The San Francisco Giants’ 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers set a record low television rating for a World Series opener.

Fox said Wednesday night’s game received a 7.6 rating and 12 share, and that it was seen by 12.2 million viewers, according to fast national ratings by Nielsen Media Research.

The rating dropped 13 percent from the 8.7/14 for St. Louis’ 3-2 victory over Texas in Game 1 last year, which averaged 14.2 million viewers. That broke the low set the previous year when the Giants’ 11-7 win over the Rangers received an 8.9.

Fox said this year’s opener had a higher rating at 9 p.m. EDT (8.8 to 8.7). But viewership fell after San Francisco took a 6-0 lead behind Pablo Sandoval, who wound up tying the Series record with three home runs.

Still, Fox was the highest-rated network in prime time and had its highest-rated prime-time program since May’s season finale of “American Idol.”

“When you consider what they peaked at, before the blowout, it was fabulous,” Fox senior executive vice president David Hill said. “Won the night. What can you say? It was the most popular thing on American television last night.”

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a program, and the share is the percentage of homes watching among those with TVs on at the time.

HBO and ESPN said they are getting in the ring together to create a program to boost boxing.

As part of the agreement, the two networks will coordinate on promotional support for pay-per-view boxing events, starting with the Sept. 15 bout between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez in Las Vegas.

As part of the agreement, ESPN and ESPN Deportes’ programs including SportsCenter will have access to key content and information surrounding marquee HBO Pay-Per-View boxing events, including fighter interviews. ESPN and ESPN Deportes will also televise the HBO series 24/7 leading up to HBO Pay-Per-View fights.

ESPN subscribers will also be able to watch live fighter weigh-ins and pre- and post-fight press conferences for HBO pay per view events via ESPN3, WatchESPN and ESPN on Xbox Live.

“There is a very deep commitment at HBO to grow the sport of boxing and broaden the exposure for the top fighters and events,” Mark Taffet, senior vice president of sports operations and pay-per-view at HBO, said in a statement. “This collaboration with ESPN will benefit fight fans that already love the sport, will attract many more sports fans to connect with boxing, and will greatly enhance the visibility of the fighters that are featured in HBO Pay-Per-View events.”

“This agreement is a testament to ESPN and HBO’s leadership in the sports media industry,” noted Marie Donoghue, senior vice president of global business strategy and development at ESPN. “ESPN continues to provide sports fans with greater access to events across various platforms and this agreement further extends our commitment to serve the fan.”

The positive effects of Rugby’s 2011 are still surfacing as the Oceania region are set to benefit from the delivery of key training equipment to the Pacific Islands thanks to the dedicated Legacy programme.

The unprecedented initiative, a key element of the official Rugby World Cup 2011 Legacy programme, underscores the joint strategic objectives of the New Zealand Rugby Union, the International Rugby Board and the New Zealand Government to deliver a world class event that would benefit the Pacific Islands.

Market-leading equipment used by the 20 participating Unions at New Zealand 2011, including scrum machines, tackle bags, hit shields, tackle suits, contact suits and post pads will be distributed across the 13 Unions affiliated to the Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions (FORU) Regional Association.

Men, women and children at all levels of the Game from American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis et Futuna will benefit from the equipment. It will be transported free-of-charge courtesy of Rugby World Cup 2011 Worldwide Partner DHL with Cook Islands’ equipment arriving this week.

To launch the programme, Rugby World Cup 2011-winning All Black Jerome Kaino is accompanying the Webb Ellis Cup to the Cook Islands. The Union will be the first to receive a shipment of Rugby equipment just as it prepares to host the FORU Annual General Meeting.

NZRU Chief Executive Steve Tew commented: “Pacific Rugby fans – both in New Zealand and their Island homelands – added something special to the tournament. It was great to see the Pacific communities in New Zealand and in the Islands make the most of a home away from home advantage. It’s only fitting that we share the success of the tournament through the distribution of equipment that for these Unions is not always easy to acquire.”

