Kent Cricket has selected Lindley Venue Catering, prostate the specialist sports stadia catering division of The Lindley Group, as its partner to develop match day catering, and conference, banqueting, and events business at the Club’s sports facilities in Kent.

The five year contract with Kent Cricket comes within weeks of Lindley being signed up by Gloucestershire CCC, and Essex CCC extending its existing contract with Lindley for the 2012 season.

As well as being brought on board to manage and develop all of the match day catering at Kent Cricket’s main St Lawrence ground in Canterbury, the company will also operate matches at the Club’s County Ground in Beckenham and The Nevill Ground at Tunbridge Wells. Lindley Venue Catering has been recruited for its expertise in growing revenue and business from non-match day events at professional sports venues.

Lindley Venue Catering will be employing a dedicated sales coordinator who will be based at the St Lawrence Ground, and is also investing £40,000 to develop on-site food retail offer and extend the catering facilities in the Club Members’ area. The caterer is also planning to introduce bespoke catering to match the different requirements of visitors attending County and Clydesdale Bank 40 matches, and Friends Life T20 games.

The Lindley Venue Catering team will take control of catering and events for Kent Cricket, working in partnership with the Club’s in-house catering and events management team, which until now has been solely responsible for managing the match day and non-match day hospitality services.

Jamie Clifford, Kent Cricket CEO commented: “We have ambitious plans to increase the use of the Club’s facilities in general, and St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, in particular, where we have recently undertaken an extensive refurbishment programme which has included the creation of state-of-the art conference and banqueting suites.

“Our in-house catering and events team has done a fantastic job in establishing a great reputation for the quality of the Club’s catering and hospitality, and it’s because of their success that we have reached the stage where we now need to increase the resource to manage the incremental business which they are generating.

“We looked at the options of either expanding our in-house team or looking externally for the right partner to join forces with us on our venture to grow our business. Having met with Lindley Venue Catering, we opted for the latter as they meet all the Club’s requirements, and they have the capability and skill-set which will enable us to fast-track the next phase of our business expansion plans.

“With their extensive experience in sports stadia catering they have some great ideas for enhancing match day catering for both public and corporate hospitality entertaining, and the icing on the cake is their proven expertise in developing non-match day business at other sports venues.

“Just as importantly, we share a common business culture. The level of investment Lindley is making in the Club’s facilities and marketing support demonstrates their commitment to the Club, and, from a commercial perspective, the annual minimum level of income they have guaranteed from catering will give a substantial boost to the Club’s revenue”

Adam Elliott, CEO of The Lindley Group, added: “Kent Cricket has made great strides forward in putting the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury, on the conference, banqueting and events map. The ground is one of the premier county grounds in the country and it occupies a fabulous setting in the heart of Canterbury. These inherent natural assets have been enhanced by an excellently executed refurbishment and the development of a new website to promote the new facilities, so the Club has already laid a strong foundation for us to build on.

“Having worked with other sporting venues on optimising their websites, we have achieved increases of up to 20% in conference and banqueting sales, so we know the results which we can achieve. We also aim to maximise revenue from match day catering by fine tuning the food offering for different types of event.

“County games spanning four days clearly have a longer dwell time, attract an older audience and require a different catering approach to one day twenty20 games which bring in a younger demographic. So, for example, we will be installing our Frank’s Original New York Streetdogs® branded retail offer at the ground to cater for this younger audience during one day matches.

“The Club and Lindley are jointly committed to achieving the common goals of delivering a platinum standard of public and hospitality catering on match days, and making the St Lawrence ground a prime destination for conference and event organisers and private functions. It is the partnership approach and the drive and enthusiasm shared by both parties which has given us the confidence to commit to guarantee Kent Cricket a substantial minimum income from our management of the catering and events business.”

National Football League (NFL) players have created an online website to simplify licensing, cough including use of their images and autographs.

The Playmark website, scheduled to launch today, is the first of its kind in a major U.S. sport to allow software developers and T-shirt makers to go through an online process to secure the likenesses and marks of more than 2,000 players, said Keith Gordon, president of NFL Players Inc., the licensing arm of the NFL Players Association. NFL Players Inc. licensing totaled $78 million last year.

Gordon said: “We really wanted to make the licensing process streamlined and accessible for people no matter what your resources are. This space is really ripe for something that demystifies intellectual property rights and licensing.”

Seattle-based Playmark Inc. operates the clearinghouse as the exclusive broker for the players, Gordon said. Product or software developers can submit proposals online to purchase the rights to images, signatures or even three-dimensional likenesses.

Pricing is based on higher upfront fees yielding lower royalty payments, Gordon said. The website then allows developers to submit their finished work for approval by NFL Players Inc., which should take days instead of weeks. The simplified system may help cut down on illicit use of the marks.

“Nothing happens without our approval,” Gordon said. “We have complete control over who has access and once they have access, nothing gets released without our approval.”

By making it easier for emerging or existing businesses to obtain licensing, Gordon said he hopes to spur growth in products that use NFL players. The website doesn’t cover retired players.

The new system also will help players who aren’t among the league’s most-popular to earn more licensing money, by allowing makers room to develop products aimed at smaller niches, Gordon said.

He added: “We just really wanted to create something where we could tap into the creativity, enthusiasm and inspiration of the young entrepreneurs out there with great products, who don’t necessarily know how to leverage the assets available to them.”

Los Angeles Dodgers bankruptcy claims have take a turn for the worse as the season-ticket holders, including the singer Frank Sinatra’s three children will seek an official committee to represent their interests in court during the team’s bankruptcy.

The Sinatra’s and the other season ticket-holders who plan to participate in the case will seek to have their legal fees paid by the Dodgers through the appointment of a court-approved committee.

