The NHL’s reallignment plan was stalled on Friday after the union opposed the changes. Instead, the NHL will maintain its current alignment and playoff format for the 2012-13 season.

The league’s planned realignment from six divisions to four conferences for next seasonhad been approved by the board of governors in December pending input from the NHL Players’ Association.

“On the evening of December 5, 2011, the NHL informed the NHLPA that they proposed to put in place a four-conference format beginning with the 2012-13 season,” union head Donald Fehr said in a statement.

“As realignment affects players’ terms and conditions of employment, the CBA requires the League to obtain the NHLPA’s consent before implementation. Over the last month, we have had several discussions with the League and extensive dialogue with players, most recently on an Executive Board conference call on Jan. 1. Two substantial player concerns emerged: (1) whether the new structure would result in increased and more onerous travel; and (2) the disparity in chances of making the playoffs between the smaller and larger divisions.

“In order to evaluate the effect on travel of the proposed new structure, we requested a draft or sample 2012-13 schedule, showing travel per team. We were advised it was not possible for the league to do that. We also suggested reaching an agreement on scheduling conditions to somewhat alleviate player travel concerns [e.g., the scheduling of more back-to-back games, more difficult and lengthier road trips, number of border crossings, etc.], but the league did not want to enter into such a dialogue. The travel estimation data we received from the league indicates that many of the current Pacific and Central teams, that have demanding travel schedules under the current format, could see their travel become even more difficult. On the playoff qualification matter, we suggested discussing ways to eliminate the inherent differences in the proposed realignment, but the League was not willing to do so.

“The league set a deadline of Jan. 6, 2012 for the NHLPA to provide its consent to the NHL’s proposal. Players’ questions about travel and concerns about the playoff format have not been sufficiently addressed; as such, we are not able to provide our consent to the proposal at this time. We continue to be ready and willing to have further discussions should the league be willing to do so.”

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league was unable to address the union’s concerns despite four weeks of negotiations.

“It is unfortunate that the NHLPA has unreasonably refused to approve a plan that an overwhelming majority of our clubs voted to support, and that has received such widespread support from our fans and other members of the hockey community, including players,” said Daly in a statement.

“We believe the union acted unreasonably in violation of the league’s rights. We intend to evaluate all of our available legal options and to pursue adequate remedies, as appropriate.”

The off-season relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg in June forced the NHL to reconsider its divisional structure.

The new plan tried to address teams’ travel concerns, as well as guarantee home-and-home series for every team and change the league’s playoff format.

Shortly after the plan was approved, commissioner Gary Bettman said the NHLPA had expressed concerns but that the league didn’t need the union to sign off on the changes.

Fehr rejected Bettman’s claim and said the proposed plan would have fallen under the players’ terms and conditions of employment in the collective bargaining agreement.

The plan was to have two conferences with seven teams all based in the Eastern time zone: New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Washington and Carolina in one and Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay in the other.

The third conference consisted of eight teams in the Eastern and Central time zones: Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg.

The fourth conference had eight teams in the Mountain and Pacific time zones: Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Colorado.

Players reacted warmly to the changes in December, but some expressed concern with the increased travel during the regular season.

The uneven conferences, which featured two made up of eight teams and seven teams in the other two, was also contested since the number of teams qualifying for the playoffs would have been four in each conference.

“Personally, I’d like to have the same shot at making the playoffs as everybody else,” Flames winger Alex Tanguay said at the time. “If you’re in one of those conference that has eight teams, it’s definitely going to be much tougher than [those with] seven teams to make the playoffs.

“I don’t know how they can make that work. I’m sure there’s a solution.”

The lost plan also sets an uneasy tone to the start of labour talks, which were expected to begin after the all-star weekend later this month but are essentially underway now.

The collective bargaining agreement is set to expire Sept. 15.

Major League Baseball (MLB) players and owners are about to put their NBA counterparts to shame as they are set to agree on a five-year labor contract and hope to have a signed deal by Monday or Tuesday at the latest.

