Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is set to step down from his operations position at the NFL franchise as he battles the Alzheimer’s disease.

Bowlen, 70, is one of the NFL’s most well-known owners and guided the Broncos to six Super Bowl appearances during his 30 years at the helm including last season.

“We continue to offer our full support, compassion and respect to ‘Mr. B,’ who has faced Alzheimer’s disease with such dignity and strength,” the team said in a statement.

The team’s president, Joe Ellis, will oversee day-to-day management, while a trust will handle Bowlen’s ownership of the team.

Alzheimer’s is a degenerative brain disease with no known cure and is the most common cause of dementia in older people. Over time, it destroys one’s memory and other cognitive abilities.

Bowlen’s long-term hope is for one of his children to run the team at the appropriate time, and his succession plan will continue to be implemented, the team said.

With more than 300 victories, including six American Football League championships and back-to-back Super Bowls victories in 1997 and 1998, the team said Bowlen had established a “culture of winning” that is behind the Broncos’ success.

Ellis, who has worked with Bowlen for almost three decades, was also named as the Broncos’ chief executive officer and adds those responsibilities to his role as team president.

In a statement provided by the Broncos, Bowlen’s wife said he had decided to keep his illness private because he believed the attention should not be on him.

“Pat has always wanted the focus to be solely on the Denver Broncos and the great fans who have supported this team with such passion,” Annabel Bowlen said.

“Alzheimer’s has taken so much from Pat, but it will never take away his love for the Denver Broncos and his sincere appreciation for the fans,” she added.

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Sports management company IMG has ended its representation deal with Australian tennis star Bernard Tomic.

The agency used Twitter to announce it had cut ties with the 21-year-old on Thursday, but didn’t specify reasons.

Reports earlier in the week suggested it had terminated his contract before it was due to expire because of his off-court behaviour.

“IMG and Bernard Tomic have mutually ended our relationship,” IMG Tennis tweeted.

“We wish Bernard great success on and off the tennis court.”

It’s unclear who will next represent Tomic, who has been with IMG since he was 13 – before he won the boys’ titles at the 2008 Australian Open and 2009 US Open.

While at IMG, Tomics saw marketing deals with the likes of Nike, Yonex, Optus and Qantas potentially worth millions of dollars.

The feud between UCI President Pat McQuaid and Brian Cookson, who is challenging for his position, went up another notch today after McQuaid hit out at suggestions that he had broken the rules governing the nomination of candidates, describing the claim as “outrageous.”

Cookson, head of British Cycling and the only challenger so far, replied that McQuaid’s remarks were “another attempt to denigrate the current presidential process.”

Irishman McQuaid, who has been president since 2005, received nominations from Switzerland,Thailand and Morocco putting him forward for the position while not being backed by his own country’s Irish Cycling federation.

However, he later received a letter from British Cycling’s lawyers which suggested the UCI had accepted his nominations from the Thai and Moroccan federations after the closing date, McQuaid said.

“That is an outrageous suggestion,” said McQuaid in a statement.

“Brian must immediately make a statement on whether he believes that to be true and if he believes otherwise he has duty to ensure that this allegation is publicly withdrawn.”

McQuaid confirmed that the Swiss, Thai and Moroccan nominations were all received before the deadline in accordance with the UCI rules.

“As the president of British Cycling, Brian Cookson must explain his decision to allow his federation – that is funding his campaign – to behave in this way and to use its considerable financial clout to employ lawyers to challenge issues in the election,” said McQuaid.

“I do not fear an open election and I am not at all concerned by my ability to secure the support and votes that I require to be re-elected as UCI President,” he added.

“While it would appear that Brian has lost confidence in his own ability, I continue to challenge him to allow the UCI Congress and its voting delegates to decide.”

Cookson, who has been president of British Cycling since 1997, quickly hit back with a statement of his own.

