With the tournament just on the horizon, drugs Rugby League World Cup 2013 has today announced three key partnerships in major categories for the licensing programme.

ISC Sports have been appointed to provide the official line of supporters apparel for the tournament.  As the official kit supplier to the RFL, sickness as well as several Super League clubs, ISC are looking to build on already strong partnerships with Rugby League in the UK and Australia.

In addition, Steeden have been named Official Ball Supplier for the tournament, across all training and matches.  Steeden is the leading ball supplier in the game and this reaffirms them as suppliers of ‘the ball of choice’ across the game of Rugby League.

B&M Leisure have also joined the programme as Ties Licensee and more companies are expected to sign up as the event draws closer.  An extensive range of merchandise will be available throughout the tournament, with licensees also able to take advantage of the global nature of RLWC2013 by producing country collection ranges using national colours and emblems of competing nations.

RWLC2013 will be hosted by England and Wales and will form an integral part of ‘the golden decade of sport’ in the UK. The event takes place in autumn 2013 and will see 14 competing teams at 18 different venues across England, Wales, Ireland and France. Upwards of half a million people are expected to watch the 28 matches live over the six-week tournament period with a further 20 million viewers from 120 countries tuning in around the world.

Rob Singleton, commercial manager for RLWC2013 said: “It’s vitally important to get the right deals done quickly for RLWC2013. VBM’s experience and knowledge of Rugby League makes them the ‘go to’ licensing agent for us. They are very much a safe pair of hands and we look forward to a successful partnership.”

James Ashworth, managing director of Velocity Brand Management, the worldwide licensing agent for the tournament, added: “Our aim with this licensing program is to not only tap into the passion that exists for the game across its established fan-base but to also capitalise on the new supporters that RLWC2013 will bring to the game.  The increased profile you only get by hosting a tournament such as this and the true international exposure and appeal provides a fantastic opportunity to extend our licensing footprint across the UK and competing nations.”

by Ismail Uddin

Fox Sports have lodged an appeal looking into blocking the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team’s television-broadcasting rights.

The appeal is the first step in its attempt to persuade a federal district court to overturn a decision by the bankruptcy judge overseeing the Dodgers’ case to allow the team to solicit bids for the rights.

The filing didn’t include any legal arguments or details about why Fox believes the Dec. 8 decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, bronchi Delaware, should be overturned.

Dodgers, owner Frank McCourt is selling the team, which filed for bankruptcy in June. To increase the value of the team, the Dodgers are soliciting separate offers for the rights to televise future games, which Fox holds through next year.

Gross gave the team permission to begin trying to sell the rights months before the Dodgers’ current contract with Fox allows. Fox argued in court that it will be harmed by accelerating negotiations.

Mohamed Bin Hammam will run unopposed to retain the presidency of the Asian Football Confederation on January 6.

The Qatari power-broker is set for his third and final four-year term at the helm of the AFC, having confirmed earlier this year that he won’t challenge current FIFA president Sepp Blatter for his position in 2011.

Jordan’s Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein and Chung Mong-Joon of South Korea will contest the position of FIFA Vice President.

The latter is a potential challenger for Blatter’s leadership though, having been critical of the 74 year-old and his organization in the past.

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein is the president of the Jordan Football Association, as well as the West Asian Football Federation – which he founded – which consists of 13 member associations, including the likes of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Bin Hammam’s FIFA executive seat is secure through 2013, after he won a bitterly fought election against Bahrain’s Sheik Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa in May last year.

Asia provides four members of FIFA’s 24-member ruling panel, whose most important task is choosing World Cup hosts.

The current FIFA executive committee will vote for the 2018 and 2022 host nations in a secret ballot on Dec. 2 in Zurich.

The AFC has four contenders in the 2022 poll, with Australia, Japan, Qatar and South Korea taking on the United States.

The prime ministers of Poland and Ukraine have dismissed criticism of the countries’ preparations for the 2012 Uefa European Football Championships.

Donald Tusk and Mykola Azarov have said that the stadiums for the tournament will be ready on time, despite Uefa president Michel Platini’s concerns over the construction work of the Kiev and Liviv stadium projects.

Platini has since withdrawn his threat to strip Ukraine of its co-hosting role after an acceleration in construction of the two projects.

Tusk, prime minister of Poland, said: “We are confident that the championship, which is important for Europe, will take place in four Ukrainian and four Polish cities.”

Martin Kallen, operations director for the 2012 event, has said the 69,000 seat stadium in Kiev could be complete by next June, while the 35,000-capacity Liviv venue is on target for completion in August.

 

The 2018 US Women’s Open has been awarded to Shoal Creek, located near Birmingham, Alabama.

The event will take place from May 31 to June 3 of that year.

“Shoal Creek has a great track record as a championship site and the USGA is quite pleased to partner with the club for a US Women’s Open,” US Golf Association vice president Daniel B Burton said on Tuesday.

“We regard Shoal Creek as a wonderful test of golf and are confident it will again shine as a competitive venue for a USGA national championship.”

Shoal Creek has previously hosted the 1986 US Amateur Championship and the 2008 US Junior Amateur championship.

Burton said the tournament dates signal the implementation of the USGA’s plans to hold the Women’s Open prior to the US Open, the second major on the men’s calendar which is always held in June.

“Conducting the US Women’s Open earlier in the year will allow the USGA to provide optimum playing conditions for the world’s best players across a broader variety of the country’s finest golf courses,” Burton said.

The US Women’s Open has been held prior to the US Open only three times in its 69-year history, in 1996, 1999 and 2001.

This year’s US Women’s Open is scheduled for June 19-22 at Pinehurst, North Carolina – the week after Pinehurst hosts the US Open, second men’s major of the season.

This marks the first year that the two national championships will be contested on the same course in back-to-back weeks.

The 2015 US Women’s Open will be conducted at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania on July 9-12, the 2016 championship will be conducted July 7-10 at CordeValle in San Martin, California, and the 2017 US Women’s Open will be conducted July 13-16 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) have revealed their 2013 TV audience figures have continued to improve.

According to the final report issued by REPUCOM, the Germany-based sports research firm, cumulated audience for the 2013 season totaled to 557 million viewers that equates to an 8.9% increase compared to the previous year.

In 2013, 111 TV channels broadcasted at least one of the WTCC events, reaching 188 countries worldwide and this amounted to 1176 hours of broadcasting hours, 8.7% more than in 2012 .

As TV distribution continued to spread globally, Eurosport’s share of total coverage was limited to 19%.

Ulrich Lacher, Global Director Enterprise Services – REPUCOM explained: “For the second year in a row, we saw more quality in the two key factors: media impact and audiences growth. This despite major competition and a relatively suspense-free end of the season. The positive trend in North and Latin America is encouraging. New markets were opened and resulted in better distribution deals, which led to significant increases in audiences and media impact. Live and highlight coverage have been consolidated, indicating a loyal fan base, especially in growing markets like Morocco and Hungary. Despite the early decision of the championship titles that could have ‘poisoned’ the interest of the season, the growth of 2013 was somewhat significant.”

Antonios Argyropoulos, Head of Media Rights Distribution, Eurosport Events, commented: “We are delighted with the excellent figures published by Repucom for 2013, which prove once more WTCC’s relevant TV format and entertaining programmes. We are confident that with the new season starting 13th April in Marrakech, with exciting new cars, a new manufacturer and new drivers, we will keep growing WTCC success on TV across five continents.”