Organisers of a potential Formula 1 GP remain optimistic that the event will be able to go ahead for 2014 despite the inaugural race in 2013 having been cancelled.

The New Jersey event had been due to run this year before the decision was taken to delay it by twelve months, although Bernie Ecclestone has now suggested the event could ‘be another Donington Park’ in reference to the failed plans to move the British Grand Prix away from Silverstone.

Further speculation has suggested that Ecclestone is working on a Mexican raceto replace New Jersey next year, although Grand Prix of America organiser Leo Hindery Jr said his team was confident that it could be ready in time for next year. 

“Yeah, we are,” he told GPUpdate. “The only obstacles in front of us now are execution, they’re not structural. The course never changed its configuration from the time we first identified it. It’s been clearly and frequently vetted by Charlie and his colleagues on behalf of the teams. The support we’ve gotten early on from [Hermann] Tilke and Peter Wahl has really held things stable. It’s not exactly the budget that we anticipated back in 2011, 2012, but it’s stayed close enough that we’ve now been able to get them to again sign the agreement.

“I think if we’d have had this conversation a couple of months ago I would have suggested that we hadn’t yet made permanent the paddock and pits. But that’s now substantially along and about two thirds of that construction is behind us. The rest of it is a street course and that hasn’t changed. The permits and the approvals from the various regulatory authorities are all in hand, so I don’t see any impediment other than actual execution. We have 37 vendor contracts for everything from beverage to paving.”

Despite the fact that the New Jersey event is due to run on a street circuit, Hindery added that the layout of the venue was such that work could push ahead on preparing for the race without causing issues to those living nearby.

“What’s good about the course is that half of it is along the river and the other half is across the top of what is called the Palisades, which are these glacial formed cliffs,” he said. “There’s nobody living in the circumference of the course, and boy has that been a blessing! You contrast it with Singapore and Shanghai. It’s made it much easier because nobody has been inconvenienced and nobody will be inconvenienced by the course. Everybody who lives on the exterior could access his or her home as we’re racing the cars, let alone during this period when we’re doing some construction.

“With a lot of support and frankly more patience than Bernie Ecclestone needed to give us, we had several more months to get it back on-track. We know that with his blessing we now have a 15-year executed sanctioning agreement that will allow us to race some time each June. Were it not for similar support from the Tilke organisation, specifically Peter Wahl and no less from Charlie Whiting, I think I’d be pulling out what little hair I have left!”

Lancashire County Cricket Club are still positive about the future despite making a loss of £1.5m in 2012.

Ongoing building work at Old Trafford means the ground has hosted just one Test match since 2008, apoplectic but the redevelopment is almost complete and Ashes cricket will return to Manchester this summer.

Lancashire expect those sell-out crowds and a recently-struck sponsorship deal with Emirates Airline to herald “a return to profitability in the next financial year”.

A club statement read: “From the outset of the project a lengthy period of poor trading results was always anticipated.

“The club believes this was a key and necessary price to pay as part of the development of the new £45m Emirates Old Trafford which will safeguard the future of both the club and of international cricket in the region for many years to come.

“Despite the loss incurred in year, symptoms net debt was reduced by more than £3.1m and, even though there has been significant investment in the ground, the underlying level of debt will only represent a very manageable 30% of the cost of the new stadium.”

SportAccord, discount the organisation representing Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations and organisations, medic has announced an exclusive partnership with the global communications firm Burson-Marsteller.

The new strategic alliance, abortion the first of its kind for the sports body, means Burson-Marsteller will become SportAccord’s exclusive communications advisor, and will support the strengthening of the SportAccord brand and offerings including SportAccord Multi-Sports Games and .sport.  The firm will also be the recommended service provider to SportAccord’s 107 member organisations.

Vincent Gaillard, Director General of SportAccord, said: “We are delighted to announce this new strategic communications partnership. We have a number of very exciting global projects that we will be developing over the coming months, such as our SportAccord Multi-Sports Games, and we look forward to working with Burson-Marsteller to ensure their success.

“As our mission has grown, it has become clear that it was time to engage a global firm to ensure that our work on behalf of our members is properly communicated.”

Donald A. Baer, Worldwide Chair and Chief Executive Officer for Burson-Marsteller said: “At Burson-Marsteller, we are passionate about the sports industry and proud of our rapidly growing sports communications capabilities, so it is a great opportunity to work with SportAccord and its members.”

Jeremy Galbraith, Global Vice Chairman of Strategy and CEO of Burson-Marsteller in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, added: “Burson-Marsteller’s track record in sports marketing and working with sports administrators at the highest levels has been built on a thorough understanding of their needs and objectives – from maximising the value of sponsorships, to communicating the goals and principles behind staging the world’s most significant sporting events.

“It is a great privilege to bring our expertise to SportAccord and its members, who collectively form the beating heart of the world of sports.”

Leading the partnership for Burson-Marsteller are Dennis Landsbert-Noon, Chairman of Burson-Marsteller’s Sport Practice in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, located in Brussels, and Rhonda Brauer, Managing Director Global Marketing Team, based in Los Angeles, Calif.

SportAccord partnership leads are Vincent Gaillard, Director General, and Nathalie Smeeman, Manager Marketing and Communications.

The Buffalo Bills and Rogers Media announced a new agreement Friday that will keep Rogers Centre in Toronto as the team’s second home.

Buffalo will play one regular-season game at the home of the Toronto Blue Jays for the next five years, and the new contract also includes one preseason game in 2015.