“We feel the season-ticket holders are the true stakeholders in the bankruptcy case and currently have no voice in the case,” Robbin L. Itkin, an attorney for five season ticket holders, said in an e-mail today. Her clients, including the Sinatras, represent “the interests of the public who have supported the Dodgers franchise for years.”

Frank Sinatra Jr., Tina Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra hold eight seats their father bought in 1958 when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn New York, where the iconic 1950s singer and actor became a fan, family attorney Jeffrey Berkowitz said in an interview.

“They are long-time Dodgers fans,” Berkowitz said. Their seats are behind the first base dugout in the first and second rows, he said. The original chairs where Sinatra sat were preserved and moved to the team offices after the stadium was remodeled, Berkowitz said.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in June after almost two years of falling attendance and a decline in merchandise sales.

Following an Ontario court ruling backing Labatt’s claims that the National Hockey League (NHL) had reneged on a deal with its former sponsor, Molson Coors Canada and the league have both pledged to appeal the decision which could jeopardise a record sponsorship deal between the two parties.

The Denver-based brewer confirmed that it saw the ruling made late last week as a ‘surprise’ but insisted it is still committed to the seven-year deal agreed in February, thought to be worth close to US$400m.

Molson Coors president and CEO Dave Perkson said the company was disappointed with Judge Frank Newbould’s ruling “given we entered into negotiations with the NHL in good faith”.

Perkson’s statement, released yesterday, June 6, added: “While Friday’s ruling was an unfortunate surprise, we remain committed to doing all we can to keep this sponsorship agreement in place with the NHL.” Perkson said the NHL’s commitment to ice hockey “remains unwavering regardless of the outcome of this situation”.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly also claimed that the League disagreed with the court’s decision and pledged to “pursue an appeal of the ruling on an expedited basis”.

Cadbury has become an official supporter of the Games Maker programme in order to strengthen its ties with the London 2012 Olympic Games. The company were already announced in 2008 as the official treat provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Cadbury will play its part in the London 2012 Games Maker programme by aiming to bring games and team building spirit to the Games Maker experience. Cadbury is aiming to push its Spots v Stripes campaign through the Games Maker selection process, ailment by playing the game at the selection days with the aim of bringing the volunteers together.

70, clinic 000 people will be chosen from the quarter of a million that have applied for the Games Maker programme, for the volunteer initiative at selection centres across the UK over the next 14 months.

Tottenham made a £6.6m loss after tax for the year ending 30 June 2010 following the investment in a squad that clinched fourth place in last season’s Premier League and a place in the Champions League.

Increased prize money for the north London club’s highest position since 1990 contributed to record revenue of £119.8m in the annual report released today, but the team could not match last year’s £23.2m profit after buying players including Sébastien Bassong, Peter Crouch and Younes Kaboul. Profits before player trading were £22.7m.

Still, qualification for the lucrative Champions League was expected to boost income further this season. “We are benefiting now from our investment to date in the first-team squad,” the chairman Daniel Levy said.

Tottenham said total income was up 6%, despite a lack of European competition, due to a season of sold-out home matches and increased broadcast revenue.

But that lack of European midweek matches contributed to a drop in sponsorship and corporate hospitality income to £25.8m from £27.4m, while revenue from ticket sales dropped by a similar amount for the same reason even though all 38 Premier League matches at the 36,310-seat White Hart Lane stadium were full.

Since 30 June, Tottenham have added William Gallas, Stipe Pletikosa, Sandro and Rafael van der Vaart to their squad for around £20m. That expense will feature in next year’s results, although Tottenham should compensate for that in Champions League income.

Source: Guardian.co.uk

Wales’ deputy first minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has said talks have begun over the possibility of Cardiff hosting the Uefa Champions League Final.

The announcement comes with the launch of the country’s first Major Events Strategy yesterday. The Strategy aims to build on opportunities which may arise from Newport staging this year’s Ryder Cup golf tournament, and Wales is now looking to host other major sporting events in the future.

Wyn Jones said: “Wales is now delivering the Ryder Cup on behalf of a continent and going forward we will work with Welsh, UK and International federations to realise the huge untapped potential that remains in other sporting events as well as in artistic and cultural genres.

“The Rugby World Cup in 1999 got the ball rolling and our partners at Wales Rugby Union and the Millennium Stadium are now the custodians of one of the most dramatic, versatile and enjoyable major events locations in the world.”

Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium hosted six FA Cup finals between 2001 and 2006 and will host Olympic football as part of the 2012 London Games.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has reversed his decision to ban the national football team from international competition for two years after their poor performance at this summer’s FIFA World Cup.

FIFA had given the Nigerian Government a deadline of 1700 BST yesterday afternoon to lift the ban or face a larger punishment, as under FIFA rules, any government interference on member associations is strictly prohibited.

The presidency said in a statement: “The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) assured the president of their commitment to evolving an enduring football development programme, and grow a new senior national team that will bring glory rather than consistent embarrassment to Nigeria on the World stage.

“Based on these assurances, and the appeals of well-meaning Nigerians, including former leaders, President Jonathan has decided to review the earlier two-year ban on the country from all international competition.”

On Sunday, two of the NFF’s top officials were sacked in an effort to appease the president.

The format and match schedule for the second edition of the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa has been announced.

The ten competing teams will be split into two groups of five for a round robin phase before the top two teams from each group progress to the semi-finals.

The Airtel Champions League T20 is the grand finale of the Twenty20 season and sees the world’s ten champion teams take each other on.

This year’s competition will begin on 10 September and will see Sachin Tendaulker’s Mumbai Indians take on the Highveld Lions at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.