Ascot has announced that from 12th June 2014 it will join Racecourse Media Group, cialis which will be responsible for the distribution of all of the racecourse’s media rights in the UK and overseas.

In conjunction with this, racing from Ascot will transfer to Racing UK TV from At The Races (ATR) prior to Royal Ascot 2014.

Charles Barnett, Chief Executive at Ascot, said: “After careful consideration we have decided to extend our relationship with RMG, with whom we recently negotiated the exclusive terrestrial television contract with Channel 4. We have also partnered with the RMG courses since 2007 in the provision of our pictures to betting shops through Turf TV.

“We have had an excellent and productive relationship with At The Races since 2004 and are most grateful for all they have done for us.

“Enabling a large percentage of the best of British racing to be promoted by one entity and showcased through one satellite broadcaster mirrors the thinking behind the Channel 4 deal, and it should benefit initiatives like the QIPCO British Champions Series.”

Richard FitzGerald, CEO of Racecourse Media Group, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ascot to the RMG family. The racecourse’s tremendous racing and global reputation is a natural fit alongside the quality output from our other 33 racecourses.

“We look forward to working closely with Johnny Weatherby, Charles Barnett and their team in further enhancing media revenues for the course.

“We aim to deliver the highest production and presentation values worthy of one of the best racecourses in the world which will only further add to the Racing UK viewer’s experience.

“As Racing UK is 100% owned by our shareholder racecourses, all profits are reinvested in the sport. The agreement will benefit Ascot, RMG’s racecourses, the racing community and the sport as a whole.

“We are relishing the opportunity of working together to promote the very best of what British racing has to offer.”

The International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and the International Softball Federation (ISF) signed a Memorandum of Unterstanding (MOU) that is intended to manage the project of a merger between the 2 International Federations in order to strengthen the joint bid for baseball and softball reinstatement in the Olympic programme, discount for the 2020 Games.

The meeting, sale cialis the first ever between MLB and the ISF, happened in New York City. The 2 Federations were represented by their Presidents: Riccardo Fraccari and Don Porter.

The member Federations of the IBAF and the ISF will have to approve the merger project.

The ISF has called an extraordinary Congress for this matter, that is scheduled for October 30 in Houston (Texas, USA).

The IBAF is exploring the possibility of a postal vote, that apparently is viewed as the best solution by many of the National Federations.

The final decision by the 2 Federations will be presented at the IOC Executive Committee in December.

Krimi im Ring: WBA-Superchampion Felix Sturm musste sich gestern Abend nach zwölf Runden dem IBF-Weltmeister Daniel Geale geschlagen geben – und lieferte den TV-Zuschauern einem wahren Box-Krimi: 20, impotent 9 Prozent der 14- bis 49-Jährigen verfolgten den hochwertigen Titelvereinigungskampf live in SAT.1. Insgesamt waren 4, healing 05 Millionen Zuschauer dabei, als die Punktrichter 2:1 für den IBF-Weltmeister Daniel Geale werteten. Der Australier ist damit Doppelweltmeister im Mittelgewicht. Der Spitzenwert der Live-Übertragung lag bei 4,36 Millionen Zuschauern.

Bereits in der Prime Time punktete SAT.1 mit dem TV-Film “Die Jagd zum magischen Berg”, der 15,4 Prozent der 14- bis 49-Jährigen vor den Bildschirm lockte.

Basis: alle Fernsehhaushalte Deutschlands (integriertes Fernsehpanel D + EU) Quelle: AGF/GfK-Fernsehforschung / TV Scope / ProSiebenSat.1 TV Deutschland Research Erstellt: 2.09.2012 (vorläufig gewichtet: 1.09.2012)

Paul Henderson, former leader of Toronto’s failed 1996 Olympic bid and a former member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is worried about the spiralling costs of the 2015 Pan Am Games and has wrote a letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to inform him changes need to be made.

He wrote, “the magnitude of the total taxpayers exposure should wake up those involved to the fact that major TO2015 restructuring must be done”.

Henderson, who lobbied for the Pan Am Games to help future athletes, says, “costs will, when all taxpayers’ exposure and student taxes are totalled, be at least $4 billion, adding that “in these difficult times, consultants and others looking for jobs, will tell the various political arenas what they want to hear, not what they should be clearly told”.

