph Lauren’s agreement that the USPA may use its Double Horsemen trademarks.”

Mr. Cummings continued, “We believe Ralph Lauren’s underlying claims are both unnecessary and meritless. We have marketed our merchandise legally under our pre-existing agreement with Ralph Lauren – and have strict policies and procedures in place to ensure that our international licensees also abide both those parameters. We are confident in our position should Ralph Lauren elect to move forward with arbitration.”