Memphis Grizzlies Sign Affiliate Partnership with NBA D-League’s Iowa Energy

NBA franchise Memphis Grizzlies has announced NBA Development League team Iowa Energy will be their official affiliate for the 2014-15 season. 

The Grizzlies become the 14th team to have a one-to-one relationship with its NBA D-League affiliate for the 2014-15 season.

Memphis will be the only NBA team affiliated with the Energy and will have full control over the team’s basketball operations.  This partnership, also referred to as the “hybrid affiliation,” will see the Grizzlies pay for and control Iowa’s basketball operations, while Energy ownership, including Jed Kaplan and Energy Basketball, LLC, will maintain primary responsibility for the team’s business operations and community initiatives.  To further align the teams, the Energy has adopted Memphis’ Beale Street Blue and Gold color scheme and has revamped their logo to visually represent the partnership with the Grizzlies. 

“We are excited at the opportunity for our basketball operations to partner with an NBA Development League team and believe this to be an important milestone for our franchise,” Memphis Grizzlies Owner Robert Pera said. “This affiliation will further strengthen our ability to develop potential NBA talent and staff as we continue to build upon our positive culture and winning foundation here in Memphis.”

“The investment by Jed Kaplan and the Memphis Grizzlies in the Iowa Energy is yet another exciting step forward for the NBA D-League,” NBA D-League President Dan Reed said. “The Grizzlies continue to demonstrate their commitment to basketball innovation and development with this new partnership, joining an ever-growing number of NBA teams who have obtained a ‘one-to-one’ affiliation with an NBA D-League team.”

The Energy, which joined the NBA D-League prior today the 2007-08 season, plays its home games at the Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines, part of the Iowa Events Center.  The team captured the 2011 NBA D-League Championship in front of a record 14,036 fans, while helping 10 total players make the jump from the Energy to the NBA, including current NBA players Diante Garrett (Utah Jazz), Othyus Jeffers (Minnesota Timberwolves), Cartier Martin (Atlanta Hawks), Anthony Tolliver (Charlotte Bobcats) and Jarvis Varnado (Philadelphia 76ers).

“The synergy created through the hybrid agreement with the Memphis Grizzlies will prove extremely beneficial to both organizations. We look forward to continued success, community involvement and treating the fans to Memphis’ brand of basketball on our way to multiple championships in Des Moines,” Iowa Energy Managing Partner Jed Kaplan said.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Looks for Bills to Acquire New Stadium

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell believes the Buffalo Bills need a new stadium to remain in Western New York.

Bills sole owner Ralph Wilson died in March at age 95. It was reported that the franchise could be sold by this summer with league approval coming as early October, anabolics when league meetings are scheduled.

Ralph Wilson Stadium went through $130 million in upgrades this offseason. The Bills still have eight years on their lease with Erie County.

On regards to whether the team need a new stadium Goodell told the Buffalo News: “Yes, I do. We said at the time when they entered into a new lease that this is really a short-term solution. We need to find the right long-term solution that’s good for the community and can help the Bills to continue to be successful in western New York.”

Ralph Wilson Stadium opened in 1973 and seats 80,000. Goodell said that the potential new owner could relocate the team, but the sale of the team and relocation talk are two separate issues.

“There’s two votes. There’s one vote to approve an ownership, and if a team potentially relocates, it’s another vote,” Goodell said. “We’re not making those one vote.”

New Logo Unveiled for Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

ZOOM Motorsports ahave announced the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will feature a new event logo starting with the 2014 race.

In the fifth year of hosting the IndyCar Series in Birmingham, illness this year’s event has several new additions to it, including a new, later date in April, as well as three new series racing during the weekend.

The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will take place three weeks later this year, April 25-27, right before the drivers compete in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and then the famous Indy 500. In addition to the traditional IndyCar Series and Indy Lights races, the 2014 weekend will also feature the Pirelli World Challenge Sports Car Series, Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires and USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda races at Barber Motorsports Park. 

“With the additional series, we will now have eleven races throughout the three-day race weekend, meaning fans will have the opportunity to see more racing action than ever before,” stated Rick Humphrey, VP of ZOOM Motorsports, the exclusive event promoter of Barber Motorsports Park.

“This new logo is just one of the many new, exciting changes for the race this year. In addition to the logo and on-track changes, fans will also have the opportunity to purchase an upgraded ticket to our new CM’s Trackside Tavern. This area will feature one of the best views at the park, along with delicious food from some of Birmingham’s top local restaurants.” 

McLaren F1 to Start New Season Without Title Sponsor

McLaren F1 have revealed they will start next season without a title sponsor but expect to have one in place during the early races.

The team has been without a title sponsor since it’s partnership with Vodafone ended at the end of 2013. They were scheduled to make an announcement about a new title sponsor before the new season but postponed the news.

