Green 4 Solutions, drugs a leading customer relationship management (CRM) and ticketing provider, order has revealed a partnership with Leicestershire County Cricket Club to provide a joined up ticketing, CRM and eMarketing system.

They will also provide strategic data marketing services to Leicestershire CCC, with work already progressing ahead of the 2014 season.

Leicestershire CCC Chief Executive, Mike Siddall, said: “We are delighted to be working with Green 4 Solutions as we continue to improve our service to our members and supporters.

“We are impressed with Green 4’s extensive knowledge of CRM and their track record of working with clubs and leisure organisations to cultivate the relationship with their supporters, which is an essential focus for us moving forward.”

The agreement is for an initial term of three years and will see Green 4’s expert CRM agency, 4Sight Sport and Leisure, become an integral part of Leicestershire CCC’s marketing team.

Green 4 Solutions Director, Peter Oliver, added: “Leicestershire County Cricket Club has a rich heritage and a reputation for being a well-run, family-oriented club.

“We are looking forward to working with their team to further enhance the relationship between the club and their supporters.”

The partnership with Leicestershire CCC follows Green 4’s on-going work with Northamptonshire CCC, agreements with Gloucester Rugby and Exeter Chiefs, and 4Sight Sport’s hugely successful work with Birmingham City Football Club for their 2013/2014 season-ticket campaign.

The start of the 2014 Tour de France will be in Yorkshire.

It will be the first time the sport’s most prestigious race has been held in the north of England and the first time in the UK since 2007.

The county will host the opening two stages, on July 5 and 6, before the race moves south for a third day that will finish in London.

The Grand Départ will be held in Leeds, which will also hold a festival of cycling to coincide with the arrival of the Tour.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, the agency behind the county’s bid, said: “Today is a proud day for everyone involved in the bid and the county as a whole. We are honoured that the race organisers, the Amaury Sport Organisation [ASO], have selected Yorkshire to be the host location of the 2014 Grand Départ.

“Yorkshire is a passionate county of proud people and I am sure they will guarantee that their Grand Départ raises the bar in terms of expectations for all future hosts to come.”

The county had initially campaigned to host the race in 2016, but their bid was received warmly by the Tour’s organisers, who brought it forward two years after being impressed by Yorkshire’s “outstanding beauty”.

The other regions in the running were Edinburgh, Scotland, and Florence, Italy.

The details of the Grand Depart and the stages it will include will be revealed in January.

An ASO statement said: “The organisers of the Tour de France are pleased to announce that the Grand Depart of the Tour de France 2014 will take place in the United Kingdom in the county of Yorkshire, before heading to London for a stage finish.

“After an outstanding 2012 for British cycling, marked by the historical victory of Bradley Wiggins on the Tour de France, the United Kingdom will again hold pride of place in 2014.”

Global ticketing and marketing solutions company, denture Tickets.com, search has signed a deal to become the headline sponsor for the professional game-focused first day of Rugby Expo 2012.

Tickets.com will also take on the role of official ticketing partner for the event and will provide a bespoke ticketing system for the 1000+ delegates who are heading to the event.

As the sport’s biggest business-to-business conference and exhibition, price Rugby Expo will focus on the professional game on day one, attracting decision makers from clubs, unions, rights holders and brands.

Derek Palmer, Managing Director & Executive VP, International of Tickets.com said: “Last year’s event was a real success and the feedback that we received from delegates was fantastic; these are interesting times for the sport and Rugby Expo provides Tickets.com with the platform to not only profile our products and services but to also engage with many of the sport’s key decision makers.”

John Hockey, Chairman of the Event’s Management team Rugby Ventures said: “We are delighted to confirm Tickets.com’s involvement at Rugby Expo for the third consecutive year.

“Not only does the company play a vital role by delivering the event’s ticketing system but Tickets.com has proven that its innovative products and services can have a positive effect on a club’s commercial strategy and will therefore be well-placed to share best practice with the world of rugby at our event.”

Tickets.com’s clients include Aviva Premiership sides Northampton Saints and Gloucester Rugby as well as Premier League football side and current European Champions, Chelsea Football Club.

The Rugby Expo event at Twickenham is on 14 and 15 November.

NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes Vice President of Hockey Operations and Assistant General Manager Brad Treliving announced today that the Coyotes have renewed their one-year affiliation agreement with the Gwinnett Gladiators of the ECHL.

“We are delighted to announce our continued affiliation with the Gladiators,” Treliving said. “They have consistently proven to be an elite organization within the ECHL and we look forward to having our young prospects continue their development in Gwinnett.”  

Gwinnett plays its home games at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. The Gladiators are one of 23 teams that compete in the ECHL and play in the South Division of the Eastern Conference. The organization was founded in 1995 as the Mobile Mysticks before relocating to Gwinnett in 2003.  The Gladiators have made the playoffs in seven of its nine seasons in Gwinnett, including a trip to the Kelly Cup Final in 2006.

In 2011-12, the Gladiators posted a 41-20-7-4 record capturing the South Division title for only the second time in team history. Head Coach John Wroblewski was named co-recipient of the John Brophy Award (Coach of the Year) after he guided the Gladiators to the team’s first postseason appearance in three years. In his first season as bench boss, Wroblewski led Gwinnett to its second-highest point total (93 points) in team history.

Gwinnett will open the 2012-13 ECHL season on Saturday, Oct. 13 at the South Carolina Stingrays.

Mohamed Bin Hammam, the former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president has been buoyed by the news his lifetime FIFA ban was rescinded by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

Bin Hammam was handed a lifetime ban by FIFA’s ethics committee last year after being found guilty of paying cash gifts totalling close to $1 million to CONCACAF officials during his campaign to be elected the president of world football’s governing body in 2011.

The Qatari withdrew his candidacy days before the election, paving the way for incumbent Sepp Blatter to continue unopposed for another four-year term.

However, the subsequent lifetime ban Bin Hammam received has now been overturned by CAS, after the court ruled that his appeal could be upheld because of a lack of evidence.

CAS did not, though, claim that he was innocent and FIFA is still free to bring fresh proceedings against him if new evidence is found. Bin Hammam will now likely turn his attention to a suspension imposed by the AFC earlier this week following a forensic audit of the governing body’s accounts.

A FIFA statement swiftly condemned the CAS decision, saying: “FIFA has noted with concern the decision announced today by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the Mohamed Bin Hammam case.

“FIFA notes that the CAS verdict indicates that Mohamed Bin Hammam has not been proven innocent and that ‘it is more likely than not that the Appellant (Mohamed Bin Hammam) was at the source of the monies that were brought into Trinidad and Tobago and eventually distributed at the meeting’ (of the Caribbean Football Union on 10 and 11 May 2011).

“…Moreover, FIFA has taken note of the decision by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) earlier this week to open a disciplinary case against Mohamed Bin Hammam and to provisionally suspend him from taking part in any football activity for another matter. The chairman of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee extended this provisional suspension to worldwide level yesterday, 18 July 2012. Therefore, Mohamed Bin Hammam remains suspended until the current case has been concluded.”

Eugene Gulland, speaking on behalf of Bin Hammam’s legal team at Covington & Burling LLP, said: “We are delighted with the decision issued by the Court of Arbitration, rejecting all of FIFA’s unfounded allegations of wrongdoing against Mr Bin Hammam, allowing his appeal and quashing FIFA’s unjust life ban.

“Throughout this lengthy process Mr Bin Hammam has maintained his innocence and remained confident that he would be vindicated once the case was brought before an independent, third party body. Mr Bin Hammam will now carefully consider his options before making further comment.”

Ruffneck Scarves, allergy officially licensed scarf provider to Major League Soccer, is once again producing scarves for the Seattle Sounders FC season ticket holders ina new licensing agreement.

This marks the fourth year in a row that Seattle’s record-setting fans have received Ruffneck custom scarves with their season tickets. Sounders FC has established MLS attendance records in each of the club’s three seasons, averaging 38,496 in 2011.

Sounders FC hosts Toronto FC in the 2012 opener for both clubs in March 17 on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. First kick is 7 p.m. PT.

“Scarves and passionate fan support have become synonymous with Sounders FC stadium atmosphere ,” said Ruffneck Scarves president Jeff McIntyre. “Our relationship with MLS began with those thousands of scarves for the Sounders’ inaugural season ticket holders in 2009, and like everyone else we still get chills when the scarves are raised for the team’s entrance and you see that wall of rave green throughout the stadium.”

by Ismail Uddin

The creditors’ committee in the Dodgers’ bankruptcy proceedings said in court filing Wednesday that the LA Dodgers should be allowed to market their television rights as they sell the team.

The position further isolates Fox Sports as it fights to preserve a contract that guarantees the company exclusive negotiating rights with the Dodgers for another year. Fox and the Dodgers are set to start mediation on Monday.

When owner Frank McCourt initially proposed an early auction of the Dodgers’ television rights  to raise the money needed to preserve his ownership of the team he was opposed by his ex-wife, the creditors, Major League Baseball and Fox. Now that McCourt has agreed to sell the Dodgers, he has neutralized all of those parties save Fox.

In Wednesday’s filing, the creditors said they previously opposed a sale of the Dodgers’ television rights because MLB had threatened to veto any such sale and because Fox had threatened damages so “massive” as to put the repayment of creditors at risk. The creditors said they now support such a sale because MLB no longer objects and because the Dodgers have asked the court to determine potential damages. If the damages were deemed too great, the team could halt the sale.

The creditors also said they believe any damages Fox might suffer “should be neglible at best.” They backed the Dodgers’ position by saying that the value of the team might be enhanced “by demonstrating to potential purchasers … the true value of the telecast rights after subjecting such rights to a competitive marketing process.”

Under the current Fox contract, the Dodgers cannot negotiate with any other media outlets until Nov. 30, 2012. The Dodgers have asked the court to declare that provision unenforceable.