Cook Islands Rugby Union President Chris McKinley said: “This will be very well used in our upcoming season and will certainly lift the look and standard of our game. We are very grateful to all parties and believe this will also raise the standard of our high performance Unit we are presently establishing.”

IRB General Manager for Oceania William Glenwright added: “Rugby in Oceania is going from strength to strength. The distribution of RWC equipment to the FORU Unions is invaluable and underscores that the event, hosted in Oceania, was truly an event for the Oceania Rugby family. The Rugby World Cup 2011 legacy programme is another example of the collective commitment to the ongoing development of Rugby throughout the region and particularly in the Pacific Islands.”

The commercial success of the tournament has enabled the IRB to invest over NZD $300 million in the global Game between 2009 and 2012 with NZD $34 million going directly to Oceania to assist with competitions, development, training and education initiatives.

DHL RWC Manager Transport and Logistics Frederick Donovan said: “As a Worldwide partner of RWC 2011, DHL was committed to delivering Rugby to the world and when the opportunity of delivering the legacy equipment to the Pacific Island nations presented itself, we could not think of a more appropriate project to complement the transport and logistical involvement DHL provided during the tournament. On this fantastic project we also had assistance from Reef Shipping, and from legendary Samoa and New Zealand flanker Michael Jones.”

The world’s largest security technology company, McAfee has produced a survey highlighting the lack of knowledge and awareness amongst MPs, business leaders and journalists about the severity of a cyber attack on the London 2012 Olympic Games.

When asked to rate the greatest threat to the 2012 Olympics, only two per cent of respondents named cyber threat as the biggest compared to almost half of all respondents who believed a threat was more likely to come from a terror attack or transport failure.

The survey findings suggest the importance of the cyber threat is being overlooked despite the Government categorising the possibility of a cyber attack as a tier one threat in the National Security Strategy, as well as warnings from London 2012 that attacks are inevitable.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and British Olympic Association (BOA) have already allegedly been the subject of cyber attacks along with the networks of 72 organisations according to McAfee research, while Atos Origin, London 2012 IT partner, claim 14 million malware events were recorded per day during the Beijing 2008 Olympics, 400 of which had the potential to impact on the Games although they were all fortunately blocked.

In the first three months of 2011, McAfee identified more than six million examples of malicious software, which far exceeds any records for a similar time period, while there has also been a 76 per cent increase on attacks on android phones.

David Blunkett, former Home Secretary and chair of the International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA): “At a time when cyber attacks on organisations like the IMF [International Monetary Fund] are hitting the headlines, it is important that our lawmakers and opinion formers understand the importance of the work being done to protect the London Olympic Games. They must use it as a springboard for a national campaign of online vigilance.”

The survey showed that 52 per cent of business leaders, 64 per cent of politicians and 62 per cent of journalists feel it is unlikely that there will be a large scale cyber attack during London 2012, while 74 per cent of business people, 79 per cent of politicians and 80 per cent of journalists believe that if an attack took place it would not compromise the Games.

Exactly 41 per cent of respondents rated transport as the greatest threat to the success of the Games followed by 38 per cent who rated terror attack as the biggest potential threat.

While only 2 per cent considered a cyber attack the largest threat, 89 per cent of business leaders, 79 per cent of MPs and 83 per cent of journalists felt that the risk of cyber attack will grow in the future.

Rene Roersma, director of global public sector at McAfee EMEA.: “The organisers of the London Olympic Games and those in Government tackling the cyber issue are doing a tremendous job. However, the fact remains that 8,600 new crime websites are detected each day and a further 75 million new pieces of cybercrime software will be generated by the end of 2011.”

The survey was conducted between June 17 and July 12 this year when a series of successful, high-profile cyber-attacks were being reported on the International Monetary Fund, the Pentagon and United States Senate.

India’s Minister for sports and youth affairs, Ajay Maken, asserted that all sports federations, including the Indian cricket board (BCCI), will have to adhere to the new anti-doping law.

The Sports Ministry is planning to bring in a new law to tackle doping after a series of Indian athletes failed to clear their dope tests. 

