NASCAR have announced a 10-year landmark agreement with entertainment company CIE for the Mexico-based Toyota Series to continue to operate under the NASCAR banner through the 2023 season. 

“This historic announcement represents the next step in the growth of the sport and the international impact NASCAR is making, arthritis ” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president of racing operations. “The NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series continues to be a bridge that makes NASCAR more relevant to the Hispanic community in the U.S. Along with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series gives our sport a strong and unified presence across North America and Europe.” 

The NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series is the premier auto racing series in Mexico. It traditionally runs a 15-race schedule, and for the second year in a row will kick off the season at Phoenix International Raceway. In another significant moment, Deportes Telemundo will air NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series’ Toyota 120 live on mun2, a first for NASCAR and the Mexico-based series. 

“This extension symbolizes the strength of our relationship with NASCAR,” said Federico Alaman, managing director of the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series. “I’m very proud of how far the series has come since its inception and continuing to operate under the NASCAR banner for many years to come will reinforce the high level of competition and excitement the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series brings to every event.” 

The 2014 season will mark the 11th overall for the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series, which has been a NASCAR-sanctioned series since 2007. The inaugural year featured just one oval, while recent years have had just one or two road courses. This is emblematic of the shift the series has undergone under the NASCAR banner. 

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have released new findings of a comprehensive new study into recreational cricket which shows that 1.7 million people played the sport in the last twelve months.

The game-wide study of grassroots participation revealed that a total of 908, discount 000 people aged over 14 played cricket in teams – with a further 792,000 people playing cricket informally in the garden or on the beach.

The survey also showed that 93 per cent of recreational cricketers were male, with seven per cent female and that the average age for a recreational cricketer was 31-years old.

Ethnic minorities comprised 30 per cent of the overall participation base and members of the south Asian community were six times more likely to play cricket than the average recreational player.

Commissioned by ECB’s Cricket Partnerships team, the research was based on ECB’s first ever National Playing Survey which attracted more than 21,500 responses from recreational cricketers nationwide together with analysis of more than 1.2 million scorecards from Play-Cricket.com and feedback from twelve Focus Groups.

Commenting on the survey, ECB Chief Executive David Collier said: “This comprehensive and detailed survey has given us a unique insight into who recreational cricketers are, what they want from the sport and how we can best meet their needs.

“All of this information will be vital as we roll-out plans over the next four years to boost participation still further by investing more than £96 million in the recreational game – with improvements in coaching, facilities and the wider club environment a priority.

“Cricket in this country has a long and proud history of embracing different ethnic groups and we are delighted that the survey has revealed such a high level of participation from the south Asian community. Attracting even higher levels of participation from ethnic minorities is a key element in our national strategy as is providing even more opportunities for women, girls and disabled cricketers to play the game.”

British Cycling has today announced that the running of its key road cycling event, cialis the Tour of Britain, illness is to be put out to an open tender to decide who will take it forward from 2014 onwards.

Since its reinstatement on the calendar in 2004, medicine the Tour of Britain has been delivered by sports marketing and events company SweetSpot.

British Cycling’s President, Brian Cookson OBE, said: “Against the backdrop of our continued success over recent years and the amazing success this summer with our first Tour de France winner and 16 gold medals at London 2012, it’s important that we take a fresh look at how the Tour of Britain can deliver continued growth and profile for the sport.

“SweetSpot has nurtured and developed the event over recent years but the time is now right to assess all options. Most crucially, we want to assure our current and future members and all cycling fans that we will have their interests at heart throughout this process and we look forward to further developing an event that reflects the current status of our sport in this country.”

British Cycling’s existing contract with SweetSpot will continue throughout next year, including the delivery of the event in September.  

The invitation to tender will officially be launched in January. The process will be managed on behalf of British Cycling by The Sports Consultancy to ensure fairness and transparency.