Negotiators reached an understanding when they met late Thursday at the InterContinental O’Hare in Rosemont.

The sides hope to sign a memorandum of understanding in time to announce the agreement Monday or Tuesday. The last item to fall in place was the luxury tax on high payroll teams.

The agreement, the first for the union since Michael Weiner succeeded Donald Fehr as head last year, would replace the deal expiring Dec. 11 and would give baseball 21 years of labor peace since the 1994-95 strike.

Under the agreement, there will be a new restraint on the amount of money a team spends each year to sign selections from the amateur draft, with teams going over a threshold being penalized with a type of luxury tax.

In addition, there will be a separate restraint on the amount of money spent to sign international amateur free agents from nations such as the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba. There also will be a committee established to review the system for international signings, leaving open the possibility of a new system during the term of the deal.

Negotiators also worked to lower the percentage of major league free agents who require the highest form of draft pick compensation for the teams losing them.

As part of the deal, players and owners are agreeing to add an extra wild-card round to the playoffs. The extra round will be one game, winner take all.

With the new deal will come Houston Astros inclusion into the American League in 2013.

Mediaset have secured the rights to the UEFA Champions League premium package which includes free-to-air coverage of 16 exclusive Wednesday first choice live matches, the Saturday final (which will be simultaneous with Sky Italia), highlights on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well as the UEFA Super Cup. Mediaset will broadcast the UEFA Champions League matches on Italia 1 and Canale 5.

In line with UEFA’s platform neutral approach, the rights to both UEFA club competitions will also be shown on the internet and through mobile technology via www.sportmediaset.it and via Mediaset’s mobile portal.

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director of UEFA Events SA, said: “UEFA is excited at the prospect of extending its partnership with Mediaset. They have proved their commitment to the UEFA Europa League helping establish it as a high quality property in the market. This renewal will help to further consolidate the positioning of the competition in Italy.

“In addition, Mediaset’s coverage of the UEFA Champions League on the two leading commercial free-to-air channels in Italy, Canale 5 and Italia 1, will ensure football fans throughout Italy great access to the competition.”

 

European sports broadcaster Eurosport has started the selling of advertising spots surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as around broadcasts linked to the Games in the two years leading up to them.

“Road to London” is the marketing campaign offering advertising opportunities around international sporting events featuring Olympic sports.

The main events in the scheme are the major European and World Championship events that as qualifiers for the 2012 Olympic Games.

There will also be an environmental initiatives developed by the organisers of the Games, and magazine programmes focusing on the athletes and events appearing at the Games.

Nearly 75 per cent of Eurosport’s schedule is made up of Olympic sports. It has created advertising-funded programming around the theme.

 

 

 

Heathrow Express has retained Havas Sports & Entertainment UK (HS&E), sales the UK office of the global brand engagement network of HAVAS, to promote its partnerships with England Sevens, USA Rugby and Premiership Rugby.

HS&E’s key objective is to help position Heathrow Express as a world-class brand and the first choice for business travellers to travel between Heathrow and central London, particularly in overseas markets where rugby sevens is a rapidly growing sport. The agency will be delivering a fully integrated activation strategy including experiential engagement, content creation, social media, digital, PR and CSR. 

As well as managing the company’s England Sevens partnership, a key component of the brief is to promote the partnership between Heathrow Express and USA Rugby. The USA, where rugby is the fastest growing sport, is Heathrow Express’ biggest market outside the UK, with around 10 million Americans forecast to pass through Heathrow Airport in 2014.   

For Heathrow Express, the unique appeal of rugby sevens is that the annual HSBC Sevens World Series is broadcast live to 154 countries with its tournaments taking place in some of its major feeder cities, such as Hong Kong and Dubai. 

