The 2012 Extreme Sailing Series is heading off to the city of Rio de Janeiro as it’s final leg of the year making it’s South American debut.

The event will be the culmination of 11 months of global touring for the eight Extreme 40 teams where the final races of the Series will be played out for the overall 2012 Series championship title.

Known as the cidade maravilhosa – or marvellous city – Rio de Janeiro has been enticing visitors for years and for good reason. Flanked by iconic mountains, white-sand beaches, lush rainforests and with a bustling city centre at its heart, Rio seems to have it all.

Racing will take place over four days from the 6th-9th December – the first of which will be open water racing in front of the world-famous Copacabana beach, before three days of stadium racing off Flamengo Beach and under the silhouette of Brazil’s most widely recognised landmarks, the Corcovado and Sugarloaf mountains, providing an iconic backdrop for the stadium racing. Adorned with a 38-metre statue of Jesus, known as Cristo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer, on its peak, this globally recognised landmark is also one of the New Seven Wonders of the world and will be watching over the Extreme 40s in their first South American foray.

Klaus Peters from BR Marinas spoke of the partnership: “As a company which has its roots in nautical activities, we are thrilled at being able to offer to the Brazilian people a show of such level as the Extreme Sailing Series.” He continued, “Brazil’s shore is 9,200 km long with beautiful sceneries which shows how strong our calling is for nautical sports. I believe our full potential is still far from being fulfilled, even considering the fantastic feats of our Brazilian sailing stars like Lars and Torben Grael, Robert Scheidt and Bruno Prada. We hope that the Extreme Sailing Series will help motivate that vocation and will also instigate the rising of new sailing stars for our country”.

Rio is no stranger to hosting global sailing events having hosted three Volvo Ocean Race stopovers. Brazil’s rich sporting heritage is continuing to go from strength to strength – not only will they be proud hosts to the 2016 Summer Olympics, the city’s Maracanã Stadium will also host the final match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and now, in a four-year deal, the Extreme Sailing Series will become part of that sporting legacy.

Mark Turner, Executive Chairman of OC Sport, the organisers of the Extreme Sailing Series commented: “2011 was a crucial year for the Extreme Sailing Series, going from a European circuit to a global, international tour. Rio de Janeiro marks another milestone for the circuit as it is the first time we will visit South America with Rio de Janeiro joining an already iconic line-up of venues.” He continued, “It is important for the Series that the sporting level is as high as it can be while bringing the sport closer to the public through the stadium racing format. Rio de Janeiro will lend itself perfectly to that and there is no doubt it will be a spectacular venue to finish what has already been a successful 2012 Series.”

The Brooklyn Nets (formerly New Jersy Nets) have seen a sharp increase in season ticket purchases following the re-signing of point-guard Deron Williams and trading for All-Star Joe Johnson with Dwight Howard another trade possibility.

Barclays Center sold roughly 500 new season tickets on Tuesday, turning in a one-day, seven-figure haul, according to Brett Yormark, the CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment.

It’s the best day Yormark could remember in his seven years with the Nets, and perhaps record-breaking. It came on the day Williams decided to return and a day after the Nets secured six-time All-Star Joe Johnson in a trade that won’t be official until July 11.

“We’re seeing a tremendous response to what right now is what-if scenarios, but also to a team that is finally taking shape,” Yormark said.

(SID) Bundesliga-Aufsteiger Fortuna Düsseldorf legt vor dem Sportgericht des DeutschenFußball-Bundes Einspruch ein gegen den Strafantrag des Kontrollausschusses. Derzweimalige Pokalsieger soll demnach sein erstes Bundesliga-Heimspiel seit 15 Jahren ohneZuschauer austragen und zudem 100000 Euro Strafe zahlen.

Ingo Wellenreuther, Präsident von Zweitliga-Absteiger Karlsruher SC, bestätigte, dass auchsein Klub das vom Kontrollausschuss beantragte ‘Geisterspiel’ sowie die Strafe von 15000Euro nicht akzeptieren wolle.

Tausende Fans der Düsseldorfer hatten beim Relegationsrückspiel am 15.Mai vor Ablauf derSpielzeit den Rasen gestürmt. In Karlsruhe war es nach dem Relegationsrückspiel gegenJahn Regensburg zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. Dabei wurden 76 Personen verletzt.

National Hockey League officials have approved a radical realignment plan Monday that will give the league four conferences instead of six divisions and guarantee home-and-home series among all teams.

The Board of Governors authorized commissioner Gary Bettman to implement the proposal pending input from the NHL Players’ Association. It could be put in place as early as next season.

The new plan tried to address as many concerns of the teams as possible, from creating more equitable travel, to preserving rivalries, to promoting the game by having the biggest stars play in every city every season.

“This is not a subject that everybody is going to get their first choice on,” Bettman said. “What you try to do is come up with something that everybody can live with, get comfortable with and understands the value of. Because if you ask 30 clubs, you’d probably get 30 different solutions. That’s what makes this a difficult process.”

Atlanta’s move to Winnipeg last summer has caused the league to try and accomodate the change. They initially tried to move the Jets to the Western Conference’s Central Division and either Detroit or Columbus to the Southeast in the Eastern Conference.

But there were issues with that plan that kept compounding with each potential solution as other franchises wanted to use realignment to solve their concerns, as well.

“The simple one wasn’t as simple as it looked when you got done with it,” Bettman said.

The board opted to go with the more dramatic switch, creating four geographic conferences – two with eight teams and two with seven.