PrimeSport, sale the leader in providing direct access to the biggest sporting events on the planet, announced today a new partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference(ACC) to offer tickets, and build and manage the Official ACC Ticket Exchange and Official ACC VIP Pregame Hospitality offerings for the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game and ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The 2012 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game will be held in Charlotte, N.C. at Bank of America Stadium and pairs the Atlantic Division Champion against the Coastal Division Champion. The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament has been held annually since the league’s inception and showcases perennial national powerhouse basketball programs. The 60th Annual ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament will take place March 14-17, 2013 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.

“PrimeSport has extensive experience in building and managing VIP hospitality and online ticket exchanges for large events. They have the resources and expertise needed to provide our fans with an unforgettable experience” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “By partnering with PrimeSport, our fans have a safe and dependable method for securing tickets and VIP pregame hospitality for both the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game and the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament.”

As part of the partnership, PrimeSport will manage and produce the Official ACC VIP Pregame Hospitality for the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game and the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament. This will be a new offering for the dedicated fan looking for the VIP Experience at each of these events. Official pregame hospitality takes place prior to each game and may include premium hosted bar, culinary stations, and the chance to rub elbows with legendary ACC players and coaches.

As the Official ACC Ticket Exchange for the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game and the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, PrimeSport creates a secure and approved marketplace for fans to buy ACC tickets. Furthermore, if a ticket holder is unable to attend, they have the ability to post the tickets for sale on an official exchange site. Fans can feel safe while purchasing tickets, as PrimeSport has a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee on all transactions. PrimeSport also currently manages the Official Ticket Exchanges for the NCAA® Men’s Basketball Tournament, NCAA Men’s Final Four®, NCAA Women’s Final Four, NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, 2013 Discover BCS National Championship, Discover Orange Bowl, The Rose Bowl Game®, the University of Arizona, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, National Finals Rodeo and Tulane University.

“We are looking forward to our exciting new partnership with the Atlantic Coast Conference and offering the PrimeSport VIP Experience to ACC Football and Basketball fans,” said Greg Nortman, COO of PrimeSport. “Through our relationship with the ACC, fans can enjoy these events knowing they have secure tickets, and are buying directly from the only ACC-sanctioned ticket and VIP hospitality provider.”

A lower-tier Norwegian football player has been detained in a match-fixing investigation, medicine sparked by the postponement of a weekend game by the Norwegian Football Association.

Norwegian publication NTB cites police as saying the player for third-tier club Follo, click who was not named, was suspected of ‘benefitting or receiving money for fixing match results.’

Club captain Anders Lubeck said on the team website Thursday that an investigation was necessary, but did not confirm that a player had been detained. Police could not be reached for confirmation.

Earlier this week, the Norwegian association asked police to investigate several suspicious match results and canceled a second-tier game because of fears of match-fixing.

The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) wants to become the world’s biggest hockey league in two years’ time by more than doubling in size to 64 teams and conquering western Europe, league president Alexander Medvedev said Wednesday.

Medvedev wants the huge league to be operational in time for the 2013-14 or 2014-15 season, he said, adding that it would relegate national leagues to farm status.

“To create a top-notch international competition is necessary,” Medvedev told the IIHF Hockey Forum in Barcelona, in comments on the IIHF website.

A grand final against the Stanley Cup winners would allow Europe to rival the NHL, he said.

“We need to create a pan-European system for the talent in Europe and set up a super-competition between the winners of the Stanley Cup and Europe to define the best team in the world.”

Russia and other former Soviet countries would form a 32-team Eastern Conference, Medvedev said.

The other 32 teams would make up a European Conference, with 16 from Scandinavia and 16 from countries as diverse as Italy, the Czech Republic and Great Britain.

A 62-game regular season would be the norm, with 32 teams qualifying for a five-round playoff.

Unlike some national leagues in Europe, such as in Switzerland, teams could not be relegated to a lower division for poor performance, Medvedev said, adding that this would make teams financially stable.

An operational budget of 15 million euros ($18.8 million) would be enough for a team to compete, he said.

The KHL was established in 2008 featuring teams from four countries; Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan.

Next season’s competition will boast 26 teams from seven countries, more than ever before, although 20 of the teams are based in Russia.

Next season the KHL will have a salary cap of $36 million. This compares to $64.3 million last season in the NHL, which features 30 teams.