Commenting on the appointment, Lucien Boyer, President & Global CEO, Havas Sports & Entertainment, said: “Heathrow Express’ involvement in rugby and in particular sevens comes at a very exciting time as it’s fast, spectator friendly format is the future of the sport. The Commonwealth Games, Rugby World Cup 2015 and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are all around the corner which gives us a fantastic opportunity to be innovative in rugby. We look forward to helping them take the brand to a global audience in a new and engaging way.” 

Heathrow Express Head of Communications, Simon Evans, added: “We are thrilled to bring on board the enviable creative and strategic firepower of Havas to help us bring our investment in rugby to life, to measure its effectiveness and ultimately to deliver on our principle objective – to get more people to ride our train. We received pitches from a number of leading agencies, and Havas was the clear winner.” 

Havas Sports & Entertainment UK clients include Coca-Cola, The FA, AEG, Sport England and Yahoo!

Arena Corinthians has selected AGC, prostate a world-leading supplier of glass, anesthetist chemicals, for sale ceramics and other high-tech materials, as their sole-source supplier of all glass components for the Fifa World Cup stadium. 

The glass-studded stadium is set to host the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

AGC was selected as an official supplier of the stadium upon favorable evaluation of Planibel Clearvision, a specialty float glass that provides exceptional clarity through minimal impurities. Low iron content allows objects to be viewed naturally in their original color and to maintain an optimal colour rendering when painted.

“We selected AGC’s Planibel Clearvision for its excellent transparency, quality and color stability, in addition to its reliable supply,” said Anibal Coutinho, chief architect of Arena Corinthians. “As the home stadium of the Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, Arena Corinthians needs to incorporate the team’s colors, which are black and white. Following several tests, we determined that Planibel Clearvision was the ideal glass material for this historic architectural project for its rendering of purely white colors.”

“Planibel Clearvision is the perfect choice for glass fittings at Arena Corinthians,” said Davide Cappellino, President of AGC Glass Brazil. “Planibel Clearvision’s wider architectural applications include interior partitions, building façades, shop fronts and museum displays, while industrial applications include lighting and solar cell covers, furniture and shower screens.”

Arena Corinthians is the 11th largest stadium in Brazil, with a seating capacity of 48,234. Newly constructed by Odebrecht and featuring an original, modern look, the stadium is scheduled to host six 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil matches, including the opening game.

KV Racing Technology have announced a strategic partnership with AFS Racing to field an entry for the 2014 IndyCar Series season.

The team also announced that talented young driver Sebastian Saavedra will pilot the No. 17 KV AFS Racing Chevrolet/Dallara/Firestone machine during the 2014 season. 

“I am extremely pleased to announce that KV Racing Technology and AFS Racing have reached an agreement to field an entry for the 2014 IndyCar season,” said KV Racing co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven. “AFS Racing has strong leadership and a solid history in IndyCar and Indy Lights. I look forward to our partnership and having a successful season with Sebastian Saavedra behind the wheel of the No. 17 KV AFS entry.”

“I’m excited about moving forward with the KV AFS entry #17,” AFS Racing owner Gary Peterson said. “It looks to be a great alignment between AFS Racing, KV Racing Technology and Sebastian Saavedra. My heart is always in racing and I’m looking forward to another great year!

“AFS Racing started its relationship with Seb back in 2009. I’ve been supporting young drivers since I stopped racing myself, so Seb and I have become close. It’s been a pleasure to mentor him over the years. KV Racing is a great fit for AFS and Seb and we appreciate the opportunity to join them.

“I’ve known Jimmy for years and I’m looking forward to getting to know Kevin better. Everyone at KV has been great to work with. Steve Moore, their General Manager, has really been on top of things. KV has a strong two car team and will be a contender for the 2014 IndyCar Series Championship, as well as another Indy 500 win this year. Jimmy and I both thought it was important to keep the Sebastians together after Sebastian Bourdais and Sebastian Saavedra were teammates last season. I’m looking forward to a great season and hope for many more to come”.