National Basketball Association (NBA) side the Sacramento Kings have taken another step toward a potential move to Southern California and exploring relocation to Anaheim after a Sacramento attorney representing the team’s owners filed for at least four federal trademark registrations this month.

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s website, among the names filed were: Anaheim Royals, Anaheim Royals of Southern California, Orange County Royals and Los Angeles Royals.

The name change would be a throwback to the franchise’s earlier days when the well-traveled franchise was first known as the Rochester Royals during the league’s opening season in 1949. The side went on to win the 1951 title before moving to Cincinnati in 1957.

The newly name Cincinnati Royals then moved again to Kansas City in 1972 and agreed to change their nickname to the Kings to avoid conflict with baseball’s Kansas City Royals, who joined the AL in 1969.

When the side moved to Sacramento in 1985 they kept their new nickname and have done ever since. However, another name change is highly likely if the club relocates 35 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, where the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings have played since 1967.

Sports apparel brand Under Armour secured a deal yesterday, February 14, to become the official performance footwear supplier of Major League Baseball (MLB) for the 2011 season.

The deal has been confirmed as a “multi-year” agreement despite financial details being withheld. The terms will see Under Armour awarded with the rights to produce and distribute the MLB logo on the cleats of its footwear, as well as obtaining the rights to display the logo in its advertising.

The brand will also receive exclusive and prominent branding at the MLB All-Star game under the new deal which shows a significant step forward for the brands sponsorship portfolio.

However, the deal does not mean that MLB baseball players will not be able to wear any brand of cleats, as in Reebok’s deal with the National Football League (NFL).

The board of the Football Association nominated David Bernstein as the new chairman of the governing body on 22 December. Bernstein was formerly chairman at Manchester City for 5 years and was recommended by the nominations committee, chaired by Phil Gartside.

The committee’s nomination was approved in unanimous fashion by the board and the FA Council will endorse the appointment at its meeting on 25 January.

During Bernstein’s 9 year spell at City, 5 of which were as chairman, the 67-year-old saw the club promoted back into the English Premier League. Bernstein also led negotiations which delivered the club’s new City of Manchester Stadium.

He is a chartered accountant with a long career in business, sitting on the Boards of several public companies including the French Connection Group Plc, Ted Baker Plc and Blacks Leisure Plc, where he has been Chairman since 1996. Since 2003 he has been a Director of Wembley Stadium and has been Chairman since 2008. He is also President of the National Association of Disabled Supporters.

“The Board was united in its view that David would make an excellent choice as Chairman of the organisation.  I have worked with David for some years and have always been impressed by his professionalism and integrity” said Acting Chairman Roger Burden.

“We look forward to working with David to take The FA forward in the best interests of football at all levels across the country.”

Nominations Committee Chairman Phil Gartside said: “David was the outstanding candidate for the role. He combines strong business and leadership skills with tremendous insight and knowledge of football.”

“I very much look forward to working with David and together focussing on the priorities for the development of English football. We have a busy year ahead with work starting on St George’s Park, the launch of the Women’s Super League, England men’s and women’s teams competing in major competitions at a variety of age groups and a drive to implement the recommendations of our review into international player development.” added FA General Secretary Alex Horne.

Mr Bernstein said: “I am honoured to be asked to take on the role as Chairman of The FA. It is a tremendous challenge but I look forward to working with the Board, the staff at The FA and everyone in football from local playing fields to Wembley and the international stage. ”

A £32m (US$50.2m) revamp of the famous English cricket ground Edgbaston, in Birmingham, will see major event hospitality services provider, Keith Prowse install a new range of facilities.

The venue is currently home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club (WCCC) but is also a regular feature in the Test matches played in England. The works are due to be completed ahead of the 2011 season which will see the capacity of the ground increase to 25,000 once Keith Prowse introduce a new Pavilion Stand. The development will be home to the Jaguar Club, The 1882 Club, Superboxes and The Edgbaston Suite.

WCCC Commercial Director, James McLaughlin stated: “The redevelopment will keep Edgbaston on a par with the world’s greatest cricket grounds, and by partnering with Keith Prowse we can ensure the venue continues to be attractive for corporate involvement”.