Rangers’ second-largest shareholder Dave King said on Wednesday the Scottish Premier League club faced “inevitable” liquidation as the Glasgow giants would be unable to solve their crippling financial crisis.

South Africa-based director King said in a 1,200-word statement he plans to sue Rangers boss Craig Whyte after the Scottish powerhouses were forced into administration last month.

“I do not believe that there is a reasonable prospect that the company can come out of administration,” said King. “I believe that liquidation is inevitable.”

In a bleak assessment of the turmoil gripping Rangers, King said the “footballing institution” of the club would survive but the company would not.

Rangers would probably have to reapply for membership of the Scottish Football Association, King said, a prospect which could mean the club would have to work their way back to the top flight from the lower leagues.

“It is a sad point to have reached, but if managed sensibly, it can result in Rangers returning to its former glory as a football club in the shortest time possible,” King said.

“We must all strive to ensure that an appropriate ownership structure guarantees that this event is never repeated.”

Meanwhile talks aimed at preventing redundancies at Rangers were due to resume on Wednesday, a day after breaking up without result after plans to introduce wage cuts were rejected by the agents of several players.

Negotiations involving the club’s administrators, players and their agents, manager Ally McCoist and Scotland’s Professional Footballers’ Association lasted most of the day but no agreement was reached.

The administrators said failure to settle on players’ personal terms had prevented a deal being done on Tuesday, although they were optimistic of reaching an agreement when talks resumed on Wednesday.

Previously on Tuesday, Gregg Wylde and Mervan Celik became the first players to leave Rangers after administrators rejected a proposal by the squad to have wages deferred.

It is understood midfielders Wylde, 20, and Celik, 21, had their offers for voluntary redundancy with no pay-off accepted although the final details have still to be worked out.

Rangers were placed in administration last month after British tax authorities went to court to seek payment of an unpaid bill of £9 million ($14m) built up since owner Craig Whyte took control at Ibrox in May.

They are also awaiting the verdict of a tax tribunal that could leave Rangers with a bill of up to £75m, according to Whyte.

The 140-year-old club were docked 10 points for entering administration, a penalty which effectively handed the Scottish Premier League title to arch Glasgow rivals Celtic.

Administration is the process whereby a troubled company calls upon independent expert financial help in a bid to remain operational.

by Ismail Uddin

The average Major League Baseball (MLB) salary increased 2.7 percent this year to nearly $3.1 million, the largest rise since 2008 it was revealed in MLB’s annual report.

The Major League Baseball Players Association announced the 913 players on Aug. 31 rosters and disabled lists averaged $3,095,183,  said Monday in its annual report, up from $3,014,572 last year when the average topped $3 million for the first time.

The average figures to go up next year, with the minimum salary rising from $414,000 to $480,000 under the new labor contract.

The New York Yankees had the highest average salary for the 13th consecutive season, but at $6.54 million it declined for the second straight year, down from a peak of $7.66 million when they won the World Series in 2009.

Philadelphia was second at $6.44 million, followed by Boston ($5.21 million), the Los Angeles Angels ($4.58 million) and the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals ($4.47 million). AL champion Texas was 15th at $3.01 million.

Among other playoff teams, Detroit was ninth at $3.96 million, Milwaukee 11th at $3.41 million, Arizona 22nd at $2.12 million and Tampa Bay 28th at $1.54 million. Commissioner Bud Selig has pointed out several times that changes to baseball’s labor contract in recent years have increased competitive balance.

Kansas City was last at $1.34 million, just behind San Diego at $1.35 million. Pittsburgh, which was last in 2010, rose to 27th at $1.73 million.

Among regulars at positions, designated hitters took over as the highest average at $9.3 million, followed by first basemen at $8.9 million. With the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez spending time on the disabled list and failing to play 100 games at third base, that position’s average dropped from $6.5 million to $5.2 million.

Outfielders were at $5.6 million, second basemen $5.2 million, starting pitchers $4.9 million, shortstops $3.9 million, catchers $2.6 million and relief pitchers $1.9 million.