“Sadly today we have seen yet another attempt by the existing UCI President, Pat McQuaid, to denigrate the current presidential election process,” he said.

“I want nothing more than an open and properly conducted democratic election and vote for the UCI presidency. To suggest otherwise is nonsense.

“It is also true that I, and many in our sport, have legitimate and growing concerns about the retrospective rule bending and attempted manipulation that is taking place at present.

“In my view it is therefore absolutely correct that British Cycling and others have raised concerns regarding proposed rule changes which have a direct impact on the election process now under way. These concerns need to be addressed.

“Far from ducking these issues, for the good of cycling and the reputation of the UCI, it is critical that openness and transparency guide our procedures and not desperate maneuvers and outbursts by Mr McQuaid.”

The election is scheduled to take place in September.

Sponsorship is big business by anyone’s standards. An estimated $50 billion will be spent globally on sponsorship fees alone in 2011. Add to that the industry standard of at least another dollar on activating sponsorship rights for every dollar spent on fees and you cross the $100 billion mark – a handy sum if you are the European Central Bank.

The majority (around 80%) goes on sports properties, with the rest split across culture, media, entertainment, education and charitable projects. This reflects the global reach of sports and the fact that many sponsors still view these properties as a cheap alternative to advertising.

The exception to this is the Olympic and Paralympic Games. No other sponsorship property commands so great an investment in return for so little. The main difference between the Olympics and other major sporting properties is what is known as its ‘clean venue’ status. This means that, unlike FIFA World Cup or the recent Rugby World Cup, there are no perimeter boards around the field of endeavour promoting sponsor brands. In fact, there is virtually no sponsor recognition at all.

IOC TOP partners spend in excess of $100m per quadrennial (covering one Winter and one Summer Games) for the right to promote their association with the Games globally. Where the IOC have been very smart is that this is effectively all the sponsorship fee covers – the right of association. For brands to gain any returns they have to spend further marketing dollars promoting the relationship and, by association, the Games themselves.

All hospitality is paid for in addition, and that does not come cheap. And if you want to own another part of the action – volunteering, ticketing, torch relay, live sites, sustainability – then further investments will be required.

So why is it that the Olympic and Paralympic Games can play a completely different game to its competitors? Whilst it is tough being on the receiving end of a Games partnership as a sponsor, this does not deter brands from lining up to participate – look at the sponsors already secured for Sochi and Rio.

The answer lies in the concept itself. There are multiple finals across a wide variety of sports. Not only does this attract the broadest possible audience for each sport, but it also creates a halo effect whereby people become aware of and support any number of finalists outside their normal interests. Witness the following for Eddie the Eagle ski jumping for Great Britain at the Winter Games in 1988 or willing Michael Phelps to win a record number of medals in the pool at Beijing. Rather than be divisive like other major sporting events, the Games creates the optimal environment for people from all walks of live to come together in support of countries, teams or individual heroes well beyond the barriers or race, origin or nationality.

In many ways the UK has been in denial these last 6 years since the Games were awarded to London in 2005 and, let’s face it, there has been much else to focus on in recent years. But come 1 January 2012 there will be an unprecedented explosion of Games-related activity from sponsors. I hope everyone will answer the call and make London 2012 “the best Games ever.”

Pippa Collett: Since gaining and MBA from Cranfield, Pippa Collett has become a leading sponsorship practitioner with an extensive client-side career at Shell, American Express and Rank Organisation. Her global sponsorship experience covers the full spectrum from Ferrari in Formula One and the Olympics to cultural projects including The Olivier Awards and The Unilever Series. She joined Sponsorship Consulting in 2006 to work with blue-chip clients such as Siemens, Standard Chartered Bank and Cisco.

As Vice-Chair of The European Sponsorship Association, Pippa has led on key aspects of the developing sponsorship agenda including authorship of ESA’s Sponsorship Assessment & Evaluation Guidelines and introducing the concept of Continuing Professional Development.

Pippa Collett’s

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