Supporting the new model Nashville general manager David Poile, said: “I think at the end of the day, everybody voted in terms of doing what the right thing was for the majority of teams and our fans and our competitiveness and what was fair. I think everybody probably feels good about that today. I know I do.”

The new format will increase overall travel in the regular season, especially for Eastern Conference teams who will now have more trips West. But it cuts down on travel for some Western teams, which was a critical issue for teams such as Detroit, Dallas, Columbus and Nashville.

Toronto general manager Brian Burke said he had concerns about the wear and tear the extra travel would have on his team, but approved the plan when he was assured by the league that the schedule would be more efficient with every team playing in every city.

“We try to vote with a league hat on when we can,” he said. “Sometimes you have to vote with your team’s interest in mind. There’s times you can vote with the league hat on and that’s what we tried to do.”

The new look has 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 consists of eight teams in the Eastern and Central time zones: Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas and Winnipeg. The fourth conference has eight teams in the Mountain and Pacific time zones: Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Colorado.

The conferences have not been named.

“I think there were more than two or three teams not happy with the current situation,” Columbus general manager Scott Howson said. “This was a compromise that really satisfies everybody to a large extent.”

The league was able to keep rivals Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in the same conference by grouping the two Florida teams with the three Canadian teams in the Eastern Conference, Boston and Buffalo.

Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said: “We don’t have much input as players but I’m sure that they’ve worked every possible situation and it’s like with anything, it’s not going to fit everybody perfect but Florida in January’s not too bad.”

Teams will play home-and-home series against all nonconference teams and five or six games in their conference. The top four teams in each conference will make the playoffs, with the first two rounds consisting of solely intraconference matchups. Bettman said he will consult with general managers in the spring before deciding whether to reseed the playoffs in the third round or to have predetermined matchups.

“But now, the Western teams don’t have to leave the time zone every single time we have a road trip,” Phoenix captain Shane Doan said. “We leave our time zone every single time now.”

Bettman said he liked the current format that he devised of six five-team divisions, but that Winnipeg’s move from Atlanta forced some change. He didn’t take a stance on either proposal, but simply explained the pros and cons and allowed the teams to vote.

There was about an hour of discussion, and representatives from about a dozen teams spoke before the plan was approved.

Bettman said the NHLPA has expressed concerns about the new plan and that he will discuss it with union chief Donald Fehr before implementing it. Bettman said the change doesn’t need union approval, a stance the NHLPA contests.

“Realignment requires an agreement between the league and the NHLPA,” union spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said. “‘We look forward to continuing our discussions with the league regarding this matter.”

The World Cup 2010 hosted by South Africa helped boost the UK’s advertising spend to it’s highest point since the last World Cup year in 2006 according to the Advertising Association and World Advertising Research Centre (WARC).

A 5.4% year on year increase prediction made in September was well beaten as the study forecasts UK ad spend for 2010 to be up 6.6%. A predicted growth of 4.3 per cent. for total UK ad spend for the third quarter of 2010 was also bettered by an increase of 7.3 per cent year on year.

The report suggested that marketing around big national events such as the World Cup pushed advertising spend ahead of expectations this year.

The display advertising market was dominated by TV in the period from July to the end of September, with a 35.8 per cent share. Overall, TV advertising was also the strongest performer in the period, posting growth of 15.8 per cent – ahead of outdoor, with 12.4 per cent, and online, with 11 per cent.

The growth in ad spend is expected to decrease to around 5% in the fourth quarter. This would mean a total increase of 2.3 per cent for 2011 on last year’s amount

“While UK ad spend has exceeded all expectations so far in 2010, it’s wise to remain cautious when looking to next year,” said Suzy Young, data editor at WARC.

“We expect spend to increase just over 2% in 2011, but there are risks ahead – especially with government spending cuts and concerns about unemployment.”

Small and medium businesses have been urged to give their financial backing to UK athletes for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

‘Our Team 2012’ is a joint venture launched by the British Olympic Association, the British Paralympic Association UK Sport and the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) and aims to raise £15 million (US$23 million).

The initiative is encouraging businesses to invest £20,000 (US$30,000) into the development of potential competitors ahead of the Games in two years’ time.

Employees of the firms will then get the chance to meet the athletes, get access to hospitality events and tickets to sporting events across the UK.

Sports and Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said: “Sports funding has always come from a mixture of exchequer, lottery and private sources.

“But there is a record amount of exchequer money in the London 2012 process and we’ve already raised the percentage of National Lottery money going towards the sport.

“When it comes to private funding, that is what Our Team 2012 is all about. This is a fantastic opportunity for small or medium sized businesses, who cannot access tier one sponsorship but who want to get involved in these Games.

“With just two years to go until the Games begin, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to support the UK’s Team 2012 athletes on their home turf.”

MP & Silva, cheap the leading international media rights company, announced today a partnership with SPORTEL for the upcoming spring convention, SPORTELAmerica, in Miami on March 2015.

Top level executives from the sports industry meet annually at SPORTEL conventions to determine the future of major sports events in the 21st century media platforms.

Riccardo Silva, founding partner of MP & Silva, said: “MP & Silva has been one of the main participants and exhibitors of SPORTEL since 2008. We are delighted to partner with SPORTEL in Miami for one of the most successful and important conventions in the Americas”.

Amparo di Fede, Managing Director of Monaco Mediax, said: “The partnership with MP & Silva is a clear indicator that SPORTEL conventions are of upmost importance to the international sports media industry. As an agency MP & Silva is one of the most influential entities in the industry and their partnership with us shows their trust in SPORTEL and the importance of business opportunities given, which of course honours us greatly.”

SPORTELAmerica 2015 will take place in Miami on 17-19 March 2015, at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel.