The Los Angeles Dodgers, Guggenheim Baseball Management LLC GBM”) and Frank McCourt today announced the completion of the sale of the Dodgers to GBM for $2 billion.

The Dodgers’ new ownership includes Mark Walter as the controlling owner, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Stan Kasten as CEO of the organization.

The Los Angeles Dodgers stated, “The Dodgers emerge from the Chapter 11 reorganization process having achieved its objective of maximizing the value of the Dodgers through a successful Plan of Reorganization, under which all claims will be paid. The Dodgers move forward with confidence – in a strong financial position; as a premier Major League Baseball franchise; and as an integral part of and representative of the Los Angeles community.”

The Dodgers have won six World Series titles but none since 1988, when they were still owned by the O’Malley family that moved the team from Brooklyn to California after the 1957 season.

Guenstiger.de, sale the leading German online price comparison website, order  will continue to reach millions of television viewers on Saturday evenings after extending its contract as main sponsor of Europe’s biggest boxing promoter, Sauerland Event.

The logo of guenstiger.de will continue to be displayed exclusively on the ring mat. The presence on advertising boards and backdrops as well as billboards, tickets and on the official boxen.com website is also guaranteed by the deal.

Heiko Krink, project manager at Kentaro Germany, stated: “We are delighted to have been able to convince guenstiger.de to commit to boxing in the long-term. Sauerland Event’s fights regularly reach between four and eight million viewers on public television. They provide an excellent advertising platform and guarantee a high visibility of the advertising message throughout the whole of Germany.”

Sauerland Event general manager Chris Meyer added: “We offer our advertising partners a premium product with great appeal and an enormous reach. Our cooperation with guenstiger.de has been very successful, thus extending the deal is the logical consequence of a win-win situation.”

The Breeders’ Cup, which began Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, has hit a new record for ticket sales and expects to set records for attendance as well, said Breeders’ Cup President & CEO Greg Avioli.

“We have just gone over $10 million in sales and the previous record was $6.9 million in 2006,” Avioli said.

Avioli cited the return to Kentucky after five years as well as interest in undefeated mare Zenyatta, who will go for her 20th win in as many tries in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the event’s finale at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, as reasons for the boost in sales. “It absolutely would be a positive thing for the sport of horse racing for Zenyatta to win this race and to move to 20 and 0,” Avioli said. “That type of publicity is exactly what the horse racing industry needs.”

Avioli said that the media attention the event has drawn is three to four times what it normally is because of the presence of Zenyatta, who has been featured on “60 Minutes” and in a “Sports Illustrated” story, among other media outlets. Avioli said he expects attendance at the two-day event to exceed 100,000. The previous record was 96,000 in 2009.

He predicted that wagering on the races in the two-day event would exceed $200M, up from $178M last year. One reason Avioli said he expects an increase is Churchill has a dirt main track whereas Santa Anita Park, the host of last year’s event, had a synthetic track. High roller horseplayers prefer to bet on dirt tracks, he said.

The 2015 Turkish Ladies Open is set to become the first tournament on any major golf tour to finish on a Wednesday, it has been revealed today. 

In a bid to boost the profile of the women’s game, the arrangement will ensure that the tournament receives extended live television coverage on Sky Sports and Golf Channel and will be watched in more than 50 countries worldwide.

“The Ladies European Tour (LET) strategy includes exploring new ways to provide maximum exposure to women’s golf, widening the fan base beyond traditional golf fans, reflecting the reality of changed consumer behaviours and avoiding busy weekends which are over populated with so many sports,” said Ivan Khodabahksh, the LET’s CEO.

The Turkish Ladies Open will be played from Sunday 17th to Wednesday 20th May, with record prize money of 500,000 euros, an increase of 100 per cent on 2014.

The President of National Golf Club, Dr Bulent Göktuna, recently shook hands to an equal stake joint venture with Mr. Fikret Özturk, the Chairman of Opet and Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort. The tournament will now alternate annually between the National and Carya Golf Clubs with next year’s event taking place at the beautiful Carya Golf Club, designed by the great Australian golfer, Peter Thompson.

Dr Bulent Göktuna, the Chairman of Mineks International, the promoters of the six previous Turkish Ladies Opens, which have all been played at the National Golf Club, commented: “It is our intention that the Turkish Ladies Open will continue to improve and grow as an international sporting occasion. I believe that playing the two courses on alternate years adds a new dimension to the tournament. We all look forward to continuing our strong partnership with the Ladies European Tour and the players, many of whom we have developed strong relationships with through the last seven years.”

Dr Göktuna also stated that he believes that the cooperation between the Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort and the National Golf Club will have a very positive effect on the future of the Ladies European Tour in Turkey: “The doubling of the prize fund to 500,000 Euro is the first step. Our ambition is to put the event on to the world stage. The Wednesday finish is unique for all, but will have a massive effect on the TV exposure worldwide.”

The 2015 Turkish Ladies Open will be the seventh edition of the tournament.

With Venezuela’s new sports minister set to cut the country’s financial support for motor racing, F1 driver Pastor Maldonado believes the new policy will not affect his race seat at Lotus.

Maldonado has long been supported, either directly or indirectly, by Venezuela’s state-owned oil giant PDVSA. 

Since Maldonado entered F1, PDVSA have provided sponsorship, initially to his maiden team Williams and now current marque Lotus, understood to be around £27million per year.

But in light of Venezuela’s current financial crisis, sports minister Antonio Alvarez has categorically stated “there will not be another dollar for motorsport”.

Alvarez added: “It is unfair to use state money in disciplines that do not contribute to the development of sport in this country.”

Alvarez’s comments come in light of a currency scam that has engulfed motor racing in Venezuela, with at least five drivers involved.

It is understood the drivers have been earning considerable sums by manipulating Venezuela’s strict controls on currency exchange.

Maldonado, however, insists neither he nor PDVSA are affected as he said: “The sports minister is not sponsoring me, and PDVSA is not part of his programme. They are separate.

“The oil company doesn’t talk about sponsorship in Formula One. This was a communication from the sport minister, and that’s it.

“The ministry of sport does not support Formula One, but they were sponsoring a lot of drivers before.

“Last year this had a big impact on motorsport because most of these drivers were apparently taking money from the government.”

The International Cricket Council (ICC) are searching for specialist food and wine companies to partner ICC and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. 

The ICC partnership categories include Official Wine/Champagne, ailment Official Confectionary, Official Ice Cream and Official Baked Goods. Successful applicants will receive marketing rights and benefits that will enable it to use valuable ICC intellectual property in association with its brand(s).

In addition to having the right to sell products through retail channels using the exclusive ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 event logo, the successful applicant will also acquire the exclusive right to supply product to all 14 world cup venues.

Campbell Jamieson, ICC General Manager – Commercial, said: “The ICC Cricket World Cup only happens once every 4 years and has not been staged in Australia and New Zealand since 1992. Partnering ICC and supporting this event is a valuable marketing and business opportunity for any company producer of wine, confectionary, ice creams or baked goods.”

“We welcome the opportunity to work with brands intent on leveraging the marketing rights granted to them to maximise their association with ICC and enhance the status of this prestigious global sporting event.”