Horse racing’s largest commercial organisation, The Jockey Club, saw turnover rise by 8 per cent last year to £138m (US$226.6m).

The organisation has claimed that having provided £13m ($21.3m) in prize money in 2010, it will increase this to a record £15.7m ($25.7m) this year.

The Jockey Club’s assets include the leading group of racecourses in the UK, as well as the famous estates of Newmarket, Lambourn and Epsom Downs.

The hugely popular sport has been hit by bookmakers moving offshore and not having to pay the horse racing betting levy on the right to take bets on British races, which goes towards veterinary science, prize money, training and breeding programmes.

Simon Bazalgette, the group chief executive of the Jockey Club, admitted that this was the biggest hurdle the industry faced, saying: “Gambling’s pretty resilient. It tends to not go down as much as the rest of the economy during recessions so that’s gone well.

“The main problem for us is that although there’s £1bn ($1.64bn) that the bookmakers make out of British horse racing, they’re not paying their share of the levy to racing to keep the prize money up and that really is where legislation from the government is required.”

Last winter’s unusually bad weather also affected the sport, leading to cancelled meetings but Bazalgette claimed that, ignoring the impact of the cold weather, racecourse attendances were well up on the previous year and other areas of income, such as hospitality revenues, were also bouncing back.

Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor hosted a dinner for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission yesterday, March 3, despite being forced into a cabinet reshuffle earlier in the day.

Much of the main news in the nation in recent days has been regarding allegations made against Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg that he had plagiarised sources in his PhD thesis, and he was forced to quit as a result.

Merkel made the decision to replace Guttenberg as Defence Minister with Thomas de Maiziere, previously the Interior Minister, a role which has now been taken up by Hans-Peter Friedrich. The two newly appointed cabinet members joined Merkel, along with Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, in hosting the dinner – a high-powered message that the German Government are behind the bid.

“We have every chance, after the summer fairy tale we have with the 2006 World Cup to now have a winter fairy tale,” said Merkel.

The Chancellor has always been behind Munich’s bid and has also given the necessary Government financial guarantees. 

Merkel added: “I think the world would be overjoyed if we got to host the Games.

“We all – the city, the region and the nation – support the bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Munich and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.”

Defending Formula One world champions Red Bull Racing, have agreed a contract extension with Casio Computer Co., meaning the Japanese company will continue as an official partner in 2011.

Casio are set to use the sponsorship renewal to promote its motor sport-themed Edifice male watch range. In addition to being designated as the official watch of the team, Casio logos will appear on the overalls of world champion Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber during the season.

Casio will also feature on the nose of the car itself, believed to be a slight change from its 2010 agreement. A small logo was visible when the team launched its RB7 car in Valencia at the start of February.

Red Bull Racing’s team principal, Christian Horner said: “We are delighted to continue the partnership between Red Bull Racing and Casio, and to build an even stronger cooperative relationship than last year. We pursue a high level of technology development, innovative ideas, and speed in everything we do. I’m confident that collaborating with a brand that embodies these concepts will bring benefits to both Casio and the Red Bull Racing team.”

A broadcasting agreement for the Tour de France has been cancelled by German state broadcasters ARD and ZDF over concerns with doping in the sport after current Tour champion Alberto Contador was recently handed a one-year ban from professional cycling for an offence.

The German companies will not show live coverage of the event once their current deal for the 2011 race concludes after stating that they would not join a new European Broadcasting Union contract with the Tour’s organiser, health Amaury Sport Organisation.

Despite announcing that they would continue to report on the event ARD and ZDF opted against live coverage in the future, generic claiming that the stature of the cycling event had “low acceptance” with TV viewers because of the various doping scandals in recent years.

In 2007, ambulance the networks stopped airing the Tour after a series of doping affairs, but they resumed live coverage a year later.

 

Karren Brady, vice-chairman of English Premier League soccer club West Ham United has criticised London rivals, Tottenham’s attempt to hi-jack the Hammers’ proposed switch to the Olympic Stadium post 2012.

Although West Ham remain favourites to be awarded the rights to move into the venue following the London Olympics, the financially stronger option of Tottenham has a number of supporters.

Crucially many of these supporters are not actually Tottenham fans, who along with local MP David Lammy, feel that a refurbishment of the club’s current home ground at White Hart Lane would be a better option.

In her regular column in British newspaper the Sun today, Brady writes: “It is an understatement to say I’m unhappy with the way Spurs have gone about trying to wrest the rights to the Olympic Stadium from us.

“Our bid has been founded on goodwill to the community, to the Council, to athletics and sport overall. 

“We have powerful support and the funds.

“Spurs’ is an attempted smash and grab in our manor, sneaky and of no known benefit to anyone beyond their backers and major shareholders, who by the way are not based in the UK and don’t pay UK tax unlike our owners who have always lived, worked, employed and paid tax here.

“Even their own fans hate the idea of a multi-mile move. 

