UK betting firm Betfair has appointed Big Al’s Creative Emporium as its strategic and creative agency following a competitive pitch.

The new agreement will mean that Big Al’s will be ending its relationship with rival bookmaker Paddy Power after success in a pitch process led by Matt Booth, Betfair’s head of UK Marketing.

A multimillion annual media spend confirms Betfair’s intention to further accelerate the growth of the business and Booth stated: “We’re delighted to be working with Big Al’s to help shape our strategic direction. 

“It’s an exciting time for Betfair as we continue to build our brand, and roll out innovative and creative marketing campaigns.” 

Big Al’s has expertise in the sports and gaming industries, having previously worked with brands including Setanta Sports, PokerStars, King.com, Capital Spreads, The National Bingo Game Association, and Paddy Power.

Stef Jones, Creative Partner, spoke of the immediate appointment: “We’re very proud of the previous work we’ve done in the betting and gaming industry, and Betfair represents a great opportunity for us to continue this. We can’t wait to get stuck in.”

A statement from Codere read: “Authorised gambling operators in Spain are not permitted to advertise or may only do so subject to stringent restrictions and after obtaining authorisation from the authority.

“Neither are authorised operators able to operate games through the internet, although they have the necessary technology and expertise to do so, since these games are prohibited in Spain and in some cases may be activities liable for prosecution in the context of criminal law.”

The exclusive rights for the live streaming of ESPN Star Sports’ coverage of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup 2011 have been awared to telecom services provider Vodafone Essar.

As part of this deal, Vodafone’s customers will be able to watch ball-by-ball live coverage of all 49 ODI’s on their mobile phones via ESPN Mobile TV. Vodafone has been named co-presenting broadcast sponsor for ESPN Star Sports’ coverage of ICC CWC 2011, making the company one of the biggest sponsors of India’s most popular sport this season. It is also the co-presenting sponsor of IPL besides being one of the on-ground sponsors.

Having secured the on-air broadcast sponsorship rights of ESPN Star Sports’ coverage of the ICC CWC 2011, Vodafone has created on-air advertising campaign  for this event after reportedly paying US$9.85m for the co-sponsorship rights.

Vodafone released a statement, reading: “Vodafone’s interest in the cricket season in 2011 is a continuation of this same belief to capitalize on large cricketing events like the World Cup, thereby reaching out to a very large cross section of audiences, cutting across diverse geographies.”

Kumar Ramanathan, Vodafone Essar CMO, added: “The 2011 cricket season in India coincides with an exciting time in the telecom industry when MNP and 3G are buzz words and the entire consumer base is being wooed afresh by incumbent and new competitors alike. Through this association with ESPN Star Sports to provide live streaming of its ICC CWC 2011 coverage, we continue to engage our customers in a more meaningful and relevant manner, that enriches the service experience.”

Alexey Sorokin, Russia’s World Cup bid chief, says England’s reaction to his country winning 2018 hosting rights was regrettable and that the team didn’t know ‘how to lose’. He claims the bid team ran a clean race and that Russia is now ready for scrutiny to intensify as preparations begin.

England’s shock elimination in the first round of the FIFA vote on Dec. 2 prompted bid leaders to criticize FIFA’s bidding process after securing just two votes in what reports revealed to be the best technical bid.

“They [England] had a good bid in general. We regret that it turned out this way. But you have to know how to lose too,” Sorokin said in an interview with Russia Today.

“We think our bid is totally within FIFA’s philosophy, that is to move the World Cup to new regions, to open up new horizons to expand the power of football.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) hopes to break the billion-dollar mark for revenue from top sponsors by the time of the London Olympics in 2012, ed IOC marketing head Gerhard Heiberg said. The IOC already has $960 million of sponsorship in place for the 2009 to 2012 timeframe and remains confident of adding one or two more major companies by the London Games.

“The market situation has relaxed considerably. I hope that we will reach the billion-dollar mark in the coming year, asthma ” Heiberg told DPA on the verges of the IOC Executive Committee meeting in Acapulco.

The IOC have managed to sign up Dow Chemical and Procter & Gamble in the last four months, bringing the number of top sponsors to 11.

The sponsorship programme brought in $866 million for the 2006 Winter Games in Turin and the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

The International Cricket Council has approved (ICC) has provisionally approved the introduction of a Test League, it has been announced.