Maken said: “We are going to the Cabinet in this regard and wish to bring a specific law on doping in the Monsoon Session of Parliament.”

Maken said in cases where laws of international sporting federations conflict with that of Wada then the laws of the former will be applicable. 

On the question of whether BCCI will be covered under the new law, the minister replied, “I am not talking about any one sport. This will be made applicable to all sports.”

The Sports Ministry is also trying to bring the BCCI under the proposed National Sports Development Bill in spite of the their resistance.

In the BCCI’s defence though, it must be said that unlike many other federations that can be said to be actively conniving in doping cover-ups, the Indian board has taken a refreshingly proactive position on the matter.

Meanwhile, listing out steps taken by the ministry in the wake of doping scandal, Maken said: “Whatever it is, now we have asked NIS, SAI and Nada to be more vigilant. I have asked Nada to carry on more surprise checks, increase the frequency and change the dope officers and I am hopeful of positive results.”

He also affirmed that raids will also be conducted more frequently and strict action will be taken against offenders.

Maken said: “We have already started conducting raids. Surprise checks were carried out on Saturday at NIS in Patiala and such raids are being conducted at Bangalore today. Such raids will be carried out more frequently and wherever dope material is found entering the premises, strict action will be taken.”

He added: “Already, strict action has been taken against seven officials and Justice Mukul Mudgal has been appointed to carry out a thorough probe. Strict action would taken. We will spare no one.”

British sports betting company Ladbrokes have made a preliminary approach to buy online bookmaker Sportingbet.

Both parties admitted there had been tentative discussions but at this stage there are no guarantees that they will lead to Ladbrokes submitting an offer for Sportingbet, cialis whose shares rose by 17.65 per cent following the announcement.

A statement released by the Sportingbet board, which was confirmed by Ladbrokes, said the company had received “a highly preliminary approach from Ladbrokes plc which may or may not lead to an offer being made to purchase the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company. There can be no certainty that any offer will be forthcoming or as to the terms of any such offer. A further announcement will be made in due course.”

Sportingbet, which is based in Guernsey and was founded in 1998, has over two million customers, but it is their presence overseas that appeals to Ladbrokes. Sportingbet is well established in Europe, Canada, South America, Australia and South Africa, and are territories in which Ladbrokes would like to grow.

Richard Glynn, Ladbrokes chief executive, confirmed that preliminary discussions had taken place. He said: “The Board has set out previously a clear organic strategy for Ladbrokes. We also stated that we would explore appropriate opportunities that may help us accelerate that process and bring benefits to our shareholders. These talks should be seen in that context and are highly preliminary.”

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.

Media rights agency, illness Sportfive has invited broadcasters to register an interest into the Austrian rights tender for the upcoming Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and Rio 2016 Games by March 28.

Austria finished fifth in the medals table for the 2010 Vancouver Games and has a strong affinity with the Games and indeed winter sports on the whole. The nation will host the 2012 Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck next year.

The broadcast rights for next edition of the Winter Games and the 2016 Summer event will be sold by Sportfive in a total of 40 European territories – the first time that an agency has been licensed to distribute these rights. Sportfive has stated that it is approaching each market on an individual basis.

The Palace of Monaco have refuted claims of corruption and wrong-doing on the part of Prince Albert II after he was accused of accepting bribes in exchange for his backing of Sochi’s successful bid for the 2014 Winter Games.

One of the Prince’s former advisors, Robert Eringer, has consistently accused Albert and last week launched an official complaint with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of which Prince Albert is a member of the board.

Eringer stated that lavished gifts were awarded to the Prince to ensure his vote from President, at the time, Vladimir Putin and Kremlin banker Sergei Pugachev. The American is suing his former employer in a California court, claiming a breach of contract and seeking back pay in the amount of US$476,000.

In an email sent via the Palace of Monaco to the Associated Press, the Palace stated: “The Royal Palace of Monaco categorically denies the false allegations of Mr. Eringer against His Royal Highness Prince Albert II,”

“An IOC member for more than 25 years, the monarch has worked tirelessly to promote sport around the world and to defend its values.”