The PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour, pills The First Tee and Monterey Peninsula Foundation announced yesterday, health March 7, abortion that Nature Valley will be the new title sponsor for the annual tournament at Pebble Beach.

The tournament sponsorship expands Nature Valley’s involvement with the PGA TOUR. An official marketing partner of the PGA TOUR since 2000, Nature Valley is the Official Natural Energy Bar of the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour.

Entering its eighth year, the unique event features The First Tee participants and amateurs competing side-by-side with Champions Tour players at the renowned Pebble Beach Golf Links and Del Monte Golf Course. 

Mike Stevens, President of the Champions Tour, stated: “The Champions Tour is thrilled to welcome General Mills and its Nature Valley brand as title sponsor of the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. This is one of our players’ favorite events, showcasing the best of the Champions Tour and outstanding young people from The First Tee program.”

Jon Nudi, President, General Mills Snacks Division under which Nature Valley operates, added: “Nature Valley is pleased to continue its long-standing relationship with the PGA TOUR and provide support for The First Tee event. We are also very excited to expand our relationship with The First Tee and help them advance their terrific initiatives.”

Britain’s national tourism agency, VisitBritain has formed an innovative partnership with Geocast TV to develop, host and manage its new media site VisitBritain TV and help promote the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

The brief given to Geocast TV is to develop a video and streaming media website which promotes British people and events, enabling the millions of overseas tourists who come to Britain to get the most out of their visit.

Head of Digital and Social Media at VisitBritain, Justin Reid said: “The Royal Wedding this year and the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012 will provide unprecedented media exposure all around the world.

“We want to ensure we cater for the information needs and interests of both new visitors who are inspired to come to Britain for the first time and people who know us well and want to get under our skin more.

“As millions of people research ideas for holidays and days out online, we’ll be bringing them an enhanced media experience featuring news from around the country, live events, travel reports and feature programmes.”

Richard Day, Director, Geocast TV added: “We are delighted to be working with VisitBritain at this extremely exciting time.

“VisitBritain TV showcases Britain at its best, featuring events and programmes that will inspire people to explore more of the country.

“Our experienced production team will be delivering high quality programming for the site every week, enabling people to anticipate and plan their leisure itineraries.”

Despite attendances at English soccer’s FA Cup clashes dropping way below that of the league, the competition received a huge boost after the viewing figures for the weekend’s action was revealed.

English Premier League giants Manchester United’s narrow win over non-league Crawley Town drew in an audience share of 33 per cent, exceeding that of Arsenal’s Champions League win against Barcelona, which received 31 per cent of the audience. 

The match, covered on ITV1, drew in almost 8.5 million viewers at its peak, while the following day, Manchester City v Notts County attracted over 4 million viewers to the screen. 

The viewership on ESPN for the FA Cup round also showed impressively; Everton v Chelsea and Leyton Orient v Arsenal both received peak audiences of over 800,000.

According to a spokesman for English Premier League soccer giants Manchester United, apoplectic the club has confirmed to the Premier League that the Glazer family still owns 100 per cent of the club.

There had been speculation over recent months that the American owners may have sold a stake to pay off their controversial £220m (US$357m) PIK (payment-in-kind) loans, and the Glazers recently set up a new parent company registered in Delaware, where there is no requirement to reveal ownership details.

However, in an interview with BCC Sport, a club spokesman stated: “There has been no change of ownership.”

The Glazers acquired the club in 2005, against the wishes of many of United’s supporters and have continued to be disliked by large sections of the sides fanbase.

Despite denials from both parties, Qatar Holdings LLC has been repeatedly linked with a takeover of the Barclays Premier League club.

Roger Goodell commissioner for the National Football League (NFL) written a column in a syndicated newspaper, warning the players’ union it will have to compromise if it wants to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and avoid a lockout.

Goodell’s column was entitled ‘The time has come to make a deal’ after talks between the parties broke down last week. With the current agreement due to expire on March 4 and no sign of a deal being reached, Goodell said time was running out and it was imperative the two sides returned to the negotiating table.

Goodell wrote: “We need an agreement that both sides can live with and obtain what they need, not simply what they want.

“Today’s collective bargain agreement does not work as it should from the standpoint of the teams.

“If needed adjustments are made, the NFL will be better for everyone. The first step is making sure a new collective bargaining agreement is more balanced and supports innovation and growth.”

The disagreements over a new CBA came due to the NFL’s opinion that the current agreement, in which the players keep 60 per cent of available revenue is too high, with the NFL and owners wanting to invest in other areas, including new stadiums.

They are also at odds over rookie wage scales, drug testing and how many games should be played in the regular season.

“The current deal does not secure the best possible future for the game, players, clubs and fans,” Goodell continued.

“The next few weeks must be used to negotiate with intensity and purpose so we can reach a fair agreement by March 4. If both sides compromise and give a little, everyone will get a lot, especially the fans.”

In an apparent bid to to tackle corruption in cricket during the World Cup this month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) have banned players and officials alike from using social networking site Twitter.

The real-time information network is seemingly growing less and less popular with sporting bodies, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Football Association (FA) both releasing guidelines for usage from the world’s sporting icons.

The move by the ICC however, is reportedly for differing reasons according to the Sydney Morning Herald, who claim that the ban has been introduced following Australian team manager Steve Bernard’s tweets which attracted more than 1,100 followers in the past six months, including during Ashes and the subsequent ODI series

The decision of ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit was intended to restrain the players and officials from any possible approach by people with links to illegal betting during World Cup matches.

The Sydney Morning Herald quoted ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald as saying: “When it comes to issues of corruption we prefer to err on the side of caution. We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun but there is a chance that sensitive information could be passed on during matches in this way, even inadvertently, and we just feel that team managers’ phones should be kept for operational purposes only.”

“This recommendation is not confined to the Australia team manager but all teams in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and is certainly not a reaction to anything the Australia team manager has said or done in the past. It’s merely a precaution and is not something we are overly worried about at this stage,” he added.

Much of the talk regarding the soccer tournament involved with the London 2012 Olympics has surrounded the potential involvement of a Great Britain side. Football Associations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland protested against allowing their players to compete amid fears of losing their independence from FIFA.

However, the competition has taken somewhat of a blow in attracting the world’s greatest players after two-time defending champions Argentina, and in turn back-to-back World Footballer of the Year, Lionel Messi, failed to qualify.

Messi had reportedly hoped to take part in the Games in London as one of three over-age players each country is allowed to pick but the news will come as a relief to his club side Barcelona, who are among several leading European sides trying to prevent their top players taking part in the Olympics.

Argentina missed out despite beating Colombia 2-0 in their final match of the South American Under-20 Championships.

Earlier results, however, meant that Argentina needed its great rivals, Brazil to lose by five clear goals to Uruguay in their final match but they went on to dominate the game and clinch the Championships after winning 6-0.

However, the BRDC has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers to attract investment for a series of new projects including hotels, a hall of fame, young driver academies and an international-standard kart track in plans to “realise the full potential of Silverstone and its 760-acre estate”.

BRDC chairman Stuart Rolt stated: “We are seeking external investment to help us realise the full potential of Silverstone more quickly. We have asked Robert Brooks, previous chairman, to lead the process. If we cannot find a suitable investor, or are unable to agree satisfactory terms on a deal, we will continue with the development ourselves, albeit at a slower pace.”

He added: “The commercial potential of Silverstone and the estate is significant. With the new circuit, new pit and paddock complex and other existing key motor sport developments all funded, the time is right for the BRDC to consider potential investment from third parties who share our vision and can help us realise the full potential of Silverstone more rapidly.”