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.

IMG College, the global sports and media business’ collegiate licensing arm, has agreed a deal with American clothier chain Brooks Brothers to sell the official sporting merchandise of 15 different schools. Under the agreement, sporting teams from top universities such as Harvard, Princeton and Cornell will have their apparel become available on the high street for the first time.

The deal sees Brooks Brothers enter the lucrative market of college sports which is estimated to have over 172 million followers. IMG figures suggest that 20 per cent of that audience earn an annual salary of over US$100,000, and that college merchandise has generated a reported US$4.3bn in sales during the past year, providing a potentially lucrative stream of revenue for Brooks Brothers.

Karl Haller, vice president of strategy and business development for Brooks Brothers said: “The key for us is re-establishing our connection with what we call the college community — students, faculty and alumni. We have a pretty well-educated customer and there’s a built-in opportunity with alumni who are already our customer base.”

Scott Bouyack, senior vice president for brand and business development at IMG College, added: “As stewards of the college brand, we long looked at Brooks Brothers as an ideal partner in terms of a retail outlet that targets a key group of alumni and a demo that fits with the college market.”

The New York Mets fell from third to fifth in Forbes magazine’s list of Major League Baseball (MLB) team values, while the New York Yankees remained the sport’s richest team.

The Mets are worth 13 per cent less than this time last year, at US$747m, while the Yankees’ value rose 6 per cent to $1.7bn, almost doubling that of the Boston Red Sox, who at $912m are the second richest baseball team.

The Yankees trail only the National Football League’s (NFL) Dallas Cowboys as the most valuable team in U.S. sports, which Forbes valued at $1.805bn last August.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are third in value at $800m after a 10 per cent increase from last year, followed by the Chicago Cubs $773m, and the Mets.

According to Forbes, the average team is now worth an all-time high $523m, a 7 percent increase from last year as new ballparks and regional sports networks boosted revenue 4 per cent to $6.1bn.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ value rose 13 per cent to $609 million, making them the sixth most valuable team, while World Series champion San Francisco Giants were seventh at $563m, a 16 per cent increase.

Texas Rangers, who in 2010 reached the World Series for the first time in team history, were eighth at $561m after a 25 per cent increase in value, the highest among the top 10 teams on the list.

Completing the top ten were the Los Angeles Angels, worth $554m and the Chicago White Sox.

ESPN Star Sports, the official broadcaster for the upcomign ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, has roped in big bang sponsors for the cricket’s marquee event, according to sportzpower.com, India’s leading sports business portal.

Sony, Pepsi, Maruti Suzuki, Nokia and Philips are some of the sponsors who have come on-board as the broadcast sponsors.

Sources say that ESS is looking at 10 sponsors with three co-presenting and seven associate sponsors.

The broadcaster has also launched the marketing campaign for the event with “One Billion Hearts. One Wish” being the theme of the campaign.

When contacted an ESS spokesperson remained tight lipped about the developments.

Souce: sportzpower.com

An umbrella group of German conservation organisations has withdrawn from a commission evaluating the Munich 2018 Winter Olympic Games bid, saying the plans are environmentally irresponsible.

The German nature conservation ring (DNR) represents 96 environmental groups and has claimed that the bid’s plans to host part of the Games in nearby Garmish-Partenkirchen would damage the environment.

DNR general secretary Helmut Roescheisen said: “We consider, after careful examination of the bid files and two long talks with leading bid representatives, that the hosting of the Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with its narrow valleys and its ecologically important areas is irresponsible.

“There is just far too much infrastructure work involved, what with the athletes village, the media village, even the expansion of the skiing slopes, that we just cannot be part of this commission and are dropping out of it.”

Head of the Munich 2018 supervisory board, Michael Vesper, has rejected DNR’s claims, saying: “The vision for an environmentally friendly Games has in no way failed. Quite the opposite.

“This is the the most ambitious environmental concept for an Olympic bid in decades. We will continue working to convince the critics.”

Munich is up against PyeongChang (South Korea) and Annecy (France) to host the 2018 Games. A decision will be made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) next July.

Greensboro, ambulance N.C., allergy will host the 2015 USA Gymnastics Championships, which showcases more than 1,600 of the country’s best gymnasts in acrobatic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, and trampoline and tumbling. 

Scheduled for June 24-28, the five-day competition, which includes both Junior Olympic and elite levels, will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. This will be the second major gymnastics event to come to Greensboro, which played host to the AT&T American Cup, the premier international event held in the United States, and the Nastia Liukin Cup earlier this year.

“The facilities at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex make Greensboro the perfect East Coast location for this event,” said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics.  “The USA Gymnastics Championships has something for everyone, from the beauty of rhythmic gymnastics to the amazing feats of strength and balance in acrobatic gymnastics to the highflying excitement of the trampoline and tumbling events, all under one roof.  We knew Greensboro would be a great setting for this event based on the excellent job they did with the 2014 AT&T American Cup.”

The local hosts for the event are the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Tournament Hosts of Greensboro, Greensboro Sports Commission and Sports & Properties, Inc.

“We are thrilled to be selected to host one of USA Gymnastics’ premier events for the second consecutive year,” said Greensboro Coliseum Complex Managing Director Matt Brown. “The success we had in hosting the 2014 AT&T American Cup, recording its highest attendance total in a non-Olympic year since 2000, as well as the all-time attendance record for the Nastia Liukin Cup, demonstrates that Greensboro is an outstanding market for elite gymnastics events. We are excited to build on those successes with the 2015 USA Gymnastics Championships.”

“Landing the USA Gymnastics Championships is a significant accomplishment for Greensboro, and this is a big event with more than 1,600 athletes expected to compete,” said Hill Carrow, CEO of Sports & Properties, Inc.

“We look forward to welcoming gymnastics fans from around the country to Greensboro,” said Greensboro Convention & Visitors Bureau CEO Henri Fourrier. “Our local tourism industry is eager to demonstrate our special brand of ‘southern hospitality’ to all the visitors coming to this exciting event.”