“Spurs are trying to muscle in where they are not wanted.”

A sponsorship deal worth almost US$20m has been agreed over a three-year period between major telecommunications company MTN and the Nigeria and Zambia soccer federations.

The Nigerian Premier League is set to be the majority benefactor as the company look to invest US$17m over four-years, coming as a major boost to the league’s powerbrokers. The deal comes at a time when Davidson Owumi, chairman of the league, has been taken to court contesting the legitimacy of his position.

The agreement is the latest occurrence in an ongoing battle for the major sponsorship platforms of Nigerian soccer between MTN and Globacom. Globacom reportedly owes the Nigeria Premier League almost US$6 million in unpaid sponsorship fees from last season. This supposed money owed has led to the league’s debts of more than US$4.5 million.

An unnamed Globacom executive told Nigerian press: “The last has not been heard of this. The entire process has been less than satisfactory. We have a situation where one company put it in a bid and then another organisation, which did not formally enter the race, is said to have won the bid.”

MTN will also sponsor the Zambian Super League in a deal worth US$827,000 to become title sponsor for the next three years.

Vice-President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Akhmed Bilaliv has revealed plans to build a new multi-billion dollar ski resort in an attempt to capitalise on the Sochi 2014 Winter Games.

‘Peak 5642’ is being planned to be constructed in Russia’s Northern Caucasus and is estimated to cost a massive US$15bn. Despite the huge expenditure, the project is already gaining significant interest from foreign investors with the likes of Credit Suisse and Invest AD of the United Arab Emirates, accredited with an interest.

The plans for the new resort incorporates five resorts with an estimated completion time of up to 10 years. Building is due to begin in 2012 following the hiring of an Austrian firm to begin the plans developments.

Resorts are set to be located in Dagestan, North Ossetia, Karachay-Cherkess, Adygea and Kabardino-Balkaria after Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev ordered the project to be developed earlier this year.

The Government is expected to provide funding of up to US£2bn for infrastructure costs in hope of an increase of 10 million tourist visiting per year. Bilalov is hoping the Games will give a massive boost to Russia’s winter sports tourism industry.

“Without Sochi it would have been impossible to have come up with a project like this,” said Bilalov. “The success of the building project in Sochi means that people now trust we can do a major like this to an international level.

“It is very different to change stereotypes in people’s minds but with Sochi we are already changing people’s minds. We are showing what we are capable of and that Russia can compete at an international level.”

 

According to Betfair, UK’s major betting exchange company has been hit hard by the weather after disrupted race meetings have seen its shares fall by 16%. Comments made with the company’s maiden results as a public company.

An underlying profit before tax of £16.9m (US$26.5m) was 49% higher for the six months to October than for the same period last year. The costs of the firms recent flotation means that pre-tax profits were down 18.9% at £7.4m ($11.6m).

The company said that cancelled race meetings due to freezing temperatures in the current quarter would hinder their growth but they remain confident that the full-year results would meet expectations. By mid afternoon on Tuesday the shares had fallen 14%, and they are currently 34% below their October flotation price.

The FIA ratified a record 20-race 2011 calendar on Wednesday, with lingering question marks over the Chinese and Indian grands prix.

Motorsport’s governing body said both were included but subject to homologation, or approval, of the circuits.

That was expected in the case of India, due to make its debut on October 30 with a new track under construction near New Delhi.

China’s impressive Shanghai circuit has hosted seven Formula One races but an FIA spokeswoman said changes needed to be made.

“The homologation licence for the Shanghai International Circuit has expired and before a new licence can be issued by the FIA some work on the track is required, with particular regards to the current drainage system and the quality of the track surface,” she said.

2011 Calendar
13/03 Bahrain
27/03 Australia
10/04 Malaysia
17/04 China*
08/05 Turkey
22/05 Spain
29/05 Monaco
12/06 Canada
26/06 Europe
10/07 Great Britain
24/07 Germany
31/07 Hungary
28/08 Belgium
11/09 Italy
25/09 Singapore
09/10 Japan
16/10 Korea
30/10 India*
13/11 Abu Dhabi
27/11 Brazil

*Subject to the homologation of the circuit.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to approve recommendations for the creation of a Test league and play-off system designed to make matches more competitive.

The plan is that results from international Test series will be used to form an official table, with the top four teams going head-to-head to decide a Test champion.

It is thought the first play-off will take place in England in 2013 if the plans are approved.

Following a two-day meeting of the ICC chief executive’s committee (CEC) in Cape Town this week, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: “I am really excited by what the CEC has proposed. Restructuring international cricket is a significant strategic challenge and one that must be dealt with.

“Achieving balance and unanimous agreement is not easy but it is a very important piece of work that requires a strategic response.

“We now have the potential to follow international cricket that is even more exciting.”

Crowds at Test matches have dropped in many countries since the introduction of the Twenty20 format of the game. The ICC has subsequently been looking for ways to generate renewed interest in the traditional format of the game.