New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft told the crowd at the NFL’s Fan Fest that it’s time for a team in London, ESPNBoston.com reported.

“You’re already hosting the Premier League, and we believe we’re the premier sport in the world,” Kraft said. “I think London has shown, with the way they’ve handled the Olympics and every other major sporting event, that it’s time for you to have your own NFL franchise, based in London.”

The Jacksonville Jaguars are scheduled to play a home game in London from 2013 to 2016. The Patriots andSt. Louis Rams play at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. It will be the sixth International Series game played in London.

“As these things develop and there’s a permanent home team now, I’m sure they’ll develop a great following,” Kraft said. “Whatever we can do to cultivate playing football throughout the world. … We’ve been discussing that the NFL, I don’t know if we’ve done as good a job as we could educating the rest of the world on what a great game it is.”

Shahid Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Mark Waller, the NFL’s Chief Marketing Officer, are the latest speakers to be announced for The Leaders Sport Summit being held at Chelsea FC, on 10^th and 11^th October 2012. 

With NFL teams dominating the list of most valuable sports teams in the world, and with the organisation keen to expand American football internationally, the session which is scheduled to open day two, will be a unique insight into the vision and strategy of the NFL and one of its newest franchise owners.

Pakistan-born Shahid Khan became the owner of the Jaguars in January 2012, becoming the first ethnic minority owner in NFL history.

Having arrived in the USA at the age of 16, his ambition of one day owning an NFL team began while falling in love with the league while watching games at the University of Illinois, where he was studying for an engineering degree and working for $1.20 per hour washing dishes. Forty years later, after building Flex-N-Gate from scratch into a multi-billion dollar company servicing the car manufacturing industry with 13,442 employees and 52 manufacturing plants in the United States and worldwide, his dream came true.

His purchase of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the team’s commitment to play one home game in London each NFL season from 2013 through 2016 is an indication of how sport in the USA is changing, targeting international growth and opening up to a new breed of entrepreneurs and business people. 

Waller is the first ever Chief Marketing Officer in NFL history, having joined in 2006 as the International Senior Vice President where his role included overseeing the growth of the NFL’s International Series. As CMO, Waller is responsible for the marketing function operating across all NFL platforms and properties, including NFL Ventures, NFL Network and NFL.com, and he continues to oversee the NFL’s International business.

The Leaders Sports Summit is the world’s most prestigious gathering of leaders in sport over 2 days in London.  Held annually it hosts 5 conferences and 100 world class speakers with 1500 senior level executives from over 50 countries and 40 sports in the audience

The International Tennis Federation has signed memorandums of understanding with two of its recognised organisations, recipe the Council of International Clubs, help and Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs.

The ITF will look to increase its support of both organisations on their worldwide development activities.

The Council of International Clubs currently comprises 40 national member clubs known individually as International Clubs (ICs). The International Clubs aim to develop, medstore encourage and maintain the highest standards of sportsmanship and understanding among players of all nations and among young players in particular.

The Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs (CTC) is an umbrella group of clubs that are each more than 100 years old, including some of the most prestigious clubs in tennis. Initially founded by eight clubs as a pan-European association, it now has an extensive global membership of 59 clubs in 28 countries.

The ITF and the two organisations will look to cooperate on development projects where appropriate in consultation with national associations.

The memorandums of understanding run through 2013 (Centenary Tennis Clubs) and 2014 (International Clubs) respectively.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “Both the ITF and these two organisations share the same goal of fostering growth in the game of tennis. The ITF already assists its 210 member nations with the development of tennis at all levels, and we look forward to collaborating on additional projects.”

Peter McQuibban, Chairman of the Council of International Clubs, said: “We have worked closely with the ITF and its national federations on our philanthropic projects in various countries. This memorandum of understanding formalises that relationship and we hope it will make our work in this important area more efficient and effective.”

Juan Maria Tintore, President of the Association of Centenary Tennis Clubs, said: “I am sure this cooperation will be of mutual benefit to the organisations, both of which are committed to the promotion of tennis, and are concerned with providing opportunities for young players. I have no doubt that the cooperation will help us to enhance and expand the CTC’s activities in the future.”

England cricket chairman Giles Clarke has settled a libel case against him stemming from allegations about secret plans for a rebel Twenty20 league in England, it was confirmed on Wednesday.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chairman Clarke had been sued by international sports marketing giant IMG over suggestions in a 2010 email about plans for a breakaway T20 league that would “destroy world cricket’s structure.”

However a statement from the ECB on Wednesday said the case had now been settled after Clarke accepted IMG had not broken any ICC regulations.

“This statement confirms that Mr Clarke accepts that IMG did not act in breach of ICC rules and intended to act within the official structures of world cricket,” an ECB statement said.

“IMG accepts that Giles Clarke was not intending deliberately to damage its reputation. On that basis the parties have agreed to settle the litigation on confidential terms.”

Clarke, who is bidding to win a third term as ECB chairman, still faces legal action from former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi over the claims.

by Ismail Uddin

British sprinter James Ellington creative and innovative ploy of selling sponsorship rights on eBay may have backfired as the winning bidder has failed to come forward.

Ellington sold his sponsorship for £32, discount 500, with the auction closing on Dec. 17, but he’s yet to hear from the winning bidder, and an eBay spokeswoman says the buyer “doesn’t appear to be bona fide,” according to the Telegraph.

