Auburn University’s college National Championship win has propelled them to more than double its royalties from licensed merchandise sales.

Merchandise royalties at Auburn, which beat the University of Oregon in January to win its first national title since 1957, surged to $5.3 million for 2010-11 from $2.5 million a year earlier, according to the Alabama state school.

The haul helped Auburn climb to No. 4 from 15th in an annual list of top collegiate merchandise royalty earners released by the College Licensing co, a division of IMG Worldwide. It’s a lofty ranking Auburn might keep even without on-field success this season, said Cory Moss, a vice president for Atlanta-based CLC.

“A championship is extremely valuable, as it obviously played a major role in Auburn jumping that high,” Moss said in a telephone interview. “We definitely anticipate a carryover not only just for the year after but throughout, because we’re continually trying to develop that brand and utilize the national championship to catapult them to the next level.”

Auburn were led to the win by NFL number one draft pick Cam Newton which could havd added to the sales.

The rankings cover royalties reported between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011, by clients of CLC, which account for about 80 percent of the market. The company doesn’t represent every major-conference school, with Ohio State and Southern California among those not on its list.

The University of Texas said it earned $10.6 million in royalties in the last year, more than any other CLC school. Alabama ranked second, followed by Florida.

Ohio State took in $9.4 million in royalties, according to the Columbus, Ohio, school, while USC does not break out royalty revenue in its annual report.

 

Major League Baseball (MLB) has approved Nolan Ryan as the controlling owner of the Texas Rangers after linking up with Chuck Greenberg to buy the franchise from former Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks last August in a deal valued at US$590m.

Greenberg became chief executive officer of the Rangers before leaving in March and selling his stake in the club and in turn, Ryan stepped in to become CEO and his position was ratified on Thursday during the quarterly joint meeting of the 30 MLB owners in a unanimous vote.

Ryan, who picked up a MLB record 5,714 strikeouts during his career, will now vote for the Rangers on all matters during future League meetings as well as being accountable to MLB for the operations of the club.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig told reporters after the meeting: “Actually, that was the first item of business. There was an intense debate that maybe lasted about 12 seconds. Maybe it didn’t even last 12 seconds. It was very quick, done, over. He’s done a remarkable job there the last couple of years.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) have announced that Japan has pulled all its teams out of three World Championships because of the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the north.

IIHF President Rene Fasel stated: “What we are witnessing in Japan is one of the biggest natural disasters in recent memory and the consequences of the earthquakes and tsunamis are catastrophic.

“As ice hockey in Japan is concentrated to the northern parts [of Japan], we know that many of the athletes selected to represent their country and also the officials have been directly or indirectly affected by the disaster.

“We recognise with full sympathy the need of the athletes and officials to be with their loved ones during the very difficult times of mourning and national recovery.”

The IIHF said Japanese ice hockey’s governing body had stated its moral obligation to forgo participation in three World Championship tournaments, including the event for second ranked teams in Budapest next month.

They have also withdrawn from the women’s World Championship Division One in Ravensburg, Germany, and the under-18 World Championships Division One in Riga, Latvia.

Fasel added: “Although we regret the absence of the Japanese athletes at our championships, this is a time where sporting activities become almost irrelevant.

“Our thoughts are with the Japanese people who have suffered immeasurably during the last weeks and we know that it will take many years to overcome the damages.”

Wasps have taken a majority stake in the Ricoh Arena as part of a multi-million pound plan to relocate to the West Midlands, order acording to reports.

The Daily Telegraph reports that players have already been told they can expect to move in time for the start of next season after months of discussions proved successful.

Wasps, viagra who currently play games at Adams Park in High Wycombe, are understood to have agreed a £90 million deal to take at least 90% of the company that owns the stadium – Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) – and hope the proposal will be approved by Coventry City Council at a meeting next Tuesday.

The club have declined to comment on the deal and are thought to be bound by confidentiality clauses with third parties. ACL is joint-owned by the council and the Alan Edward Higgs charity.

Wasps were rescued from potential bankruptcy last year by a multi-million pound takeover led by Irish businessman Derek Richardson.

Digital Caddies Inc. have announced today that it has signed an agreement with the PGA National Golf Resort located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to install the Company’s proprietary golf information system, The Players Network, at all five of the resorts’ golf facilities.