The existing five-year deal — which was worth $78 million — expired when Seattle posted a 50-17 win over Buffalo Dec. 16. But an extension had long been expected despite lingering attendance problems. Only 40,770 fans attended the Seahawks’ win, far short of a sellout. Some 53,000 fans had been expected.

Defensive tackle Kyle Williams said: “It’s very similar to a road game, but also I understand the business side of things,” Williams said then. “I don’t think you’d find a guy in here that wouldn’t agree that they would much rather be in Ralph Wilson Stadium.”

The Bills recently extended their lease at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., for 10 years, which should solidify the franchise’s short-term future.

Athletics Australia (AA) will restructure its high-performance department, following the team’s results at the London Games, where it fell short of its medals target .”

AA Chairman, Rob Fildes said: “We will review the high-performance department in entirety, which is normal after the Olympic Games.”

Fildes said AA had decided to split head coach Eric Hollingsworth’s job into two roles. A new administrator will manage the high-performance program, with Hollingsworth continuing in the coaching role.

AA is also negotiating with the Australian Institute of Sport to establish performance centres for distance running and sprinting.

Hollingsworth is contracted until the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.{jcomments on}

Former Olympic Swimming champion Mark Spitz, viagra diver Greg Louganis and heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee are among 18 athletes suing Samsung, arguing the tech giant’s Olympic Facebook app uses their names and images without permission.

The argument surrounds Samsung’s Olympic Genome Project app. The app works through your Facebook profile to build a “family tree” of Olympians you’re connected to. Samsung says its database includes more than 10,000 past and present Olympians and Paralympians.

At least 18 of them aren’t at all happy about it.

They argue in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles that Samsung is using their names and faces to create the impression they endorse Samsung products, including Galaxy tablets and phones. Samsung is profiting from the app and “denying plaintiffs compensation for the use of their names and images,” according to the suit.

“They’re using names and images to sell products, and they’ve admitted in interviews that they’re trying to create a more positive image for Samsung,” said Richard Foster, the plaintiff’s attorney. “California law says you can’t use anybody’s name or image to market a product unless you have their consent.”

This is a problem, Foster said, because “these athletes survive on endorsements,” and some have deals with Samsung’s competitors. Being associated with the Samsung app creates ongoing problems, he said, because “once you use a celebrity’s name or image to sell a product, they’re tied to that product category. It makes it difficult for them to get an endorsement deal with other companies in that product category.”

The suit also accuses Samsung of violating Section 3344 of the California civil code, which makes it a crime to use someone’s name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness for commercial purposes without the person’s explicit permission. The plaintiffs argue Samsung did not receive their permission.

Samsung countered in a statement. The company is “disappointed by the lawsuit” and worked closely with the United States Olympic Committee for more than year, following USOC procedures in communicating with athletes.

“Athletes have had the opportunity to voice their opinions on the program and to control their participation. Samsung will continue to support Team USA and the spirit of the Olympics in our efforts,” the company said, declining to comment further.

Foster said the communication consisted of an e-mail sent to each athlete, informing them of the app and telling them to return an attached letter if they wished to opt out. Foster said not all of his clients received the e-mail, while others may have deleted it without reading it. At least “three or four” returned the opt-out letter but were still included.

medstore helvetica, sans-serif;”>The International Cycling Union (UCI) announced that it has renewed the licenses of seven World Tour events for four years. This will be of particular note and relief to the administrators of the Tour of Catalunya, an event which has been blighted by the financial problems that are currently gripping Spain and other parts of Europe.

Earlier this year the race organisers revealed that the event could be in jeopardy due to the recession sweeping the country. But a UCI statement read: “Concerning the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, which had recently made public the financial difficulties it was facing, the UCI reiterated its commitment to contribute to a sustainable development plan, the details of which have as yet to be finalised.”

The seven events granted new four-year licences are:Eneco Tour (The Netherlands/Belgium), Gent-Wevelgem (Belgium), GP Ouest France-Plouay (France), Tour de Pologne (Poland), Tour de Suisse (Switzerland), Vattenfall Cyclassics (Germany) and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (Spain).

by Ismail Uddin

London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) has confirmed that just one third of tickets to the football matches, denture 800, cheap 000 out of a total 2.3m, have been sold so far and have implemented a new strategy to drive sales of the competition.

To avoid the embarrassment of empty stadiums during the Games, it is planning a print, outdoor and digital campaign, which will break in April, immediately after the draw for the competition.

Matches are taking place in Glasgow, Newcastle, Coventry, Cardiff and Manchester, as well as in London. LOCOG is therefore set to target those living near the venues to compensate for a potential lack of visitors from overseas attending  those games being played outside the capital.

Ads, by McCann London, will run primarily in local newspapers, a shift from the outdoor-led campaign promoting the general ticket sale last year.

LOCOG is confident that sales will increase once the draw has taken place. Countries that have already qualified to compete in the 16-team men’s tournament include  Brazil, Uruguay, Spain, Switzerland, Belarus, Egypt, Morocco and Gabon. As the host nation, Great Britain qualified automatically.

LOCOG’s ticketing arrangements caused controversy earlier this month when its website, which  allows consumers to re-sell unwanted tickets acquired in last year’s ballot, crashed after technical difficulties.

The aim had been to enable the public to sell on and purchase tickets in real time, but a glitch meant that consumers were attempting to buy tickets that had already been sold.

After being taken down for 11 days, an overhauled system has been put in place, enabling consumers to sell unwanted tickets until 3 February, be-fore a second ballot in April.