The company have strong ties to English sporting venues as official hospitality provider to the Kia Oval, Lord’s, the Wimbledon Championships and Twickenham.

Andrew Hodgkins, Keith Prowse’s managing director, added: “We are thrilled at this opportunity to position Edgbaston, which is renowned in cricket for its feel-good factor, as an entertaining hub for the Midlands. Companies can use sport to bring people together to discuss business in an exhilarating but unrushed environment, and cricket in particular offers a great opportunity to enjoy valuable face to face time.”

According to Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jaber Al-Thani, the nation has no plans to issue bonds in order to cover the cost of the 2022 soccer World Cup.

Sheikh Hamad announced at the opening of a courtroom at Qatar Financial Centre, that the government had already covered “70 per cent to 80 per cent” of the costs involved in staging the event. He revealed that most of the plans, in terms of infrastructure, had already been arranged prior to the nation winning the vote on 2 December with the event’s infrastructure as a whole, predicted to take about seven years to build.

The ICC Executive Board met via teleconference today to receive an update on the progress being made by the Pakistan Cricket Board in conjunction with the ICC Pakistan Task Team (PTT), erectile which also met earlier today, in implementing the key action steps required by the ICC Board to preserve the integrity of cricket.

The Board expressed satisfaction at the progress of the work being undertaken by the Pakistan Task Team and the PCB which has already established an Integrity Committee and appointed an Integrity Officer. The Board noted that the PCB has suitably implemented or begun to implement the ICC Executive Board’s requirements within the 30-day time period set.

They also agreed unanimously that Members should introduce an Anti-Corruption Code for their domestic cricket which mirrors that of the ICC by 1 April 2011.

Sharad Pawar, the ICC President, said: “The PCB and PTT should be commended for their excellent work and everyone involved deserves special praise for the outstanding progress made since our last Board meeting. Now that the PTT has begun consulting and interviewing a wide range of stakeholders involved in Pakistan cricket on matters of cricket structures and administration, I look forward to their constructive recommendations in due course.”

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive, confirmed to the Board that he had written to all ICC Members on 20 October 2010 requesting Members to review the adequacy their own processes and procedures to protect against the threat of corruption (domestic and international) and where necessary introduce new measures which would include a domestic anti-corruption code which mirrors the ICC code.

Mr Lorgat added: “In helping the PCB, the ICC has prepared a template domestic Anti-Corruption Code, which incorporates in a consistent manner the same principles, offences procedures and sanctions as those set out in the ICC Anti-Corruption Code.

“It was unanimously agreed to accept a proposal from the PTT, that all ICC Members, starting with Full Members, should implement a domestic Anti-Corruption Code in its jurisdiction on or before 1 April 2011. Where no domestic Anti-Corruption Code exists the Board agreed that the template should be incorporated as soon as possible and where an Anti-Corruption Code does exist that a review of those rules should be carried out to consider their adequacy.”

The ICC Board agreed that all Members should consider the proactive steps being taken by the PCB to ensure that their own internal processes on anti-corruption issues are robust and adequate to deal with the challenges faced and these should include structures to deal with integrity issues; on-going education planning and delivery; reporting of integrity concerns in domestic cricket and the vetting of player agents.

Mr Lorgat stated that: “It would be of great benefit to all stakeholders within the game for all ICC Members to adopt a domestic Anti-Corruption Code and a template will immediately be sent to all Full Members.  ICC has a zero-tolerance towards corruption and we will do everything we can to protect the integrity of our Great Sport. All Members have a responsibility to demonstrate leadership and good practice in protecting the integrity of the sport at domestic and international level.”

The Board also noted the PTT work in progress to review and provide recommendations to support the PCB in carrying out necessary reforms to restore confidence in the administration of the game in Pakistan while they re-iterated that team selection is solely the responsibility of the PCB. PCB must therefore ensure that its selection policies are appropriate and amongst other criteria, adhere to the principles and values of international cricket.

The ICC Board consists of the chairman or president from each of the 10 Full Members plus three Associate Member representatives. Also present at ICC Board meetings is the ICC President, who chairs proceedings, the ICC Chief Executive and the ICC Vice-President, as well as, by invitation of the President, the ICC Principal Advisor.