Lise Jolicoeur, a spokeswoman for the Premier said, “Ontario, along with the federal and municipal governments, have given TO2015 a mandate to deliver on time and on budget. TO2015 have submitted a business plan which is currently under careful review”.

Henderson reportedly has suggestions that could save $750 million and possibly $1 billion. He said $300 million could be saved by running the Pan Am and Pan Para Games simultaneously from July 31 to August 16, and using more existing facilities not requiring major installations.

He also suggested a review of “over-the-top facilities” including the “two major white elephants” in the swimming pools and velodrome.

He said “temporary swimming pools required should be built outdoors…with temporary seating as was done in Athens, Barcelona, Los Angeles” and “moved after the Games to modest buildings in Scarborough, Markham, Hamilton”.

Another suggestion is to “double up venues using facilities already designated”.

He added, “”it is over two years since Toronto was awarded 2015 Pan and Pan Para Games” and “no firm contracts have been signed with either the various construction consortia or with the stakeholders who represent the many levels of taxpayers’ dollars that will fund and operate the multitude of venues”.

The UK’s sports minister Hugh Robertson says that the government will not consider any future bid to host the World Cup until FIFA is successfully reformed.

England failed miserably in their last bid to host the 2018 event, picking up just 2 votes and being knocked out in the first round of a process eventually by Russia.

The FA remains bitter about the ordeal having been judged to have the most technically sound bid and has an uneasy relationship with FIFA which recently re-elected Sepp Blatter as president despite the FAs abstention from the vote.

Robertson stated: “It is very clear from our experience of the last bid and what has happened subsequently, that FIFA needs radical structural reform.

“Until that process is complete, I doubt we would consider a future bid.”

Robertson made his remarks in the Commons as Tory MP Damian Collins said any England bid to host the World Cup was “likely to fail” unless FIFA was reformed, claiming it had “a world of double-dealing and self-interest under Sepp Blatter”.

Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron said FIFA’s reputation was now at an “all-time low” following Mr Blatter’s re-appointment as president in an uncontested election.

Robertson told the Commons: “Any future bid for a World Cup is some time away, probably not a bad thing, and probably not until 2013. Clearly any decision would be considered on its merits.

“However, I would expect there to be a far greater degree of transparency and accountability at Fifa before we consider any future bid.”

A Working Group established by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 1 at the first meeting on irregular and illegal sports betting agreed to set up three sub-groups to flesh out objectives in the fight against irregular and illegal betting in sport yesterday, health June 15.

It was also agreed that more needed to be done to strengthen the cooperation between sports, governments and betting operators to fight irregular and illegal betting, leading groups of experts to be formed to determine the following three objectives for the new body:

· Education: to evaluate existing programmes and determine joint programmes to be implemented, and study a basis for a code of conduct;

· Monitoring, intelligence and analysis: to evaluate ways to improve consistency in monitoring, intelligence exchange, and analysis;

· Legislation and regulations: to study the possibilities of creating common principles and strengthening judicial and police cooperation;

The meeting in Lausanne, Swtizerland, was chaired by IOC President Jacques Rogge, and was attended by government ministers from several countries as well as representatives from Interpol, the United Nations, National Olympic Committees, International Federations and athletes.

Rogge stated: “We foresee increased cooperation in the monitoring and coordination of the fight against illegal and irregular betting in sport. Today saw our first proactive steps toward that goal and an increased level of commitment in our joint fight against this threat to sport.”

The deadline for establishing the sub-groups has been set for the end of July. The sub-groups are scheduled to hold their first meetings between September and November, with their reports to the Working Group being presented before the end of 2011.

Spain’s La Liga soccer club Athletic Bilbao, have announced the renewal of major sponsorship deals with oil company Petronor and BBK for a further three-years, until 2014.

Petronor became the first official kit sponsor in the Spanish sides history in 2008 and their company logo will maintain pride of place on Bilbao’s first team shirt in a deal valued by Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo at US$2.89m per year plus incentives – a five per cent increase on the original agreement. Therefore, the overall value of the deal for the duration of the contract is thought to be around $8.67m.

The source also speculates that the club’s other principal sponsor BBK, a Bilbao-based savings bank, will pay around $2.76m a year to extend its sponsorship. BBK, who have branding on the outside of the club’s stadium, first became a partner of the club in 1992 and returned in 2006 after a one-year hiatus.