The ICC chief executives’ committee (CEC) has recommended setting up a Test league that would include a play-off with the four top teams to crown a champion.

An ICC statement read: “These recommendations seek to give exciting content and context for international cricket within the Future Tours Programme (FTP) after 2012.”

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat added: “We have agreed in principle to exciting and far-reaching proposals to tackle this most important issue.

“Achieving balance and unanimous agreement is not easy but we have responded well to a strategic priority to restructure international cricket.

“The proposals, especially introducing more meaningful context, means we now have the potential to follow international cricket that is even more exciting.”

The ICC wants to introduce the Test league in 2013 and also agreed to a one-day league first running from 2011-14 and separate from the Cricket World Cup.

The ECHL have announced that Einstein HR will once again return as the “Official Payroll & HR Service of the ECHL” for a sixth year during the 2014-15 Season.

Through the deal the company will continue to provide payroll processing and human resource services for all 21 ECHL teams and their players. 

Einstein HR will present the “Einstein of the Month” on ECHL.com each month during the ECHL regular season (October-April). Fans have the opportunity to answer a unique League-related question monthly for the chance to win a prize pack from the ECHL and Einstein HR using their ECHL knowledge. 

Einstein HR will also be featured on ECHL.com, allergy the official website of the League and on member sites through the ECHL.com Network. 

“Einstein HR continues to provide superior customer service for our League payroll needs with professional and courteous dedication, treat ” said ECHL Sr. Vice President of Business Operations Ryan Crelin. “Entering our sixth season together is a real accomplishment and we look forward to another great hockey season with their company.” 

“We take great pride in our partnership with the ECHL,” said Layne Davlin, President of Einstein HR. “We look forward to our continued relationship in the 2014-15 Season and providing each team with the payroll solutions they need in their fast paced business.”

The Alpari World Match Racing Tour have announced the addition of the Dutch Match Cup as an official stage of the 2014 world championship tour.

The Dutch event joins the current schedule of six championship events in Germany, treat Sweden, generic Poland, Chicago, Bermuda, and Malaysia. Today’s announcement comes just 2 days before the start of the 2014 Alpari World Match Racing Tour on the shores of Lake Constance at Match Race Germany from 5-9 June.

The Dutch Match Cup will mark the first ever Alpari World Match Racing Tour event to be held in Holland. The event will take place from 24-28 September in Lelystad, the largest municipality in Holland and the capital of the province of Flevoland. The event will offer a prize purse of USD75,000 [adding to the current 2014 Tour prize purse of USD1.4million] and teams will compete in an identical fleet of Maxfun 25 keelboats with four crew per boat.

The racing will take place directly off the harbour wall at Bataviahaven in Lelystad, one of the largest marinas in the Netherlands located on the 700 km2 Markermeer in between North Holland and its larger sibling, the Ijsselmeer. The €7million marina development at Bataviahaven was started in 2002 to host large nautical events including boat shows and regattas. The development also includes residential and commercial space including restaurants, shops and bars.

The sea wall will provide an ideal stadium sailing atmosphere for spectators to watch the world’s top match racing teams go head to head in September. A separate offshore event – the 200miles Solo Race – will also start and finish at Bataviahaven during the Dutch Match Cup which will add to the spectacle around other shore side events.

Today’s launch of the Dutch Match Cup was presented to local media at Lelystad’s City Hall attended by the Deputy Mayor of Lelystad, Jop Fackeldey; CEO of Batavia Sailing Center and Event Promoter of the Dutch Match Cup, Joop van Diest; and James Pleasance, Executive Director of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour.

“I am very pleased we have been able to add the Dutch Match Cup to the 2014 Alpari World Match Racing Tour season,” commented James Pleasance, Executive Director of the Alpari World Match Racing Tour. “It is the first ever Tour event in Holland and Bataviahaven is an excellent sailing stadium venue. Together with the City of Lelystad and local partners, the event organisation has worked very hard to ensure the event goes ahead this year and we look forward to coming to Lelystad in September.”

As Deputy Mayor Jop Fackeldey added: “The sport of sailing is an integral part of the coastline of Lelystad. Hosting a world class event such as the Dutch Match Cup will attract many visitors to the region and generate a very valuable exposure for the City. In turn, this will contribute greatly to the economic development of the region.”