Sharad Pawar                                                              ICC President

Alan Isaac                                                                   ICC Vice-President

Haroon Lorgat                                                            ICC Chief Executive

Ijaz Butt                                                                      Pakistan

Dr Julian Hunte                                                           West Indies

Giles Clarke                                                                England

Jack Clarke                                                                 Australia

Chris Moller                                                                New Zealand

Mostafa Kamal                                                           Bangladesh

Shashank Manohar                                                      India

Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka                                                    South Africa

DS de Silva                                                                 Sri Lanka

 

Associate Member Representatives

Imran Khwaja                                                             Singapore

Keith Oliver                                                                Scotland

Apologies

Peter Chingoka                                                           Zimbabwe

Neil Speight                                                                Bermuda

Pakistan Task Team

The PTT consists of:

Giles Clarke                                                                (ICC Director)

Peter Chingoka                                                           (ICC Director)

Haroon Lorgat                                                            (ICC Chief Executive)

David Richardson                                                       (ICC General Manager – Cricket)

Ranjan Madugalle                                                       (ICC Chief Match Referee)

Mike Brearley                                                             (Former England Captain)

Ramiz Raja                                                                  (Former Pakistan Captain)

Greg Chappell                                                              (Former Australia captain)

Online sports betting business Betfair has priced its share flotation on the London stock market, in move which values the total company at £1.4bn ($2.2bn).

The sale of 15.2% of the company took place at a price of £13 per share.

The 16.2 million shares in the gambling firm were sold towards the top of the £11-£14 planned range.

Betfair was founded 10 years ago, and says it is the world’s largest business of its kind.

The shares rose to £15.60 in early conditional trading, up 20% from the initial public offering price.

The existing shareholders have the option to allot an additional 10.8% of the company to meet surplus demand from the offering.

Betfair has three million customers and pioneered person-to-person betting, where punters bet against each other rather than the bookmaker on a range of sports.

The company was founded by Andrew Black, a former professional gambler, and Edward Wray, a former JP Morgan trader.

The site also offers poker and other traditional casino betting forums.

The PGA TOUR has announced Liberty National as host site for The Presidents Cup when it is next staged in the United States, in 2017. 

The announcement is part of a 25-year partnership between Liberty National and the PGA TOUR, which will bring up to 10 PGA TOUR events to the venue over the course of the agreement.

Liberty National will be just the fourth golf course in the United States to host the prestigious team match-play competition, joining Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Va., (1994, 1996, 2000, 2005), TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, Calif., (2009) and Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio (2013). The Presidents Cup 2017 will take place September 25-October 1.

“We’ve had several very compelling announcements relative to the future of The Presidents Cup so far this summer,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, alluding to the announcement of Jay Haas and Nick Price as 2015 captains and TPC Harding Park in San Francisco being named 2025 host, “but standing in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty today to announce Liberty National as our next U.S.-based host of the event is really icing on the cake. The Presidents Cup has come so far in its relatively short history, and seeing the world’s best players compete in this market, on this incredibly fantastic venue with such an amazing backdrop in 2017 is something fans of this great game will never forget.

“I’d like to thank and congratulate Paul Fireman and his son Dan for their partnership through the years, which has previously brought the PGA TOUR to Liberty National for The Barclays in 2009 and 2013 and has now resulted in a long-term relationship that will see some of the TOUR’s biggest and best events staged here over the next quarter century. Paul and Dan have exemplified a true dedication to the future of the game, and we are thrilled to work with them to showcase Liberty National and the PGA TOUR in an incredible way.”

“Being chosen by the PGA TOUR to host the 2017 Presidents Cup is every golf course’s dream,” added Liberty National co-founder Paul Fireman. “We at Liberty National Golf Club are proud to receive this honor and will dedicate our efforts to live up to both the TOUR and the players’ expectations. This new 25 year agreement is a mutual acknowledgement of trust and respect between Commissioner Finchem, the PGA TOUR, Liberty and our membership. We embrace this selection with great pride and look forward to fostering this relationship for years to come.”