Despite the delays, group CEO Ron Dennis insists a new title sponsor will be in place as soon as he feels McLaren is correctly valued.

“Our cars will not feature a title sponsor at the first event and it will definitely be featuring a title sponsor some time in the next few races,” Dennis said. “Why? Because I strongly believe we are Manchester United. Inevitably when you have a run of poor results people try to push the rate card down and I won’t accept that.

“I know what this company is and I know what this grand prix team can achieve, and that requires the correct recognition when it comes to a commercial relationship with a principal sponsor.

“We are negotiating with several companies at the moment and I’m optimistic it will happen sooner rather than later. But part of being the size that we are, money is an issue. The racing team – who doesn’t have to worry about income – has the biggest budget that it’s had in the history of the company.”

Dennis also explained that any title sponsorship deal would not be an interim until the Honda partnership begins in 2015.

“We’ve turned away stop-gaps. You can go a lot in to fractionisation where you go a lot in to branding zones, but what you don’t get in that instance is you don’t get the benefit of a global advertising strategy. Global advertising strategies are very impactful on those sponsors who sit alongside the title because they get the impact of other people’s spends.

“So we are quite scientific about analysing the media impact on the team, impact of colouration, design, whatever. I don’t think anyone should be surprised by that because effectively we are competing for the same money and some budgets as world class advertising agencies. So you need to speak the same language and you need to have the same metric of being able to enforce those. The one thing that dilutes the ability to get share of voice is not having a dynamic, proactive title sponsor.

“Fortunately because of the depths of the company I am not stressed by that and I am as certain as one can be that it is something that will change over the next few months.”

Warwickshire Cricket to Be Known as Birmingham Bears for Rebranded T20 Tournament

Warwickshire County Cricket Club have announced a rebrand of their Twenty20 team and will now be known as the Birmingham Bears as a number of other changes were also announced. 

In changes to the game announced on Tuesday, the T20 competition – to be known as the NatWest T20 Blast – will primarily take place on Friday evenings.

The county will still be known as Warwickshire in the County Championship and 50-over Royal London One-Day Cup.

Bears chief executive Colin Povey said: “Birmingham and Edgbaston has been the Club’s home since 1886 and we believe that adopting the Birmingham Bears name for the NatWest T20 Blast presents a great opportunity for us to engage even more closely with fans living and working at the heart of the City.

“Asian families, business men and women working in the city’s commercial districts and local cricket clubs are three particular audiences the club is seeking to work with more next season.

“T20 games in 2014 will predominantly be played on Friday evenings, so this fixed slot gives supporters a time that we hope will be associated with the Birmingham Bears; similar to Saturday afternoon football or rugby.

“However, despite our T20 name change, we will continue to maintain the proud history of the club and play under the Warwickshire banner in the other two more traditional formats.”

Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader of Birmingham City Council, added: “The Birmingham Bears T20 team is an incredibly exciting proposition that can unite sports fans across the city on Friday evenings next summer.

“The club and the redeveloped stadium provide so many great opportunities for the local communities to play and watch world-class cricket here in Birmingham, and I’m looking forward to seeing people get behind the Bears.”

KPMG to Review UCI Governance

The UCI has instructed auditors KPMG to carry out a review of its governance in the wake of the Lance Armstrong scandal.

The audit was announced as cycling’s world governing body revealed discussion topics for a consultation exercise titled ‘A Bright Future for Cycling’, which will take place early next year.

A UCI statement read: “The UCI has also engaged the international auditors KPMG to carry out a review of the governance of the UCI, as well as that of the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF), reporting back in time for its findings to be debated in the consultation process.”

The UCI and its leadership – particularly president Pat McQuaid and his predecessor Hein Verbruggen – has been heavily criticised for numerous perceived failings after the scale of doping at Armstrong’s United States Postal Service team was revealed by an United States Anti-doping Agency (USADA) investigation.

Armstrong, who declined to co-operate with USADA, was banned for life and stripped of all results since 1 August, 1998, including seven Tour de France titles, following a scandal which continues to send shockwaves through the sport.

Exclusive: Volvo Ocean Race Reveals Increased Media Coverage

Jon Bramley, unhealthy Communications Director of Volvo Ocean Race has revealed recent media coverage of the sailing series has increased substantially.

The result, diagnosis as shown in their Race Report that is due for release shortly, was a media record-breaker for the 39-year-old event. For the 2011-12 edition of the series, there was a 1.55 billion cumulative TV audience from 8,969 broadcasts.

In print journalism there was a 41% increase in cumulative print readership and 94% increase in online news articles wjile also doubling of radio audience

Commenting on the figures Bramley said: “Not surprisingly, our success in increasing our mainstream media pick-up translated to much improved figures for our own platforms with the website showing a 120%+ rise in page views and our Facebook fans soaring from around 50k pre-Race to 207k at the end of it.”