Since opening in 1981, the PGA National has hosted some of golf’s most defining moments, including the 1983 Ryder Cup, the 1987 PGA Championship and the 1982-2000 Senior PGA Championships.

“The Digital Caddies Players Network is an exciting new technology for golfers and golf course operators,” said Jane Broderick, Director of Golf at PGA National. “We are very excited to be able to offer our customers this leading-edge service and to leverage the technology to its fullest.”

The Player’s Network provides applications and services including GPS-based course information, scoring, touch screen interaction and on-course messaging. Golfers can also use the system to notify the beverage cart of their location to receive more prompt service, access weather, news, sports, and other entertainment online. 

In addition, The Player’s Network provides the golf course a broad portfolio of course management tools via GPS-based cart tracking and communications. 

“Having The Players Network installed at a world-class facility like PGA National is not only very exciting, it’s also an honor,” said Mike Loustalot, President of Digital Caddies. “The five golf courses at PGA National are among the finest in Florida and have hosted many defining moments in golf history. We look forward to a prosperous and lasting partnership with the PGA National team.”

Team Pelfrey, allergy which competes in the Star Mazda Championship, discount has announced a partnership with CoForce International, LLC, whose principals, accomplished race car drivers Anders Krohn and Jonathan Baker, have become an integral part of the team.

“Team Pelfrey is very excited to have formed a partnership with Anders and Jonny of CoForce,” said Team Pelfrey Team Manager Nigel Tuckey. “They will both assume key team management positions with immediate effect. The agreement will add significant expertise and direction in several key areas including maximizing the performance and development of our drivers, both on and off the track, as well as continuing development of the Team Pelfrey brand via exciting new products, resources, partnerships and programs.”

Previously focused only on driver development, Krohn and Baker will assume larger responsibilities as Team Pelfrey expands and aims to repeat its stellar 2012 season which brought both the driver and team championships in what is now the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. CoForce CEO Krohn has been named director of performance and driver development, while Jonathan Baker, CFO at CoForce, will serve as director of business development for Team Pelfrey as well as the recently created Pelfrey Performance initiative.

“Pelfrey Performance is all about creating value,” said Baker. “Our plan is to create value for our drivers through extensive driver development programs, career growth campaigns and discovering how to identify, create and build commercial partnerships. With the addition of the Pelfrey Performance Hospitality Center and our extensive Racing Experience program, we believe we are providing the necessary tools to create maximum value for our drivers and our partners.”

Next up for Team Pelfrey is the Mazda Road to Indy Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., on December 9-10, when newly signed Pro Mazda drivers Pipo Derani and Dalton Kellett will work together for the first time.

EuroBasket will be in a shorter format from 2017 after the elimination of the second round group stage, anesthetist following widespread criticism of the length of this summer’s tournament in Slovenia.

The move, cough approved by FIBA Europe’s board at their meetings in Madrid on Saturday, will see the championships move into the elimination rounds directly after the first phase.

It will be the first standalone European Championships with fears it will fail to attract leading players from the NBA and elsewhere.

It was also confirmed that the contract of current Secretary General, Kamil Novak, has been extended through 2016.

The Board also approved the 2014 European Youth Championships host countries, with GB’s Under-20 men and women bound for Greece and Bulgaria respectively.

The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) has appointed Sarah Stevenson as its ambassador at the 2013 SportAccord World Combat Games.

Sports Ambassadors’ role is to engage in promotion of their sports and the world of martial arts & combat sports during the World Combat Games; via press conferences, capsule radio and television interviews, prostate as well as publications in international and Russian newspapers and magazines.

Stevenson, ambulance 30, a native of England, first came on the international scene when she became Junior World Champion in 1998 at the age of 15. She went on to become the World Champion in 2001 and has since become four-times European Champion and World silver medallist in 2005. 

Sarah recently created her own company ‘Sarah Stevenson Inspires’ which aims to educate and train young athletes across a range of sports.

“I am so proud of what I have achieved both on and off the mat. I am now committed to pass on my experiences and help young people gain the life skills and opportunities that I have had over the years. My ambition is to keep raising the profile of Taekwondo as a sport and encourage all youngsters to feel the benefits that come from being involved in sport,” she said.