Ellington had planned to put the winning bidder’s logo on his uniform in exchange for the cash to cover this year’s training, travel and living expenses. Now his plan appears to be in jeopardy.

“I’ve spoken to the guys at eBay,” Ellington said. “They say they are still trying to get in touch with the highest bidder, but they are finding it difficult, and they are not sure whether the top bids may be people just messing around.”

Ellington remains determined to earn a top-two finish in the 200 meters at the Olympic trials in Birmingham in June, earning a spot in this summer’s Games. He insists he will not be deterred by the failed auction attempt.

“I won’t even focus on it,” he said. “I’m just trying to get on with things and focus on my training.”

As a value-added feature of its season ticket and hospitality suite packages, therapy the Memphis Grizzlies will provide its corporate clients with SpotlightTMS™, pills a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application that enables companies to measure the business impact of their ticket and suite assets.

With SpotlightTMS, ed organizations can manage their entertainment asset investments in a simple, transparent way, thereby ensuring utilization while assessing the effectiveness of those investments and measuring ticket use as a driver of revenue. By providing SpotlightTMS as part of its suite and season ticket packages, the Memphis franchise adds value to suite ownership at FedExForum and enables its best customers to increase revenue and ROI on use of their tickets and suites.

Gregg Crone, Memphis Grizzlies’ Director, Ticket and Premium Services, said: “The Memphis Grizzlies and FedExForum are dedicated to delivering a world-class championship experience to our fans, community and partners. SpotlightTMS allows us to extend that experience beyond the arena doors and provide a service to our premium clientele and hospitality suite holders in order to ensure the return on their investment exceeds expectations.”

SpotlightTMS is delivered through the cloud with no software to install. It offers companies secure access through the Internet to manage ticket inventories, distribute tickets, analyze the results of ticket usage, acquire additional tickets from multiple sources and meet IRS and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance reporting requirements. By using SpotlightTMS, corporate customers have experienced a reduction in ticket fraud through role-based permission approval for ticket requests, reduction in administrative time and money, and increased sales effectiveness.

“The hospitality suites at FedExForum present an excellent environment for corporate deal making,” said Tony Knopp, Spotlight CEO and co-founder. “By providing SpotlightTMS to its premium clientele, the Memphis Grizzlies are helping these companies measure the impact of their investment in tickets and suites for corporate entertaining, and then use that information to drive revenue.”

Spotlight pioneered the enterprise sports and entertainment ticket management space with SpotlightTMS. Spotlight’s growing list of enterprise customers seeking to maximize revenues and ROI on their tickets includes Comcast, MetLife, Nike, Oracle, NBCUniversal, Stanley Black & Decker, Penske Truck Leasing and Principal Financial Group.

In addition, more than 30 professional sports teams — including the Cincinnati Bengals, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Heat, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Bears — are providing SpotlightTMS to their most important customers.

Portsmouth have been sold to Balram Chainrai, Levi Kushnir and Deepak Chainrai after a deal was struck to allow the club to exit administration.

A financial agreement with former owner Alexandre Gaydamak paved the way for the club’s sale, which has been approved by the Football League.

“It’s a significant moment involved for everyone involved at the club,” said Pompey chief executive David Lampitt.

Balram Chainrai added: “We’re not going to make any rash promises.”

The Football League has lifted the transfer embargo imposed on Pompey, although all deals will require the League’s approval, while the club must also submit monthly financial reports for monitoring.

On Friday the club had claimed they were on the brink of ceasing trading because Gaydamak had refused to sign a deal to sell to Chainrai.

But Gaydamak said late on Saturday that a new agreement had been agreed.

Balram Chainrai, a Hong Kong-based businessman, became Pompey’s fourth owner inside a year when he assumed control of the club in February 2010 before putting them in administration soon after.

“We need to stabilise and Levi and I will be taking time to get a closer understanding of the business so that we can ensure the club is taken forward in the right way,” added Chainrai.

The saga surrounding the ownership of Portsmouth, who won the FA Cup in 2008, began in August 2009 when Gaydamak sold the club to Sulaiman Al Fahim.

Two months later Ali Al Faraj become the new owner when he acquired 90% of the shares from Al Fahim.

Three weeks after that Chainrai lent Al Faraj £17m but the off-pitch turbulence continued as Avram Grant replaced Paul Hart as manager, the club failed several times to pay its players on time and HM Revenue & Customs issued a winding-up order over tax issues.

In February 2010 Chainrai seized the club’s assets before placing the club in administration with debts estimated to be about £120m.

The club subsequently had nine points deducted for going into administration, were relegated from the Premier League and in June appointed a new boss in Steve Cotterill.

In August Portsmouth survived an attempt by HM Revenue & Customs to block a Company Voluntary Agreement, which could have prevented the club exiting administration.

As recently as Friday the club claimed it appeared “likely to close” after a row over £2.2m owed to Gaydamak saw talks break down.

However, on Saturday it was announced Portsmouth would pay Gaydamak £2.5m in instalments over the next five years and the saga was finally concluded late on Saturday when Chainrai resumed control of the club.

The club’s administrators confirmed a deal worth 20p in the pound to unsecured creditors has also been agreed.

The south coast outfit currently lie 13th in the Championship, the second tier of English football.

“We’re now in a position where we can look to move forward on a more stable financial footing,” said David Lampitt.

“This has been an extremely tough journey and the legacy of past events at the club means we still have a long way to travel and a number of battles to fight. ”

Source : BBC Sport