The organisation is also looking to build on their increased coverage and refine their strategy to achieve this.

“There is still much, much more work to do and we are currently refining our strategy for the 2014-15 edition to ensure more and more of those high-end, big audience mainstream media platforms report the race consistently going forward,” he said.

“At its core, though, our approach will remain the same: keep it simple, keep it direct and above all, be GREAT to work with.”

NBA and Ticketmaster Join Forces for Ticket Website

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Ticketmaster have formed a partnership that will see the creation of a website where fans can buy and sell match tickets.

The idea of the website is for there to be tickets available from primary sellers, abortion as well as fans who are looking to resell their unwanted tickets.

It is thought that there are two man purposes that the site will serve for the NBA. Firstly, arthritis the NBA is likely to take away business from websites such as StubHub, cialis who is the largest ticket resale website in the United States.

It is also thought that the new website will allow teams to determine what the pricing should be for seating.

Nathan Hubbard, CEO of Ticketmaster said: “The NBA is determined to provide their fans a safe, convenient place to buy and sell game tickets, and we are delighted to be delivering this revolutionary solution.

“This is ‘Moneyball’ for the fans in terms of ticketing. Teams have used sophisticated data to evaluate players. Now it’s time for teams to use sophisticated data to evaluate fans instead of just going with the gut.

“It’s time for teams to get data and do what Procter & Gamble and GE does with that data: Find the best product for the consumer at the right price in the best distribution channel possible.”

Former Deccan Chargers Chief Wins Wrongful Dismissal Case Against Franchise

Former Deccan Chargers chief executive, Tim Wright, has prevailed in his case for wrongful dismissal against the franchise and been awarded £10.5 million ($16million), plus legal costs, by the High Court in London.

Previously with IMG, Wright joined the Chargers management after the first season of the IPL but was dismissed in January 2009 and began legal proceedings against Chargers and its parent company, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, the following month. Chargers had challenged the jurisdiction of the English court but Wright was granted the right for his case to be heard in the UK.

At Monday’s trial, Judge Seymour ruled that Chargers had committed several breaches of their contract with Wright, including failing to provide him with his full salary, benefits and pension entitlements, failing to appoint him to the board of directors and failing to transfer to him an agreed equity share in the company. They were ordered to pay him his dues (£10 million) as per his contract, with interest.

The judge also called Chargers’ conduct during the litigation ‘disgraceful’; they had not attended the trial, after having submitted their case as defendants.

“Today’s judgment is vindication of my decision not to be cowed by the bullying of a large corporation,” Wright was quoted as saying after the trial’s completion.

Washington Capitals Agrees Affiliation Deal with Reading Royals of ECHL

The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Washington Capitals have agreed to an affiliation agreement with the Reading Royals of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

“We are very pleased to announce our new ECHL affiliation with the Reading Royals,” said McPhee. “The Royals are a first-class organization where our prospects will be playing in an environment that will help them develop to their ultimate potential. We feel the proximity to both Washington and our AHL affiliate in Hershey will be beneficial to all three clubs. We would like to thank the South Carolina Stingrays and their fans for their support over the last eight seasons.”

The Royals finished the 2011-12 campaign with a record of 36-28-4-4 under head coach and director of hockey operations Larry Courville. Courville played 33 career NHL games with Vancouver and appeared in 49 games with the Hershey Bears in 2001-02. He finished his playing career in 2007-08 while playing for the Reading Royals. Reading has made the playoffs in six of its 11 seasons in the ECHL, finishing first in its division twice. 

“This affiliation agreement kicks off a new era of Royals’ hockey,” said Royals general manager Mark Wallace. “The Capitals have a deep tradition of success and a proven track record of identifying and developing young talent. The history of success of professional hockey in Hershey is simply legendary. We look forward to working with the Capitals and Bears as we all seek to strengthen and grow our sport in Central Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake region. We believe that fans in Reading are going to have a unique opportunity to closely follow the development of prospects within this system, while being treated to an exceptional quality of play which we trust will translate into winning games in Reading.”

A number of current Capitals have spent time in the ECHL, including goaltenders Braden Holtby, an ECHL All-Star who played in South Carolina during the 2009-10 season, and Michal Neuvirth, who was named an ECHL All-Star during the 2008-09 season while with South Carolina.

The Royals, who are entering the team’s 12th season in Reading, had a previous affiliation with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings from 2001-2008. From 2008-09 through 2011-12, the Royals were affiliated with the Toronto Maple Leafs and, beginning in 2009-10, the Royals added a secondary affiliation with the Boston Bruins. Reading plays its home games at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pa., which holds a capacity of 7,160.

Courville will be in attendance at the Capitals Prospect Development Camp which begins today and runs through Saturday, July 14, at Kettler Capitals Iceplex.